1620Pro write fails with 'MEDIUM_ERROR'

vbimport
#1

I have 1620Pro for a year or less.
I’m using the latest official firmware and the latest version of Nero.
Recently (about two month ago) I started to get coasters almost every time(both CD & DVD).
Write starts normally, but after 30-50 seconds it fails with 'Write Error.
And in the nero log file I see ‘MEDIUM_ERROR’ SCSI error code.
I’m using only high quality media from Verbatim and same disks work fine in Plextor & LiteOn drives.
Does anyone has the same problem?
Is there anything I can do to fix it?

#2

Is it possible to test the drive in another PC as that’s what I would do to see if the problem persists and you would have a good idea whether its the writer at fault or something else.

Does the 1620 share the PC with Plex & Litey are either of them on the same IDE cable as the 1620 in other words no problems with them only the 1620 ?

#3

I’m using BenQ 1620Pro as a primary IDE master and Plextor 712A as a secondary IDE master.
No slave drives. HDDs are on SATA channels. Mb is ASUS P4P800 (i865PE).
Plextor is working fine - no coasters at all on the same media.
And BenQ did work fine for few months.

#4

This is the log file:

12:02:37 #33 Text 0 File Mmc.cpp, Line 16881
StartDAO : CD-Text - On

12:02:37 #34 Text 0 File Mmc.cpp, Line 21663
Set BUFE: Seamless Link -> ON

12:03:19 #35 SCSI -1135 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1436
SCSI Exec, HA 0, TA 0, LUN 0, buffer 0x03900000
Status: 0x04 (0x01, SCSI_ERR)
HA-Status 0x00 (0x00, OK)
TA-Status 0x02 (0x01, SCSI_TASTATUS_CHKCOND)
Sense Key: 0x03 (KEY_MEDIUM_ERROR)
Sense Code: 0x0C
Sense Qual: 0x00
CDB Data: 0x2A 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x24 0x48 0x00 0x00 0x1A 0x00 0x00 0x00
Sense Data: 0x70 0x00 0x03 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x12
0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x0C 0x00

12:03:19 #36 CDR -1135 File Writer.cpp, Line 311
Write error

12:03:19 #37 Text 0 File ThreadedTransfer.cpp, Line 228
all writers idle, stopping conversion

12:03:19 #38 Text 0 File ThreadedTransfer.cpp, Line 222
conversion idle, stopping reader

12:03:19 #39 Phase 38 File dlgbrnst.cpp, Line 1832
Burn process failed at 32x (4*800 KB/s)

#5

Well I can’t really interpret the log bar the medium error message and I take it nothing else has change in the system e.g. drivers or new power hungry hardware added (BenQ’s apprently can be a bit fussy about the PSU) ?

By the way did you get the drive from Elara ?

#6

Actually, I have added another SATA HDD two months ago.
But, I must say that I have very good PSU (450W model from Enermax).
And, according to my multimeter, my computer only consumes 230 W (1 A) from the mains.
So, I don’t think that PSU is the cause of the problem, unless BenQ is very fussy about voltage, spikes or EM noise.

By the way, I got my BenQ from WStore.co.uk.

#7

Ah was just curious as Elara are the only e-tail BenQ distributor in IE that I know of which & has a decent enough RMA service its were I got mine.

Anyway yeah doesn’t sound good by the looks of it if everything else works okay, you could try disconnecting the SATA HD’s power cables and see what happens but it could be the drive is defective…

#8

I can try to disconnect Plextor and one HDD from power, but I don’t think it’s power related, because ASUS Probe software shows perfect voltage.
Can heat be an issue?
BenQ is mounted above the WD Raptor HDD, which is quite warm (36…38 degrees).
Plextor is mounted higher, and so does not get heat from HDDs.

#9

This is a small update for advanced users, who want to know the meaning of error codes in Nero log files.
I have found some documents here - http://www.t10.org/drafts.htm
And, according to them, in my case the error description is:
KEY MEDIUM ERROR: Indicates that the command terminated with a non-recovered error condition that may have been caused by a flaw in the medium or an error in the recorded data. This sense key may also be returned if the device server is unable to distinguish between a flaw in the medium and a
specific hardware failure.

CDB Data (device command block)
0x2A  - Command (WRITE)
0x00  - Reserved
0x00  - LBA byte 0
0x00  - LBA byte 1
0x24  - LBA byte 2 (36)
0x48  - LBA byte 3 (72)
0x00  - Reserved
0x00  - Len byte 0
0x1A  - Len byte 1 (26 logical blocks)
0x00  - Control byte
0x00  - Unused
0x00  - Unused


Sense Data (device response)

0x70  - Response Code (Current Error)
0x00  - Reserved
0x03  - Sense Key (Write Error)
0x00  - Info byte 0
0x00  - Info byte 1
0x00  - Info byte 2
0x00  - Info byte 3
0x12  - Additional sense data len.
0x00  - Command specific info byte 0
0x00  - Command specific info byte 1
0x00  - Command specific info byte 2
0x00  - Command specific info byte 3
0x0C  - Sense Code (Write Error)
0x00  - Additional Sense Qualifier (Unknown)