Buffer Underrun on a drive with Burn-PROOF

CD, DVD and (Ultra HD) Blu-ray Writers Plextor Writer
#1

So I’ve this Creative that’s a relabeled Plextor drive. I’m using Nero to burn a single session, DAO/96 disc of about 700MB (full CD) and it errors (twice on the same disc, this is the third time it’s happened in all) with a Buffer Underrun.

I went back through and made absolutely sure that “Enable Buffer Under Run Protection” was enable, and I also scrolled up in the log window to see the usual message of “Burn-PROOF activated”.

So, does BurnProof not work in DAO/96 or is something else going wrong?

Also, FYI, I flashed this Creative drive with the Plextor firmware because Creative hasn’t released their version of the latest firmware. After it errored the second time I reverted back, then it errored a third time.

Does anyone have any idea?

#2

Just to clear some things up, as I doubt that you understand what BURN-Proof does. BURN-Proof does not prevent buffer underruns. It’s a technique that ensures that when a buffer underrun occurs the drive (Plextor in this case) can pause the recording process and continue when data is available again. Old recorder which do not have such as technique will create a fatal error on the disc, rendering it useless.

So, what I think is that your drive is suffering from buffer underruns and it BURN-Proof technique kicks in several times. This means that your computer isn’t supplying data fast enough or your recorder is perhaps running in PIO mode instead of DMA mode. Please report back and let us know what kind of computer you have and which OS you’re running. Also mention any details that could be important.

#3

The computer is this:
AMD Athlon 900 MHz
15 GB Maxtor ATA100 HDD
256MB of PC133
Windows 2000 (dual boot with Win98, I was using 2000 at the time)

The drive is a Creative CD-RW RW121032E. I was unable to tell if the RW had DMA mode on.

Are you implying that Burn-Proof will only work a certain number of times within a short period, or what?

#4

And just to be clear, it’s not just TELLING me that there were Buffer Underruns, it’s erroring with a Buffer Underrun. It just stops burning and ejects right then and there.

#5

Originally posted by DocBoard
And just to be clear, it’s not just TELLING me that there were Buffer Underruns, it’s erroring with a Buffer Underrun. It just stops burning and ejects right then and there.
Ah I see, that is weird. I was confused because you said “twice on the same disc” which led me to believe that the recorder did make a good disc, only it had to use its BURN-Proof technique a few times to prevent buffer underruns. Your second statement as I quoted above is contradicting your first one.

BURN-Proof can kick in as much times as needed. It’s not limited to a certain number of times. When there is no data available to the drive, it will pause recording, using BURN-Proof.

For now I would suggest you see if DMA is enabled for your drive. It’s not activated during the recording process, it’s enabled all the time. You can check this for example with Nero Infotool.

Good luck

#6

Hi, G@M3FR3@K. :slight_smile: I think that is important that there is some clarity about “buffer underruns”.

Before the introduction of buffer underrun prevention technology, a “buffer underrun” always meant an error that would abort the recording and create a coaster. This definition has not changed, but some are now using “buffer underrun” to mean the condition when the buffer empties and buffer underrun prevention is used to continue the recording. This later usage of “buffer underrun” makes no sense logically because it is not prevented by “buffer underrun prevention”. BURN-Proof does prevent buffer underruns when the correct definition is used. BURN-Proof does not prevent the buffer from emptying during a burn, but that is not a buffer underrun when the buffer underrun prevention technology allows the burn to resume without error.

This is the first sentence of the definition from Plextor’s “The Process of Writing” (italics mine):

One of the biggest problems in recording CD’s is when media becomes unusable during recording, due to something referred to as a “buffer underrun”.

DocBoard, is there a specific reason that you are burning in DAO/96, or could you be buring in standard DAO just as well? If BURN-Proof is already enabled, it would be interesting to see if the error is only happening in DAO/96. What is the error message in the Nero log?

What Plextor firmware version are you using, v1.10? What method did you use to flash the Plextor firmware to the Creative drive?

#7

Hey, look who’s here !

Welcome back onboard, Inertia ! :smiley:

#8

Thanks, BoSkin. :slight_smile: