Various issues with GSA-4163B, difficulties with DVD\'s (LG GSA-4163B)

[monkeyshiner]

[qanda]This thread is about the LG GSA-4163B. Click here to see full specs[/qanda]My system is a
Intel P4 3.0Ghz with HT,
Jetway PMB 800 motherboard (I think),
Tiger 350 watt PSU,
Nvidia Geforce FX 5500 256MB graphics card,
2 80GB harddrives, one Seagate, the other Western Digital,
LG GSA-4163B Super Multi DVD burner, supports DL +R read/write.
2x512MB Mushkin Redline RAM

custom made (but not by me). It was top of the line at the time.

yes the system is overclocked, but I do not believe it is causing any of my issues with the burner or media. It is minorly overclocked to 3.3Ghz or so.

Software:
Windows XP SP2
Nero 6.something
DVDShrink

Now, I am having multiple issues and it's inspiring me to seek help.

First off, a few years ago I got a Collector's Edition DVD-ROM (DL) movie, worked fine to start with, then six months after I got it,... the drive refused to recognize it as a disc,... it didn't even think it was a blank one, it just didn't exist. But disc 2 of the set (containing misc bonus features, also DL), continued to work just fine. The disc was handled carefully, never scratched or rubbed,.. or dropped, just gently placed in the drive, and retrieved and put back in the case. I handled it personally, and nobody else touched it.
I finally got it recognized by sticking the disc in the freezer, and got it ripped with DVDShrink,... and then I never could get the drive to read that disc again, no matter how much I froze it.
The disc still works fine in standalone players without any errors or problems, years later. At least, a Panasonic DMR-EZ27 1080p upscaling, HDMI, etc, the only standalone DVD player/burner I have.

Next, I backed up a DVD to a Maxell DVD+R, (without verifying, which was stupid). Six months later, the original gone, I went to use the backup... and the drive wouldn't recognize it. However, I saved the disc, and it does play in the standalone, but has some errors here and there that can be skipped over.

And more recently, purchased a 50 pack of Sony DVD+R, rather than the cheaper Ritek or whatever there was, in the hope of getting better quality with a brand name. I had .vob, .bup, etc files on my harddrive, and I wanted to put them directly on a DVD disc, and play them in the standalone. So when I went to burn with Nero Express, Nero warns me that I will likely not have a standalone compatible compilation if I don't use DVD-Video format. With some googling of the error I was able to figure out what it was talking about, and used Nero Burning Rom to start the compilation in DVD-Video format, with high compatibility settings, add the selection of files in, and then switch over to Nero Express (still maintaining the settings from the Burning Rom), so that I can get it to verify. (I am unable to find any settings that allow for a verification after burning using the Burning ROM).

However, this was only the beginning of horrors. The lead-out failed, producing a perfect working disc in my computer, but incompatible with the standalone. I proceed to burn a second disc, and this time enable DVD overburning thinking perhaps it didn't have enough room on the end. This time, lead-out succeeded, and verified just fine, but in the standalone, I still get the same message on the screen "incompatible disc".

So I decided to wait for some advice from you guys before I proceeded any further. Maybe I should just ignore the compilation compatibility error and just try throwing the files in as they are and play it in the standalone?

Btw, in the past I have burned multiple DVD's with .avi's on them and the standalone plays them all just fine, so I know it's not an issue with the media type.

And now, for another issue, just in the past few days. I tried to burn 4.40GB to a 4.37GB disc with overburning enabled. Nero warned me that I could possibly damage my burner, and being impatient with all of this I decided to go ahead and try it anyways. Of course, it failed. Didn't even get to verification. Coaster #1.
I eliminated an extra menu or something, and got it down to 4486MB, and then burned it, and got a perfect disc, verified perfectly and everything. Then I needed a second backup just in case the first failed, as I wanted to delete the original from my harddrive. The horrors begin again. The next 3 DVD's I tried to burn wound up failing verification. And somewhere in the middle of all that, a DVD that had a focus/tracking error in the middle of the burn and didn't even get to verification. Did I just ruin my burner? I'm scared to try burning another one, I don't want to waste discs.

One more thing to note, in the past, all CD's I have tried burning with this burner burned flawlessly, with a variety of different brands, all at max speed.

Oh, and should I be not using Maximum speed (16x) to burn my DVD's? it is all 16x rated media.

[mciahel]

Hi,[quote=monkeyshiner;2138021]My system is a
Intel P4 3.0Ghz with HT,
(…)
yes the system is overclocked, but I do not believe it is causing any of my issues with the burner or media. It is minorly overclocked to 3.3Ghz or so.[/quote]For troubleshooting, don’t overclock.

Software:
Windows XP SP2
Nero 6.something
SP3 for XP is available and working. Concerning Nero, make sure you have the latest Nero 6 update from Nero.com installed.

First off, a few years ago I got a Collector’s Edition DVD-ROM (DL) movie, worked fine to start with, then six months after I got it,… the drive refused to recognize it as a disc,… it didn’t even think it was a blank one, it just didn’t exist.
Was this a commercially pressed disc or a burned one. If the latter applies: the disc might just have been degraded. Ritek G05 for example is “famous” for that.

Next, I backed up a DVD to a Maxell DVD+R, (without verifying, which was stupid). Six months later, the original gone, I went to use the backup… and the drive wouldn’t recognize it. However, I saved the disc, and it does play in the standalone, but has some errors here and there that can be skipped over.
Perhaps this disc has also degraded. Light is one of the enemies for discs.

And somewhere in the middle of all that, a DVD that had a focus/tracking error in the middle of the burn
Please have a look into the [B]FAQ[/B]about this issue. Seems as if the drive needs some servicing.

Oh, and should I be not using Maximum speed (16x) to burn my DVD’s? it is all 16x rated media.
Apart from not overclocking, not using maximum speed (try 12x or 8x) is another good idea.

Michael

[pfloyd1]

The drive is very old, maybe it has bit the bullet.

[monkeyshiner]

[QUOTE=mciahel;2138142]SP3 for XP is available and working. Concerning Nero, make sure you have the latest Nero 6 update from Nero.com installed.[/QUOTE]

OK, I can do that, also, I just thought of something, would it be worthwhile to flash the firmware? There’s probably a new one by now. But I have never done this before.

[QUOTE=mciahel;2138142]Was this a commercially pressed disc or a burned one. If the latter applies: the disc might just have been degraded. Ritek G05 for example is “famous” for that.[/QUOTE]

I said Collector’s Edition attempting to make it clear it was high quality… yes it’s commercially pressed, original disc. And still works great in standalones.

[QUOTE=mciahel;2138142]Perhaps this disc has also degraded. Light is one of the enemies for discs.[/QUOTE]

Just how much of an enemy is it? I keep all my discs in paper slips and they rarely get much light. Although I think that Maxell did get more than it’s fair share of light,… it sat out for a while.

[QUOTE=mciahel;2138142]Apart from not overclocking, not using maximum speed (try 12x or 8x) is another good idea.

Michael[/QUOTE]

I’ll definitely try running it a little slower next time.

I should also point out this drive has not had extensive use… I’ve only burned about 50 discs total (CD’s and DVD’s), and played random movies, so it’s probably not been used more than a few thousand times.

Although I suppose age could be an issue, a friend of mine still uses a CD burner from the 90’s, lol

[mciahel]

[quote=monkeyshiner;2138299]OK, I can do that, also, I just thought of something, would it be worthwhile to flash the firmware? There’s probably a new one by now. But I have never done this before.[/quote]What is the firmware version currently present? A newer firmware is recommended, since media support might improve. Latest firmware for this drive is A106 which is available on http://us.lgservice.com/index_b2c.jsp

I said Collector’s Edition attempting to make it clear it was high quality… yes it’s commercially pressed, original disc.
Okay.
And still works great in standalones.
This clearly indicates your drive seems to have reading problems. You might try to clean the lens. And since there is also that “tracking error”, you’ll have to open the unit anyway.

Just how much of an enemy is it?
One of the worst enemies of a writeable disc.

I should also point out this drive has not had extensive use… I’ve only burned about 50 discs total (CD’s and DVD’s), and played random movies, so it’s probably not been used more than a few thousand times.
Maybe it has just collected dust.

Although I suppose age could be an issue, a friend of mine still uses a CD burner from the 90’s, lol
Build quality was much better these times. Nowadays, there is only cheap plastics where solid metal was used in the “good old times”

Michael