Burner take-over

[mencan]

Hi all. Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and if so, how you went about fixing it.

Some Specs first....
System
x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 9 Genuine Inteel 2527Mhz
1 gig ram
Xp-Home SP2
2 each 120 gig hard drive
Memorex 16x DL burner
AnyDVD version 6.1.2.3
CloneDVD version 2.9.0.3


Problem......

Up until a few days weeks ago (last update as far as I can tell from AnyDVD), everything was going along just fine. No problems, able to do all back-ups without a glitch.
All of a sudden, it seems like my DVD Burner is got a mind of its own. Let me explain. Before, push the button to open or close the tray. NOW... just lightly touch the tray, it closes, and once in a while it will just close without any type of viberation.

I thought, okay, burner on way out so change it out (I always keep a back up burner available - brand new sealed in box). I did and had the exact same problem.
Okay, moving on, I figured maybe something was taking over the system. I read that you can have the registered copy on two systems so I installed it on my wife's computer. She's got the same thing as I do, but without a few of the other programs I use for work. I'll be dog gone if the same problem did not happen as soon as I did the update.

So, I uninstalled AnyDVD, I uninstalled CloneDVD (and removed both from the registry), I uninstalled the burner drivers and then rebooted the system so XP could r-install the drivers for the burner.

I'll be go to he!! the burner still had a mind of its own, and its a brand new one.

I reinstalled AnyDVD and CloneDVD and did my key thing and all that, but its still acting up.

It's not really a issue, not really. It's more like a pain in the arc being careful when ejecting and inserting a disc now.

For the record, there has been no new updates to anything but Slysoft products (auto updates are off). There has been no new programs added or removed (except as listed above). There have been no firewall or virus protection issues. We use our systems to work at home by logging into work thru direct connect and have never had any issues. Checking yesterday afternoon, there have been no updates within the past 4 months to the systems at work (either one of our places) so thats ruled out.
We manually clean out cookies and temp internet folders before and after we are on line, so that's kind of a ziltch on something taking over from a site.

I am totally lost here. I am a fairly smart person, but this one has me stumped.

Any suggestions. And again, its not a biggy, just a pain in the arc....

Thank you in advance for any assistance you might be able to provide.

Cheer's

Mencan

 

[oldjoe]

That is an odd situation but software can not affect the physical functions of hardware. I have a total of 8 DVDRW's (Plextor-NEC-& Lite-On) in use and none of them will close with a light touch of the drawer. What brand are the DVDRW's?

 

[G-Omaha]

If both of the physical devices are the same make and module (Memorex); I'd tend to lean towards it being a "quirk" for that particular drive rather than a program or Gremlin problem...

 

[mencan]

Yea that's what I was thinking

If both of the physical devices are the same make and module (Memorex); I'd tend to lean towards it being a "quirk" for that particular drive rather than a program or Gremlin problem...

But the thing that bothers me there is that it did not happen before.

They are both Memorex DL 16x (don't have the box in front of me for true model as am at work now). But the one in my wife's system is the same one that came in her Dell system. That's what's throwing me the loop here.

I am going to take a DVD Burner from work home with me and try and see if the same problem still exists.

In as much as this does not really hamper the performance of the system or recording it is still a little ""bug"" that bugs me... and I intend to figure this one out.

Thanks very much for the input.

Cheer's

 

[oldjoe]

Let us know how it turns out mencan. That is assuredly a strange occurrence.

 

[mencan]

Well, I am at a total stopping point.
Took and changed out the DVD burner with new one from work and still have the same problem.
Changed the IDE cable
Tested power supply
Verified RAM was good and okay with no flakey intermit problems
Verfied all connectors and did a point to point test to make sure there were no wires that might be making intermit connection

Because the auto updates are off, there was nothing to roll back except for AnyDVD. Did the update to AnyDVD to version 6.1.2.5.

Went back and spot checked a few of the back ups I did over the past several weeks to make sure they were okay. No problems found by FF thru the flicks.

Got me man. I must be overlooking something really stupid and simple. Guess I will have to keep it in the back of my mind as generally solutions come to me when I am not thinking about the problem.

If anything ever becomes of this, I'll be sure to post it so others will have something to go by as a guide.

Cheer's

 

[mencan]

Oh, I almost forgot.

The DVD Burners that were in the system are a Memorex Duel Format, Double Layer 16x, Internal E-IDE, Model MRX-500N

Know software that has problems with this drive (e.g. Nero) are not installed on either machine.


Cheer's

 

[mencan]

Well after going thru everything, and listening to myself think about this for several days now, I took and changed out the IDE cables. All of them, one to the 2 hard drives and one to the Burner and hard drive.

Problem solved.

I know I did a point to point check on the IDE cables, but I did not put them thru any type of high voltage test. I figured this out last night, so this morning when I went in for a few hours to back up the company's systems, I ttok the IDE cables with me. Went over to the lab and put 600 volts thru them both. One passed, the other did not. It had a break down between pins 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. This all stands to reason because those tin numbers are signal lines for data transfer and low voltage.

Being the person I am with wanting to know why the failure was caused to begin with ...it's called ""root cause""... I checked under a 25x lamp scope. It seems there was a MFG defect in this cable as it is very clear that the insulation between the "runs" were not the same thickness as the rest of the cable.

""Preventive Action"" ( what steps/proceedures are going to take place to make sure this does not happen again) ---
Well because we deal with some customers that are picky, and that these same cables were from a shippment we received for a product we make, I did a sample test on about 30 cables in stock. The results were proof that our supplier had a bad batch of IDE cables (11 out of 30 failed on same lines). I sent out a "Quality Alert" to the engineering staff and to the QA departments informing them all IDE cables were on hold for further study and complete 100% testing. Being a Quality Engineer I will take care of this Monday thru the proper channels.

At least, the very least, it did not cause damage to my motherboard or to the burner.

End of problem.


So that's what I found out and like I promised, I posted the findings and actions.

Thanks to everyone for the concern and help.

Have a great day !

Cheer's

 

[oldjoe]

Glad you got it figured bout mencan.

 

[Clams]

It's problems like that - that wanna make you throw a computer through a wall.

You get what you want, or you get an education. <sigh>

-W

 

[RedFox 1]

Well after going thru everything, and listening to myself think about this for several days now, I took and changed out the IDE cables. All of them, one to the 2 hard drives and one to the Burner and hard drive.

Problem solved.

I know I did a point to point check on the IDE cables, but I did not put them thru any type of high voltage test. I figured this out last night, so this morning when I went in for a few hours to back up the company's systems, I ttok the IDE cables with me. Went over to the lab and put 600 volts thru them both. One passed, the other did not. It had a break down between pins 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. This all stands to reason because those tin numbers are signal lines for data transfer and low voltage.

Being the person I am with wanting to know why the failure was caused to begin with ...it's called ""root cause""... I checked under a 25x lamp scope. It seems there was a MFG defect in this cable as it is very clear that the insulation between the "runs" were not the same thickness as the rest of the cable.

""Preventive Action"" ( what steps/proceedures are going to take place to make sure this does not happen again) ---
Well because we deal with some customers that are picky, and that these same cables were from a shippment we received for a product we make, I did a sample test on about 30 cables in stock. The results were proof that our supplier had a bad batch of IDE cables (11 out of 30 failed on same lines). I sent out a "Quality Alert" to the engineering staff and to the QA departments informing them all IDE cables were on hold for further study and complete 100% testing. Being a Quality Engineer I will take care of this Monday thru the proper channels.

At least, the very least, it did not cause damage to my motherboard or to the burner.

End of problem.


So that's what I found out and like I promised, I posted the findings and actions.

Thanks to everyone for the concern and help.

Have a great day !

Cheer's

This is very common with rounded ide cables, poor shielding and defects. The flat ribbons on other hand give you a better chance of not having these issues.