[Semi-Solved] Weird Drive or Disc behavior

[DeepSpace]

I did some discs this weekend and noticed something strage.

First of all, my drives:
01: PIONEER BD-RWBDR-UD04 1.11, external slim drive, connectet using a USB cable.
02: ASUS BW-16D1HT 3.10, UHD-friendly (flashed), big internal drive but connectet external using a SATA adapter cable due to the lack of any internal ports in my PC case.

I did:
Copy BDs to protectet iso using AnyDVD as I always do, no Make MKV or stuff running

The problem:
I only used the first drive at the end of last week on my laptop and everything was fine, then I switched to my PC and there I have the Asus drive so I used that. I think the first discs went fine, but then, after AnyDVD finished analysing the disc and pressing copy, the disc spinned to full speed in a moment, only to go silent afterwards and the drive skipped around like it would do at a bad sector. Also it stuck at 0% and the timer went to 100h (slow speed) or showed 0.
But it was not only this disc, more than five others to follow, with some working in between.
So I had enough and had the idea to try them on my Pioneer drive, working. All or at least most of them, to much time to remember lol.

All discs seem to be perfectly fine, no scratches or even dirt or fat fingers. And of course I tried to clean them.
The only thing that changed was my new computer, but I already did other discs without any problems using this drive in the past, beginning with the HDR and Hobbit UHD sets at the end of last year. So I can confirm it is working and I don't think it is already dead, so why? Any ideas?

-is it the new computer (previously I had a i7-7700 with a 1080, now I have a Ryzen 7 5800x and a 3070TI)
-is it the SATA Adapter? I tried to change the USB Port and fully disconnectet it once, also I shut my computer down at the end of the day. Should I try an enclosure? There was some talking about a good one some month ago, could you send me a link or tell me it's name?
-Is something with the drive since the Pioneer was able to run them fine? At the other side, I had two DVDs I tried at the end of the week on the Pioneer one and the Asus was able to read one (they have scratches) and it was able to read some BDs, so it works kinda?

Of course the drives are region set 2. The only thing that could apply is that some BDs had region ABC on the cover, but I think also some discs without it haven't worked. I tried to mess around with the settings, activate Remove Region Code and stuff, but it did not help.

At the end I did one logfile of one not working disc on both drives, but I cannot see any difference between them, also they are almost the same size so this difference could be the mere name of the drives inside the logs...

Coming to this forum to write this I've seen these two threads:
https://forum.redfox.bz/threads/have-i-messed-up-my-new-drive-bw-16d1ht.82554/
https://forum.redfox.bz/threads/asus-bw-16d1ht-dead.82426/

So may it help to flash 3.02 on it? Unfortunately I cannot try it anymore as I had to give them back, but when I can take them again I will try it, also I might purchase the enclosure if you send me the link to one and I like it. But this could take some weeks as I don't plan to go there soon.

 

[DeepSpace]

I totally forgot to mention:
After the disc went down to zero and I canceled the copy in AnyDVD, I had to force eject it by pressing the drive's button multipe times.

Also it worked to eject one disc, use the speed setting in AnyDVD and set it to middle. Then the disc did not go up to full speed and did nothing after a few seconds. But I cannot say anymore if the disc completet with this setting or if it was another disc with a sector error.

I really should take notes the next time I encounter something like this, but it was something new and I tried to play around to solve this. Feel free to ask if you don't understand this long post of mine.

 

[James]

I totally forgot to mention:
After the disc went down to zero and I canceled the copy in AnyDVD, I had to force eject it by pressing the drive's button multipe times.

This could be caused by a "hanging" I/O operation. AnyDVD will "hang", even if the icon vanishes, it is still in task manager and you can't kill it. This is caused by bad cables / USB to SATA adapters / external power supplies.

 

[DeepSpace]

This could be caused by a "hanging" I/O operation. AnyDVD will "hang", even if the icon vanishes, it is still in task manager and you can't kill it. This is caused by bad cables / USB to SATA adapters / external power supplies.

Yes, I know what you are talking about. I already had this, but only when I told it to continue after there was a bad sector or something else and even after I canceled the copy nothing happens until I forced the disc to eject or disconnected the drive, only then AnyDVD gave me the notification to delete the file or not Or when I tried to copy it with Windows Explorer it would hang at the bad sector point and I cannot cancel it until I force eject it. But this is not the thing I worry about. It is the fact that it spins to 100% within, like, 4 seconds and then goes to 0 and the other drive can do it without any issues since I never had anything like that before, but...

This is caused by bad cables / USB to SATA adapters / external power supplies.

...but maybe it is the SATA Adapter so I would appreciate if someone can send me the eclosure. Before you ask, no, I did no forum search for it since I was in a hurry, so if no one has send it I will search tomorrow.

I vaguely remember that there were some discs that were not even able to be recognized by AnyDVD (seeable in Explorer), but I cannot 100% say if it was the same drive. Still this could be another clue that the SATA Adapter is not the ideal solution.

 

[whirlpool]

Drive enclosure - Google "OWC Mercury Pro"

 

[coopervid]

Enclosure:
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Mercury-...D,B00BFGI94W,B07M7FQBYX,B009P4NEKA,B07QBR12F2

Good SATA - USB3-Adapter (works even for flashing firmware):

https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Sharkoon...JBBRYO&srpt=ELECTRONIC_DEVICE_DOCKING_STATION

 

[DeepSpace]

Thanks for both answers.

The enclosure is a bit expensive, but, on the other hand, seems to look nice.
But, seeing the price tag, it is the one I meant.

About the adapter I will look more closely on my PC tomorrow.

Only to mention, I flashed the Asus using the same adapter I mentioned in this thread, so it seems to work, but maybe it does not work always or for all usecases. Or it is my new PC, who could now this at the end.

Only one thing about the link: what is the de/-/en part? Is it to direct the user to the english site if not in germany or to show the site in english, but staying at the german amazon? Only asking out of couriosity since your .de gave me an english site.

 

[coopervid]

These are all amazon.de links. You can switch languages clicking the banner / flag in the top line next to the user info.

That SATA -> USB adapter will do it if you always take care that the connection is well maintained and the connector is pushed all the way in. Yes, that enclosure is kind of expensive but many sellers of pre-flashed drives use it. There is also an ICY Box but the mechanics with the flip open front is sometimes a bit finicky.
https://www.amazon.de/ICY-BOX-IB-55...PF8XR73,B00VO7VOUI,B07PVYWYC2,B094VDW247&th=1

 

[coopervid]

And believe me: This is just as good as it gets. 5,25" enclosures are a dying species...

 

[coopervid]

All the above solutions use an external power supply and are not drawing the power from the USB port which can create problems if the power demand exceeds what is provided by USB.

 

[DeepSpace]

Was not able to answer you yesterday as my phone did not allow me to select text properly (to quote it). Reason: Unknown as well... nothing on the screen, maybe the display protection foil. Luckily the forum software saved my text so I can continue on PC now

These are all amazon.de links.

Maybe you did not understand. Look at the link for the enclosure: it is amazon.de/-/en/product name.
Now look at the ICY Box link. It is amazon.de/product name.
I am only curious what this is since I've never seen it before, that's why I mentioned it. Not because it bothers me.
But I think I know it now: after I opened your link, I recieved an e-mail from Amz (auto-confirm@amazon.de) that I successfully changed my default language, despite I set nothing. So I assume that this addition is only to set the site's language if it differs from the original one. In that case, to show Amz de in english. Fascinating.

that the connection is well maintained

It should be, I checked it, but maybe it is a driver or a different USB controller in my new PC that causes this... Who knows.
The adapter you send me seems to be similar to the one I use and they are even almost the same price:
www.amazon.de/UGREEN-Festplatten-Dockingstation-Netzschalter-unterstützt/dp/B019SW4Z42/

use an external power supply

My adapter also has an external power supply.

There is also an ICY Box

I don't like it's design as much, so I think I will purchase the Mercury. The aluminum looks better and high quality.


I will update this thread as soon as I have the discs in question again. But I cannot say how soon this will happen.
Either way, thanks for your help, you gave me exactly the links I was looking for.

P.S.

5,25" enclosures are a dying species

The world has changed. Once, there were several physical media available: VHS, DVD, BD and even 4K DIscs. But they all have been betrayed, for another technique has been made: Several online services to stream them all and on the server bind them!
(well, not really, since they only offer it if they get the licence for it and if not and if there is no physical release it will be lost forever...)