[matofthemint]

When I 'Enable' DLA, as one has to do to burn or erase, there are no problems until I eject the disk. Then I get a blue error screen and have to shut down and restart the computer. This does not happen if DLA is disabled. I have tried three DVD/CD drives and it happens with all three.
Any suggestions as to how to remedy this problem?

[gi7omy]

Check your BIOS settings as the drive should retain DMA settings without having to be switched

If that still fails, open control panel, device manager and uninstall the IDE connection that carries the drive, reboot and let Windows re-install

Another possibility is that you are sharing the cable with an older drive that can't handle DMA - if you have a second (empty) IDE header, switch the optical to primary and connect to that

[matofthemint]

Thanks for your quick reply. Sorry to be late in getting back to you, but I didn't receive notification.
How do I get to BIOS, and what do I do when I get there?

[gi7omy]

No problem on speed - some of us almost live here

When you boot first, there should be a screen with somethinmg like 'Press F2 to enter setup' - it could also be DEL, F4 or anything else - that will take you inti the BIOS settings.

You want to find your drives and check that DMA is turned on (also look to see if it says 'UDMA' or similar on each drive).

It really depends on the BIOS maker - some are very tunable - others are very basic

[matofthemint]

There is nothing about DMA, it just says CD-Drive, and 'nothing in this field can be changed'.
I tried your second suggestion and it didn't work.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks for your interest and help.

[gi7omy]

That's about all I can think of really - the drive should auto-set to DMA if it's capable.

Optical drives are normally - the only other thing I think that could knock it out is an older IDE device on the same cable.

If you're confident enough to open the case, check to see if it can be plugged into another IDE header and also that the ribbon cable is 80 wires and not 40 (they're all 40 pin but newer ones have an extra set if wires)

[lynn98109]

Is this happening with just one disc, or with several discs, or with different brands of discs? R or RW media?

Lynn

[matofthemint]

gi7omy, it's a laptop and I'm not up to opening the case.

Lynn, it happens with any and all RW disks if the 'Enable' is turned on. I haven't tried with an R disk as there isn't much point of enabling with an R. But I will give it a try and get back to you.

Lynn, just tried it with an R disk, and enabled, and it worked fine. So it's just the RW disks.

[lynn98109]

If these RW discs have been being used for a while, it is possible they are wearing out.

If new ones also have the problem, I really have no ideas - sometimes RW will burn and R won't because the laser recrystalizes the aluminum alloy of the RW at a lower temperature than used to "cook" a dye on R discs - thus, burners on their way out can sometimes burn RW but not R.

I trust you are aware Packet-Writing (Drag2Disc, Sonic's DLA, Nero's InCD, etc) programs are NOT reliable long-term archiving. If used with RW media, it is even less reliable. For short-term use, such as transferring files when the original is safely on the originating computer, it's ok - but I'd suggest a Flash drive (aka Jump / Thumb / Keychain / Pen drive) instead.

Lynn

This post has been edited by lynn98109: 03 February 2009 - 10:48 AM

[matofthemint]

I haven't had any problems reading R or RW, nor writing to either (as yet). It's just the ejecting of RW when 'enable' is on.
I use them mainly for transferring. If used for storage I burn two disks. Or use a Flash drive now that very large capacity sticks are available.
Many thanks to both of you for your interest and help.

[gi7omy]

For storage I'd use Creator Classic and avoid D2D to be honest and for transfer, I use a pen drive as you do.

I don't trust RW discs myself - I nly use them for testing purposes (with the price of blanks being what they are, I don't mind the odd coaster)

[matofthemint]

I have (not installed) Roxio Creator Premier SD 10.1. How does this compare to Creator Classic?

[gi7omy]

Creator Classic is part of the suite

[matofthemint]

Thanks. I'll give it a try.