# NEC DVD burner turns out coasters... :(

## yodermk

I asked a while ago about advice for a DVD burner to get.  Got a recommended NEC from newegg.

So far all 4 DVDs I've tried burning have had problems.  The last one I burned at 1x, with the ISO image created beforehand.  It can read some of the disc OK, but most of it gives I/O errors.

Someone brought it to Ecuador in a checked suitcase.  Wonder if it got banged too hard?  Or is there any possibility that my computer is not up to burning DVDs?  It's a dual P3 850 with 2GB RAM.  My old CD-R never had trouble.

Any other ideas?  thanks...

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## cokey

My suggesting is take up smoking, as you're going to have plenty of ashtrays, lol  :Laughing:   :Laughing:   :Laughing: 

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## yodermk

One other thing -- it *is* on the same IDE channel as the hard drive.  I know that isn't ideal, but does it explain these problems?  My old CD-R was configured that way as well.

I should probably get a second IDE cable so I can put it on the other channel.

Also, my motherboard chipset is an old VIA that has given me problems with USB.  I wonder if this is similar.  I suppose I need to try the drive in another box.

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## fredgt

You should be more than capable of burning DVD's with that pc. I've got a nec DVD-writer and haven't had any problems with it in linux. There can be some problems with compatibility with certain DVD(+/-)R(W) discs. You should find more information about that on the nec website. You could maybe try to upgrade the firmware if a newer version is available.

I don't know if this is you're problem but it's a start.

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## ewan.paton

it wouldnt be a 3520 it wouldnt by any chance

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## yodermk

ND-3520A ... why?  :Shocked: 

Not much info on the website beyond a basic setup manual and specs.  Firmware update scheduled May 1, but I sort of doubt it has to do with that.  Who knows...

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## ewan.paton

theres a prob with the firmware and cdrecord, i posted it back a while ago something about the media info giving cdrecord junk. i goat a few coasters when i 1st started but all seems fine now and just figured the drive needed time to burn in.

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## Cintra

 *ewan.paton wrote:*   

> theres a prob with the firmware and cdrecord, i posted it back a while ago something about the media info giving cdrecord junk. i goat a few coasters when i 1st started but all seems fine now and just figured the drive needed time to burn in.

 

Tell me more? I have one of these and as far as I know its working fine.. play music from it all day long and packet-write to it with no problem.

```
# dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/hdc

INQUIRY:                [_NEC    ][DVD_RW ND-3520A ][1.04]

```

Mvh

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## ewan.paton

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-311091-highlight-nec+3520.html

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## Cintra

Many thanks.. have you flashed your 3520a btw?

mvh

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## yodermk

No, haven't patched it.  Is there a way to do it under Linux?  Their patch utility is for 'Doze, which I don't have.

Still, an unofficial patch makes me nervous.  Probably better to wait for the official one.

Also, remember that a 1x burn also gave me a coaster.  So it doesn't seem to be a "6x +" issue here.

Would be nice if it is just a "burn-in" problem and will solve itself...  :Rolling Eyes: 

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## Cintra

I flashed mine to 1.UA yesterday (in XP) 

this page, where I found the info also says it can be flashed in Linux

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=129381

So far all works well..

Mvh

Edit this is where you find a Linux version of binflash

http://binflash.cdfreaks.com/

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## yodermk

Fascinating ...

I took one of the DVDs I burned at 2x and the NEC drive that burned it gave errors reading it ... took it to work and put it in a DVD drive there.  I think it read everything fine!  No I/O errors that I noticed when doing a tar of the whole thing.  (It's possible that one scrolled off the screen when I wasn't looking, but they were almost constant reading it in my drive.)  When using k3b to make an image of the CD, it said 3 times that there was an error and it would read the sector again, and then it said "success."

So maybe my problem is reading more than writing.  :Rolling Eyes:   But it did play a video DVD just fine.

I also just got another IDE cable today, so I'm gonna put it on its own channel sometime soon and see if that helps.

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## Chestbursted

I've had the same problem with my NEC-2510 DVD-burner... It has always succeeded burning, but reading fails randomly. It just doesn't want to read some CD-R/RW-disks, like my backup systemRescue or other liveCD:s... When I screwed up my gentoo installation because of disk corruption I had a tough time to get a liveCD working.

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## yodermk

 *Chestbursted wrote:*   

> I've had the same problem with my NEC-2510 DVD-burner... It has always succeeded burning, but reading fails randomly. It just doesn't want to read some CD-R/RW-disks, like my backup systemRescue or other liveCD:s... When I screwed up my gentoo installation because of disk corruption I had a tough time to get a liveCD working.

 

Was yours on the same IDE channel as the HD?

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## ewan.paton

the new official nec firmware 3.04 is out and its great.

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## T2

Same here with nec 3520a. Succesfull write, reading fails randomly. Flashed to 3.04, same story, with two different media brands.

I usually check with md5sum and get Input/output errors two, three times, then third time it maybe gets through then again i/o error. I'm taking this menace out to windows box to check its behaviour there.

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## Moloch

I was probably one that recommended the NEC 3520a. I think right from the beginning I flashed it with 1.UA from cdfreaks. I was trying to burn DVD+R DVDs. My friends old DVD player wasn't reading them (everything else could). I then found that firmware could change DVD+R discs too "look" like DVD-ROMs. That seemed to fix that problem. Otherwise I have had no problems at all with this burner. Burning both CDs and DVDs I have had only 1 coaster which was a DVD.

I'm using K3B to burn which in turn uses growisofs. 

EDIT: I just found an update to 1.UG.

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## T2

Hey, thanks for the tip, Moloch. 1.UG (the quiet one) shows improvement here. Reading speed is slower but no more i/o errors here (so far, knock knock). Seems like 3.04 agressive reading speeds were forcing 3520 into premature i/o error.

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