AngryPanda Posted June 25, 2009 Posted June 25, 2009 (edited) Hi! I'll get straight to the point - I am looking to put an end to this silly "semaphore timeout" business that has so many people pulling their hair out while trying to burn dual layer DVDs (and more specifically, burning 360 backups to dual layer DVDs). My drive is a tsst corp sh-s222a, but after extensive (and fruitless) googling, it is obvious that the problem is not unique to my drive (if it is even related to it). The error is not with the ISO or DVD file, they are abgx checked etc and are fine. The error message I get is "Set L0 Data Zone Capacity Failed! - Reason: The semaphore timeout period has expired." (using ImgBurn). I will include the full imgburn log at the end of this post for reference. I mentioned the hair-pulling because after my searching, I have found myriad helpful suggestions for fixing the issue, but nothing that works. For example, it is suggested that you... - upgrade firmware - fix DMA settings (in device manager, or BIOS settings on boot, or by uninstalling and reinstalling IDE controllers) - Get different media (I am using Verbatim 8x dual layer DVD+R discs... Yes, the ones made in INDIA :eek:... but I am 99.9% certain this is not the issue) - Run CHKDSK to check for bad sectors causing the semaphore timeout error - Various basic things like restarting PC, unplugging + reconnecting drive etc etc... -Blah blah, no need to bore you further So the upshot is... None of that works. The closest I have found to a straight answer (but still not quite there) on the subject is along the lines of "the problem is with reading the file on the hard drive, not burning it" - the suggestion there was to fix dma settings and run chkdsk, neither of which seem to fix the problem. I recently (i.e. yesterday) reformatted both my home computers (for unrelated reasons), and that didn't change anything. So, what I would like to ask you wizards in the know about such technical dual-layered mysteries is: will there still be problems burning the image if you try burning an image located on a brand-spanking-new HDD? If not, what else can be done to fix this? Another thought that has occurred to me (after reading several posts bringing the reliability of external DVD writers into question) is - if you were to gut an external DVD writer and put the component into a desktop pc (this applies to me - my pc obviously does not currently have an internal dual layer dvd writer), would this solve the problem? Thanks for reading, and even more thanks if you have any help! Regards, AngryPanda. P.S. Here is the imgburn log I mentioned at the start... I 17:36:20 ImgBurn Version 2.4.4.0 started! I 17:36:20 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600 : Service Pack 3) I 17:36:20 Total Physical Memory: 1,562,732 KB - Available: 739,024 KB I 17:36:20 Initialising SPTI... I 17:36:20 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices... I 17:36:21 Found 1 DVD Edited June 25, 2009 by AngryPanda
LIGHTNING UK! Posted June 25, 2009 Posted June 25, 2009 Another thought that has occurred to me (after reading several posts bringing the reliability of external DVD writers into question) is - if you were to gut an external DVD writer and put the component into a desktop pc (this applies to me - my pc obviously does not currently have an internal dual layer dvd writer), would this solve the problem? Yes. The semaphore timeout issue is caused by a bad enclosure chipset / usb chipset combo. There is no 100% fix for it other than the change one of those two and hope the next combo like each other a bit more! Of course if you can do away with the enclosure and plug the drive in properly via an internal PATA/SATA connection then that'll fix the issue too.
AngryPanda Posted June 25, 2009 Author Posted June 25, 2009 plug the drive in properly via an internal PATA/SATA connection then that'll fix the issue too. I have never had reason to question my sexuality, but I feel a strong urge to kiss you, LightningUK. Just to check that I am not being a tech-retard, I could achieve this by taking my desktop pc apart, removing the current DVD drive and plugging the new one in (that I took out of the external usb enclosure)? The only other solution that I have seen anywhere is to use it externally but with firewire instead of USB... My pc has a firewire socket, but the external enclosure does not, and putting the drive in a SATA slot in the desktop seems like less hassle than getting a new enclosure to mess around with, and possibly more likely to work. Thanks again! You are the batman to my gotham city of optical-media related woes! (I have plenty more obscure metaphors, ask inside).
LIGHTNING UK! Posted June 25, 2009 Posted June 25, 2009 Yes, you just unplug the old drive from your desktop PC and put the new one (minus its enclosure!) in its place. That is of course assuming the drives use the same interface! Do you know for sure the drive in the enclosure is SATA? (or I guess I could ask if you have a spare IDE connection in your desktop in case it's not)
AngryPanda Posted June 25, 2009 Author Posted June 25, 2009 I am not 100% certain that it uses a SATA connection... In fact, having done a quick google search (and turning up this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....odid=CD-110-SA), I am inclined to believe it may very well use the IDE interface. I do not know if there any spare IDE connections in my computer as I've never opened it up before. If there isn't, is there a safe way to disconnect something else and temporarily use that connection? I am, of course, assuming that the DVD drive currently in my desktop does not use IDE, in which case it will not be a problem anyways.... Sorry, I know I am rambling and going kind of off-topic, but I reaaaaaally want to get this sorted. By the way, did I say thankyou yet? =D
dontasciime Posted June 25, 2009 Posted June 25, 2009 Just to add if your DVD writer is faulty .. You can get Semaphore Timeout Errors internally. I have one such drive a Pioneer 109 that used to be in usb enclosure that displayed random STE errors (BTW it's not specific to Dual Layer burning) it can happen to any burn type. Anyways my Pioneer 109 in enclosure STE on random basis when I was experimenting to stop STE.. Even when this drive was placed on IDE cable internally it still gave Semaphore Timeout Errors (this is very uncommon on internal) I have only ever seen it once out of over 50 DVD writers placed internally (so I can only assume it even had issues with the 2 chipsets my motherboards used at that time (probably Nforce without Ide storage driver) What you may like to try is using wnaspi32 instead of SPTI as I/o Interface. Whilst in enclosure. I had quite a bit of success in stopping STE when using this ( I seem to recall +R being more susceptible somewhat but maybe there is an amount of doubt in my mind to that being too accurate of a statement as It has been quite a while since I have had STE (that maybe down to I have so many drives and a huge collection of usb enclosures that with me not changing the drives around that occupy the caddies for sometime now) also try the other I/O interfaces (as above I had most success with wnaspi32 no guarantees but do some testing with the cheaper single layers (it's a funny business though as in you will try 5 or 6 single layers and you will have seemed to cured it then the second you try for a keeper on say DL+ it does it) very infuriating. Your best bet is to connect it to your motherboards IDE/SATA as LUK has said and 99.9999999 times/100 it will stop.
AngryPanda Posted June 26, 2009 Author Posted June 26, 2009 Thanks for the help d00ds. Live long and prosper. I saw the new(ish) star trek movie recently... I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, as I've never been a fan of the series(es). So.... uh... watch it, I guess. KTHXBAI
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