Almost constant 'Invalid address for write' errors

[reddragon105]

I've been having a lot of trouble burning disks lately. I'm using ImgBurn 2.5.1.0 in Windows Vista x64 with a Pioneer DVR 212 with the latest firmware (v1.28).

Almost every time I try to burn a disk, it will get so far through (usually around 30-50%, but I've seen it occur much earlier and also much later) and then start performing write retries. After 20 retries it gives the error message 'Invalid Address for Write'.

This is happening with almost every disk I try to burn. If I keep trying, it will eventually be successful, but I'm currently wasting around 4 out of every 5 disks. It seems to happen less often with dual layer disks than with single layer disks, I'm getting the same error with all types of media I try. My single layer disks are Datawrite Titanium (YUDEN000-T02-00) and my dual layer disks are Aone Plus (RICOHJPN-D01-67). I'm about half way through a spindle of 100 of the single layer disks and didn't have a single problem with any of them until a few weeks ago.

 

Things I've tried -

Burning at different speeds. The same error occurs regardless of whether I set it to MAX, AWS, manually set it to the max speed or any other speed down to the lowest (4x for my single layer disks).

Burning different things - DVD videos, disks full of small files, Xbox 360 backups, I get the same error regardless of what I'm trying to burn.

Checked for viruses. Even went as far as reinstalling Windows. Got the same error with pretty much nothing but Windows, ImgBurn and an ISO on the hard drive and obviously no other programs running.

Cleaned my DVD drive - using a lens cleaning disk, didn't help, so then I opened the drive and cleaned the lens directly with some isopropanol. Made no difference.

Went out and bought a new DVD drive. I've had the 212 for 2.5 years and have burned a lot of disks with it, so I figured if it wants to die on me I can live with having to replace it. I bought a brand new Pioneer DVR S18L, got exactly the same error with that. In fact, if anything, it was worse, I don't think I managed to successfully burn a single disk on the S18, whereas at least the 212 still occasionally gets one done. The S18 has since been returned.

 

So I'm now posting here as a last resort - I feel I've exhausted all the possible options, checking both hardware and software. I'm now left thinking that either I've just happened to end up with two batches of bad disks from two different sources or I'm missing something. So please fling your suggestions at me.

 

Here's the log from my most recent failed burn. It's a DVD video, files were authored in Adobe Encore, then I used ImgBurn to build an ISO from the files and then tried to burn that ISO. If I try to burn any more disks I'll save the logs and post them here.

 

I 14:36:11 ImgBurn Version 2.5.1.0 started!

I 14:36:11 Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate x64 Edition (6.0, Build 6002 : Service Pack 2)

I 14:36:11 Total Physical Memory: 8,386,752 KB - Available: 6,146,160 KB

W 14:36:11 Duplex Secure's SPTD driver can have a detrimental effect on drive performance.

I 14:36:11 Initialising SPTI...

I 14:36:11 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices...

I 14:36:11 -> Drive 1 - Info: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-212 1.28 (D:) (ATA)

I 14:36:11 -> Drive 2 - Info: ALSDMVS EFS52FWXY 1.03 (F:) (SCSI)

I 14:36:11 -> Drive 3 - Info: ALSDMVS EFS52FWXY 1.03 (G:) (SCSI)

I 14:36:11 Found 1 DVD±RW/RAM and 2 BD-ROM/HD DVD-ROMs!

I 14:36:29 Operation Started!

I 14:36:29 Source File: C:\Users\Paul\Desktop\Hamlet.iso

I 14:36:29 Source File Sectors: 2,269,952 (MODE1/2048)

I 14:36:29 Source File Size: 4,648,861,696 bytes

I 14:36:29 Source File Volume Identifier: Hamlet

I 14:36:29 Source File Volume Set Identifier: 3C986F5D0022A2F8

I 14:36:29 Source File Application Identifier: IMGBURN V2.5.1.0 - THE ULTIMATE IMAGE BURNER!

I 14:36:29 Source File Implementation Identifier: ImgBurn

I 14:36:29 Source File File System(s): ISO9660, UDF (1.02)

I 14:36:29 Destination Device: [3:0:0] PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-212 1.28 (D:) (ATA)

I 14:36:29 Destination Media Type: DVD+R (Disc ID: YUDEN000-T02-00) (Speeds: 4x, 6x, 8x, 12x)

I 14:36:29 Destination Media Sectors: 2,295,104

I 14:36:29 Write Mode: DVD

I 14:36:29 Write Type: DAO

I 14:36:29 Write Speed: 4x

I 14:36:29 DVD+R Reserve Track: No

I 14:36:29 Link Size: Auto

I 14:36:29 Lock Volume: Yes

I 14:36:29 Test Mode: No

I 14:36:29 OPC: No

I 14:36:29 BURN-Proof: Enabled

I 14:36:29 Write Speed Successfully Set! - Effective: 5,540 KB/s (4x)

I 14:36:29 Advanced Settings - Optimal Writing Speed: No

I 14:36:29 Filling Buffer... (40 MB)

I 14:36:30 Writing LeadIn...

I 14:36:47 Writing Session 1 of 1... (1 Track, LBA: 0 - 2269951)

I 14:36:47 Writing Track 1 of 1... (MODE1/2048, LBA: 0 - 2269951)

W 14:41:07 Failed to Write Sectors 691936 - 691967 - Reason: Write Error

W 14:41:07 Retrying (1 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (2 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (3 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (4 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (5 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (6 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (7 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (8 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (9 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (10 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (11 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (12 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (13 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (14 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (15 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (16 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (17 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (18 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (19 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

W 14:41:09 Retrying (20 of 20)...

W 14:41:09 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

E 14:47:04 Failed to Write Sectors 691936 - 691967 - Reason: Write Error

E 14:47:04 Next Writable Address: 691248

I 14:47:04 Synchronising Cache...

W 14:47:06 User opted to skip the 'Close Track/Session/Disc' functions.

E 14:47:06 Failed to Write Image!

I 14:47:07 Exporting Graph Data...

I 14:47:07 Graph Data File: C:\Users\Paul\AppData\Roaming\ImgBurn\Graph Data Files\PIONEER_DVD-RW_DVR-212_1.28_24-APRIL-2010_14-36_YUDEN000-T02-00_4x.ibg

I 14:47:07 Export Successfully Completed!

E 14:47:07 Operation Failed! - Duration: 00:10:37

I 14:47:07 Average Write Rate: 2,242 KB/s (1.6x) - Maximum Write Rate: 5,583 KB/s (4.0x)

ImgBurn.log

[mmalves]

The discs you have are crap and that's pretty obvious from the fact that even a new burner couldn't burn them. Try with Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden blanks, possibly even Sony, and it should work fine.

[reddragon105]

The discs you have are crap and that's pretty obvious from the fact that even a new burner couldn't burn them. Try with Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden blanks, possibly even Sony, and it should work fine.

Thanks for your reply, but could you please give criticism that's a little more constructive than 'you have crap disks'? Like, first of all, which are crap? The YUDEN000-T02-00 single layer or the RICOHJPN-D01-67 dual layer, or both? I've been using the Aone dual layer disks for 2 and a half years now and have almost never had a problem with them - I've been burning disks all week since I made this thread and haven't had another problem with an Aone disk, so perhaps it was just a fluke that I had a problem with one of those at all. Disks that I burned 2.5 years ago are still going strong and can be imaged back into ISO files with no read errors. However, it's only my latest batch of Datawrite disks that I've had this problem with and the fact that they're 'crap disks' doesn't explain the fact that I got through the first 50 of them before having any problem and then have only been able to burn 1 disk in 5 since (out of the next 150 disks, which I'm now almost out of). So that's why I figured the problem lay elsewhere - because when I started getting errors I hadn't just changed disks, I was in the middle of a spindle. I've also got a batch of CMC MAG. AM3 single layer disks - I've googled that dye and found nothing but negative comments about it, yet I haven't had a single problem burning to any of those disks (it's just that I can't use them for my production work because they're not printable disks). So what's the difference between the YUDEN000-T02-00 crap dye and the CMC MAG. AM3 crap dye that means I can burn to one but not the other? And why are all disks crap except Verbatim disks? I understand how some can be better than others, but those that aren't as good shouldn't just not work or they wouldn't sell, there would be lawsuits, and the companies selling them would go under. I may not have bought the best disks but there must be a better reason for half of them just not working at all.

[ianymaty]

You see, not only the media is the problem. It's a combination of things like what media in what burner with what firmware and maybe other like chipset drivers correctly installed working all together.

 

Now, from the many firmware updates it has, seems it is a burner with problems, and now it is geting old, latest update beeing 1st August, 2008.

 

If you can, try it in another computer see how it is performing.

 

Other than that, invest in a new one.

[mmalves]

You said yourself that even a new burner wasn't able to burn those blanks. Is it that inconceivable that the remaining blanks you have are defective? That's why I told you to try with other media: you don't need to buy a truckload of them, just a few to try them out.

 

As for the brand, Verbatim and original/certified Taiyo Yuden blanks give the best burn quality on most burners, and that's why they can be used to test a burner, because if it isn't able to burn them then it's useless.

[reddragon105]

You see, not only the media is the problem. It's a combination of things like what media in what burner with what firmware and maybe other like chipset drivers correctly installed working all together.

 

Now, from the many firmware updates it has, seems it is a burner with problems, and now it is geting old, latest update beeing 1st August, 2008.

 

If you can, try it in another computer see how it is performing.

 

Other than that, invest in a new one.

Yeah, I agree that it's a combination of things - that's why I came on here asking for help, so that people can throw suggestions at me that I haven't tried. Yes, my drive is fairly old - I stated in my first post that I thought it might be dying on me, so I've already tried buying a new one and that was even worse - didn't get ANY successful burns out of it. After being so satisfied with my Pioneer 212 I automatically bought the latest Pioneer without realising it's gotten pretty terrible reviews across the board, but never mind, it's been returned now, so no loss. I'm currently looking to upgrade to a Blu-Ray writer, which I can't quite afford, so I'm reluctant to buy another DVD writer in the meantime, and as my 212 is still burning successfully around 33% of the time I'm assuming it's still working and that the problem lies elsewhere. I read a suggestion that it could be a failing power supply, so I'm looking into that.

 

 

 

 

You said yourself that even a new burner wasn't able to burn those blanks. Is it that inconceivable that the remaining blanks you have are defective? That's why I told you to try with other media: you don't need to buy a truckload of them, just a few to try them out.

 

As for the brand, Verbatim and original/certified Taiyo Yuden blanks give the best burn quality on most burners, and that's why they can be used to test a burner, because if it isn't able to burn them then it's useless.

 

No, it's not inconceivable - but I've got two different types of disk from two different sources and I'm having the same problem with both types, so it's statistically improbable that I'd get get a pack of single layer disks that are half defective from one place and a pack of dual layer disks that are half defective from another place and, as I've been going through the dual layer disks faster than the single layers, hit upon the defective disks in both packs at exactly the same time. Does that sound like the likliest cause of the problem to you? I had to give up on solving the problem for the last couple of weeks due to being busy, but now I'm back on it and I've bought another pack of disks of a different type (Ritek G05) just to test and am having the same problem with those. Will get some Verbs next, but in the meantime I'm going to try different software, check my power supply and motherboard and see if I can spare some cash from the Blu-Ray writer fund to get another DVD writer that isn't a Pioneer...

[ianymaty]

You can try to update chipset/storage drivers, see if that improove something.

 

If the Verbatim not working most probably your drive is on the way out.

[reddragon105]

You can try to update chipset/storage drivers, see if that improove something.

 

If the Verbatim not working most probably your drive is on the way out.

Yes, that had also occurred to me. I first checked to make sure that all chipset drivers were installed, which they were when I first started getting errors, and then I updated them to the latest versions and have still been getting the same errors since.

 

The latest update is that I have tried installing CloneDVD and using that to burn everything (even though I'm mostly burning data disks at the moment, with the odd DVD Video - I'm creating ISOs in ImgBurn, but then burning them with CloneDVD). I have done around 10 disks like this since last night and not had a single problem. It's a shame that CloneDVD doesn't have a verify option, but I've been verifying the disk against the ISO with ImgBurn after burning and so far had no errors whatsoever. So right now I'm confident that my DVD writer is still working (despite its age, and I'm still considering getting another one anyway) and the disks I have do work, so the problem must lie elsewhere. I've tried some older versions of ImgBurn (3 of them, currently on 2.4.4.0) but am still getting the errors with those. I have a new hard drive on its way (unrelated to this, I just need more storage), so at some point in the next week I will be performing a clean install of Windows on a new hard drive and will try ImgBurn 2.5.1.0 with the bare minimum OS and drivers installed to see if that works, even though my last clean install on my current hard drive didn't fix anything.

Edited May 23, 2010 by reddragon105

[Cynthia]

I've seen some posts in the past and there has been suggested to try the Incremental write type. (Settings, the tab Write).

 

Never seen anyone post back the results so I have no idea if it works. I think CloneDVD uses that write type as default.

[reddragon105]

Well it's been another couple of weeks and I'm still having problems even though I have now bought a new DVD writer. I now have a Sony Optiarc AD-7240S with the latest firmware (1.04). Since installing it I've burned several single layer DVDs and not had a single problem with any of those, however today I tried to burn a dual layer disk and have had a few different errors, mainly "Potential 'WaitImmediateIO' Deferred Error - Power Calibration Area Error", but also "Failed to Write Sectors - Reason: Power Calibration Area Error". The latest logs are attached.

 

I have performed all kinds of checks on my PC, including ensuring the DVD drive is connected to an appropriate SATA port and that SATA is configured correctly and all chipset drivers are installed and up to date.

 

I've run out of ideas - I've checked everything and there's absolutely no reason I should be having problems. The problems started without me changing anything, either with hardware or software and since then I've installed a new hard drive and reinstalled Windows (which shouldn't have affected anything) and tried two new DVD writers.

 

What else could it be?

 

 

 

ImgBurn1.log

ImgBurn2.log

ImgBurn3.log

ImgBurn4.log

[Cynthia]

All four logs are burnt at 4x. Have you tried 6x and 8x?

[reddragon105]

Well I prefer to burn at lower speeds - I would be burning dual layer disks at 2.4x if my new writer supported it. I always thought if you were having problems at low speeds you're less likely to have success at higher speeds. But anyway, I did go on to try once at 8x, and also switched the write type to Incremental, and got this error:

 

"Potential 'WaitImmediateIO' Deferred Error - (99%, 0/3) - Power On, Reset, or Bus Device Reset Occurred"

 

It popped up with an error saying it had failed to finalise the disk (after retrying 3 times automatically). I clicked 'Try again' on the prompt and this time it appeared to be successful but then it started getting read errors around 50% through verification.

 

Log attached.

 

ImgBurn5.log

Edited June 11, 2010 by reddragon105

[LIGHTNING UK!]

CloneDVD doesn't report errors during the finalisation stage, the pinned thread at the top of this forum about 'program memory update error' confirms that.

 

There's no magic going on here and no reason for a drive to error out in one program and not in another - beyond those caused by dodgy drivers on the system or different programs using different 'Write Type' settings. The hardware reports the errors, the software simply displays them (or doesn't, in the case of CloneDVD) to the user.

 

Your latest bus reset one is a simple timeout in the drivers. It looks bang on 30 seconds after the command was submitted - again, that's a driver issue - I instruct the system to use a much longer timeout. Keep optical drives off AHCI/RAID enabled controllers if at all possible.

 

btw, which chipset/controller is your drive actually on? Do you have the same problem if you rebuild with a 32bit OS where the drivers are more stable?

 

You already know we don't rate any DL discs besides the Verbatim ones so I won't tell you again!

[reddragon105]

I thought I had it narrowed down to a driver problem, that's why I checked I had the correct drivers installed and up to date. I have an Asus P5K-E Wifi-AP motherboard, which has an Intel P35/ICH9R chipset and got the latest drivers from the Asus website. The SATA is currently configured as RAID, but I only changed that when I got my new hard drive and installed Windows on it. When I first started having problems and when I started this thread it was configured as IDE. The board has 6 SATA ports and as far as I can tell, they all either have to be in IDE mode or all in RAID mode. I don't know if I have the option to put the hard drive on a RAID enabled controller and the DVD drive on IDE, but I am about to go digging around in my BIOS settings to find out...

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Get the 'chipset inf' and 'rapid storage technology' drivers from the Intel site, not the Asus one.

 

Check the bios is up-to-date too.

 

Try to use port 5 and 6 for the optical drive. The first 4 are on one controller, the remaining 2 are treated slightly differently (I think they're non raid but still on the intel controllers). If it turns out that 5 & 6 are on something like a JMicron controller, ignore what I've just said!

[reddragon105]

Ok, I've downloaded the latest drivers from Intel's website (Intel Rapid Storage Technology 9.6.0.1014 and INF Update Utility 9.1.1.1025). I hope that's everything I need.

 

My board does have a JMicron controller, but it's only for the IDE slot (which is unused) and the two eSATA ports on the back. The 6 internal SATA ports are all Intel ICH9. The manual states that 1, 2, 5 and 6 (which are coloured red) are set to 'Master' for boot disks and that 3 and 4 (black) are set to 'Slave' for data disks. But I can see from the layout that there's something different about 5 and 6. I think I had my DVD drive in one of those when I first started having problems, so it's currently on 3 because it's one of the 'slaves'. I will try moving it back to 5 or 6 and see what happens.

 

Also, my board's BIOS was quite out of date until I updated to the latest version yesterday. But that was after the first disk failure, so logs 2-5 are from after updating the BIOS...

[reddragon105]

Well, another few days and I've had time to do some more tests. Most of all, I think I can now say that it is not a chipset issue. I have a SATA-USB adapter that I use for an external hard drive, so over the weekend I used that to instead connect both of my DVD writers to my laptop and tried burning some disk images from there. First I tried my new Optiarc drive and got exactly the same problem again and again. I reached 10 coasters from trying to burn that same game image that I've been trying to burn for the last week - usually I would have had at least one success before that! But then I tried my old Pioneer drive again and it worked first time without a hitch. A fluke or not? I really can't tell.

 

I'm kind of at my wits end with this now - I need to burn DVDs at home as part of my job so this is really something I need to get working. Fortunately I mostly burn DVD5s and I haven't had a single problem with one of those, on any of the 3 different times I have, with my new Optiarc drive. So I'm starting to think it's a combination of factors - that my Pioneer drive is on its way out and is only successfully burning a disk occassionally through sheer luck (and that goes for both DVD5 and DVD9) and that there is actually something wrong with the DVD9 disks I have. I know I defended the media I'm using in a previous post (and I still stand by the fact that even cheaper disks should work, otherwise why would anyone make and be able to get away with selling them?), but then I noticed something - for the past 3 years I've been using 'Aone' disks. The latest batches I've bought are labelled 'Aone Gold Edition'. There is also now 'Aone Premium'. What's the difference between these and what changed from the old disks? As far as I can see they all use the same dye, so what else could be different? I have done some shopping on eBay and bought a few DVD9 disks of various types and I'm going to do some testing, although I've done some searching and read that my Optiarc drive should have no problem burning onto RICOHJPN-D01-67 dye.

 

I've had a bit more success with the disks I've burned since the weekend - I still get 'Power Calibration Area Error' errors when it comes to finalising the disk, but if I click continue it goes on to verify the disk (which I always do) successfully (like in the latest log that I've attached). So does this mean I had a successful burn or not? Is the disk finalised? Can I ignore the error? What exactly does it mean and how would it normally be solved/prevented?

 

ImgBurn11.log