Uncorrectable errors on MKM-003 discs with settings that once worked perfectly

[Sigma]

I've been using Verbatim MKM-003-00 discs for a long time and never had a problem with them on various drives. I bought a LiteOn iHAS 224B drive and converted it to a 624B and flashed it with c4eva's Burner Max firmware so that I could burn backups of XGD3 360 games.

 

Here are the initial settings I used: -

 

OPC: On, Smart Burn: On, all other features: Off

 

When burning at 4X, discs would burn and verify just fine. Scans in KProbe were within acceptable limits.

 

I then saw some superb scans posted by another guy on a forum and he was using these settings: -

 

OPC: On, Smart Burn: On, Hyper Tuning: On, Online Hyper Tuning: On, Over Speed Writing: Off.

 

So I decided to give those settings a go and I burned about 10 discs (at 4X) with excellent results. The KProbe scans were some of the best I've ever seen.

 

Yesterday I tried to burn an image to a disc and the verify failed at about 60% with an uncorrectable error. I put it down to a bad disc and tried again. This time it failed to verify at about 80%, again with an uncorrectable error. I tried another 2 or 3 discs and all failed to verify. KProbe scans were poor too.

 

What I don't understand is - nothing has changed other than the burn quality turning to crap. I'm using the same settings that gave me superb results for about 10 burns. The discs are from the same spindle. Now I just can't get a decent burn with this drive on Verbatim MKM-003-00 media.

 

I have tried going back to my initial settings with just OPC and Smart Burn turned on. I have tried burning at 2.4X. I have tried clearing the OPC history. I'm still getting coaster after coaster.

 

Has anyone got any tips so that I can get good burns with this drive/media combo again? Thanks in advance.

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Take a look at post #20 here - http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?act=findpost&pid=136519

 

Pay attention to Attempt 8.

[Sigma]

Thanks Lightning. I'm going to try a burn with those settings now.

 

Just a couple of questions though: -

 

1. Why has the write strategy for MKM-003-00 been renamed to MKM-0a3-00 in Burner Max? Would this not have a detrimental effect? Is there any way to change it back?

 

2. What exactly is hyper tuning and online hyper tuning?

 

I've Googled around for answers, but I've not found a good explanation for these things.

[LIGHTNING UK!]

The default write strategy in the firmware doesn't seem to play nicely with the overburning. It kept failing to verify around the layer break point for me during testing.

 

When no strategy exists (as would be the case if the original is renamed), the drive automatically uses HT and OHT to burn the disc.

 

HT and OHT are part of 'SmartWrite' - http://www.liteonit.eu/en/smartwrite/smartwrite.html

 

My results were very inconsistent until I turned off OHT (by enabling FHT). Don't forget to clear the drive's OPC history before starting.

 

Are your Verbatim discs made in Singapore? The ones from there seem to produce the best results.

[Sigma]

I cleared the OPC history and power cycled the drive before I did this burn. It burned and verified OK in ImgBurn this time and here's the KProbe scan: -

 

 

Burn speed = 4X.

OPC, OHT, OSW = Disabled.

FHT, SmartBurn = On.

 

As long as I'm interpreting that scan correctly, it looks like an excellent burn to me. That's the kind of result I was getting originally, only without the PI peak near the beginning.

 

The Verbatims are made in Singapore. I'm in the UK and every pack I've ever bought has been made in Singapore rather than in India, so I guess I've been lucky in that respect.

 

Hopefully with OHT disabled I can consistently achieve these results. Does OHT use some kind of online database made up of other users' results to tune the write strategy? Could people messing with the media IDs of cheaper media to try and get better results with Burner Max be affecting this in some way? It seems strange that I was getting brilliant burns at first and then all of a sudden they were failing and had very high error rates.

 

Many thanks for your help, Lightning!

[LIGHTNING UK!]

No, the drive doesn't use an online database. It does/can remember certain things about previous burns though (and use that info to 'help' with future burns) - but only Lite-On really know what the drive does internally.