'Power Calibration Area Error' frequency increasing ...

[ahmadka]

Hi Guys, I have a Liteon iHBS112-29 Burner, which I've been using for the past 1.5 years, during which time I've burnt tons of Bluray media .... During this time I rarely ever got a 'Power Calibration Area Error' .. its frequency only increased slightly in about the last 1-2 months (maybe 1 in 8-10 blurays burnt) ... However recently, like in the past 1-2 weeks, its frequency has increased more .. like 1 in 5 maybe ... And today, I burnt the same ISO two, and BOTH times the verification after burn failed at the point where the burner switches between the layers (read verification errors always occur at this point, whenever they do) ...

 

Recently, I've also noticed that in the start of the burn, when trying to write 'Lead-In', the write fails for 1-3 times, after which it works and the burn continues ... After the burn, some pass the verification and some done ... Here is a sample of this:

 

I 01:17:11 ImgBurn Version 2.5.7.0 started!

I 01:17:11 Microsoft Windows 8 Professional x64 Edition (6.2, Build 9200)

I 01:17:11 Total Physical Memory: 4,174,772 KB - Available: 1,125,052 KB

I 01:17:11 Initialising SPTI...

I 01:17:11 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices...

I 01:17:11 -> Drive 1 - Info: ATAPI iHBS112 2 CL0J (G:) (USB)

I 01:17:11 -> Drive 2 - Info: PIONEER BD-RW BDR-TD03 1.00 (E:) (ATAPI)

I 01:17:11 -> Drive 3 - Info: DTSOFT BDROM 1.05 (I:) (Virtual)

I 01:17:11 Found 1 BD-ROM and 2 BD-REs!

I 01:18:12 Operation Started!

I 01:18:12 Source File: C:\bdx.iso

I 01:18:12 Source File Sectors: 24,438,784 (MODE1/2048)

I 01:18:12 Source File Size: 50,050,629,632 bytes

I 01:18:12 Source File Volume Identifier: bdx

I 01:18:13 Source File Volume Set Identifier: bdx

I 01:18:13 Source File Application Identifier: BD Authoring

I 01:18:13 Source File Implementation Identifier: MEI

I 01:18:13 Source File File System(s): UDF (2.50)

I 01:18:13 Destination Device: [0:0:0] ATAPI iHBS112 2 CL0J (G:) (USB)

I 01:18:13 Destination Media Type: BD-R (Disc ID: VERBAT-IMd-000)

I 01:18:13 Destination Media Supported Write Speeds: 4x

I 01:18:13 Destination Media Sectors: 24,438,784

I 01:18:13 Write Mode: BD

I 01:18:13 Write Type: DAO

I 01:18:13 Write Speed: 4x

I 01:18:13 Hardware Defect Management Active: No

I 01:18:13 BD-R Verify Not Required: Yes

I 01:18:13 Link Size: Auto

I 01:18:13 Lock Volume: Yes

I 01:18:13 Test Mode: No

I 01:18:13 OPC: No

I 01:18:13 BURN-Proof: Enabled

I 01:18:15 Write Speed Successfully Set! - Effective: 17,980 KB/s (4x)

I 01:18:15 Advanced Settings - Force HT: No, Online HT: No, OverSpeed: No, SmartBurn: Yes

I 01:18:15 Filling Buffer... (80 MB)

I 01:18:16 Writing LeadIn...

W 01:19:10 Failed to Write Sectors 0 - 31 - Reason: Power Calibration Area Error

W 01:19:10 Retrying (1 of 20)...

W 01:19:27 Retry Failed - Reason: Power Calibration Area Error

W 01:19:27 Retrying (2 of 20)...

I 01:19:58 Writing LeadIn...

I 01:20:03 Writing Session 1 of 1... (1 Track, LBA: 0 - 24438783)

I 01:20:03 Writing Track 1 of 1... (MODE1/2048, LBA: 0 - 24438783)

I 01:20:03 Writing Layer 0... (LBA: 0 - 12219391)

I 01:43:15 Writing Layer 1... (LBA: 12219392 - 24438783)

I 02:06:29 Synchronising Cache...

I 02:06:30 Closing Track...

I 02:06:31 Finalising Disc...

I 02:06:48 Exporting Graph Data...

I 02:06:48 Graph Data File: C:\Users\Ahmad\AppData\Roaming\ImgBurn\Graph Data Files\ATAPI_iHBS112_2_CL0J_24-NOVEMBER-2012_01-18_VERBAT-IMd-000_4x.ibg

I 02:06:48 Export Successfully Completed!

I 02:06:48 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:48:35

I 02:06:48 Average Write Rate: 17,543 KB/s (3.9x) - Maximum Write Rate: 18,567 KB/s (4.1x)

I 02:06:48 Cycling Tray before Verify...

W 02:06:55 Waiting for device to become ready...

I 02:07:16 Device Ready!

I 02:07:19 Operation Started!

I 02:07:19 Source Device: [0:0:0] ATAPI iHBS112 2 CL0J (G:) (USB)

I 02:07:19 Source Media Type: BD-R (Disc ID: VERBAT-IMd-000)

I 02:07:19 Source Media Supported Write Speeds: 4x

I 02:07:19 Image File: C:\bdx.iso

I 02:07:19 Image File Sectors: 24,438,784 (MODE1/2048)

I 02:07:19 Image File Size: 50,050,629,632 bytes

I 02:07:19 Image File Volume Identifier: bdx

I 02:07:19 Image File Volume Set Identifier: bdx

I 02:07:19 Image File Application Identifier: BD Authoring

I 02:07:19 Image File Implementation Identifier: MEI

I 02:07:19 Image File File System(s): UDF (2.50)

I 02:07:19 Read Speed (Data/Audio): MAX / MAX

I 02:07:20 Verifying Session 1 of 1... (1 Track, LBA: 0 - 24438783)

I 02:07:20 Verifying Track 1 of 1... (MODE1/2048, LBA: 0 - 24438783)

I 02:07:20 Verifying Layer 0... (LBA: 0 - 12219391)

I 02:24:44 Verifying Layer 1... (LBA: 12219392 - 24438783)

I 02:42:15 Exporting Graph Data...

I 02:42:15 Graph Data File: C:\Users\Ahmad\AppData\Roaming\ImgBurn\Graph Data Files\ATAPI_iHBS112_2_CL0J_24-NOVEMBER-2012_01-18_VERBAT-IMd-000_4x.ibg

I 02:42:15 Export Successfully Completed!

I 02:42:15 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:34:55

I 02:42:15 Average Verify Rate: 23,341 KB/s (5.2x) - Maximum Verify Rate: 28,367 KB/s (6.3x)

I 03:00:59 Close Request Acknowledged

I 03:01:00 Closing Down...

I 03:01:00 Shutting down SPTI...

I 03:01:00 ImgBurn closed!

 

I've always been using Verbatim BD-50 discs which I import from Japan .. They've never really disappointed me, so I don't think its a media issue ... However, having said this, the majority of my burns in the last 1-2 days have used discs from a 50-pack I recently imported, so there might be a slight chance that the 50 pack media is faulty ? I highly doubt this though, as I've burnt 150+ of these Blurays in the past 1.5 years, and never really had any major problem ..

 

Unfortunately I don't have any other media or other Bluray burner to test anything on at this point ..

 

So what can be concluded from this ? Is my drive dying ? If so, can it be cleaned ?

[ahmadka]

Also, as far as I can tell, read verification problems only occur for Dual Layered Bluray media, at the point where the ImgBurn switches between the layers ... This is why I can never recall having any problems with read verification of BD-25 media ..

[LIGHTNING UK!]

The layer break is the outer edge of the disc and that's always the worst part to burn to.

 

There are several firmware updates available for you drive - http://www.firmwarehq.com/Lite-On/iHBS112%2B2/files.html

 

If you've been getting the error more and more frequently, it certainly sounds like a drive issue. It's the only thing that is going to get worse with time - assuming your discs aren't placed somewhere they'll degrade quickly?! Yes, you can clean drives. You can buy cleaning discs for exactly that purpose.

 

If you're getting the error more on the latest spindle of discs you're using, they too could be to blame. Without using discs from a known decent spindle, there's no way to rule those out either. You're going to have to do some troubleshooting I'm afraid

[ahmadka]

The layer break is the outer edge of the disc and that's always the worst part to burn to.

 

There are several firmware updates available for you drive - http://www.firmwarehq.com/Lite-On/iHBS112%2B2/files.html

 

If you've been getting the error more and more frequently, it certainly sounds like a drive issue. It's the only thing that is going to get worse with time - assuming your discs aren't placed somewhere they'll degrade quickly?! Yes, you can clean drives. You can buy cleaning discs for exactly that purpose.

 

If you're getting the error more on the latest spindle of discs you're using, they too could be to blame. Without using discs from a known decent spindle, there's no way to rule those out either. You're going to have to do some troubleshooting I'm afraid

 

Is there any tutorial which can show how to clean a drive, maybe ? The cleaner discs are probably good, but I don't think it can beat an actual clean done physically by opening up the drive ..

 

Also, I just burnt a few BD-50 BD-RE DL's (same brand as the BD-R DL's) and they burnt fine, without any problems ... Both the BD-R and BD-Re are virtually the same .. The only difference being that the BD-R is burnt 4x, while the BD-RE was burnt at 2x .... Does thing change anything ?

Edited November 24, 2012 by ahmadka

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Search Google, maybe you'll find one.

 

No, that doesn't change anything. The firmware update would be the first thing I'd try, followed by cleaning the drive, followed by trying another spindle of the same MID discs.