Program Memory Area Update Failure

[cliveb]

I've done a search, and all the threads I've found about this problem discuss things like media issues. I'm fairly convinced that's not my problem.

 

I use a Samsung SH-S202N drive and Taiyo Yuden DVD+R (YUDEN000-T02-00) media. This is officially an 8x media, but it normally burns fine at 12x. I have confirmed that the hard disk and DVDR drive are running in DMA mode.

 

I'm in the process of preparing a DVD-Video 4-disc set. The first three have been fine, burned at AUTO (MAX) speed, which maxed out at 12x. On the fourth disc of the set, I'm getting the error message "Potential 'WaitImmediateIO' Deferred Error - (0/2) - Program Memory Area Update Failure" during disc finalisation. This has happened on three consecutive discs from the spindle. The ISO image of the fourth disc is in fact slightly smaller than that of the other three, so I don't think it's because the laser is going further on the disc than it's been before. I have tried the following:

 

1. Rebuilding the ISO image in a different file system location (in case there was a bad spot on the hard disk that was causing a problem).

2. Rebooting the PC in case something weird had happened with Windows.

3. Trying the last burn at 8x instead of AUTO.

 

Here's the ImgBurn log:

I 09:07:01 ImgBurn Version 2.3.2.0 started!

I 09:07:01 Microsoft Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600 : Service Pack 2)

I 09:07:01 Total Physical Memory: 523,760 KB - Available: 357,400 KB

I 09:07:01 Initialising SPTI...

I 09:07:01 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices...

I 09:07:01 Found 1 DVD

[LIGHTNING UK!]

A lot of Samsung / Lite-On drives now produce this error and nobody knows why.

 

All you can do is hope that they fix it in the firmware someday.

 

You should at least update ImgBurn though.

[cliveb]

Thanks very much for your quick response.

 

A lot of Samsung / Lite-On drives now produce this error and nobody knows why.

But my drive has been fine up to now, and then it suddenly started doing this without any system changes. Is that what people have been reporting - that a previously fine drive just suddenly starts misbehaving in this way?

 

If I need to replace the drive, do you have any recommendations? (I need a drive with good DAE capabilities as well as being able to do nice DVD burns).

 

You should at least update ImgBurn though.

Latest: I tried writing the same ISO image with an old version of Nero (6.3.0.0). For added paranoia, I burned at 4x, and there were no errors reported. The resulting disc plays fine on my DVD player. But on checking it, the book type was still DVD+R, so I conclude that the inability to play the disc burned by ImgBurn was NOT to do with the book type, but some other glitch in the disc caused by the failure.

 

So I updated ImgBurn as you recommend, burned the same ISO image (this time at 4x), and got the same error. Here's the log (with debug mode switched on):

I 12:14:05 ImgBurn Version 2.4.2.0 started!

I 12:14:05 Microsoft Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600 : Service Pack 2)

I 12:14:05 Total Physical Memory: 523,760 KB - Available: 267,900 KB

I 12:14:05 Initialising SPTI...

I 12:14:05 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices...

I 12:14:05 Found 1 DVD

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Please read the 'pinned' thread here...

 

http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=7860

[cliveb]

Please read the 'pinned' thread here...

 

http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=7860

My apologies for failing to notice that thread. Given its title, I have no excuse!

 

But I'm still left with the practical issue of what to do about the problem. I still have a stack of Taiyo Yuden +R media that I'd prefer not to chuck out - buying a different DVDRW drive would be cheaper! Is changing to a non Samsung/Lite-On drive the only feasible solution?

[Cynthia]

I 09:08:15 Source File Sectors: 1,793,376

The error seems related to specific sector sizes. Try to change the size of the image and it 'should' work (if you don't encounter another tricky sector size).

 

http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=7776

 

[Cynthia]

Tried the same sector size in my Samsung SH-S223F writer and I couldn't trigger that error.

 

I 15:47:46 Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (6.0, Build 6001 : Service Pack 1)

I 15:47:46 Total Physical Memory: 2

[cliveb]

I 09:08:15 Source File Sectors: 1,793,376

The error seems related to specific sector sizes. Try to change the size of the image and it 'should' work (if you don't encounter another tricky sector size).

I shaved a few seconds off the video and rebuilt the ISO image. This time it had 1,793,248 rather than 1,793,376 sectors. But I still got the same error

 

So then just to verify that it wasn't that the drive had developed a fault, I burned one of the previous ISO images that had been successful, and that worked fine.

 

I also tried burning the failing ISO image to a DVD+RW disc I had lying around (a PRODISC-W02-00) and it worked - no error. So do we conclude that it's only +R (and not +RW) that it happens on, or could it be a combination of sector size and media type?

 

Tried the same sector size in my Samsung SH-S223F writer and I couldn't trigger that error.

Interesting, especially as you're using the same media as me. There are three differences that might be significant:

1. Your drive is an SH-S223F, mine is an SH-S202N.

2. You're running firmware SB02, I have SB01.

3. You're running Vista, I'm on XP.

 

I'll check to see if the SB02 firmware is available for the SH-S202N.

 

EDIT: just installed SB02 and tried again: same error

 

One final thing is bothering me. In a thread over at CD Freaks, Lightning UK seems to imply that even when there is this error, the resulting disc should be OK. His post also shows that the resulting disc has the DVD-ROM booktype set. But my experience is at odds with this:

1. For sure the discs work OK on my PC, but they won't load on my DVD player.

2. The booktype of the burned disc is still DVD+R.

 

Meanwhile the same ISO image burned with Nero 6.3.0.0 did work on my DVD player (and it too has a booktype of DVD+R, so it's not just that the player won't recognise +R discs). I appreciate that Nero may simply have failed to notify the error that ImgBurn reported, but it would appear that after receiving the error, ImgBurn has omitted to do some operation that renders the disc unplayable.

Edited November 24, 2008 by cliveb

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Yeah, you need to be using 2.4.2.0 and disable the automatic retries to close the disc.

[cliveb]

Yeah, you need to be using 2.4.2.0 and disable the automatic retries to close the disc.

I disabled automatic retries, and when it failed with "Program Memory Area Update Failure" a pop up appeared with three options: "cancel", "retry" and "continue". After a few seconds of musing, I selected "continue" - was that correct? It certainly seems so - the resulting disc now plays in my DVD player and has a booktype of DVD-ROM.

 

Many thanks to you and Cynthia for your assistance. I'm a happy bunny again - I really wasn't looking forward to going back to Nero!

[LIGHTNING UK!]

The other checkbox to the side of that one will auto-ignore (same as 'continue') the error... just to save you from doing it manually

[Cynthia]

even when there is this error, the resulting disc should be OK.

You will see a big spike at the end of the end of the disc if you do a disc scan in either Nero DiscSpeed or DVDInfoPro.

 

Tried to find a scan of one of my discs to show you, but I'm not very well organized...