Arch Linux

GRem

Member

From: Asunción

Registered: 2010-08-20

Posts: 32

[SOLVED] Bad disc burning

Arch x86_64 on a laptop here. KDE 4.6
I've been trying to make some backups on DVDs of several files from my system.

First, I used k3b. It correctly completed the operation, but when checking the contents, I got disc read errors.
After that, I used xfburn. Same thing: It completed the burning process, and when I tried copying back the files from the disc to the system, disc read errors.

Then, I tried making just the iso image, and then burning said image with k3b, then xfburn, then growisofs. Same thing, I have read errors.
Finally, I copied the iso image to my other system (arch i686 desktop), and used xfburn to burn said image. Surprise... it worked. The odd thing is, I used cdck to check the discs I made. The one that I created on the desktop computer finished successfully, and all the other failed ones always got read errors at sectors 452xxx, 457xxx or 458xxx. It's always in the 450000 range.
I used the same kind of media in all these operations, including the successful one.

The only thing I can think of is a hardware issue, but reading works perfectly fine, as long as the disc isn't made with this laptop's burner.
I have cdrkit 1.1.11-1 and dvd+rw-tools 7.1-2 on both systems.
My previous installation of Arch in this laptop was x86_64 xfce. I used xfburn as my main program back then, and most discs came out fine. Some have read issues, but these discs are a bit old and got quite some scratches.

Any idea of what else I can try? I have a few rewritable DVDs, so I can try with these to avoid making any more coasters. (I got five of them now... heh)

Last edited by GRem (2011-08-01 20:38:30)

lagagnon

Member

From: an Island in the Pacific...

Registered: 2009-12-10

Posts: 1,087

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Bad disc burning

Sounds like hardware to me. You could do a few tests, like:

dmesg | grep -i error    (too see if the kernel notices any drive errors)
dd if=/dev/sr0 of=/dev/null (see if dd notices drive read errors)
http://qpxtool.sourceforge.net/ (your drive needs to be supported with this software)
growisofs (use the --log-file switch to create a log and check for errors)

---

Philosophy is looking for a black cat in a dark room. Metaphysics is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there. Religion is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there and shouting "I found it!". Science is looking for a black cat in a dark room with a flashlight.

GRem

Member

From: Asunción

Registered: 2010-08-20

Posts: 32

Re: [SOLVED] Bad disc burning

dmesg shows the read errors at the sectors I mentioned. I/O errors.
From a 4.1 GB data DVD, dd managed to copy 1.8 GB. It ended when an I/O error showed up. This disc was made with my old xfce install... Other old discs I made have these errors too, ugh. I should've checked them properly.

qpxtool doesn't support the drive. I'll try growisofs again and see what happens. Otherwise, I'll just use the desktop for my disc burning for the time being.
Later on I'll try running a liveusb system, to check if the drive works better.

Last edited by GRem (2011-07-31 22:46:33)

lagagnon

Member

From: an Island in the Pacific...

Registered: 2009-12-10

Posts: 1,087

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Bad disc burning

If dmesg shows drive read errors then, IMHO, it is a 95% certainty you have a hardware fault with that optical drive.

---

Philosophy is looking for a black cat in a dark room. Metaphysics is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there. Religion is looking for a black cat in a dark room that isn't there and shouting "I found it!". Science is looking for a black cat in a dark room with a flashlight.

GRem

Member

From: Asunción

Registered: 2010-08-20

Posts: 32

Re: [SOLVED] Bad disc burning

OK. Until now,  I confirmed that any disc made with the desktop drive works perfectly on anything, including this laptop drive.
Discs burned with the laptop have errors, but I need to try these discs in other systems just in case something appears to be different. I'll confirm that today.

So in short, reading works fine, as long it's not a disc burned with the laptop. Odd...

EDIT: Now it's just... even weirder. A pair of discs I made back with my laptop's old Arch installation work perfectly in the desktop. Laptop drive gets read errors. Now, the discs I made with this new Arch installation have read errors on both systems. Lastly, discs made with the desktop work on both, as I previously mentioned.

So yeah... it pretty much means the drive isn't working properly, I doubt it can be anything else. I found a replacement at a pretty nice price... Or maybe I'll just get an external drive. Marking as Solved.

Last edited by GRem (2011-08-01 20:37:57)