The machine that kicks a** ... mine! CDRW problem.

[jeana]

So my dream computer, complete with dual boot of Win98 upgrade and Red Hat Linux 6.0, is finally alive!

One of the last problems remaining:
About five out of six times, my Plextor 4220 RW burner freezes Windows whenever I insert my blank media into the drive. This happens both when I use the Adaptec software (Easy CD Creator Deluxe) that came with the Plextor drive and with other writer programs.
I am unable to "End Task" and have to reboot. The computer also freezes upon re-entry into Windows if I accidentally leave a blank CD in the Plextor drive. Often, I find that the computer is stuck on the program "Mediadet". The disks are Ricoh Platinum, but the problem also occurs with the free CDR that was packaged with the drive.

Once again, here are the specs:
Celeron 300a (at 450MHz)
192 MB PC100 SDRAM
Abit BX6 v2.02 motherboard
Tekram DC390U2W adapter
9GB IBM 9es Ultrastar U2W SCSI
Pioneer 6X DVD-303s player, Ultra SCSI (also used as a CD reader, working
at 32X)
Plextor 4220Ti
Creative SB Live! Value sound card
3Com V90 voice/fax ISA modem
ATI All-in-Wonder AGP video card/DVD decoder
also a floppy drive, my old IDE drive working as a D: drive, and an external Zip Plus drive plugged in the parallel port.

All of my components have the latest drivers that I could find on the Web. BIOS is the latest revision, and I also tried upgrading my CD burning programs.
The HDD is set with ID 0; the DVD player is ID3 and the Plextor is at ID4. The IDs are set with the jumpers.
Active termination used to be set on the Plextor and turned off on the other SCSI
devices. Later, I tried turning off termination on the Plextor and putting a terminator on the end of my LVD cable (since it seemed that there was no other way to terminate my U2W drive).

In the Device manager, there seem to be no conflicts or problems with devices or drivers. The computer does not freeze under other applications, amazingly enough.

Is there something wrong with my SCSI termination? What am I missing here?

Thanks,
Jeana

[This message has been edited by jeana (edited 07-09-99).]

P.S. Of course I tried everything at the proper bus speed and CPU speed. Didn't make a particle of difference.

[This message has been edited by jeana (edited 07-09-99).]

[BBA]

Does the CD-R function as a regular CD-ROM? I mean can it read a CD-Rom correctly?

I wonder if you have LVD drives and controller with a non-LVD burner

BBA

[jeana]

The Plextor can read non-blank CDs without
problem. My Pioneer, which is on the same cable, works flawlessly as far as I can tell.

The way the Tekram card is set up, it has separate internal connectors and cables for the (forgive me if I get the exact terminology wrong) 50 pin Ultra? SCSI and for the LVD U2W SCSI. In the manual, it mentioned that one needs extra termination only if there are both internal and external SCSI devices.

I'll also make it clear that every once in a while the Plextor will pull it together and produce a beautiful copy for me. Very puzzling.


[This message has been edited by jeana (edited 07-10-99).]

Y'know, BBA... I just looked at the Plextor 8220 specifications (they've stopped posting the 4220-- it's already obsolete, man!) and it is listed as FAST SCSI, not ULTRA SCSI. I couldn't find it in the manual, but I'll bet that the 4220 is "Fast" (i.e., slow) as well. My Tekram has an internal connection for that, too. Oy. So I'll try adding another cable and hope for the best.



[This message has been edited by jeana (edited 07-10-99).]

[jeana]

...well, no luck.

Just looked at the Tekram manual, and the same connector that supports Fast also supports Ultra, so my CDRW is already on the correct cable/connector. Stymied for the moment.