DVD Burning Problem

CRet

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Got talked into looking at a computer for a former customer.
Thought it would be a piece of cake... (software problem).

It's a Nightmare... (Hardware Problem)

Description:

MB: ASUS M5A97 R2.0 970 AM3+
CPU: AMD FX-8320
HDD: WD WD10EZEX
MEM: 4Gx2|KST KHX1600C9D3K2
PS: ANTEC| NEO ECO 520C
DVD: IHAS124-04 SATA
Graphics: Unknown (AMD)

Problem Burns DVD's at approximately 2x
Acts Like an IDE drive with DMA disabled...

Have Tried:

New DVD Drive, Used (Known Good) DVD Drive from Bench Computer
No Difference...

Clean Reinstall to Another HDD

Different SATA Setup IDE vs. AHCI

Different Power Supply...750w HX

What should I try next ?

Should I Contact ASUS about Replacement of the MB ?

Or should I Try a Different Graphics Card ?

I have never had this problem before with SATA drives.

I think this is an Omen stay in Retirement !

Thanks

CRet
 
Have you tried a new cable? Have you tried a different SATA port on the motherboard? If you plug up a HDD to that same port how does it perform?
 
What software are you using to burn? Could be a software setting.
 
Yes tried new cable twice.

Tried a different port three times.

Tried ImgBurn and a demo version of Nero 14.

Tried the Original drive in the Bench computer and burnt a disk at 16x OK.

Thanks

CRet
 
So, the DVD drive is okay - we know that.

Will it burn in safe mode? I don't know if I've ever attempted that, don't know if it will work, but it's worth a try.
 
I'd do the BIOS update if there is one.

Have you swapped the SATA cable ports on the motherboard, or is it still plugged in to the same one as when you received the PC?

I'm assuming (because you haven't told us) that you have tested the customers DVD drive on a good working PC?

What OS?

Andy
 
Recheck that you are in AHCI mode in bios not IDE, sounds like you've done this though.

For burning software, might try ashampoo burning studio free, or cdburnerxp. Both are available in free versions, and seem ok. Try a different cable, might also try a usb burner if you have one. Test hard drive as suggested.

Do you have the right chipset drivers installed for the board? My other suggestion might be try a different board if still having issues. When I go to Microcenter out here, seems like they sometimes have a lot of ASUS boards as returns, not that ASUS is a bad board, but I've personally had to take out at least a couple of their high end boards for clients who were having troubles. Drop a new gigabyte board in and not a peep since.
 
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate

Windows was installed to another HDD with no change.

Have tried 3 different SATA ports. This board has 6...

Will check BIOS version...

This is a UEFI board...

May try Installing Linux to another Hard Drive...

Just to see if it will burn a disk faster than 2x...

I have put the customers drive in safe storage until the problem is resolved...

Does anyone have one of these motherboards installed that they can look in the BIOS and see if I may have missed something.

Here is the motherboard page:
http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/M5A97_R20/

Thanks

CRet
 
You've only got so many variables here.

You KNOW the drive works in another machine.
If you used the same cable on the bench machine, that you are using
in the customers machine then you know the cables ok.

Try swapping another known working DVD burner into the problem machine. If that burns fine then you have something very very strange going on to the point of it being easier to just swap drives and forget about it. You could go on chasing this issue for days and not solve it.

Seeing if a different drive burns ok in the problem machine will be very helpful in moving on with this.
 
I see I'm 4 days late to the party but here goes.

Make sure the media is rated for the speeds you are burning at. Try slowing down the write speed. If it's defaults to 16X try 8X.

Install the latest firmware for the burner.

On my ASUS mobo (M4A89GTD PRO) the manual recommends installing the optical drive(s) to SATA ports 5 & 6 if using them for the OS install and setting them to "Native IDE" mode as opposed to the ACHI or RAID. I've left them in native IDE mode and burn at max speeds with no issues.
 
Waiting on the customer to decide what to do next...

Tried Drives 2 DVD Burners

Tried Different HDD

Tried Different SATA Cables

Reloaded the OS to a Different HDD

Tried different SATA Ports

Tried different memory

Tried different Power supply

Tried 2 different burning softwares

Tried 2 brands of Media

BIOS is current

Don't have a different Motherboard to try...

Hard disk access seems Normal

Long Shot

Have not tried Graphics card

****

Can anyone see anything I missed ?

I think this will be a hard sell to ASUS on Warranty ~18 months left on 3 year coverage.

Anyone know what the turnaround time is from ASUS ?

Never had to return one to ASUS before.

I guess It's the customers call...

CRet
 
I've returned a brand new monitor to ASUS for a new front panel logic board (??), took about 2.5 weeks - mostly shipping time.
 
I see where you said the BIOS is up to date but did you look at all the BIOS settings? Try loading the BIOS defaults. This mobo has a lot of programmable features unlike what the OEM's usually use.

Call ASUS tech support. I called them once when I first installed my mobo and the dude was really helpful. Especially after he realized I wasn't an end user.
 
Well I never got the problem resolved I am back on the health testing again.

I have referred them to another technician 40 miles away...

They are recommending building a new Intel system and reuse what's reusable from the old build.

Thanks for your help !

It really bugs me that I did not find and fix the problem.

It's time to totally retire and quit being a soft !!

CRet
 
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