Plextor Dvd-writer Px-608u (external Slim Writer - Usb)

hey there,

i recently bought a new PLEXTOR DVD EXTERNAL WRITER. i installed NERO EXPRESS software provided with it. i tried to burn an audio cd, and the message that nero showed on the log was 'UNKNOWN BURNPHASE'. When it started burning, the percentage of the recording reached 2%, and i guess any writer reads uptill that moment and then actually starts burning from there on. therefore, we do notice a pause for a while at 2% approx. But in this case, it got stuck at 2% for about 3 to 3 n half minutes, and suddenly after that it shows 'UNKNOWN BURNPHASE' as a pop-up window, with a red round logo having a white cross (just the windows warning or error sign). I mean to say that it showed the sign of recording being failed, but instead of saying 'BURNING PROCESS FAILED', it said 'UNKNOWN BURNPHASE'. so i kept trying to configure and change a bit of options, but that did not help and i wasted quite a few cds.

the 2nd day i tried backing up a DVD. and to my surprise, that actually showed the message like 'BURN PROCESS STARTED AT 24X' on the log window above and it did copy and burn the DVD perfectly well.

on trying out for the audio cd again, it showed 'BURN PROCESS STARTED AT 24X' but then the same problem happened and it got stuck at 2%. But this time, even the pop up window was different and it mentioned 'BURN PROCESS FAILED'.

i gave the DVD writer back to the salesman, and asked him check upon it so that i could get it replaced because its under warranty and is a brand new product showing such problems. but when he got back to me, he said its working perfectly well with the same software (NERO EXPRESS). therefore, i really can not understand the problem here.

i also installed PLEXTOR TOOLS PRO software, and tried burning audio cds using it. it recorded successfully using that software. But it failed to burn DVD. so its all so confusing for me.

i read on some site that installing 2 burning softwares on the same machine might create a conflict between them and therefore, that might create a problem to burn cds. in that case, i uninstalled PLEXTOR TOOLS PRO and now my machine is left with NERO EXPRESS 6.6.0.13

i also updated NERO online and got a later version which is very close to this as this is also a pretty new one, but it did not make a difference.

the computer that i m using is TOSHIBA QOSMIO F10, with WINDOWS XP PRO SP-2.

therefore please help me as this problem is totally beyond any ideas that i can use to solve it. thanks a lot in advance.

hmm. i would try to first remove all burnign programs, namely nero. then reboot of course. try to re-install nero again, just off the cd. dont DL anything off the net, ive fixed a few issues regarding DL nero. after uninstall/re-install, try burning again. why are you getting 24x burn off a new burner?
here are a couple more things to try if the above dosent help
-change your media! get a "ridata" (my choice), or sony, or even a crappy memorex cd to try to burn instead of what u are using. this has fixed some issues i have seen just by changing the brand of media

-check to ensure you have a "UDMA 5", or 80 conductor IDE cable. the older IDE cables are 40 wire. they are all 40 conductor, but the better ones have an extra ground on each cable, enabling better signal transfer. anyway, if you dont know the difference, just count he small wires, on the cable that goes from the dvd burner to the motherboard, if it has 40 wires, replace it to the UDMA5 cable, the 80 wire cable. i have found especially burning dvd's using dvd shrink and b's recorder, using that better cable is necessary.

let us know how u made out

thx a lot snapper :D

i got the solution to burn cds with my writer

i used the other brand CD-R n got thru the burning process perfectly well. i was previously using IMATION. so i tried out RIDATA and TDK. they worked perfectly.

the cd writer is an external one, so its therefore USB connection. but anyways thx for ur information on UDMA 5 cause tht can really help me in future

but ultimately i didnt understand the reason for the problem. because when i used PLEXTOR with NERO, using IMATION cd-r, it did not work. while if i use PLEXTOR with PLEXTOR TOOLS PRO software n IMATION cd-r, it works well.

on the other side, i used NERO n IMATION together with other writer and it burned perfectly there too :S

any ideas on tht?

thx a lot anyways
Ajay.

like i said earlier about media types. i know i have solved issues regarding that using different media types, but as for why, other than ridata is a better name brans, and obviously something about its manufacturing process makes it a more solid media, ajay, i dont technically know why lol!! i would suggest however, you stick to ridata it has worked wel for me in hte past.
as for the external, ha ha, oops. i even read that too!