Issues (incl. system freeze) when writing data to DVD/CDs.

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jostein_aarbakk
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Issues (incl. system freeze) when writing data to DVD/CDs.

Post by jostein_aarbakk »

Hello,

Below is a description of an issue I have with my Sam440ep/OS4.1 system.
Thanks in advance for any help.


Summary of the problem
When writing DVD-media by using:
- interal SATA DVD-writer, the issue is: Actual burning speed won't exceed 700KB/sec, which is way too low.
- external USB-writer, the issue is: The OS freeze "bigtime" after a given time (it varies when).

When writing to CD-media, the same thing happens, but
- If I choose speed of 16 or 32x CD, the burning process works ok.
- If I choose a higher speed, the issue is identical to the DVD-issue mentioned above.

All this are very strange, because I haven't encountered this issue before.
Set aside the speed limitations of reading from/writing to DVD/CD media (4x DVD), DVD writing in OS4.1 has always been stable as a rock. This is the first time I have discovered unreliability issues.
I don't know which OS update that introduced this problem, but I can confirm the following:
- I have stored lots of data on DVD-R(W) discs before update 4 without any problems (4x DVD speed on my internal SATA DVD-writer).
- I am (and have always been) using AmiDVD for DVD-burning.



Details:
1) Writing to a DVD disc using an external USB DVD writer.
Here is what happens:
- I start writing by using AmiDVD.
- The disc starts spinning as normal.
- It increases the writing speed towards 4x DVD and writes to the disc as normal.
- After a while, normally after around 10-20% done, the whole OS freezes "bigtime". Mouse pointer freezes, the keyboard, the screen image; Everything, except for the disc itself inside the DVD-writer, which keeps on spinning..
I press the "reset button" on my Sam, the system reboots, but the DVD-drive keeps on spinning, even during boot, and after the workbench screen is visible.
The only thing that stops it, is the "Power button" (PS: Not the one on the Power supply).

No matter which media I write to, incl. DVD-R and DVD-RW, the above (system freeze) happens each time.
I have tested this over and over again, getting the same results every time.


2) Writing to a DVD disc using an internal SATA DVD writer.
Here is what happens:
- I choose the lowest speed available, either 4x for my DVD-RWs (4x is the only speed option available for those I have), or 6x for DVD-R's (AmiDVD don't display any lower speeds than 6x for those).
- When the writing starts, the disc rotates in MAX speed, but writing speed is very poor (only 700 KB/sec).
- I haven't tried to write a whole disc in this speed, because I am afraid this could wear down my DVD-writer fast (by building up heat for a too long duration).

I have tested with multiple discs, including the same brand/model as I have been using on my Miggy so far (using AmiDVD on OS4). And no matter what I do, no matter which discs I use, the same thing happens. It limits itself to 700KB/sec instead of 4x DVD speed (which was obtained before).


3) Writing to CD media.
Test results:
a) CDR, internal SATA drive
- Chosen speed: 2756 KB/s (16x CD), achieved speed: 2265 KB/s (13x CD), writing OK.
- Chosen speed: 5512 KB/s (32x CD), achieved speed: 3191 KB/s (19x CD), writing OK.
- Chosen speed: 6891 KB/s (40x CD), achieved speed: ca 700 KB/s (4x CD), writing not verified, because I aborted it due to the high disc rotating speed.
- Chosen speed: 8269 KB/s (48x CD), achieved speed: ca 700 KB/s (4x CD), writing not verified, because I aborted it due to the high disc rotating speed.

b) CDR, external USB drive
- Chosen speed: 2756 KB/s (16x CD), achieved speed: 2258 KB/s (13x CD), writing OK.
- Chosen speed: 5512 KB/s (32x CD), achieved speed: 3232 KB/s (19x CD), writing OK.
- Chosen speed: 6891 KB/s (40x CD), achieved speed: 3137 KB/s (19x CD), writing FAILED (caused system freeze when 52% finished)
- Chosen speed: 8269 KB/s (48x CD), achieved speed: 3071 KB/s (18x CD), writing FAILED (caused system freeze when 58% finished)




My system (hardware):
- ACube SAM440EP 667MHz (mini-ITX). It has Amiga OS4.1 update 6 installed.
- For storage, I use a 30GB OCZ SSD ("Solid series") and a 120GB OCZ SSD ("Vertex 2").
- Internal SATA DVD writer is a Plextor PX-891SA.
- External USB DVD writer is a Samsung WriteMaster SE-S224.

SATA-settings:
DVD-rom: UDMA 5, 100 MB/s
HD (Vertex 2 SSD): UDMA 6, 133 MB/s
HD (Solid series SSD): UDMA 5, 100 MB/s

Device sii3114ide.device / unit 3 medium speed settings:
R x65535, W x65535 (65535 means 'max.')
Belxjander
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Re: Issues (incl. system freeze) when writing data to DVD/CD

Post by Belxjander »

I had this problem on both an amd64 and my sam flex with both internal and usb external DVD writer

I suggest resetting the AmiDVD settings and see if the prefs and uboot settings remain correct

just my 2c
mcleppa
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Re: Issues (incl. system freeze) when writing data to DVD/CD

Post by mcleppa »

There are no AmiDVD settings that you can reset as far as I know.
I'm running a Sam440ep with Plextor PX-810SA internal dvd writer and I have maximum reached 4x writing speed with AmiDVD, but has never had any crashes while burning DVD's with this one, But I have a problem with a speed of max 1x DVD when reading DVD's. My problem arise when using a external USB LiteON burner which causes my system to freeze/crash every time.
Regarding writing speeds, here are my results;

writing speed - 18 x dvd actual 5.2 MB/s AmiDVD outputs an error to console, but disc burns ok.
SCSI command 54 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 failed
sense: 70 00 03 00 00 00 00 0e 00 00 00 00 73 03 00 00 00 00 20 74
SCSI command 54 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 failed
sense: 70 00 03 00 00 00 00 0e 00 00 00 00 73 03 00 00 00 00 20 74

writing speed - 16 x dvd actual 2.7 MB/s ( DVD writer is spinning up at full speed )

writing speed - 12 x dvd actual 5.2 MB/s AmiDVD outputs an error to console, but disc burns ok.
SCSI command 54 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 failed
sense: 70 00 03 00 00 00 00 0e 00 00 00 00 15 02 00 00 00 00 20 90
SCSI command 54 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 failed
sense: 70 00 03 00 00 00 00 0e 00 00 00 00 15 02 00 00 00 00 20 90

writing speed - 8 x dvd actual 4.0 MB/s ( DVD writer is spinning up at full speed )
writing speed - 6 x dvd actual 4.8 MB/s

During all tests I've been burning DVD isofiles.
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