CJLMTLCA

Im going to rename "blue screen of death" to "blue screen optical drive" or maybe BSODWOD. (cue Eddie Murphy: jgjoc???)

So, i recently swapped my good old plextor pata dvd burner for an lg sata one. I get blue screens when installing dvd based games and ripping an entire audio cd. My system is stable otherwise. DMA was disabled and after enableing it i thought the problem went away but i just got a bs while watching a dvd movie.

What are your thoughts on sata drives? Should i get another brand/higher-end model? Go back to my pata plextor?

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SeraphicSorcerer

Do you by chance have one of those fancy motherboards where the graphics card hangs over the SATA plugs?

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CJLMTLCA

Not directly over them.

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Mousey

SATA Drives are your only option for cost effective upgrades now, Chances are you just got a bad drive. Don't worry about it, happens to all of us at some point.
Have you tried different cables? Even if it's brand new it never hurts to try a different cable

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SeraphicSorcerer

Yeah that's what I would have suggested next, My SATA Cables are covered by my G-Card so I had to be extra careful. It could also be an issue with the drive. But that's awkward the drive doesn't blue screen you simply by being installed. Does it require drivers to operate since its sata? I've only got Sata Hds

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CJLMTLCA

I understand about getting bad h/w, but i am worried about it. I got a quad core, 4 gigs of ram and dual monitors so i can multitask and knowing that i might crash my entire system when reading, or possibly writing, sucks.
I'll narrow it down eventually. Worst case scenario is i plug my pata drive back. As for the cable, i didn't try another thinking that if it was the cable then i would get errors no matter what i do. I've successfully burned isos and lightscribe discs and installed cd based games without hiccups.
I'll try a fresh cable though.

SS : No drivers required, windows takes care of that.

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Tipstaff

Would that be the LG SATA drive be the Blu Ray / HD-DVD GGC-H20L combo drive by any chance?

I also noticed that the board in your sig is the Asus P5W DH Deluxe. Is this the same board the drive is being used on? If so, which of the SATA controllers are you using? The Intel, JMicron, or Silicon Image chip? And in what configuration are they in? RAID, AHCI, or standard?

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CJLMTLCA

No just a DVD writer with lightscribe GSA-H62L. Hooked to SATA4 connector on Intel running in standar IDE mode.

Do those H20Ls have problems?

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Tipstaff

Yep. BSOD errors is common with them, and there's no 1 reason why either. Of the Blu Ray combo drives out there the Asus one is still the best.

As for this issue, is the firmware updated on it? If you got the OEM disc that came with it that has Nero and Cyberlink PowerDVD on it, included on that disc is an auto updater software for the burner. If you haven't done so already, just run the installer for PowerDVD, do a custom install, and choose to install just the LG updater. I think you can install it manually too directly off the CD.

I think I have 1 or 2 of those drives at the store, so I'll take a look when I get back there tonight to see if I can come up with any more ideas for you.

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CJLMTLCA

Firmware was updated but i'll take another look on their website. You telling me about the other model doesn't give me too much confidence with the one i have now.

I'll wait to see if you come up with something and in the meantime see what i can do too. All i need is time. Just got a Sapphire 4870, new in the box waiting to be installed, but then i saw the 4870X2 available at NCIX and thinking of getting it. Along with having a 90% computer built with spare parts, fixing my uncle's pc (for the fourth time), my brother's pc needs diagnosing, wanting to change my tsunami case, change my water cooling and overclocking on/off... too much to do. I would like to stamp this "case closed" so i can move on.

Thanks for your time.

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Tipstaff

If you have the other SATA controllers turned off you could give them a try to see if they help. Normally you wouldn't use them if you were running the Intel controller in AHCI or RAID mode, but because you aren't, it might be worth a shot.

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H3X4D3C1M4L

Bah I'd go back to the PATA drive and stick with those for ODDs for a while yet. SATA is undeniably the way of the future but for optical drives there's nothing wrong with PATA ones... not to mention they save you tons of misc. hassles and are the same price as their SATA counterparts.

CJLMTLCA

but, but, those nice thin cables!

Actually i have rounded pata cables, so it's not that bad.
So, i enabled JMicron controller and hooked it up via a brand new sata cable... I'm off to test. If you hear screaming, glass breaking, explosions, fire, gunshots it's not another Montreal riot, just me.

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Tipstaff

But, but, Montreal riots are fun.

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H3X4D3C1M4L

When was the last one? I can't even remember... I'm sure it had something to do with the Bloc Quebecois though

I would advise against using rounded PATA cables for various reasons. That introduces the very real likelyhood of the cable causing issues. Go for something like this

Judas

i used rounded pata cables ONCE... and never again.....


I haven't used Pata Optical drives for nearly 2 years....

Pioneer DVR-212 drives are real nice...

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CJLMTLCA

YouTube - Montreal North Riot (after Teen Shot by Police for no apparent reason) I AM SEAN BELL

I've been using rounded pata for HDs and ODs for a couple of years. Then replaced my HDs with sata and recently my OD.

I connected the OD with a new cable on the JMicron and so far ripped 2 CDs, watch a bit of DVD and installed a 2 DVD game. But, at the end of the installation, i think something bugged, because the screen flashed white and there were no desktop icons or start menu entry for the game.

Still not confident, so i will continue testing.

And H3X, folding the cables like that won't introduce issues?

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Tipstaff

Same here, or Plextor for those clients willing to pay the money for them, or Samsung for the bottom end.

I've never had great things to say about the LG SATA optical drives. I know a dozen people personally having issues with the LG Blu Ray drive, and many more on the net. At one time I tried an LG SATA DVD burner (probably the same drive CJ has), and never liked it. It worked fine, but I had issues with it and some DVD burning software, so I got rid of it.

At this point, CJLMTCLA, I'd consider doing the same. Take that LG back, and try another manufacturers drive. At that point, if you have the same issue, then you'll know it's something else in the system causing a problem.

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CJLMTLCA

I can just blame it on Vista. "Like dude, i get this gnarly blue flashing when i use my drive... whooaaa... man, Vista sucks! Bummer!"

I wanted to get another Plextor originally, but i got interested in lightscribe and Plex didn't have any LS/SATA drives.
I copied a data CD and burned 2.5gb worth of files on a DVD yesterday without problems. I will do some more stress testing over the weekend, if it fails, then i'm replacing it.

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Judas

ironically i've yet to have any of the Blue Ray / HD-DVD Reader DVD-DL-RW drives cause any grief at all for me or any people i've set it up for.

but i keep a healthy supply of the pioneer drives both ide/sata on hand. They are both a damn good drive as well as not expensive at all.

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H3X4D3C1M4L

[/QUOTE]

Nah. Not if it's done properly. Really as long as you don't crimp it so badly that the wires inside split then that's the better option (vs. a rounded cable).