ALL DVDs burn fine, but only some CDs do

A CD/DVD burner uses different lasers to burn DVD disks and CD disks. Although normally it is the DVD laser that fails first it is possible depending on use that the CD laser may fail first. The only cure would be to replace the CD/DVD drive.  

I don't know too much about lasers, but what would be the reasoning that it would cause only some albums to not burn? It's not like it's dying and getting worse and worse over time and only working sporadically. There are albums that I can burn and i KNOW they'll work, others I KNOW won't work, and the results are never different. It's never failing on the albums that do work. Like I have 2 Beatles CDs, one of which has successfully burned 11/11 times. The other has failed 10/10 times.

Both CDs were ripped using the same settings and were released by the same company on the same day in 2009. Once I used an app that gave very detailed info about files to try to find some X-factor between songs that would burn and songs that wouldn't and there's no rhyme or reason why certain songs work and others don't.

I'll accept its the laser if I must, but again it'd be a pretty big coincidence if the laser only ever didn't work on the times I happened to burn those certain albums. If it's the laser I'd imagine that one of the "working" albums would eventually have an error, but like i said if an album works the laser never seems to have trouble with those discs.

Different lasers?
No, I think you're referring to BluRay which has a blue laser for BluRay discs and a red laser for previous DVD/CD content.

The problem is either:
1) bad CD's, or
2) CD burning profile issue

Long story LONG:
Every new CD or DVD disc which can be burned comes with a new PROFILE of optimal burning settings. For your burner to burn properly (i.e. 20x etc) it needs this profile otherwise it guesses. Basically, as burners age they are more likely to have problems burning due to the lack of profile.

I think you can guess why they don't update the profile.
*Make sure you update the firmware to your burner for as long as it exists.

Other:
Use Nero or another program (Burnaware?) that has a VERIFY feature to burning. It takes longer but it compares the burned disc to verify correct burning (can be disabled).

Again, update the FIRMWARE (may wish to see if an UPDATED FIRMWARE already exists for your current burner and retry burning but for the price I recommend a new burner if yours is more than two years old.)

REPLACEMENT BURNER:
If you need one you may have to search a bit. Lite-ON makes good burners. Another option is a USB burner depending on your need. I've seen a drop in price on BluRay as well, though some only read Bluray and not write (but burn and read DVD and CD).

it could be a few things..one the drive need a firmware update to burn the cd media correctly. old audio cd were 60 min then they came out with 74 min cd. audio cd and mp3 can and do use diffrent non copy protection (drm) (sp) then dvd (vob files). on the cd that you cant burn try a google search there may be a copy protection on those cd.

Updated driver link:
http://driver-assist.info/matshita-dvd-ram-uj890es-driv...

I couldn't find the firmware page, but I stumbled on this. If you intend to install it then create a System Restore backup in case you have any issues and need to roll back.

I've had it for for about a year and a half, rarely used the burner before this past week, but even when I first got it I remember it behaving similarly, burning certain files to CD never with any problem, but not others. I guess it could've always been defective, but I've just never heard of a defect like this, only burning the CDs it wants to. Like why will one title ALWAYS burn but another always gets an error message with EVERY program.

Nero is one of the programs I've been trying to no avail. I'm out of discs for now so I can't recall the exact error code/message of that program, but Nero has the same issue where certain albums always burn and certain albums always get an error message. Though they all burn fine on other machines.

I'll try that firmware, thanks for that. I had searched for such a thing with no luck.Once I get some discs I'll let you know if it had any effect.

I used the above link and it just led me to a program I'd already used, but I appreciate the suggestion.

That program told me the drivers for the CD/DVD device itself were fine, but I needed to update one for the IDE ATA-ATAPI CONTROLLER. I then tried to update those through the device manager, but after checking the message said they were up to date.

Today 9 out of 25 different cds worked when I tried to burn them.

The 16 that failed did so on every trial. It's like there's something secretly decoded in the depths of certain albums that the burner senses.

At this point I'd say maybe it's something with the file format, or the laser, or the program, or the brand of CDs, but there's evidence to the contrary of all those.

1) File Format - like I said I ripped two Beatles CDs using identical settings. One works every time, the other has never burned. That rules this out. Plus both albums burn fine on other computers.

2) The Laser - It works everytime on that one beatles cd so it is more than capable of still burning working audio CDs with no problem. it just won't burn certain types.

3) Programs - I've tried a bunch that I mention above, but these programs have no trouble on other computers with the same files. They even work fine on mine when its one of those rare exception albums.

4) CD Brand - The ones that burn successfully do so 100% of the time on a variety of brands, the albums that don't fail 100% of the time on all brands. So that really isn't the issue either.

I too suspected something to do with the drivers, but as my pc says they're up to date and I can't find any newer ones myself, I guess I'm not sure what else to look at.

photonboy you are WRONG A DVD drive has both a laser for DVD's and a laser for CD's. I should know as I have taken enough of them apart to get the laser for experimentation. A blue Ray has three lasers in not two.

You didn't say what error you were getting, I assume that it is buffer under run. This problem reminds me of the old days when if the IDE ports were set to the wrong transfer mode then the exact same problem used to occur. If you have an IDE hard drive or DVD drive in your laptop check in device manager that the transfer mode is set to UDMA mode and not PIO mode. You could also check this in the BIOS as well.

Have u try change your CD brand...... is the result still same?

Well thank you for suggesting I lower the write speed. I don't know why I didn't think to do that as I think that's exactly how I fixed this when I last burned CDs a year ago. It's an OK solution, but definetely better than none, and in the meantime it'll do.

So far 4/4 on write speed 1x. This could totally be a coincidence and these could be albums that would've worked before anyway, though I doubt it. I think lowering the speed did the trick.

Problem now is I'll have to do everything at a much slower speed as I have no way of knowing which albums would've been fine at 24x and which would need a lower write speed. Oh well, like I said it works.

Thanks again for such a simple yet effective suggestion.

Best answer selected by toadroad.