GCPien Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 Hi all, I have the following system configuration: -Dell Inspiron 5150 notebook -HL-DT-ST RW / DVD GCC-4241N combo CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive (capable of 24x CD-RW burns) -WinXP Pro SP1 (not SP2) -Retrospect 6.5 with latest driver update installed -Memorex ultra-speed 24x CD-RW media Custom-configured Retrospect to use my optical drive with CD-RW media. Burned a full system backup to 14 CD-RW without any errors reported. However, when doing a verify, Retrospect complained of 4 errors: Trouble reading: "Princess Full Backup" (524), error -206 (drive reported a failure: dirty heads, bad media, etc.) Trouble reading: "Princess Full Backup" (524), error -206 (drive reported a failure: dirty heads, bad media, etc.) Trouble positioning: "Princess Full Backup" (524), error -206 (drive reported a failure: dirty heads, bad media, etc.) Trouble reading: "Princess Full Backup" (524), error -206 (drive reported a failure: dirty heads, bad media, etc.) Additional error information for device "HL-DT-ST CD-RW - RDI" [0:0], Sense > f0 00 03 00 04 33 a5 0a 00 00 00 00 11 00 00 00 00 00 (HL-DT-ST|RW/DVD GCC-4241N|A101) My questions/comments are: (1) Why did the initial backup complete without ANY errors reported, yet the backup failed a verify on 4 oocasions? (2) How can I create more reliable burns on backup? (3) What the heck to the error messages mean, particularly the "Sense" information? Thanks in advance for your time and expert guidance, GCP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natew Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 Hi Retrospect gives data to the drive and then the drive writes it. If the drive fails to write the data properly Retrospect is not going to know until it goes back and verifies the media. I would slow the write speed down a bit in the Retrospect configure->devices->environment window, you may also want to try another brand of media - personally I prefer TDK and Taiyo Yuden. The sense errors show the command that failed when the error 206 occured. Its all in Hexadecimal - Unreadable by us mere mortals. You can ignore it. Thanks Nate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCPien Posted August 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 I guess the diagnostic difficulty for me is determining whether the problem lies with how Retrospect burns the CD-RW, or with the CD-RW media itself. I've had the same problem on a different system burning to DVD+RW using a Plextor PX-708A drive, again on WinXP Pro, Retrospect 6.5.350 and latest device driver updates. Two out of 14 DVD+RW discs that were burned were unreadable on verify. Again, these two discs had the error -206 problem. So, on two different systems, using two different media types and two different burner drives, Retrospect cannot make reliable backups due to error -206. I suppose I can slow the backup speed down, but it is not an attractive option as I purchased these drives and media for their fast rated rewrite speeds. Are there any other ways to test whether it is the media or Retrospect? I have used Nero Ultra 6 to burn to these media types without errors. GCP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzyJohn Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 Since you are using Win XP, have you tried turning off the Win XP CD-Burning? Do you have any other packet writing software installed (such as DirectCD, Drag and Drop, InCD)? Also, I don't know if it still matters with Retrospect 6.5 but with the older versions, if I remember correctly, it was advisable to insert the CD-RW media after Retrospect started if you had other packet writing software installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCPien Posted August 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 There is no other packet writing software installed. WinXP's built-in CD-burning is disabled, and I do not have DirectCD, InCD, etc installed. Also, I only insert media when Retrospect asks for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natew Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 Hi What brand names/ types /speeds of media are you using? Have you tried different brands? Thanks Nate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCPien Posted August 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 I am using Memorex brand CD-RW rated "Ultra speed" up to 24x on the laptop with the custom-configured combo CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive. I have not tried other media with this drive, as there are very few manufacturers of 24x CD-RW that I could find. Still you would think that the burns should be good, as there were only 4 errors when verifying 12 discs. My expectation, however, is that there shouldn't be any errors at all! I am using Memorex brand DVD+RW rated 4x on the desktop with the Plextor PK-708A drive. Burns with Nero Ultra 6 onto this media occur without errors, and all burns have successfully passed verification. However, burns with Retrospect onto this media have resulted in 2 bad discs out of a 14 disc set. I have not tried other media. But, if it works for Nero, shouldn't it work for Retrospect? GCP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natew Posted August 23, 2004 Report Share Posted August 23, 2004 Hi Quote: if it works for Nero, shouldn't it work for Retrospect? Not necessarily. Retrospect is a lot more picky about errors than other programs. Think of it as a blessing in disguise. Retrospect finds media failures long before you have to use those disks to do a restore. There are a lot of cases where certain brands of media work well with certain drives in Retrospect. The opposite is also true so media incompatibilites are quite possible. This is again due primarily to the method that Retrospect uses to write data. I would try some other disks and also slow down the backup a bit. Thanks Nate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.