Media and execution errors

[lwang]

I have just upgraded to 6.0 for Mac OS X. Am running Panther on a new 1.8 GHz single processor G5. When I try to do a backup onto the inbuilt Pioneer CD-RW/DVD-R writer, I first got media errors for two CDs inserted (here's a snippet of the log):

 

+ Normal backup using EasyScript Backup at 16/2/2004 10:00 PM

To backup set Daily Backup G5 A…

 

- 16/2/2004 10:00:21 PM: Copying Macintosh HD…

Trouble writing: “1-Daily Backup G5 A” (37748736), error 206 (drive reported a failure: dirty heads, bad media, etc.).

Additional error information for device "Pioneer DVD RW" [0:0],

Sense > 71 00 03 00 04 46 14 0e 00 00 00 00 0c 00 00 00 00 00

(PIONEER |DVD-RW DVR-106D|A606)

16/2/2004 10:21:47 PM: Execution stopped by operator.

 

I then tried a simple test of backing up a small folder and got both media errors and execution errors and the program is now stuck at exectuion error 15:

 

+ Executing Immediate Backup at 16/2/2004 10:24 PM

To backup set Test…

 

- 16/2/2004 10:24:37 PM: Copying Scans on Macintosh HD…

16/2/2004 10:25:51 PM: Comparing Scans on Macintosh HD…

Bad backup set header found (0x37354239 at 96,274).

File “img031.tif”: miscompare at data offset 1,419,328, path: “Scans/img031.tif”.

Bad backup set header found (0x30382930 at 96,920).

Trouble reading: “1-Test” (4294967289), error 206 (drive reported a failure: dirty heads, bad media, etc.).

Trouble positioning: “1-Test” (4294967289), error 206 (drive reported a failure: dirty heads, bad media, etc.).

 

...etc...

Bad backup set header found (0x2f2c2d2e at 106,528).

File “img036.tif”: miscompare at data offset 1,438,112, path: “Scans/img036.tif”.

Bad backup set header found (0xb7dccdb8 at 107,042).

....etc.....

 

The drive has hardly been used but I have successfully burned CDs using Toast. The CDs are Sony 1-48x so not cheapies. I even tried disabling the screensaver but that didn't seem to work.

 

What is the problem and how can I stop this happening? I have not been able to use Retrospect for some time now (I had 5.0 previously) due to drive incompatibilities, but surely the inbuilt drive in the G5 should work??!! I never had any problems with 4.1.

 

Would appreciate some help as I'm in desperate need of backup.

 

Thanks

lwang

 

[natew]

Hi,

 

Not that your disks are bad but they may work well with the writing method that Retrospect uses. Any chance you can try some TDK media? You may even want to try something rated a bit slower - at or just above the speed rating of your drive.

 

You may also want to try using the auto configuration utility in Retrospect to build a custom driver for the drive.

 

Nate

[lwang]

Nate, you're a genius! I did as you suggested and re-configured the driver using the Automatic configuration tool. I then did a backup while continuing to work and turned on the screensaver too. All worked perfectly, if a little slowly (due to lack of continuous packet write commands for my burner).

 

Thanks a lot for that.

 

My question then is why Dantz doesn't mention this on their website? When I checked their compatibility list, my burner is listed as fully qualified. There is no suggestion anywhere that there might be a need to customise the driver for Mac (only for Windows).

 

If anyone from Dantz is reading, my drive is an ATA Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-106D, Revision: A606, running in a G5 Mac and it would be really useful to add the information about the possible need to customise the driver on the notes on compatibility.

 

Cheers

lwang

 

[natew]

Hi

 

The deal is you should not have to do this. It should just work as is. There are a lot of variables in play that can affect how a device performs. I suspect that something on your machine or in your environment had trouble with packet writing.

 

At any rate I'm glad to hear you are up and running.

 

Nate