CD seems to burn but ends up blank?

[JiminElkGrove]

I am using Nero 5.5 updated to latest version. Follow their directions in brochure and online FAQ's. Have Win XP Home, Via KT333 with AMD 1900, MSI 48x16x48 CDRW and using 1x - 48x CDR, non-rewritable. Do everything right, burning process seems to go to completion, says "Burning successful at 24x" but the CD is blank, no files when tested. CD then shows as full or no media present when reinserted into the CDRW drive and is trash. I am using the audio CD record mode. Anybody have any idea why I come up blank when it seems to work? Tried to record a CD directly from Windows Media player and that worked so CD burner seems OK. Jim

[muno]

Examine the picture attached, you do not have simulation enabled and burn disabled do you?

Simulation will only simulate the burning without actually burning anything on the cd.
-M

[mlee97]

Yep muno ... exactly what I was thinking...

[JiminElkGrove]

Good call but the problem was simply trying to burn too fast. We tried our first CD at 48x and got 1/2 track before it errored. Next we tried 24X and ended up with a blank CD, possibly because an error occurred right at the start? After doing my homework I tried to burn an 18 track audio CD at 4X and it went perfectly, another 17 track at that speed also resulted in a perfect, playable music CD this evening. I did not know what the "simulation" did and now I know to avoid it. We may have had the simulation checked during one of our 4 "coaster" creations but not all. We now have 2 perfect CD's due to the slower burn. Thanks for the info. BTW, at what speed do you burn music CD's from MP3 files to get a good burn? Jim

[vfrxsw]

I usually burn at 16X for movies and audio cd's(similar computer kt333 AMD 2000 40x12x40). About your blank burns did you check the box on the burn page in nero to activate "burn proof"?? From what i see on MSI site your drive has "ExacLink™ prevents Buffer Under Run" this is there version of burn proof it would usually allow you to burn at higher speeds. I try to use a speed where the burn proof never activates and before the cdrw changes speeds thats why i use 16X. Bit it still should burn usable discs at higher speeds.

[JiminElkGrove]

You guys are all great . . . isn't something that I get better support here than from Nero or MSI. I have 2 good CD's but still appreciate all the tips. Jim

[Richard Cranium]

Quote:

I try to use a speed where the burn proof never activates

Good point.

Also, make sure you've disabled all background tasks just like you're gonna install software.
i.e.
ScreenSaver
HD, Monitor, System Standby timers
Anti-Virus
Scanning Software & other junk in the tray [reduced system resources]

And the biggie;

DEFRAG

Single biggest causes of coasters [IMHO]

A fresh defrag will keep the R/W head from searching all over the disc looking for the data.

I burn at 12x / 16x / 24x with no coasters using this method.

This is for CD copy, not turning MP3's into CD's which is a very CPU and resource intensive operation, for that I limit mine to 12x.

Gluck
Doc

[Detritus]

Got some good tips there Doc...

Thanks

[JiminElkGrove]

Thank you, Richard. Appreciate all the tips. Jim