How do you test to see if your DVD drive is broken

[mrniceguy]

The DVD drive on my laptop reads music/video CDs/DVDs just fine but for some reason will not read the ISO files I burned onto several disks in order to install Mint 19. I have burned disks using the Windows 10 built in disc burner program, and Imgburn. But the burned isos don't work on the Linux computer. I don't know why. They appear in full on the Windows computer. Most of them don't appear in 'Disks' in Mint. I also burned 2 discs with xfburn on the Linux computer after failing with the other discs, because it occurred to me that maybe Windows 10 burns them differently, but the ones I burned with xfburn don't work either. The last one I burned, in Windows 10 with Imgburn, shows up in 'Disks' as "1.1GB unknown" but will not boot after I press F12 to tell the computer to boot from the DVD drive. So if somebody could advise on how to find out if something is wrong with my drive, how to fix it, and then how to make the ISO boot from DVD to install Linux 19. It should work. That's how I got Mint 17.3 onto that computer. But it's not working this time. I was told in another forum that it's impossible to use an ISO DVD to install Mint 19, but then I found this: https://fossbytes.com/install-linux-mint-19-tara-guide/

Creating a boot device can be done with either a DVD or a USB with adequate capacity (recommended 4GB or more). USB drives are the preferred mostly due to their convenience and availability. Also, you can stick to burning Linux mint ISO files to DVD if you are a beginner.

Creating a Bootable DVD does not require additional software as you can directly burn the ISO to the Drive. However, USB booting requires other software, and you can choose the best one from top 5 bootable USB tools for Windows operating system.

I'm already having enough problems installing this, I've already wasted days on this problem, I'd rather not complicate things even more by attempting to use yet more unfamiliar software and buying USB sticks, because I know how to burn and install with DVDs, have done it several times, but have never done this with a USB.

I was happy with Mint 17.3 Cinnamon. But I have to install the newest version in order to get my iPhone to work with it. libimobiledevice doesn't work with 17.3: viewtopic.php?t=232975

[Joe2Shoe]

Do these "burned" DVDs contain Windows or Linux apps, etc?

I have had CD/DVD burners that went bad, even though the contents would appear sometimes.
The fix was to replace the CD/DVD burner.

[Joe2Shoe]

I have made many LM install DVDs, but mostly use a LM install USB made with a LM ISO download. No problems. Sometimes making a Live DVD, the boot sequence on the DVD is not correct, so just try another burning program.
I mostly use Menu/Accessories/USB Image Writer to write an .iso file to a USB, and I use xfburn to burn an .iso file to a blank DVD.
Could be that the .iso you downloaded is corrupt. So, download again.

FWIW: I usually purchase a new/used DVD burner on ebay for around $10.00.
Good luck.

[rene]

Did you burn them as data DVD with the .iso simply as a file to be placed on said DVD? If yes, note that you will need to use the .iso as an image to burn to the DVD.

Just installed xfburn to tell you how and the above seems unlikely, given the rather unmissable "Burn Image: Burn a prepared compilation, i.e., an .ISO file" button. Try adjusting the speed or using a different brand DVD-R(W); all the way down to 1x speed can sometimes be useful, depending on drive- and discs...

[JerryF]

...
I was told in another forum that it's impossible to use an ISO DVD to install Mint 19, but then I found this:

Whoever said that is mistaken. He might have meant that you can't use a CD because it can only hold 700 MB.

First, did you verify the ISO before burning it? If you did, and the result was ok, try burning it at a slower speed.

[mrniceguy]

Did you burn them as data DVD with the .iso simply as a file to be placed on said DVD? If yes, note that you will need to use the .iso as an image to burn to the DVD.

Just installed xfburn to tell you how and the above seems unlikely, given the rather unmissable "Burn Image: Burn a prepared compilation, i.e., an .ISO file" button. Try adjusting the speed or using a different brand DVD-R(W); all the way down to 1x speed can sometimes be useful, depending on drive- and discs...

I used both methods because the instructions for xfburn say "After starting it, click on the New Data Composition button:". I did that, but it didn't work, it only placed a 2kb file onto the disc. So I got a new disc and used the obvious method of "Burn Image". That failed completely. It gave an error message and spat out the disc.

I'm going to burn another disc and this time do a manual verification. I've never had a problem with verifying them before, because there's a built-in checkbox that takes care of that, but maybe that feature isn't working this time.

There's instructions for manual verification here: https://linuxmint.com/verify.php

'Preparation' 1 & 2 are self-explanatory, but what do you do for 3? How do you 'download' the .txt file and the .gpg file?

It looks like there's 100 or so mirror choices, so maybe I picked corrupted ones each time? What are the odds.

[rene]

How do you 'download' the .txt file and the .gpg file?

Right-click and chose (in Firefox) "Save Link As...". But...

It looks like there's 100 or so mirror choices, so maybe I picked corrupted ones each time? What are the odds.

Non-existent. I would not feel it in any way likely that you have a corrupted ISO. You seem to be saying that you didn't burn as image: you are going to need to do that...

[mrniceguy]

I authenticated the download. I want to confirm I'm doing the burn correctly.

Assuming the instructions that say 'After starting it, click on the New Data Composition button:' are correct, on my previous attempt with xfburn, I clicked that, then clicked 'Add' and added the download file. The download file is called linux-mint-cinnamon-64bit-v2.iso. Is there anything else I'm supposed to add? Am I supposed to do something with that file first?

[rene]

Assuming the instructions [ ... ] are correct

They are not for your use case. You have to, as stated, burn the ISO as an image; the big "Burn image" button.

[mrniceguy]

For 'Speed', should I reduce it from 'Max' to '2'?

For 'Write Mode', leave it on Auto or change it to TAO or SAO?

Do I change anything with 'Options'?

[rene]

If you didn't earlier in fact burn as image simply leaving it at the default of "max" will probably do. Depending on the maximum burning speed of your discs too slow may actually potentially be a problem as well as too fast, but although that needs saying when given advise, yes, sure 2x will in a vast majority of cases work fine; just no need to if there's no need. If you feel that "ImgBurn" may have earlier also in fact burned as an image for you, then sure, try 2x.

You'll want SAO (Session At Once, as opposed to Track At Once) but that is what Auto is for an image burn. No need to change.

No need to change the options either. I'd personally tend to disable both BurnFree and Stream recording, but that's just me...

[mrniceguy]

Just went through 2 more discs. First time I used 'Max'. 2nd time I used '2' and switched to 'SAO'. It started burning, then ejected the discs with this: "Failure: SCSI error on write (0,16): [3 73 03] medium error. Power calibration area error."

So back to my original question, what is wrong with my DVD drive, and is there a diagnostic tool to find out? Or am I still doing something wrong myself? Again, the drive reads music and video CDs with no problem.

[rene]

A power calibration area error usually means you're trying to write to an already written DVD-R. Just in case, do note that only DVD-RW can be written more than once (and then only after explicit blanking). If bona fide unused DVD-R do note that the discs can likely still be written fine in a different drive; the error is saying that things bombed out at burning stage 0.

Bad DVD-Rs (for your drive) is also an option. Have you ever used this particular brand/type successfully on that same drive? Is there an overlap in possible speeds between drive and media?

And yes, busted drive is a third option. The way to test that is through what you are currently doing -- although I would really advise trying with a different brand/type of DVD-R or DVD-RW before you blame the drive. If you bought a huge stack of cheap DVD-Rs chances of them being full-blown Chinese junk are quite big these days; I personally stick religiously to Verbatim.

[rene]

I'm of by the way, so anyone please jump in for possible further comments.

[mrniceguy]

I have a stack of blank Sony DVD-RWs. I use them whenever I need to burn something. I installed Mint on that computer several times this way - the last time was early last year, if I recall. Never had a problem before. I didn't use used ones. I just take a new one off the top of the stack whenever I need one. They're not damaged or dusty.

And I did manage to burn an ISO onto one of them in Windows with imgburn, I believe that one burned successfully because I can see all the folders and files on it on the Windows PC. 'Disks' on the Mint laptop says there's 1.1GB on that disk. The problem is it refuses to boot from DVD.

There appears to be a discrepancy. The ISO is supposed to be 1.8GB, which is what it adds up to in Windows but when I put that disc into the laptop, Mint says there's only 1.1GB.

I just tested out some discs on the Windows PC and the Mint laptop. The laptop only reads CDs properly. 'Disks' can tell there's something on some DVDs but not all. It won't play a store-bought movie DVD and I couldn't eject it without shutting down the laptop.

So I think the DVD drive may be busted. Is this common? What would have caused it to stop working? Is replacing a laptop drive DIY?

Or maybe I'm wrong, and it's a BIOS issue or a setting somewhere?

[rene]

It is not (very) common for a DVD drive to die outright, but what is very common is for the lens to become dirty or scratched, especially with laptop drives, where the lens is located in the middle of the tray. That also means it's easily accessible though; if you have a soft cloth and a bit of alcohol or glass(es)-cleaning solution available, try and clean the lens. Take "soft" in "soft cloth" seriously; you don't want to scratch the lens yourself.

I've in fact had success with the above but your description does sound more like an explicitly broken drive. If you can google up a service manual for your laptop it'll describe how to change the drive; it's usually in fact fairly obvious even without a manual, but no guarantees; on rare models you basically need to disassemble half the laptop to be able to replace anything. A new drive is rarely very model specific.

No, this will not be a BIOS- or other software issue.

[mrniceguy]

I have 'Safeguard Isopropryl Rubbing Alcohol 70%' and a sunglass cleaning cloth. Should I use those?

[Faust]

I have 'Safeguard Isopropryl Rubbing Alcohol 70%' and a sunglass cleaning cloth. Should I use those?

In general , isopropyl alcohol is excellent for cleaning but I am always very wary of using it on optical surfaces
that are made of plastic .
I would take one of your DVDs that failed to burn and use it to test the cleaning fluid .
You might find that the disk becomes fogged where the fluid touched it , and you don't want that happening
to the lens in your DVD drive ..... that really WILL be the death of it !

There was another thread on here a few days ago related to possible DVD/optical drive problems
.... I'll try to find it .

Just out of interest , how old is that optical drive , or the machine that it's in ?

As an aside .....
I found an unopened spool of blank DVDs a while ago and they all failed to burn if the ISO was larger than ~ 3GB
but they worked fine with smaller ones !
It turned out that one part of the spool had been in direct sunlight for a year or more , so that every disk was damaged
( with a darker color ) in exactly the same place .

Edit : this is the other DVD thread -
viewtopic.php?f=49&t=282614&p=1564080#p1564080

[scdbackup]

Hi,

> Failure: SCSI error on write (0,16): [3 73 03] medium error.
> Power calibration area error.

This is a message from the drive, forwarded by libburn.
It means that the drive does not like the medium.
The speed setting is normally not involved in this.

There is a dedicated area on the medium where the drive makes its laser
experiments to determine a suitable power setting. It is likely that
the medium was not used up in the failed run and that it could still
be burned in another drive.

Manipulating or cleaning the drive bears the danger of further damage.
Be prepared for replacing it in case such an attempt kills it totally.
(If replacing a laptop drive is beyond your crafter skills, consider
to buy a drive in a USB box. Just plug in. Ready.)

> is there a diagnostic tool to find out?

If above error happens with several media of from different vendors, then
your drive is to blame.

(DVD-RW seem yo fail earlier with an ageing drive than DVD+RW do.
DVD-R and DVD+R appear to be among the last types which still work when
a drive is going bad.)

There is QPXtool, a checker for medium quality after burning has happened.
In case of semi-success it might give further information about the
relation of drive and medium.
But first the medium needs to be burned and Power Calibration Error is
a symptom of early burn failure.

Have a nice day

Thomas

[JerryF]

...
So I think the DVD drive may be busted. Is this common?
What would have caused it to stop working?
Is replacing a laptop drive DIY?
...

Drives do break down.
Usually, the moving parts start to give out.
I've replaced a few and they're usually easy.

Run the following command from Terminal, then copy and paste the result in between [code][/code] tags. It's the </> button above where you type a message.

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz