I would value opinions on what could be causing a major problem I have been having over the last week or two, when burning CDs, please.

My writer is about 6 months old and is a Mitsumi 4804TE. It is not
burnproof. I always turn off any background programs and keep the HD
defragmented every few weeks. I burn at 2x to be sure of a good burn.
However last week I got a buffer underrun so I tried at 1x. I got another
coaster. I defragmented the HD using Norton speed disk. I still got buffer
underrun. recently I am getting about 50% scrap rate, even on 1x burning.
What do you think is the problem? I have had failures when writing on the
fly, simulating writing which was OK then a failure on writing and writing
from an image. At the moment I cant really burn any more disks until I sort
it out
cheers.
Ged

You'll need to check the ASPI layer if you've not done so.

Get ASPI Check & Force ASPI here http://www.cyrus.troy.btinternet.co.uk/downloads.htm .

If ASPI Check reports ASPI is not installed properly, unzip Force ASPI to a folder then run instaspi.bat to update it.

What burnware (and version) are you using?

Checking that DMA is enabled is also a good idea.

Disable all packet writing softwares as well(inCD, directCD and such)

Van Nugent Can you advise what the ASPI layer is and does please and I will try your idea. I use WINONCD 3.7 and my OS is WIN ME.Thanks
OC Freak
I talked to Mitsumi who make my writer and they said turn OFF DMA and auto insert notification on writer and CDROM
Now Im confused!
Packet writing is installed but I disable all background progs first.

For a brief but good info on ASPI, check this http://www.cdrom-guide.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6827 .

Lots of burning problems are caused by improper ASPI layer as the majority of burnware will only work with correct ASPI layer installed on the system. WinME doesn't have "full supports" of ASPI drivers so if you're running WinME, it's likely that you'll need to update it for successful burning.

Ok I wil read this and try your idea. Someone has suggested that the lens in the writer and CDROM may be dirty. They suggested buying a kit. Does this need doing regularly. I thought they wre sealed.
If so whats involved please

Van Nugent I updated the out of date SPI file last night thanks.
I noticed DMA is disabled in CDROM and writer so I enabled both. I am getting conflicting advice of people. Most say enable but Mitsumi say disable.
What do you say?

Whether you need to enable DMA for a CD drive will depend on whether or not the drive supports DMA. If it does, you'll get a nice performance boost. If it does not, you'll get annoying problems when using the drive and maybe fatal problems when burning :) .

So just turn it on as you wish and if you get problems, disable it. No one but the CD maker can tell for sure if DMA should be enabled for your CD drive.