Plextor Drives lock-Up
 

I am having the same problem as some others have had. I have two plextors on two different systems that are locking up when you are trying to import CD tracks and choose to click on the Check FreeDB radio button. The stranger thing is my Lite-On DVDRW (SHW-160P6S firmware v PS01) will work fine!! The Plextors will cause an application hang if you look into your event viewer in Windows Computer Management console. Sometimes I cannot even shut down Windows normally I must do a hard shutdown. The shutdown process will get as far as the screen that says "Windows Is Shutting Down...." and hang there and I have to manually shutdown.

MIke Summitt


System Details:

@Home
Compaq 8000 Series Mini-Tower Model 8QSXE1
1.53 GhZ AMD Athlon XP
1024 Mb RAM
Nvidia GeForce 2 MX?MX400
XP Home SP2
Plextor CDR-W PX_W2410A v 1.04
Plextor CDR-W Premium V1.07
On this Plextor Premium, Hoster says it has v1.09 firmware, my system says it has v1.07 and the website lists v1.06 as the latest firmware?????


@Work
Acer Aspire 1800
3.2 GhZ Intel Pentium 4
1024 Mb Ram
ATI Mobility Radeon X600 PCI Express
XP Home SP2
Matshita DVD-RAM UJ-831S (Internal)(Not used for Hoster)
Plextor Px-W2410A V1.04 (External USB 2.0)

An additional note ....I have two of the Plextor 2410's and they both produce the same result on either

P.S. to drive lock-up
 

Just so someone does not suggest it I have Auto-run shut off and I have uninstalled and reinstalled Hoster also. In addition I have used good copies of discs made @ 8X and not originals. Neither the originals nor copies will work...same net results!!


Another P.S. to Drive Lock-up

I also have a problem when in the Import CD Tracks window you click on radio button to "Add Disc Tracks To Import" my plextor drives will lockup my system. I can hear them spinning like they are trying to read a disc but it does not happen and the led will stay constantly lit but never blink. They will spin multiple times if I let the disc stay in the drive and don't shutdown, but they will never read and display tracks in the track window. Again the Lite-On works fine it will initially spin up and its led will blink and it will display tracks in window....go figger!!


Need some help and-or ideas!!



Do I have to go back to Hoster v3.303 to get my system to work with Hoster? ...and miss out on all the new goodies in the new version.

Just a note on the firmware indicated by Hoster on the Plextor Premium it IS 1.07 NOT 1.09. But Plextors website says its latest is v1.06 but if I attempt to upgrade with v1.06 it prompts me that I have a later version of firmware. I am sure this firmware (v1.07) came from their site ..it is the only location I have ever used for firmware updates on my Plextor drives in the last four or five years that I have used their drives.

I have another question about the supported drives listing for Hoster. I notice that some of the drives are listed with an asterisk next to the model #'s but I don't see an explanation for the asterisk anywhere on the listings. Just curious??

Are you sure you didn't install the wrong firmware update to the drives? The PX-716A is up to version 1.09 which if you installed it might make your drive think it had 1.07. Try going back to and re-installing with the Premium version 1.06 and see if that helps.

As to the 2410A drives I don't even find a reference for firmware updates so I don't know if you have the right one or not.

The Plextors seem to vary on length of time to initialize and get started. Maybe you need to let it sit and see how long it takes for the import to actually start. Even when programs report no response in the event log does not mean it isn't still working.

Dale

I checked the Plextor website for the 2410 model and it's latest is v1.04...so I'm sure that must be ok...at least according to Plextor.
the firmware is here...http://www.plextor.com/english/suppo...firm_2410.html
I am entertaining the thought of installing the v1.06 on the Plextor premium even though I have version 1.07 now...the only thing that makes me hesitant is that the Plextor 2410 with the proper f-ware is not working. Plus the fact that a $45.00 Lite-on DVD is working ok. In my first post if you will notice I went to the Windows Management viewer and the operating system says the cause for the problem was an application hang....which is Hoster. So I am a little puzzled by it all. The Plextor 2410's worked fine on Hoster b4 the upgrade....I have loaded about 19,000 songs with the two of the drives that I have.

I agree it is puzzling and it isn't affecting everyone the same way either. Even with the same models there have been differences reported in the forum. All of my drives that I use are 716s and 760s and I have not had any problems except a noticable slowdown in spinup time. I have noticed that importing is a lot faster after that spinup time. External drives seem to be getting the worst of the problems, but that could be because of USB port speeds contributing to it.

I don't know if this will help, but you could try shutting down, remove the CD drive from the system (unplug cables), restart, logon, give enough time for windows to complete its runup procedures, shutdown, plug in CD drive, restart, logon and let windows reinintiallize drive, Then try Hoster again and see if it made any changes.

Thanks for your suggestions Dale

I have already tried using the drives internally and externally. I have swapped them in and out of the tower three times now and I am getting ready to do it again just for shits and giggles. I presently have the Plex Premium in the tower and the Plex 2410 on a 2.0 USB in the laptop. I have had the 2410 in the tower and the Plex Premium on the USB....no help. I have two 716A's and a 740 also but they are in another tower, and I prefer to leave them there if I can. So I just don't know , ya know?? It just seems too odd that the little cheapy Lite-on dvdr works flawlessly!!

Thanks

Mike

All the drives except for the Plextor use Software Decoding where the Plextor is using Hardware Decoding. I am not a programmer but something in the coding for this version of Hoster for connecting to the Plextors has gotten moved or changed. This is affecting everybody to some degree but not exactly the same. This makes fixing a very difficult task.:f

I guess as long as you have at least one drive that works you aren't totally disabled.:g

I have two Plextors. Both are internal a 712A & 716A one in each computer. I have a Lite-On External. I don't seem to have any problem with any of them. I know this doesn't help you. So it seems like it would be a computer proplem.

lmcmains

I don't see how it can be a computer problem when the cheapy lite-on dvdrw works fine and all the plextors worked fine b4 the upgrade. Plus it is occuring on two completely different machines!!....but with the the same plextor drives on each computer. The Hoster application is hanging when I try to use any of the plextor drives to import anything whether using FreeDb or entering the brand and disc ID's manually. I just tried again....shut down... removed plex drive...boot up....open Hoster.... close Hoster.....shut down...install another cheap ancient lite-on cdrw that came with the computer when I bought it...it has no updated firmware and it worked fine....shut down ...unistalled the old lite-on cdrw...bootup.... shutdown .....install plextor 2410 again and bootup....open hoster and try to import and it hangs system...look in task mgr and see prog is not responding....shut down......etc etc it never ends it's something in the new code of Hoster apparently...

I hava a 24-10. If I get time tonight I will install it in my computer and try it.

Larry

I have also tried my Plextor Premium and it produces the same results as the 2410's.

Mike, I just caught this after re-reading your original post. You are connected to the internet when you try this.....right?:?

Of course....duh!!....this ain't my first time @ the rodeo.

The same problem with these Plextor drives also occurs if while in the import CDtracks screen I click on "add disc tracks to import" and I have named the tracks myself....not utilizing the "FreeDB" function.....but all the while either of the computers I use are connected to the internet...yes.



I begin to wonder if anyone from admin has read these posts??

a2kmike, How long do you let them spin up before deciding they aren't working?
Mine take a good 55-70 seconds before they start the import for singers disk tracks or add disk contents to the import list window or return results from the freedb button. I think I saw one post that indicated it was taking two or three minutes.
On my system if I click anything during this spinup time I will sometimes get the program stopped responding message if I click anything twice I always get that message.
*******************************************************
Just guessing here but I believe those are wildcards. In other words the A,B,C etc, version of that particular drive model

Again Just a guess
Sam

Well Sam

I have let the plextors run for in excess of three minutes...the drives will periodically spin up during this time but never display a blinking led....if I open the Windows task manager it will show hoster as not responding and if I check Windows Event viewer after the lock-up and reboot.........Start>R click My Computer>L click Manage>L click Event Viewer>Double L Click Application then Double L click the RED X it reads as follows from the last instance last night:


Hanging application Hoster.exe, version 3.3.1.0, hang module hung app, version 0.0.0.0. hang address 0x00000000

Data Bytes
0020: 2e 31 2e 30 20 69 6e 20 .1.0 in
0028: 68 75 6e 67 61 70 70 20 hungapp
0030: 30 2e 30 2e 30 2e 30 20 0.0.0.0
0038: 61 74 20 6f 66 66 73 65 at offse
0040: 74 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 t 000000
0048: 30 30 00


The Lite-On drives will spin.... led's will start to blink and they will load the tracks in the window in 10-15 seconds.


Keep in mind this same course of events is occurring on TWO SEPARATE computers and their only commonality is the Hoster program and the plextor drives, and both worked perfectly b4 the Hoster upgrade.

Sam, you are exactly right on this point.

Mike, MTUSUPPORT is on vacation. The problem you are having is clearly not expected behavior, and clearly not happening to others with the same drives. Thus, it is a VERY HARD to diagnose problem. The folks posting here are leading you through diagnosis questions, and you are cleary sharp yourself... and very capable. We appreciate your working with us.

This type of problem is RARELY solved overnight unless by accident someone stumbles on the answer. It is an abnormal condition related to your computer and your drives, again I say this as others aren't seeing your problem with the same MODEL Plextor drives.

I have asked our senior programmer who wrote this drive interface code in Hoster to take a look at whether the Plextor drive code, that are supposed to automatically switch to HARDWARE DECODE in the drive (versus SW decode in our software), to see if this might be causing the problem.

We are in a critical product development cycle and to remove our lead programmer from his assigned tasks is VERY COSTLY to MTU. Use your lite-on drive for now.

Why you? I'm at as much a loss as you are.

However, you are not forgotten or being ignored! I suggest you get one of your systems to a stable state so you can do any shows you need to, don't expect an immediate solution... which won't happen given the current facts, and let us do some research at MTU.

MTUSUPPORT will be back from vacation this coming Monday and I've already forwarded this thread to him for his review. I don't think he will have any new immediate ideas, but he will be our liason to you to try things for our programmer.

OK Folks

Here's the latest. I brought the work laptop in this morning to try a different drive out with it. I hooked up a Plextor PX-740A (v1.02 firmware) in place of the PX-W2410A on the USB port. The PX-740A is not listed here: http://www.mtu.com/support/cdr-ide-drives.htm as a recognized drive. I inserted a cd+g in the unit to import and used the "Check FreeDB"radio button. The drive worked fine although it did not seem as quick to react as the Lite-On DVDRW (but the Lite-On was operating internally).


So here is the latest scoreboard:

Plextor PX-W2410A ---- 2 separate units that do not work on either computer either internally (Compaq Model 8QSXE1) or externally on (Acer Aspire 1800). (See initial post for each computer info.)

Plextor Premium ------- does not work on Compaq internally.

Plextor PX-740A -------- works externally on Acer Laptop

Lite-On DVDRW Model SHW-160P6S --- works internally on Compaq

Lite-On CDRW Model LTR-16102B ---- works internally on Compaq

I also have a Plextor PX-716A and a Plextor PX-W5224 that I have not tried with Hoster v3.310. They are both being used internally in another home unit @ present.


I appreciate everyone's input on my plight....thank you