Hi.

I'm a very new Lightsribe user.

I just purchased a Memorex MRX-5500LE External drive and I'm trying to create some audio CDs with the Template Labeler. The quality of the labels is pretty bad, even after printing it twice.

I've been into the control panel and set the contrast to enhanced.

Can't figure out how to attach an image of the label, so I'll just have to describe it:

It's full of concentric rings.

The source CD artwork is a 907kb jpg file.

Any suggestions?

Is the image definitely a .jpg standard file? Without a picture to see exactly what you mean by "pretty bad"  try following this link and see if that is what you are experiencing:

                        http://www.lightscribe.com/support/kb_view.aspx?f=44 

My images are similar, though the rings aren't as smudged.

I'd like to send an image, of both the disk label and the original jpg art. Could you tell me how to do that?

OK, I've done that.

You'll find the uploads at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/109693165896819959851/BehindTheGardens?authkey=Gv1sRgCPbvkqK4v_33nwE#

The first is a scan of a CD I burned a label to this morning. It was burned once.

The second is a scan of a CD that I burned twice yesterday.

The third is the jpg file that I used to burn both CDs.

I've also discovered that when I burn a CD label, approximately a dozen error messages in a row are posted to the System Event Viewer, all containing the same error that follows:

Thanks for the response.

I'll buy some Verbatims. Memorex is not a good choice?

I can scan at my office at a much higher resolution. Would you mind looking at another scan. I'd like to know what I'm looking for.

I'll also change the pring priority and see what happens.

Follow this link and scroll to about midway through the article. You will see an closeup image of the hub timing marks I am referring to. Your marks are noticeably distorted...you'll see what I mean:  

                      http://www.lightscribe.com/support/kb_view.aspx?f=111    

I've carefully gone over the FAQ you referred me to, but I don't see anything that fits my situation.

FYI, among the programs I've used to burn labels is the Lightscribe Template Labeler.

I've uploaded a very clear copy in pdf format of the CD you tried to look at earlier. It can be found at:

http://www.4shared.com/get/sjcrHEoG/Disk.html. I'd appreciate your looking at it. 

At any rate, I finally bought some Verbatim CDs, and have the same problem.

I've gone through the Lightscribe diagnostic log and really don't see a thing.

 I've also researched the paging errors I've found in the system event viewer and find that, according to Microsoft, it's not anything to be concerned about. It's a USB thing

From Microsoft KB 244780:

Under certain circumstances, the system logs the following Event ID 51 event message:

An error was detected on device \Device\DeviceName during a paging operation

In this case, no harmful effects are experienced. For example, Event ID 51 is logged when blank media such as CDR, CDRW, DVDR, and so on, is inserted into a writable drive while a USB device is plugged in. The system logs the event even though the disc is writable, and the USB device is still usable. In these particular cases, you can safely ignore the log entries, and no additional action is required. 

And, sure enough, my system is logging the errors when the CD is inserted in the drive, not duiring the burn process.

I've also asked Memorex tech support if there are any firmware updates for this drive. They've just responded that there are none.

Any other thoughts? Or should I just conclude that the drive is defective?

 

Hi Gerry  !

I do a lot of template development & I've found that because of the TL using a "background" size of 1200x1200 Pixels, the larger the Image the better.

Also, scanning with a higher dpi setting gives better results.

So Images which are larger than 1200x1200 Pixels or higher than about 600 dpi do better.

     It's a disappointment the discs did not make any improvement. The reposted image is unfortunately not of much use as far as visually seeing abnormalities. It is not posted as a jpg image...it is posted as a pdf document. The first ones you posted are jpg's @ 96dpi......What I don't understand is the original images clearly showed abberations that do not seem to be on the reposted image. Does a template in the Lightscribe Template Labeler produce the same poor results?

     I am not able to research your drive using the model# supplied. Is it an external USB drive? How is the unit powered? (110v adapter, usb supplied power, etc.) Make sure the drive is not plugged into a USB hub - connect it directly to a USB port. Try switching the USB cable to a different USB port. Is the USB port a 1.1 or a 2.0 port? What kind of USB connection cable are you using? Is it 2.0 compliant?     

Thanks, cimofj2, but the image I'm working with in the uploaded photos above is 1393x1399. Still leaves me with lots of distortion (blank rings that can be seen in the uploaded photo) even after two burns.

Jim B.

Wow, you've really given me some ideas her.

Regrding the disk image: I originally scanned the CD on an HP 6100 Office Jet All In One. That probably accounts for the abberations you saw - lousy resolution. The pdf scan is much better - it's a 1.3 MB file. I tried to convert it to jpg using MS Paint before uploading it, but it lost alot of its clarity. If you'll download that pdf image to your own computer, you'll have a crystal clear, 1.3 MB view, of the CD. But I can certainly rescan a CD in jpg format tomorrow if you still are having problems.

I just finished burning a Lighsribe template, and got the same sort of poor results.

My drive is an 24X DVD/CDexternal, and has 110V power. It's USB 1.0 and 2.0 compliant. I'm using USB 2.0 ports, not a hub. I've tried more than one port. In fact I've tried two computers.

Your next point threw me for a loop. I never considered 2.0 cables. In fact, I didn't know there was such a thing or what the differences are. I do now. Every cable in my house, including the one that came with the burner, is a 1.0 cable. Not a plus sign on any of them.

So I got back in touch with Memorex and posed the question to them. I got lucky and spoke with someone cooperative. There is no known problem with 1.0 cables, but he'll try burning a label using a 1.0 cable, and another with a 2.0 cable. He'll get back to me today with the results.

In the meantime, just for grins, I tried using another 1.0 cable to rule out the possibility that the cable that came with the burner was bad. Interesting result. The image had rings, but not as many as with the original cable. So you may well be on to something, and I'll buy a 2.0 cable tomorrow.

This just in: Memorex got the same result using a 1.0 and a 2.0 cable - though they had to run the test on a 20X drive, not a 24X.

Thanks for your time. More later.

BTW, this is the second time I've drafted this long response. When I hit the Post button at the end of the first draft, it disappeared. Second time that's happened to me in this forum. Grrr.

So now it's Control C and then Post.

Yeah, copy & paste seems to be a necessity if the response composition takes more than a few minutes.

If the last template (I think it's "Wedding Frames") in the LTL (It's a background of two picture frames) produces the lines I wouldn't go crazy with image specs. That template is a 1200x1200 .jpg @250ish dpi. I start to notice tiny circular lines start to appear when the background .jpg is less than 125 - 150dpi. If that Wedding Frames template prints with lines, it's not normal.

To be honest with you, I really don't know the transfer rate requirement of Lightscribe. If your USB controller in Device Manager says "enhanced"  it's USB 2.0. A different result by changing the cable may indicate a cable defect or cable connection deficiency. It shouldn't have made any difference. If you burn a disc with data what default speed is used by your burning software? That will give you a hint as to the capability of the connected device.

You can try the 2.0 certified cable but if the drive acts the same on different ports AND different computers I would have to go with a bad or incompatible drive. Just try to be sure there is no application running background that may be interferring with the Lightscribe API although changing the Print Priority to High seems to cover alot of that up for some people.

Mystery solved. It was the drive.

Went out to a very big computer retailer (MicroCenter) to purchase a 2.0 cable, looking for the plus sign in the logo on the connector to confirm it (the plus sign is part of the USB 2.0 spec). Dozens of different ables from at lest 4 or 5 vendors, but not a plus sign in the house. Nobody is paying attention to the spec

Bought a drive while I was at it. New cable yielded same results. New drive worked like a charm (and the paging errors disappeared.

Thanks very much for your time and effort.

Great news...it's too bad it took so much time but there just isn't a simple diagnostic test by the end user in the field that would have pinpointed the problem. At least you stuck with the step by step checks and found the culprit. I would strongly advise you to carefully store a Lightscribe blank that is recognized by the drive away in a safe place. (Jewel case or CPP sleeve) Should the day ever come when the drive doesn't recognize the Lightscribe disc in the burner you have a known good test disc that will save you  the time of buying and trying different media. Besides, Murphy's Law - now that you have a valid test disc available you'll never have a media recognition problem again.... 

FYI most of the 2.0 USB cables I have don't have industry standard references on the jacket. Frankly since I use Firewire and USB interfaces for video, I just test the transfer rate limits of the cable. If the cable tests at greater than 15 mb/sec it's a 2.0. (If it tests at greater than 60mb/sec it's a 3.0 but I don't have need of that bandwidth yet)

That "sounds" like a good idea, however, I have had a "faded" disk that had already be labeled not recognized & had to clean the surface before it could be used again.

This could be tried, but isn't a sure thing!