CD and DVD Duplicator Troubleshooting Guide

CD and DVD Duplicator Troubleshooting Guide

CD or DVD Duplicator Won’t Power On:

• Check power cord for good connection.
• Check power strip or outlet, some power strips have a reset button or fuse on them.
• Make sure that the switchable power supply is on 115. You may want to try moving the switch over and back while the tower is unplugged. The switch is located on the back of the duplicator where the power cord is plugged in.

CD or DVD Duplicator showing error message on controller:

• Source error - Indicates an error related to the master disc or master image. Could be a master media issue, or a bad master format. The reader drive may also not be operating properly. A good test is to use one of the burner drives as a reader, this is done by using the “Select Source” menu option and changing the source from the ROM drive to one of the burner drives. If it works, then you know it was the reader drive and not the master disc. Try a known good master disc (such as a store bought or printer driver disc) and retry with new blank discs.
• Target error – Represents an error related to the blank media. This could be due to a number of reasons such as; the media is not blank, the media is of poor quality or the media may be inserted upside down (This is common with Diamond Silver media or with business card and mini media as they are sometimes hard to distinguish which side is the recordable side). The best way to distinguish the recordable side is to look for the stacking ring, a little bump where the silver part of the disc meets the clear middle hub. The side with the bump is the recordable side of the disc and should be on the bottom as the disc is inserted into the drive.
• Target overflow error – This error occurs when the amount of information exceeds the capacity of the blank disc. This may be due to the master being higher density than the blank disc. Make sure your blanks have enough data capacity to record the size of the file on the master. If you have an 80min master and try to record to 74min blanks you will get this error.
• Can't CD -> DVD - This error occurs when the tower is trying to copy a CD to a DVD disc or vice versa. This may happen if the wrong master disc is inserted into the tower, or if the wrong image is selected as the default in the Image Manager. Also, double-check your blank media to make sure it is correct.
• Other errors – See user manual for any other error messages since they most likely be specific to different brands of duplicators.

High CD or DVD Duplicator Failure Rates:

• Check your media if you are experiencing high failure rates. Poor quality media is likely to be the reason you are experiencing high disc failure rates. Use only professional grade CD R and DVD R media for mass duplication. Shop from only reliable sources and know their return policies.
• You may want to try lowering the speed of the writers. Some media does not copy well at higher speeds even if it is labeled or certified to. Lower speeds overall reduce the error rate and improve duplication.
• Make sure the firmware for the duplicator drives are updated. This is especially true of DVD burner drives most updates can be found on the drive manufacturers website.
• When duplicating DVDs, it is highly recommended to only copy from the Hard Drive. Burning disc to disc is not recommended since you increase the likelihood of errors when reading and writing the data simultaneously.
• If you are experiencing failures with specific drives, there may not be enough power supplied to them. Check the power supply setting and reset.
• If the bottom drive is not operating, this may be caused by the USB or FireWire connection. This connection needs to be turned off when using the duplicator. This connection is found on the back of the duplicator near the bottom, power off the duplicator and switch the USB connection OFF then power the tower back on.

Automated CD or DVD duplicator not functioning properly:

• Check your software settings and make sure they are correct.
• Make sure the PC you are running the system on has ample space on the Hard Drive; do Hard Drive maintenance by Defragging often.
• Autoloading duplicators require a substantial amount of memory to operate. Be sure you have plenty of memory installed.
• Make sure your duplicators software is up to date.
• Make sure you are not running multiple programs on your PC at once. This may interfere or slow down your autoloading duplicator. Autoloading duplication systems work best when they are run on a dedicated computer.

Other problems associated with Autoloading CD or DVD duplicators:

• Autoloader turns on and off – This problem is mostly associated with Primera Bravo brand duplicators. The reasons may be that the ink is too low or the cartridges may be bad. Check the levels of ink and the cartridges for signs of poor ink flow, wipe off the cartridge and try again.
• Autoloader picking up multiple discs at once – It is suggested that you fan the discs before you stack them onto your autoloading duplicator. The lacquer surfaces of CD R and DVD R media are known to stick together if they are stacked for long periods of time.