(Solved) What do these errors mean?

Could you find out what IDE channel your CDRW drive and Hard Drive are on?

If your Hard Drive and CDRW Drive are on the same IDE channel they both have to fight to send data over that channel. The data won't reach the CDRW from the Hard Drive in a steady stream and the CDRW's buffer will empty. Without steady data, it will give you a Buffer Underrun error and fail.

Newer drives have Protection against this error but even then, you should have your Hard Drive and CDRW drive on separate channels. (in fact, both devices should be set as master and not slave)

Is there any other reason he would get these errors? He has been able to burn CD's before. He has added a scanner and a media reader for his digital camera; but both these usb devices.

This message "CD error - power calibration area error" usually means the laser is kaput. I was getting the same error on my HP and the burner was shot. I would try Rikku's suggestion first.

here's a dumb question: Do they have 2 lasers? Because it will play cd's.. it just won't let you burn them.

I believe there are 2 lasers. I still use my old one for a regular CD-ROM.

If you have some canned air you might try gently blowing some in the direction of the read/write head. Be careful as you can damage it.

I had a link to instructions for disassembly and thorough cleaning but the link is dead and I can’t find another. Perhaps someone else has a working link. Cleaning and greasing the tracks often helps.

It is almost impossible to get a buffer underrun error with DirectCD. That is a sign of a serious problem as are the other errors. It is common with EZCD if the data flow is interrupted.

And the award goes to SLIPE!!!

Blew a little air in there and the thing worked like new. It's amazing how such a errors could come from a little dust.

thanks to everyone for helping me out.