I've got a not-perfect CD I'm cleaning up... and having some Real Pain with:

* Three tracks generate sync errors mid-track. That part I don't mind (hopefully de-scratching the CD will fix this over time.)
* Every time I hit one of these, EAC locks up until I kick it.
--> Lock up == stops repainting the ripping status dialog box.
--> Kick it == pop the CD and reinsert quickly
(as soon as I press the eject button, EAC is alive; got to reinsert quickly so the ripping doesn't go past end-of-track.)

Anybody seen anything like this? Could this be a bug in the current (0.95b2) version?

My system details:
- machine dell inspiron 4000, P3 800MHz 512MB RAM, lots of HD
- Matshita UJDA710 CD-R/RW
- winxp SP1
- EAC 0.95b2
- AccurateRip current ver

Perhaps it re-reads the damaged sector(s) which on some drives may take ages (and still give no effect)...

Watch the red error correction lights. As long as new lights light up (say, half a minute for each light), EAC is still reading like it should.

It is the junk Matsushita drive.

I second this

*No response at all* from EAC. When I say "locked up" I mean it won't even repaint its window.

I suppose we could call it the Junk Drive ... doesn't do me much good since laptops don't exactly have a wide variety of combo-drive options (CD-RW + DVD), nor do I have a bunch of money lying around to replace my drive.

I have monkeyed with a variety of drive firmwares in the past (from the ___ brothers; forget their name) trying to find F/W that more easily recognizes all CD's. I may be running the IBM firmware right now; not sure. Perhaps the lockup relates to exactly which firmware one is running... although this is the first software I've ever seen that locks up on this drive.

I guess it's time for more experiments

I get the same behavior from EAC and I have a Plextor PX-712A drive. EAC does great for me with CD's in excellent condition, but even the most minor scratches are causing EAC to lock up on me. I will try to buy some cleaning agent like Brasso and retry the problem cd's, but i'm starting to think that I might just need to use another application to rip the cd's that aren't in excellent condition.

In your EAC extraction options, do you have it set to "skip track extraction on read or sync errors" ???

That helps on a drive that has problems, e.g.; junk (as already stated), or dying.

When I had a dying drive a few years back that would lock up the whole system I de-selected:
EAC Options->Extraction: Lock drive tray during extraction
This allows for the drive eject button to be pressed therefore a bad system shutdown doesn't have to occur.

Either you have EAC misconfigured, or your drive is defective.
Don't, there is a very good chance you will FUBAR the CDs. Use one of various CD repair services, they are safe and efficient.

You are correct - you should use PlexTools Pro with your PX-712, not EAC.

Never_Again, I followed the knowledge base recommended configuration, but after making a few changes, EAC is definitely functioning better. I took your advice and disabled the caching and enabled C2 in the drive config. You were right, EAC rips twice as fast now.

I also set EAC to skip track on read or sync errors. However, while EAC seems to deal with sync errors quickly, it still gets hung up on some read errors, and it takes a while for EAC to realize that i clicked the skip track button.

Funny you mention Brasso beause i just bought a bottle last night. I was actually getting good results, and was able to rip a few tracks that i was previously unable to rip. It seems to be hightly recommended in this forum. I hope I am not ruining my cds with it.

John

That is the way EAC works; nothing you can do about it. That's why I recommended PlexTools Pro, it doesn't freeze even on hideously mangled CDs.