You don't mention your OS. If Win 98, use your search function and find this file: scsi1hlp.vxd , and rename the extension to something like .bak. This file is a virtual device driver, and cause nothing but headaches with burners.
How old is your drive, and how heavily do you use it? As Bob mentioned, it could simply be dying. That said, I've had around a dozen burners over the years; 4 under XP, and not a single one failed. I think my experience with burners differs from Bob's in that Bob deals with LOTS of systems, where I generally deal only with my own, and, overall, I guess I've been lucky ('cept see my own post above, lol). When encountering problems with burners, I do all or most of the following in no particular order:
1. Look for a firmware upgrade at the vendor's site.
2. Enable DMA, set DMA to "auto" in the BIOS. If DMA is already enabled, DISable it; you'll probably be in something like PIO mode 4. If the problem remains or gets worse, go back to original settings.
3. If the burner is the master on the secondary channel, make it the slave; if slave, make it the master, or slave it to the primary channel. Point: make it the opposite of what it is now. CHECK THE JUMPERS FOR THE PROPER SETTINGS!
4. Flash the BIOS for your motherboard.
I don't do firmware or BIOS upgrades just for the sake of upgrading. I read what the upgrade is for; if I feel the upgrade doesn't apply to me, then I don't bother.
5. Check for compatibility of your burning software and your burner, and see if there's any patches that address your issue.
6. DO NOT have 2 types of packet writing software;e.g. InCD & DLA, or DirectCD. Have only ONE type of packet writing software, as they tend to conflict.
7. If using XP, disable XP's built in burning software, since you're using 3rd party software, and they often conflict with XP's burning utility.
8. Is this the first time you've used this brand of media? Buy ONE brand of various type of media and test them for compatibility. Check the vendor's website for their "approved" list of vendors.
Don't want to deal with the hassle? Burners are cheap; buy a new one. Good luck.