[ltp] CD-RW on T30 won't write: Input-output error

[Whil Hentzen]

Hi folks,

I have a T30 with a stock CD-RW that I've just started trying to use,
and have not been able to write to a CD yet.

I just bought a brand new box of Memorex 700 MB (write up to 48X) CD-RW
discs so I don't think it's a media problem.

When I run the command 
  dd if=/dev/cdrom of=yarrow-i386-disc1.iso bs=3048
I get an immediate 
  dd: reading '/dev/cdrom': Input/output error
  0+0 records in
  0+0 records out

When I run the command (as root)
  cdrecord -scanbus
I get 
  0,0,0   0) 'MATSHITA' 'UJDA730 DVD/CDRW' '1.04' Removable CD-ROM
Then I run 
  cdrecord -v -eject speed=4 dev=0,0,0 yarrow-i386-disc1.iso
I get a bunch of verbage (cuz of -v verbose mode) and at the end, it
tells me it's 
 Performing OPC
 Starting new track at 0
Track 01: 0 MB written
Track 01: writing 600KB of pad data
Track 01: Total bytes read/written: 0/614400 (300 sectors)
Writing time: 13.1s
Fixating time: 65.4 s
cdrecord: fifo had 1 puts and 1 gets
cdrecord: fifo was 0 times empty and 0 times full, min fill was 100%

And there's nothing on the CD. 

If I try another file (not the 650 MB yarrow ISO), say, a 50K text file,
I get a whole different set of errors, including the CD being spit out
before write ("Drive needs to reload the media to return to proper
status), and then Input/output error and so on.

I've been working on this for several hours, trying different
combinations, different CDs, and so on. No luck whatsoever and gosh am I
getting frustrated.

Do I have bad media, a bad drive, bad commands/processes, or should I
just mosey on over to the "Too dumb to use a computer" sign?

Thanks,

Whil