well, it turns out there was new firmware for my drive (lite-on 52-24-52), and it seemed promising. the update is said to improve stability for overburning.

BUT...

installing it messed up nero, which had to be reinstalled too. then, the updated firmware eliminated most of my burn speed options. i used to be able to burn at just about any speed up to 52x, but now i am limited to either 4x, 8x, or top speed. Grar!

I have a few other ideas - namely i will try roxio (sob). i may also try a different brand of cd, although i dont think that will make a difference.

but first thing's first - i going back to my old firmware. my cds can be burned at 32x at most, 52x is waaay too fast and 8x is out of the question...