Out of curiousity, what AmigaOS software version are you running on this A1200? If I remember correctly, setpatch options like SKIPROMUPDATES only came in with AmigaOS 3.5 and above.
Have you tried the CDRW on another computers IDE interface? If you haven't, it would be best to try that first to determine if it's the IDE interface or the CDRW thats causing the trouble.
