Hello,

I just started backng up a DVD in my collection, and I'm having trouble getting any speed out of my burner.  It used to do just fine, all of a sudden today now, the device buffer status bar is all over the place, up to 100%, and then rapidly down to 7% (or somewhere about that), then back up, probably with a frequency of about a second each time.

I tried rebooting, etc. still has the problem.  I tried writing with DVDFab Plat. 4 version also, and it would only write at 1.2x or so as well.  What's going on here?  I've not encountered this before.

Thanks a bunch for any help or suggestions!

Jer.

Defrag your hard drive before burning your images...  Provide more info if you can... the type of drive, the media, the pc used... if DMA is enabled, etc...

(in reply to hotrodf1)

The drive is a TSST corp (samsung?) 653 I believe.  I updated the drive's firmware from Dell's website (Vostro 200 computer, CoreDuo, etc.)from the D200 version to the D300 version previously.  It still worked fine after that.

Media is Verbatim -Rs. 

I don't know what DMA is.  Maybe a silly question, but what is it?

I can try defragging the drive.  It just seems odd that all of a sudden it does this - and not only with one title, with different ones too.  Before the problem, both the device buffer and the other buffer were always rock solid at 100%.  It never would burn at over about 8.1x though, even with it set to higher speeds.

(in reply to SithTracy)

Go into device manager

Click on the IDE channel that the drive is on, i.e..primary or secondary channel, select advanced settings and make sure DMA is set on for the drive.

Also, as SithTracy stated above, DEFRAG your hard drive.  You should defrag every time you rip a movie before you burn it when you make backups.

(in reply to hotrodf1)

okay I check for DMA, it seems it is set up correctly there.  I did a defrag to see how much that helps.  I'll let you know if it doesn't work.  thanks for the help.

(in reply to MP3Mogul)

well, i just tried writing another dvd, and its still doing the same thing even after the defrag.   1.5x speed, device buffer is going back and forth between 9x% and 1x%.

I don't get it.

Any other ideas?

(in reply to hotrodf1)

Assuming you were looking at the proper IDE channel and DMA is indeed enabled for your drive, you might want to pick up a new 80-conductor IDE ribbon cable and try that.

Can you post your ImgBurn log?

(in reply to hotrodf1)

I will post a log from ImgBurn here shortly after this next disc finishes.  It doesn't seem to affect playback that I've seen so far yet.  It just takes forever to write anything.

I did double check the DMA again on all four items, I have two primary IDE listed and two secondary.  The first primary says "auto-detect" in type of device, then has "DMA is available" checked, and current transfer mode listed "Ultra DMA Mode 5".   The rest of the controllers don't say the "ultra DMA Mode 5".

I guess I could try a new cable, should be pretty cheap, right?

(in reply to SithTracy)

You have two primary and two secondary controllers listed in your device manager?  Delete them all and reboot windows and they will be re-detected... you should have only one primary and one secondary... unless you have an add-on card installed.

... and yes, IDE ribbon cables are dirt cheap.

(in reply to hotrodf1)

here's the log info.

I 08:35:57 ImgBurn Version 2.3.2.0 started!
I 08:35:57 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600 : Service Pack 2)
I 08:35:57 Total Physical Memory: 1,037,416 KB  -  Available: 609,972 KB
I 08:35:57 Initialising SPTI...
I 08:35:57 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices...
I 08:35:57 Found 1 DVD±RW!
I 08:37:41 Operation Started!
I 08:37:41 Building Image Tree...
I 08:37:41 Checking Directory Depth...
I 08:37:41 Calculating Totals...
I 08:37:41 Preparing Image...
I 08:37:41 Checking Path Length...
I 08:37:41 Image Size: 4,681,465,856 bytes
I 08:37:41 Image Sectors: 2,285,872
I 08:37:41 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:00:00
I 08:37:58 Operation Started!
I 08:37:58 Building Image Tree...
I 08:38:00 Checking Directory Depth...
I 08:38:00 Calculating Totals...
I 08:38:00 Preparing Image...
I 08:38:01 Checking Path Length...
I 08:38:01 Image Size: 4,681,465,856 bytes
I 08:38:01 Image Sectors: 2,285,872
I 08:38:07 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:00:09
I 08:38:07 Operation Started!
I 08:38:07 Source File: -==/\/[BUILD IMAGE]\/\==-
I 08:38:07 Source File Sectors: 2,285,872 (MODE1/2048)
I 08:38:07 Source File Size: 4,681,465,856 bytes
I 08:38:07 Source File Volume Identifier: RATATOUILLE
I 08:38:07 Source File Application Identifier: IMGBURN V2.3.2.0 - THE ULTIMATE IMAGE BURNER!
I 08:38:07 Source File Implementation Identifier: ImgBurn
I 08:38:07 Source File File System(s): ISO9660, UDF (1.02)
I 08:38:07 Destination Device: [1:0:0] TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H653B D300 (D:) (ATA)
I 08:38:07 Destination Media Type: DVD-R (Disc ID: MCC 03RG20) (Speeds: 4x, 6x, 8x, 12x, 16x)
I 08:38:07 Destination Media Sectors: 2,297,888
I 08:38:07 Write Mode: DVD
I 08:38:07 Write Type: DAO
I 08:38:07 Write Speed: 8x
I 08:38:07 Link Size: Auto
I 08:38:07 Test Mode: No
I 08:38:07 BURN-Proof: Enabled
I 08:38:08 Filling Buffer... (40 MB)
I 08:38:09 Writing LeadIn...
I 08:38:43 Writing Image... (LBA: 0 - 2285871)
I 09:17:54 Synchronising Cache...
I 09:18:16 Image MD5: 228e4cd142353f96b2b84b0585d34ec8
I 09:18:16 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:40:08
I 09:18:16 Average Write Rate: 1,945 KB/s (1.4x) - Maximum Write Rate: 2,546 KB/s (1.8x)

(in reply to hotrodf1)

quote:

ORIGINAL: SithTracy

You have two primary and two secondary controllers listed in your device manager?  Delete them all and reboot windows and they will be re-detected... you should have only one primary and one secondary... unless you have an add-on card installed.

... and yes, IDE ribbon cables are dirt cheap.

Yep, there are two of each for some strange reason.  Okay, I'll try deleting them and rebooting and see what that does.  Thanks again for all the help . . .

I don't think I have any addon cards.  I just got this computer and havent' really done anuthing to it except for adding a floppy drive.

I have a screenshot of this, but I can't post files for some reason.  Why is that?  It says "the feature is disabled or I don't have sufficient permission".   ???

(in reply to SithTracy)