8x writing at 4x/dd0401/external enclosure

[~burningpenguin~]

I recently purchased the Optorite dd0401 and installed it in an aluminum external enclosure purchased from CompUSA. Connecting with firewire, my laptop recognizes the drive in Nero as "OPTORITE DVD RW DD0401." Today I purchased some TDK DVD+R47CCB15 4x discs that optorite claims will burn at 8x. When i insert one of these dvd+r's nero lets me select 8x as a burning speed, but it takes 13 minutes to complete the disc (4x). My problem is exactly the same as Harp about halfway through this thread http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?threadid=81434 Nero tells me the burn will be finished in 6-7 minutes but doesnt finish until 12-13. Both my primary and secondary IDE channels have "DMA if available" enabled. My secondary channel is connected to an internal CDRW. I don't think the problem is with the enclosure because the manual says that it "supports 16-bit multi-word DMA mode and Ultra DMA mode interface (Ultra 33/66/100)."

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As if things weren't bad enough, I ran a few more tests later this afternoon. I have only successfully burnt DVD-video and CD-ISO discs in Nero. Nero freezes when attempting a HD-burn and stops at 4% when trying to burn a audio cd. The disc will not eject from the drive and the computer will not shut off through windows. I have to power off the computer and drive manually, and open the disc tray manually to retreive the disc. When trying to rip a DVD in DVD Decrypter only the video_ts.bup file rips and DVD decrypter continues to count, but no files are ripped.

I was using Nero 6.3.02 and changed to 5.5 and that didn't help either.

[ofbarea]

If your case has an Oxford 911 chipset take a look at the following link. Firewire cases based on this chipset can be firmware upgraded and tweaked.

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=691487

[DTSL06]

I had the same prob, using a Bytec external case. It supports both USB2 and Firewire. When I connected up the Plex 708a via firewire, Nero ID as 8x but took 14-15min for full burn. When connected via its USB2, it took 10min. Moved the drive internal and 7-8min for burns all using the same media, Memorex ( RICOHJPNR01). Will try the Oxford FW ungrade this weekend. Thanks ofbarea for info on the OX fw.

[The village idiot]

Heed the warnings that I posted in that thread, and the one in the computer forum. It was a real pain to get my enclosure working again.

[ofbarea]

I updated my old post with more detailed information on the Oxford 911 firmware recovery procedure. I also added information on the latest 3.8 firmware (dated 22-JUL-2003) version for this chipset.