DVDR burning speed

[doug1937]

I bought a DVD burner for my PC that is rated to burn DVDRs at 16x. I bought two brands of DVDRs, both rated at 16x, so I could take advantage of this. However, a full DVDR (4.5GB) of a few hundred data files takes about 8 minutes to burn using Nero; a full DVDR (4.5GB) of only a few data files, say about a dozen, takes about 6 minutes. Both of these results are slower than the 3.5 minutes that Nero predicts it should take to burn at 16x.

I want to know what's causing this problem.

Do the Lead-In and Lead-Out steps skew the total time, adding to the burn duration? Or do I have a crappy DVD burner (I/O Magic)? Or is my media crappy? One is made by CMC magnetics; the other is made by MCC (Imation and Playo).

Or is this typical of DVD burners?

Thanks...

[Krispy Kritter]

Watch Nero as it is burning...there are indicators of the buffer levels. If the buffers empty while burning, then burn safe (or similar technology) kicks in and pauses the burning process while the buffers refill...this of course increases the burning time.

If that is in fact what is happening, then there are a few things to do/check. Make sure you aren't performing other activities while burning, even surfing can cause burning slowness. Ensure your HD is defragged. If the drive is fragmented, it takes longer to find and copy all of the files. If possible, store the files to be burned on a different HD on a different IDE channel than the burner. The faster you attempt to burn, the more data that has to be burned. This especially becomes an issue when you are burning from a HD on the same IDE channel as the burner.

You may want to perform a few burn tests. You may find that burning at a slower speed actually takes less time than burning at a faster speed. Also, as the number of files increase, the greater the chances of buffer underrun, especially when trying to burn at 16x.

[viking73]

Well something like this happens to me as well using Nero 6.3.0.2. No matter what burning speed I select when burning DVDs, it always takes about 40 minutes to burn a DVD! I can choose 16x speed and even with proper 16x media, it always takes 40 minutes to complete the burn. I have the same problem burning CDs, it always takes about 10 minutes no matter what speed I select. I've got a new Lite-On 16WP burner if this helps.

Any ideas??

[t0nee1]

Try updating Nero to 6.6.0.18 , fixed my probs with nero!!!!! make sure you save your serial # ,and use nero clean tool to remove old version first ........

[viking73]

Thanks t0nee1. I will try that! One quick question - after I use the clean tool, do I need to just d/l the updated version from the nero site and install it? I don't need the CD-ROM disc for my old version anymore? I will be sure to save my serial #.

I really appreciate the help. I can't wait to go home for lunch and try this out.

[BobK]

No matter what burning speed I select when burning DVDs, it always takes about 40 minutes to burn a DVD! I can choose 16x speed and even with proper 16x media, it always takes 40 minutes to complete the burn. I have the same problem burning CDs, it always takes about 10 minutes no matter what speed I select.

Check that your drives are set to DMA. If they've been changed to PIO that would certainly account for such a slow burn speed.

[viking73]

Do I check the DMA/PIO setting in Nero or in my Windows control panel?

[Krispy Kritter]

You shouldn't need to use the Nero clean tool. Just download and install the patches/updates, that will get you up to the latest release.

You need to verify the speed in device manager (control panel / system / device manager / IDE controller

[viking73]

Okay, I've checked my primary and secondary IDE Channels in my device manager. My primary IDE looks good - it's set to "DMA if available" and the current transfer mode says "Ultar DMA Mode 5". No problem. But then when I checked my secondary IDE, device 0 looks good ("DMA if available", "Ultra DMA Mode 2"), however device 1 transfer mode says "DMA if available" but the current transfer mode says "PIO Mode"! It's grayed out so I can't do anything with it...

What next?!?! Thanks in advance for your help!!

[viking73]

Well I upgraded my old version of Nero this evening to version 6.6.1.4. I burned a 2.7 GB DVD at 8x speed and it took 23 minutes to burn. I tried burning a 79 minute CD at 16x and it took almost 10 minutes. So apparently that didn't do the trick!

Looks like the DMA/PIO situation I wrote about above must be the problem then. I'd be greatly in debt to anyone who can help get that PIO changed...