Does Sony DRX-500UL have to be set as master or other..??

[jbenj01]

I just upgraded with firmware 1.0f, but it won't burn Ritek discs at 2x. Currently, I have my 80G HD set as primary master, another small HD as primary slave, Pioneer A05 as secondary master and Liteon reader as secondary slave .. the external Sony DRX500UL is hooked up to an auxiliary USB port ..

Could this be the problem? What is the optimal setup? I tried to confirm whether DMA was enabled, but I can't even find the Sony under the Device Manager/Computer Mgt in Windows to check ..

I'd appreciate some advice/help.. thanks.

[MrSnake]

You shouldn't put 2 similar devices on one IDE port.
It works, but one port does all the work in your case.

I'd go for:
IDE1 master: bootable C:
IDE1 slave: LiteOn reader
IDE2 master: Pioneer A05
IDE2 slave: the other HD

This way is better for copying, especially on-the-fly, it's less intensive.

As for the external drive, I don't know.
It is switched ON right?
Is the port USB 2.0? I don't know if it works with USB 1.1.
Is it connected the proper way?
Is the drive visible in startup of PC?

MrSnake

[jbenj01]

1. Thanks for responding mrsnake.. Ah.. Is this why my system seems to run sluggish (AMD Athlon XP2100 1.733G on an Asus A7V333 mobo)??

2. So how do I change my setup to match your suggestion? Can I just go into BIOS and change primary/secondary, master/slave settings OR do I have to physically open up the box and change connections? Currently, I've got the 2 hd's looped together into one IDE channel/port and the A05 connected to the other IDE channel/port. And the Sony is external, connected to a USB 2.0 port (change to firewire??)

3. I just backed up two movies last nite on the Sony and burn time was 1:1 (almost 1.5hrs for each), whereas my Pioneer A05 takes ~45-50min at 1x.. ?? wtheck?! (yes, i'm kinda new to this..).

4. How/what do you copy on the fly (real-time, correct)? I have to rip everything to the hd, then burn (speed dependent on media I'm using).. maybe I'm not understanding 'on the fly' correctly..

sorry for the '20 questions'.. thanks!

[q1aqza]

I'm not a hardware wizz but my understanding (somebody will correct me if I'm wrong) is that even USB2.0 is no match for an IDE connection in terms of data transfer speed, hence the slower burn times as the data cannot be transfered as fast as the external writer can write it even at 1x.

[MOVIEGEEK]

2. So how do I change my setup to match your suggestion? Can I just go into BIOS and change primary/secondary, master/slave settings OR do I have to physically open up the box and change connections? Currently, I've got the 2 hd's looped together into one IDE channel/port and the A05 connected to the other IDE channel/port. And the Sony is external, connected to a USB 2.0 port (change to firewire??)

No you can't change the BIOS settings you have to physically change,connect your drives as MrSnake suggested for optimal performance.
I have my Sony drive in a external firewire enclosure and it works great but I would imagine USB2.0 would perform equally on XP not recommended for Win9x(uses too many IRQ resources).

[donpedro]

External burner = No DMA setup + No master or slave (these setting are for internal drives only)

Now regarding speed .... I don't remember numbers but USB 1.1 is slower then USB 2.0. So check what is max speed per type and check speed that you need for 1x, 2x or 4x burning. By comparing them you should be able determin max speed. Just be aware that even max for USB 1.1 is XXX it doesn't mean that it will tranfer XXX.

[jbenj01]

Thanks guys.. did some more digging and found that the Sony DRU500X has problems with VIA chipsets. Just picked up a 5-port USB 2.0 PCI card with a NEC chipset and I'm burning the Riteks at 2x.. now how do we get these suckers to burn at 2x with the A05.. ??