Ritek media speeds.....

[Xtreme]

I just bought some Ritek 1x - 4x disks. But when i record it seems to write at only 2x because it takes 26 minutes to record a disk. When i had the 1x disks it took like 50 minutes, so thats why it only seems like 2x because its half of the 1x time. I though the 4x media should only take about 15 minutes or so. Whats everyone elses times with 4x ?

I have the Pioneer A05 4x

[The village idiot]

Everything I've read seems to suggest that 4x takes about 15 minutes. I only have a 1x burner, so I'm just going by what I've read.

[bebrewer1]

It takes exactly 14 minutes, 59.4 seconds to burn a full image on Ritek G04 media at 4X on my Pioneer DVR-105. That is from the time that I click start via Stomp RecordNow until the disk drawer upons upon completion.

Tested it with a new stopwatch..haha 8)

[twoteg]

Good show....But does new equal accurate??

[Faustus]

Sounds like its not burning at 4x correctly. But 2x instead. Is the drive internal or external? Master or slave? Make sure its master, also check your DMA settings in device manager. If all else fails give us some more info on the computer so we have a better idea of where to tell you to look for the problem.

[Xtreme]

Internal, Master, and settings are fine.

PC specs:

Dual processors, 1.2 GHz each
480 gigs HD space
768 megs of DDR ram
SCSI CDRW
Pioneer DVD burner A05
128 meg ATI wonder video card

[bebrewer1]

This might be too obvious but did you check the media ID on the blanks to make sure that you were indeed shipped GO4 and not G03?

[Faustus]

Xtreme: When your burning in whatever program you use to do so how does the buffer look? steady or does it bounce around alot?

Also double checking the media code isn't so bad an idea.

[Xtreme]

Flaytus the buffer bounces around alot. Not steady at all.

[Faustus]

There is a problem somewhere then. A little bouncing is normal. Alot usually means there is a problem somewhere. Try to change your DMA settings and see if that helps.

[Xtreme]

How do i change the DMA settings ? Isn't that done in the BIOS ?

[Faustus]

Its in Device manager. I don't have a PC in front of me to walk you through it though. What OS are you using and maybe someone here can?

[Xtreme]

Windows XP

[bebrewer1]

Go to the Device Manager (you can get there by right clicking on 'My Computer' scrolling down to 'Properties' and selecting the 'Hardware' tab on the 'System Properties' window that will open.

When you get to the Device Manager, go to the IDE ATA/ATAPI line and expand it to show your primary and secondary (if any) controllers. Click on the controller that has your DVD drive hooked to it and then click on the 'Advanced Settings' tab. Make sure that it says 'DMA if available'. If it says 'PIO only' that is probably where your problem is coming from.

[Faustus]

Thanks bebrewer1 I didn't have access to an XP machine to double check the steps on.

Also if DMA is on correctly then try to remove the controllers and restart the computer so they reID. Basicly its soundling like maybe you have an IO problem somewhere.

This isn't by any chance a VIA chipset system board is it?

[Xtreme]

I dont think it is ..... thanks for all your guys help. I will give it a shot when i get home to see if it will make a difference.

[Xtreme]

Well my controllers are set to 'DMA if available' but the current mode on both controls are ''PIO only'. So i think that is the problem. I guess i will remove the controllers and then reboot to see if i can get DMA.

[Xtreme]

I removed the controllers and then rebooted. My computer found the new hardware and everything is fine now. I checked the setttings on the controllers and it now shows current mode as now 'Ultra DMA mode" on both. I checked to see if this cured the problem and it did. I am now able to burn the movie at true 4x speed. It took me 13 miinutes 46 seconds to burn a 4.5 gig movie. Before it was over 26 minutes, so it has now cut the time in half. And the other thing i noticed is that during the burn the buffer was stable and not bouncing all over the place.

So one again i thank you all for your help.