BenQ DW1620 Help Please...

[rmarquez5]

Greetings, all.

I purchased my BenQ DW1620 just the other day, and I managed to backup one of my DVDs without a hitch. I'm using CloneDVD and AnyDVD together, on a Win98SE machine with 512MB RAM. I'm burning on some cheap Pine DVD-R's to just get the hang of burning DVDs.

Today, I downloaded the firmware upgrade, applied to my 1620, and tried backing up a different DVD. When the backup was finished, the DVD failed to load in either of my DVD players.

I suspect that the firmware is to blame, but I'm not sure, and I don't know how to "rollback" to the original firmware version.

Another problem I have is performance... I have seen posts reporting that they are able to backup short DVDs in less than 15mins, while it takes over 40 for me. I have an Athlon 2.0Ghz processor. I would think it would be more than enough. But 40 mins compared to 15 seems a bit long.

I tried doing the DMA trick, turning it on both my HD and the 1620, and the extraction was quite fast. But the extraction alone took 17mins during the burn I attempted after my firmware upgrade. So I'm not sure what else to look at.

Any input would be most appreciated.
Thanks in advance. I hope to hear from you.

Happy Burning,
R.

[Capmaster]

Welcome aboard, rmarquez5

Sounds like you've done some homework already.

1) What media are you using? Try a different media if you're using a cheapo store brand.

2) The backup time is heavily dependent on the level of compression and the encryption used on the original. It takes me 10 minutes to back up an unencrypted DVD, but sometimes 40 minutes for a commercial title, and I have a 2.8 HT P4. There is no set "normal time".

Try a different media before attempting another firmware change. It's much less risky

[rmarquez5]

Thanks for the response, Cap.

I purchased a ten-pack of DVD-Rs and a ten-pack of DVD+Rs. Both are manufactured by Pine. So I guess they are "el cheapo", but a nominal loss as I get my feet wet.

I don't know if its the media though. In my original post, I mentioned that my very first burn to one of these Pine DVD-Rs worked fine. It wasn't until after the firmware upgrade that I started burning coasters.

I'll try doing a burn with a DVD+R tonight and post my findings...

Thanks again for the response. Its much appreciated!
Burn on!
R.

[rmarquez5]

Well... I switched to the Pine DVD+Rs, and managed to burn two DVDs that play just fine in my players. So I guess that will be my media of choice for DVD burns for this particular burner.

I guess I can use the DVD-Rs for data still, yes??

Would the firmware upgrade make the BenQ prefer +Rs instead of -Rs? Does that happen??

On top of the resulting burns being compatible with my burner, the process also seems faster with the +Rs. Anyone else experience that too??

Anyways... if anyone has any further input, it much appreciated. This forum is very helpful.

Thanks a bunch! 8)
R.