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  1. A little history first. I bought my Sony when they first came out then ordered a hundred "DVD-ON" brand 4x DVD-R media. I used all 100 of them with zero problems burning at 4x so I ordered another 100 and used about ten of them at 4x. Then I updated my firmware to 1.0g and suddenly I could no longer burn at 4x only 2x. I tried every fix I could think of to get back to 4x but none really worked until tonight.

    One of the forum members here said he did this trick and his burner worked at 4x. Here is what I did. I set the drive to be a secondary slave (was secondary master) and them replaced my ATA133 IDE cable with one of those old 80 pin flat ribbon ATA100 cables and wOot the drive is back to 4x. I burnt two 4x DVD-R's and it took me a little under 16 minutes for a full disc burn. So if you're having similar problems with your 500A you may want to give this a try.
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  2. I can tell you I had the DRU500AX burning hpermedia no problem format thge C drive now can not burn Khpermedia at all I use the same DVD-R to test no burning just a test a DVD-R now it can not pass the test I'm real mad that sony but out a drive that's very buggy. I'm glad you fixed your problem. But you should have not have had to do that. It should work with no problem and people should not have to de bug there drive to get thing's to work. SONY please make better product's. I'm not buying another product until I hear great review's on Sony product's on this board ever week some one is having problem's with your drive
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  3. @BobW

    I'm glad my trick worked for you - for many others, it didn't seem to work. I'm sure some people thought I was making it up! I tried every combination possible, but as I said, I changed the cable to ATA100, put it as Secondary Slave, burned a +RW (whether this had any effect I don't know) and BINGO.

    I'm glad your sorted like me.
    Happy 4x burning!

    As the user above said though, we shouldn't have to do this though. The drive is UDMA 33 so should work with ANY cable.
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  4. Member
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    Glad it worked, but that isn't really a solution, is it?
    I mean, if 4x worked before the firmware upgrade then the firmware has some kind of bug no?

    I think it's not acceptable that if you update something that you need to replace the hardware in your system.

    MrSnake
    Sony DRU-500A v1.0d
    Toshiba SD-M1302 v1006
    Philips DVDR885P v1.7/8
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  5. Well it really didn't work at least all the time. Now about 40% of the time it will burn all the way at 4x and the others burn at 4x for part of the burn then drop back to 4x. I flippin gave up and ordered a Pioneer DVR-105 from here tonight for $251 USD.
    http://store.yahoo.com/elegantshopping1/piondv4xdvdr.html
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  6. BTW when the Pioneer drive arrives I'm going to put in into another computer just for video stuff. I ordered a switch that allows me to use two computers and share the monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
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  7. Bob - someone else tried my suggestion of writing a +RW. Have you tried that? I've written 10 4x on the run now.

    sidneysides
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  8. Bob,

    What version of the firmware were you using that was working at 4x ? I'm only seeing 2x on mine and I'm at 1.0f I believe. I wasn't aware that 4x could be achieved.


    Originally Posted by Bob W
    A little history first. I bought my Sony when they first came out then ordered a hundred "DVD-ON" brand 4x DVD-R media. I used all 100 of them with zero problems burning at 4x so I ordered another 100 and used about ten of them at 4x. Then I updated my firmware to 1.0g and suddenly I could no longer burn at 4x only 2x. I tried every fix I could think of to get back to 4x but none really worked until tonight.

    One of the forum members here said he did this trick and his burner worked at 4x. Here is what I did. I set the drive to be a secondary slave (was secondary master) and them replaced my ATA133 IDE cable with one of those old 80 pin flat ribbon ATA100 cables and wOot the drive is back to 4x. I burnt two 4x DVD-R's and it took me a little under 16 minutes for a full disc burn. So if you're having similar problems with your 500A you may want to give this a try.
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  9. Bob and others...

    Please clarify. From what I understand, the DRU500a will only burn 4x on +R media, NOT -R. If I read your posts correctly, it is burning 4x on -R media as well?

    Sony claims -R is not supported at 4x, only 2x
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  10. Since I did my cable thing and +RW thing I am happily burning at 4x on Ritek 4x DVD-R
    It can write at 4x on BOTH formats.
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  11. Member
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    Originally Posted by Coop
    Bob and others...

    Please clarify. From what I understand, the DRU500a will only burn 4x on +R media, NOT -R. If I read your posts correctly, it is burning 4x on -R media as well?

    Sony claims -R is not supported at 4x, only 2x

    Juh?

    http://sony.storagesupport.com/dvdrw/mediainfo_na.htm
    (read the -R specs, specifically the 4x media)

    If that's not enough for you, the flipping BOX IT COMES IN says "4x -R". The recent firmware updates allowed users to write +R media at 4x, true, but the -R media speed has stayed the same, 4x.
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  12. The firmware version g should have a bug. I ususally burn 1x very good, then updated to fw001g. It burns 2x 2.4x and 4x good but no longer burns 1x speed. Always stop at about 55% to 85% of a disk (4.7gb) and said drive reset. (Same message with SpruceUp,Nero,DVDdecryptor and DVDxCopy always something like "driver reset.." and burn failed.
    jwsons
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  13. An update chaps and chapesses....
    After happily stating that I am writing at 4x, my last burn on a new pack of Riteks just went at 2x. Damn.
    Something in the Sony I'm sure is saying this media is not good enough for 4x - lets go back to 2x instead. It CANT be a speed issue as I am on 7200rpm drives
    Will try another after I've waited YAWWWWn 30 mins for this one to finish.
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  14. A conversation with Sony Support
    Jill says, What version of windows are you running? What is the mhz of your system? Is this a Pentium II, Pentium III, Celeron or an AMD processor?
    You say, I am having this problem regardless of OS (happens in XP and 98) I am running XP, AThlon XP2100+
    Jill says, What brand and type of dvd discs are you using?
    You say, am am writing to Ritek discs. The first 10 wote at 2x, then I changed some cables (put an ATA100 cable on) and wrote a+RW disc. After that the next 23 wrote at 4x. The last one I tried went back to 2x again.
    Jill says, Please use media that is on our media compatibility list. The media compatibility list is on the following page.
    Jill pushes page, http://sony.storagesupport.com/dvdrw/dru500adwn.htm
    You say, I always get directed to that. i KNOW these can write at 4x. 75% of people use them at 4x. They are the biggest selling disc, and I have written 23 of them at 4x. Users of th 'a' version of this drive have had to go back to firmwware 1.0d to get 4x.
    Jill says, The discs have not been tested with the drive.
    Jill says, That is most likely why some record at 4x and others only record at 2x.
    Jill says, Recording speed is determined by the system and the media.
    You say, but for most people (including me inconsistently) they DO write at 4x
    Jill says, That tells me it is a problem with the discs.
    Jill says, How is the drive connected in the system? Is the jumper set to master or slave? Is the drive on the primary port or the secondary port? Does it share an IDE cable with another drive?
    You say, Secondary Slave - Iwith DVD-ROm - I've tried all combinations - this one got me to 4x in the first place - as a slave no 4x at all. http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?t=9390
    Jill says, Your problem is with the media.
    Jill says, The drive should be master on the secondary port.
    You say, It is on that position.
    Jill says, You can try changing the transfer mode for the secondary controller to PIO Only and see if that helps.
    Jill says, That is not what you said.
    You say, Why is it that so many are happily writing hunderds of disc at 4x then?
    You say, Sorry, yes it is on slave
    Jill says, The DRU500AX should be Master.
    Jill says, They may have a different batch of discs, or they don't worry about the few that don't write at 4x.
    Jill says, Your problem is with the media.
    You say, I have had inconsistent results with the same batch of discs. Some people have never got ANY to write at 4x. Is there are firmware upgrade for the AX soon?
    Jill says, Try using some media that is on our compatibility list.
    Jill says, We have not been informed of any firmware updates for this drive.
    Jill says, Are the discs actually the same batch or just from the same bundle?
    Jill says, When you purchase a bundle of discs, you can have more than one batch in the bundle.
    You say, sam bundle. Fact is in my opinion Ritek ARE the best disc around. Ask any dvd writing person and they will tell you that. It is not an inferior media
    Jill says, It is not on our supported media list.
    Jill says, Thank you for using the Sony Technical Support chat service. In a few minutes, a transcript of your chat session will be emailed to the address that you provided at the time of login. Have a nice day.
    You say, Why?

    What a load of crap Sony.
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  15. Update - Just tried my trick of writimg a few meg to the Sony +RW that came with th drive - Riteks back up to 4x now!!!!!!!

    UPDATE - NOOOOOO!!!

    Back to 2x on next disc!!!
    Damn
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  16. Member
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    Originally Posted by sidneysides
    Update - Just tried my trick of writimg a few meg to the Sony +RW that came with th drive - Riteks back up to 4x now!!!!!!!

    UPDATE - NOOOOOO!!!

    Back to 2x on next disc!!!
    Damn
    Heh. Welcome to my world.
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  17. Originally Posted by sidneysides
    Update - Just tried my trick of writimg a few meg to the Sony +RW that came with th drive - Riteks back up to 4x now!!!!!!!

    UPDATE - NOOOOOO!!!

    Back to 2x on next disc!!!
    Damn
    My emails to sony support just go unanswered.

    Anyway after trying every trick in the book and some approved 4x media I gave up this burner will not burn at 4x. I bought a Pioneer 105 which will burn any brand 4x media I feed it.
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  18. Dang. Is the 1.0f firmware upgrade not available anywhere, and is it possible to go back to it. It would sound a lot easier than all these maneuverings. Luckily I bidded my time while others tested out 1.0g. I have yet to try out 4x media, but then again I am cheapo who burns 2x on 1x certified media
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  19. Just tried another - 2x. I'm getting annoyed
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  20. ANOTHER UPDATE
    Don't know whether this is coincedence or not but....
    I went into the options in Stomp, and changed the buffer in advanced to the maximum (75mb)
    I am actually saving a Huffyuv video to my HD at the same which is very HD intensive.
    Thought I'd press record out of curiosity. I thought if it can write at 4x whilst I'm doing this then....
    sure enough, off it went at 4x!!!!

    So, might as well try it everyone, go into options in Stomp and change the size of the memory buffer to the maximum.
    I'm sure someone is gonna tell me taht they've tried that and it didn't work, but, I tried!
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  21. Another Update!

    Left everything the same, inserted another disc, pressed record........2x
    So ignore my other post. God, I'm getting frustrated.
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  22. Another Update!!!

    Tried my old trick - wrote a few meg to a+RW, rebooted.

    Loaded up Stomp - wrote at 4x!!!!

    I wonder if it could be something like this..... if for some reason the drive writes at 2x (lots of appliations running, something else writing/reading to/from the HD, then the drive remembers this when you try to write next time.
    Then for some reason, the +RW 'unlocks' the speed againg and BOOM back to 4x?

    I'm getting really desperate now as this theory proves........
    Never make a detective would I...............

    If I'm honest, I'm clutching at straws I think.
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  23. Member SaSi's Avatar
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    Some additional info.

    I've never tried writing at 4x (have yet to find such a DVDR), but had some silly problems with x2 disks with the SONY.

    The drive came with 1.0d firmware. Some Princo DVD-R disks could not be recognized. However, some other DVD-R disks, creation, were recorded at 2x. Verbatim DVD+R 2.4 disks would fail to record at the end of the session.

    After upgrading to version g, the Princo disks were identified as TDK, were recordable at 2x and the creation disks (remaining 4 of the original 10 pack) could not be recorded.

    On the other hand, totaly no-name DVD-R disks someone gave to me were recorded at 2x (20 out of 20 success).

    To "complicate" matters worse, I have found that the behaviour depends on the recording s/w as well. Nero 5.5.9.14 would not succeed recording, but would only simulate recording, actually recording disks. Nero 5.5.10.7b is the one I use with the above results. The latest version I got, 5.5.10.15, failed in a worse way (could not record any of the above disks).

    So, it appears there may be both a chaos with the SONY firmware as well as compatibility problems with the s/w (at least with Nero).

    Anybody can recommend a recording s/w that succesfully overcomes problems?
    The more I learn, the more I come to realize how little it is I know.
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  24. I use Padus DiscJuggler, it is really good. Up to now in Italy I haven't yet found any 4x media to try my DRX500UL 1.0g firmware.

    A.
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  25. Job Recording Memory Cache
    Number of buffers — The default is 256 (9.4 MB). In most cases, you do not need to change this setting. Increasing the buffers can help prevent underrun problems, but only on computers with 512 MB or more of RAM. Drives with buffer underrun technology do not benefit from changes to this setting.

    I'll try the 75MB buffer size but I'm thinking somehow we must disable buffer underrun or whatever sony calls for it to take effect. First though I'm gonna try that new firmware 2.0e
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  26. just wondering - those of us having probs - does everyone have a motherboard with a Via chipset? Perhaps it could be that?
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  27. I have the DRU-500UL. I have an nForce2 based system, which has both FireWire and USB 2.0 built-in. I have tested my burner on both interfaces, and I can burn at 4X on both, with the 2.0e firmware, on Ritek 4X media, with RecordNow MAX 4.5. I also get 2x speeds with Samsung BeAll media, which are my preference.
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  28. Member
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    Well I don't understand you guys. What is wrong with 2Xor 2.4X. It seems to me that everyone is in a hurry. Go for a walk and you come back it will be done.
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  29. Is that really the point? Why pay for a 4x drive to write at 2x? Daft reply m8.
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