Problems burning at 4 speed

[davie_zone]

Not sure where to ask this question guys so i have asked it in here .
I have a pioneer 105 and am using datawrite classic 4 speed (yellow) dvd-r .
All I am basically trying to do is make an image of an all ready ripped dvd to my hard drive then burn the image .
I have tried using nero , record now max and primo dvd but i still cant get it to burn at 4 speed . It starts off well for the first quarter of the disc or so then it seems to revert to 1 speed and fluctuates between 1 and 2 speed .
I dont think i should need any firmware should I ???
If anyone has any suggestions i would be forever gratefull .
Thanx in advance
keep up the good work

[fraparty]

I am haiving the exact same problem on my DVR-106 using Bulkpaq GEN4 Orange 4x Discs.
I am suspecting it's a media issue, but maybe OS or hardware?.
What PC setup have u got?

[davie_zone]

I have an athlon 1.8mghz 512 ddr ram i'm running windows xp . I have a plextor writer and 2 hard drives and a friend said id i didnt have them set up correct primary slave etc that might cause me issues but i'm not fully clued up on how to set it up .
Dont know if its any help but its also taking ages to read the discs and burn an image . I was under the impression it should only take about 15 minutes but its taking at least double that if not more .
Thanks for your help hopefully i'l get to the bottom of it .

[fraparty]

Hmmm,
I've got an Athlon 1800 w. 256MB RAM on Win 98SE.
At first i thought it might be because of Win 98, but i will be upgrading to XP soon.
The only other common factor i've got with you is that my Pioneer is setup as a Slave to my Lite-On CDRW.
I'm gonna take out the Lite-On now and set up the Pioneer as the Master, see if that makes a difference.
Someone's also told me to try and write at 2x, and if that burns correctly (should only take 25 - 30mins) then there's a problem burning at 4x.

Have u got the latest/correct firmware? Check here to find out:

http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_all.php

[davie_zone]

As far as firmware goes i havent installed any . Could that be my problem and looking at that link you just sent me i wouldent know which to install which do you have installed ??

[fraparty]

I have a Pioneer 106, which has got new firmware, but peopel are saying don't install it cause it might cause probs.

You need to click on the link, then go to the Pioneer section and click on "DVD-Recorder".
Scroll down to the "Pioneer DVR-A05/105" section. From there you can see that the latest firmware version is 1.33. Click on that to download it.

BE WARNED tho, you have got to know what you are doing when upgrading firmware as you can fubar your drive. Plus make sure you do a back up of your old firmware, just in case you need to re-install it if you get problems.

Download a prog called DicInfo from here which will give you details of your Drives including what firmware they're on:

http://discinfo.rpc1.org/

[bignjhammer]

I had a similar problem. Make sure that the promary and secondary drives are set up correctly in the BIOS. That was my problem . My dvr-105 was connected as the secondary drive(slave) but in the BIOS it wasnt listed at all. The drive functioned but not at the speeds it should have. Also make sure that Ultra DMA is selected not PIO mode. I believe You can check that in the System Page under IDE Devices.

Good Luck

[davie_zone]

I have just tried to updaate my firmware . The firmware updated and then it said it was 'flashing my drive' my computer froze and i had to switch off my machine .
When i switched it back on i checked and the firmware is now the latest but i dont know wheter i will still need to flash my drive ???
I have tested my drive to see if it is still working and it is but still at a slow speed .
Do you think i should try and update it again ???

[fraparty]

The firmware updated and then it said it was 'flashing my drive' my computer froze and i had to switch off my machine .

That doesn't sound good, Did it come up with a "success" message indicating it had finished or do you think it froze during the update?

If it was successful you should not have had to reboot your machine like that.

Also i didn't think you were going to do it straight away, especially if you havn't done anything like this before.

Personally i would try it again, but i reckon you should post a topic on forum.rpc1.org (where you downloaded the update from), they would probably be able to help you more.

p.s. Did you make a backup of yout old firmware? If you did try flashing that and see if it reverts to the old firmware successfully, but remember - BE CAREFUL!

[davie_zone]

Thanks again
It didnt say succefull . Like i say it froze up during the process , but my drive is still working , i didnt save my old version because it was on that site where i downloaded the new firmware , i think i'll just giv it another go .
Thanks again for all your help and let me know if changing your drives to primary has any effect .

[fraparty]

No probs, Good Luck!

[davie_zone]

Upgraded my firmware succesfully but still no luck . Back to square 1.
Guess i'll have to just keep lookin and trying .
Thanks for all the help guys