Software limitations writing to a firewire burner

[penamty]

I’ve been wondering what the limitations would be if one were to install a DVD burner in an external firewire enclosure. By limitation I mean compatibility issues with DVD/CD writing software; such as Nero, DVD MoveFactory, DVD decrypter, NTI CD Maker, and Roxio.

I did a search in the forum but there were no specific answers regarding the above software, although some members did hint to some limitations.

[jimsmith]

There is no any

[BJ_M]

none -- in fact its a good plan ..

[Faustus]

Mines been in an external firewire case since shortly after my first burner. Its not only without drawback, it also by passes alot of issues some have such as "Master/Slave" and IO settings.

[The village idiot]

Only problem I ever had was that I couldn't use the DVD-RAM feature of my burner. Burning DVD-R was no problem with any software I ever used. Those being Nero, DVD MF, recordnow max.

[Gurm]

I _have_ heard of the whole "can't burn DVD-RAM" issue.

Also, SOME burners won't let you flash the BIOS from the FireWire port without jumping through a bunch of hoops.

And for some that stupid "use the DVD as a gigantic floppy" feature won't work externally. Not that anyone USES that.

- Gurm

[The village idiot]

I moved mine internal, put my CDRW external. ANd I use my -RAM like a big floppy all the time! I love it! Way better than zip disk ever was! I used to use zip a lot before -RAM. I'm looking forward to the new Panasonic 3x -RAM drive. I might actually upgrade when it comes down in price.

[fuzzywuzzy]

I just bought a new DVD burner, the TDK 440N external model (multi-format +r +rw -r -rw). It can connect via Firewire or USB2.0. I'm using Firewire since my computer has those ports available already (only have version 1.1 for USB). So far I'm loving it. It came with the full Roxio Creator 6 package, but I already had Nero 6.0 Ultimate. Only problem I've come across is with the InCD software (the big floppy program :P ). If I have InCD running, Nero (nor anything else) can access the burner, says it is in use. I have to completely disable InCD and reboot in order to let Nero or other software use the burner. Doesn't seem right, like there is something wrong there that shouldn't be happening. But since I'm not a "big floppy" kind of guy, I just uninstalled InCD. I can write multiple sessions to a DVD/RW if needed.

[penamty]

Well since my burner does not support RAM, there doesn’t seem to be any real limitations, other than flashing the firmware, but since I don’t usually do that without a specific reason, and I can always temporarily reconnect it to an IDE cable in my computer if I need to; then I think I might buy one of those enclosures and be able to share my burner with laptop, friends and family.

[zeppage2]

FWIW: My experience is that after installing an internal dvd-r drive, TMPGEnc Author wouldn't recognize the Sony external burner.

[penamty]

zeppage2 Do you mean that once there is an internal drive installed TMPGenc Author will not recognize an external one, but before it did?

[zeppage2]

Yes, after installing an internal dvd-r drive, TMPGEnc Author failed to recognize my external Sony burner.

However, DVD Workshop, DVDit!, and Nero continue to recognize the firewire drive.

It's just curiouser and curiouser!

[fourthquark]

The FAQ for Roxio (MGI) VideoWave says it won't write to an external writer.

Does anyone know whether the "can't burn DVD-RAM on external burner" issue software-specific, or is there something about writing DVD-RAM that makes it fundamentally incompatible with externally-housed burners?

I have a LG GSA-4040B that I was going to put into an external case. Has anyone tried doing a firmware update with the LG 4040B in an external case?

[The village idiot]

My only experience is with an old Panasonic LF-D311. It most likely is a driver issue. There should be no reason that it can't work external. No problem with hard drives external, ram should be no different. Couldn't flash to my burner while external either.

[Gurm]

It's a combination of driver issues... the DVD-RAM driver, the INCD driver, the Firewire driver... in the end it's one of those "complex" issues that don't effect enough people overall for all three companies to sort it out working together.

- Gurm