Buffer Underrun question.

[bbanderic]

Hi All,

In some of my recent burns (3 in a row, Fuji TY02) w/ DVD Decrypter and Nero I've noticed some buffer underruns, the read buffer goes completely empty as well as about 2/3 of the device buffer. These buffer underruns usually add about 2 minutes to my total burn time. I burn at 2.4x, always. I know my NEC 3520 has some form of buffer underrun protection but I'm not sure how it's supposed to work. In general, is the buffer underrun feature supposed to prevent the buffers from going completly empty or does it slow down the burn process until the buffers fill up again and do the buffer underruns cause playback problems? I've never had either program show a buffer underrun error or had any failed burns. I also always verify the data after burning.

All my hardware is set in DMA Mode, I always disable my firewall and virus protection and unplug my internet connection when burning.

I have a Dell Dimension 8300
P4 2.6 gig
1024 memory
60 gig hard drive (45 gig empty) I defrag on a regular basis. Maybe wise to install a second hard dive?

The NEC 3520 is a new burner but I've had this problem pop up from time to time on my last burner as well. Any tips on what might be the problem would be appreciated.

Thanks

[redwudz]

As long as you have burn-proof, it shouldn't hurt anything. If you are burning from your HD, that usually means the drive is transferring too slow. Could be from fragmentation, interface problems or an overly full HD. It could also be a process running in the background taking up HD cycles. I believe burn-proof just pauses the burning until the buffer refills.

I have burned data DVDs from my portable Firewire drive and that takes close to an hour. The DVD drive just waits. Not the best setup, but it always works.

I always leave everything plugged in, internet, firewall, antivirus. My normal DVD burn time from the internal HD is a little less than 8 minutes with 8X media, no coasters.

If you only have one HD, yes install a second one, it can only help.

[johns0]

Thats normal for the nec 3500 to do that,it does that to improve the burn by adjusting along the way.

[samijubal]

I had that problem with Nero on the 3500, never with Decrypter. I burned many discs in Nero with no burner buffer at all. Once or twice per burn the ultrabuffer would drain, then the disc would wind up and down a few times and then start to burn again. I never had any problems with any of the discs. I use Decrypter instead of Nero now and the buffers never drain. I only have a 1.5 Gig with half the memory of yours and a 40 Gig HD.

[bbanderic]

It happens with both programs but mainly DVD Decrypter as I use that the most.

I checked Nero Info tool and it says that my system ASPI drivers are corrupted but the Nero ASPI's are good, wonder if this might have something to do with the buffer underrun's. Anyone know where I can download system ASPI's for XP and if I need to?

[bbanderic]

Someone recommended uninstalling the primary and secondary IDE channels and then reboot. Is there any risk to my hardware or hard drive by doing this? Do the IDE channels automatically reinstall after rebooting? What's the reason for doing this?

Right now my hard drive is in UDMA Mode 5 (Primary master), my DVD-ROM (secondary master) UDMA Mode 2 and my NEC - 3520 (secondary slave) is in UDMA Mode 2. I also went into BIOS and my hard drive and optical drives are set to Auto Detect, UDMA is ON.

Thanks

[redwudz]

Deleting and reinstalling the channels is used when you are stuck in PIO mode. The OS reinstalls them automatically with no loss of data. If you are DMA 2 on your DVD writers/readers, that's likely not your problem and this is unlikely to help.

If you have the Nero ASPI and it's working, you don't need the others, at least for Nero use. johns0 may have the answer for your problem.

If you want to replace your ASPI layer, look in 'Tools' to the left.<<<
There should be a 'Force ASPI' that you can install. (It's under 'Burners'.)

[blinky88]

Make sure the pin settings on your HDD's and Optical Drives are correct, just might be causing the problem.

[boldego]

Should his burner be a secondary slave? Shouldn't the burner always be master?

[blinky88]

He only has one HDD, so, I would have that drive as the primary Master and have the burner set to Master on the secondary IDE. I would also have 80 conductor cables attached to both drives.