HP Lightscribe 840B DVD writer , only writing at 4X speed.

[kittykaboodle]

My HP pavillion desktop came with a light scribe DVD
burner. Under device manager it says hp 840b. I have applied the latest
firmware, HI86 to this drive. (Atleast I think that it is the latest firmware, according to HP's site)

This drive still only burns at 4x speed. The media i use is Fuji 16x,
DVD -r. I use Roxio Easy DVD/CD creator. It says, written speed 4X, maximum speed 4X.

I have no idea why it keeps doing this. Makes me suspect that
HP never installed a 16X drive on my computer.

I use this same Fuji 16x media on another dvd writer on separate
computer and it uses the correct speed. So I believe my media is good.

Please advise. Has anybody had this trouble with writers.

Ps. I've had the most awful waste of time with HP's technical support, asking me idiotic questions. They are finally requesting I ship the drive back, but i distrust them so much that I wonder if I will get sent another defective drive.

This is the last time, I am ordering a computer like this from a big company. Next one, I am buildingon my own.

[budz]

have you tried using another dvd burning program like DVD DECRYPTER? try it and see if it still will only burn at 4x speed. i'm not a big fan of roxio easy cd/dvd creator. that software is buggy as hell. can you remove the drive and install it on another pc and see if it still burns at 4x only. what is the media code of those FUJI discs?

[kittykaboodle]

I use Easy CD / DVD creator on another maching with a different DVD writer (mad dog writer) and it burns the Fuji media at 16x speed.
So i don't think the software is giving errors twice.

The media code . What is that.

But when I run the Nero INfo tool, it says the Manufactueres ID of my Fuji Disc is RITEKF1

[budz]

I use Easy CD / DVD creator on another maching with a different DVD writer (mad dog writer) and it burns the Fuji media at 16x speed.
So i don't think the software is giving errors twice.

The media code . What is that.

But when I run the Nero INfo tool, it says the Manufactueres ID of my Fuji Disc is RITEKF1

Ritek isn't the best brand of dvd media. It's a known fact that if you have EASY CD/DVD CREATOR & NERO BURN installed on the same pc, you could have a software conflict. If you have both programs installed on the same pc then try uninstalling both programs. Use the NERO CLEAN TOOL from Nero's website after you uninstall it. Then reinstall just that program and see if your problem still exists.

[kittykaboodle]

When I run the Nero CD-DVD Speed, tool on my Fuji 16X DVD-r using my MadDOg writer, it says the write speeds are
2X - 4X - 6X -8X -12 X.

When I run the same NEro CD-DVD Speed tool on this same DVD-r Disc on my HP 840B DVD writer, it says the write speeds are 4X. That's it.

[kittykaboodle]

In answer to your post. I have both Nero and Easy CD/DVD Creator, on the same PC for my other DVD writer and it doesn't have a problem.
So why would this PC give a problem

[ROF]

Let me take a guess, you have either an HP pavilion 1350 or the pavilion media center 7200/7300 series computers? These shipped with an odd configured POS DVD burners. In most cases, you will find that DVD's will only burn at 4x, sometimes at 2x, and on rare occasions at 8x. If you have the superdrive model you might find this drive fails to recognize certain RAM discs. The drive is supposedly a rebadged LG drive but installing the latest firmware for that drive makes this one even worse. I've had these in my shop several times and the only solution I could find was to replace the drive. Fortunately DVD burning capability(replacement) costs less than taking you significant other out to dinner.

Other issues noted by me about this drive is it's failure to recognize some pressed media, Failure to autorun (could be a good thing), would only burn CDs(no DVD burning capability), and dead on arrival.

[kittykaboodle]

Hi there,
This came with my HP pavillion d4100Y. IT came in dec 2005. It is the super multi drive.
Could it be that they put and old burner in it then?

So from your point of view, this does look like a defective drive?

I was thinking of trying a different media, but I find this burning at 4X so unacceptable, that it just seems to me that the drive is bad. Especially since my mad dog dvd burner seems so nice in comparision.

Any thoughts?

[ROF]

IMHO it's a POS DVD Drive. You might want to try different media to see if you can get different results. My advice would be to look into getting a new DVD drive. You can pick one up for around $40. DVD drives are easily replaced and are plug and play in modern OSs.

[kittykaboodle]

What does a POS DVD Drive mean? What is POS?

This sucks with HP, as I paid about 80 bucks to HP for this whole light scribe DVD writer.
They have agreed to send me a new one.
But I wonder if I would have the same problem with it. Would there be anyway that I can tell if it is a bad drive, by looking at the serial number or anything?

I suppose I should try different media, but I find this HP thing so fishy.

Here is the diagnostics that I get from NERoDVD/CD tool. THe drive says it can write 16X. I have no idea why the tools are saying that t writes at 40X

[kittykaboodle]

Here is the info.

[kittykaboodle]

Sorry, I thought I posted a picture of my results. But it didn't show up.
Here is the link of the results of my NEroDVD/CD tool on the HP lightscribe writer:

http://www.msdivine.net/nerodisc.jpg

[ROF]

POS = Piece of Shite

If HP sends you another one that is bad tell them you will send back the drive and you'd like the standard CD/DVD Rom that comes inside the 4100 and of course your $80 back. Take the $80 and buy yourself a $55 dollar LG or liteon lightscribe drive instead.

[kittykaboodle]

Hi there,
hehehe.. THanks for your reply. I thought POS meant some fancy technical term and I was going to tell HP that I don't want their POS drives. hehee.

But I guess the only way, that I can see if this drive is good, is by testing it. I am just concerned I might encounter other problems with this drive down the road.

[ROF]

I've had several of them in here without ever resolving the problem. It's not a good drive. I can understand that it's a rebadged LG4166 drive because there were issues in early release firmware for that drive.

[kittykaboodle]

Hi there,
Just had another question.
HP sent me another DVD writer. However this lacks DVD-Ram read/write capabilities even though, I paid extra for that. I notified them about it.

But I am just curious about the drive, the sent me, it's a Toshiba, Samsung Drive. (TSST Corp) Just wondering if you are aware of HP sending those drives and what possible problems might be encountered.