my burner wont give me an option for 2.4x only 4x and 8x

[cduval04]

I have a question...I have a burner in my laptop ( i think it is a toshiba) and I have an external burner. I am using tda 3 and when I select the external burner it gives me more choices for burn speed like 2.4x 4x 6x 8x and 16x however when I select my laptop burner i only get 2 choices 4x and 8x I understand why it wont give me 16x becuase it cant burn faster than 8x but why wont it give me anything lower than 4x....I am new to dvd burning so could someone explain to me why some drives have more speed choices than others?

[guns1inger]

Burners are controlled by firmware, which contains the write strategy for various discs, generally based on media ID. The manufacturer has decided that a certain make of disc is best burned at certain speeds by this particular burner. The burning software gets the speeds from the burner's firmware. Sometimes updating the firmware to newer versions, or unofficial versions can add new strategies and open up new speeds.

Why would you want to burn at 2.4 x on faster discs anyway ? If you discs are so poor that you have to burn that slowly to get results, you need to buy better discs. Otherwise, don't worry about missing the slower speeds when working with faster discs.

[handyguy]

You'd have to know what writer you have then you can look for new FW.

[cduval04]

I spoke with hp (the manufacturer of my computer) they said they have not recieved a firmware update for the gsa-4084 from lg they said they will be getting one soon...I couldnt find the firmware for it..or any other laptop dvd drives for that matter ..on lg's website...only the gsa's for desktops ...am I loooking in the wrong place? does anyone out there know if theres a firmware update for the gsa-4084 out there or is KQ09 the latest??? let me know

[guns1inger]

Before undertaking a firmware upgrade simply for the sake of it, ask yourself if you need to. Why do you need to burn something at 2.4X ?

[handyguy]

Also, some media may not support 2.4x writing.

[cduval04]

I forgot to mention i am burning a dl dvd and the choices are 2.x and 4x i tried it at 4x and i have kind of an old dvd player so it skipped...so i tried it at 2.4x on another dvd burner and it played fine...anyway i think kq09 is already the latest firmware for my dvd writer