New Asus DRW-1814BLT Sata 18x Burning slowly Nero7

[DAVE440]

Just built a new system. All new components except my old IDE HDDs. Haven't updated them yet and all my data is still on them. Backing them up a little at a time. I have my drives partitioned so I was able to reformat C: to start with a fresh OS install on the new PC.

Just burned a few disks with the new 18x Asus DVD drive. Used "determine speed." Said it was reading at 40x and was capable of burning at 18x (16x disks). Took an average of 15 + mins each to burn 3 test dvds (data dvds with mpg1 and photos - no transcoding. pure data.). DVD-ISO1. Watching the burn speed indicator...write speed was approx 4.5-7x. Not exactly the 18x it said it could do.

Did some googling and found perhaps DMA mode was not set. All Dma settings were on auto in bios. I checked device mgr and found one IDE ctrlr said PIO. It doesnt tell you which is for which drive and since my DVD burner is Sata I wasnt sure it would have an effect. I changed it to DMA and rebooted. Now reads Ultra DMA.

New burn speed started out higher right away. It began writing at around 11x and gradually increased finishing at a max of 14.8 near the end. STILL not 16x which is what the disks are.

I didn't tell it to determine burn speed this time so it should've burned at 16x all the way?? Or am I wrong here?? Should speed vary so greatly during burning? 11x seems pretty low to me...or is it that since 16x is max....and it burns from the center out....it starts slower and reaches a max of 16x (under best conditions) as it reaches the outer edges of the disk?

Either way....setting to DMA did have an effect because it burned 3902mb of data at just over 5m30sec in Ultra DMA mode vs near 15mins when it was set to PIO mode.

QUESTION: Why am I not reaching 16x? Thought this dvd burner would smoke my IDE 16x NEC3550 on the old PC but I the NEC was a bit faster...that old pc also has a slower processor and less memory.

I flashed the Asus drive with the latest firmware and it made no difference. Tried to get latest Nforce drivers from Biostar site but they're dated 06 and I just got my new components so I'm sure I have the latest. Haven't tried a bios update but don't think it will make a difference. That's a LAST resort for serious problems anyway.

Specs: Biostar Tforce550SE mobo - AMD X2 5600+ CPU - Adata PC6400 2gb (1x2 dual ch)
Asus DRW-1814BLT 18x SATAdvd burner - WD80 7200 8mb IDE - Seagate200 7200 8mb IDE

Software: Windows 2000 professional - Nero7 ultra. (Also tried bundle nero7 essentials w same results).

Appreciate any suggestions on why I'm not getting to 16 or 18x (which a 16x disk should do easily)....

Thanks
Dave

[redwudz]

it starts slower and reaches a max of 16x (under best conditions) as it reaches the outer edges of the disk?

Yes. Just because it can burn at 16X or 18X doesn't mean it will. As long as it burns faster than 12X, it's doing fine. If you think Nero might be the problem, try ImgBurn instead.

Maximum burner speed is determined by the burner when it does a power calibration burn as you start to burn a disc. That sets the speed and the laser power levels required, along with the burn statagy for the media that's in the firmware. What DVD media are you using? Media manufacturer makes a big difference as that's what the power calibration is for.

BTW, the difference between 12X burning time and 16X burning time is usually about 30 or so seconds. But you are more likely to have burning problems at 16X than at 12X.

[Krispy Kritter]

Variable speed is normal. It is because the inner tracks of a disc hold less data than the outer tracks.

[DAVE440]

Thanks for the replies. Variable speed due to smaller center bout what I figured. Makes sense.
I think Nero is working ok...but might give imgburn a try too.

I had read a post on another forum of some concern regarding Nvidia mobo chipsets and DVD
Sata drives to the extend that the nforce chipsets didn't support some Sata Optical drives well.
The thread was from last year so hopefully its a non-issue now. Since I'm burning at min. 11x and max at 14.8 so far....I'm guessing that's not the case here.

Media is 16x +R verbatim since I mainly burn data disks and the +R is more reliable for that.
Nero tried to typeset to -Rom for 1 disk then on the rest I changed it to physical disk type.

NOT 1 coaster in over 150 disks using verbatim and my NEC3550a in the old PC. I was hoping to get another 3550a for the new PC but they're discontinued and from what I understand...the NEC/Sony merger on DVD ODs has produced less than stellar products compared to the NEC drives that came before. We'll see how well this Asus drive does.

I'm sure I'll be here askin more questions as I experiment more.

Thanks again for the replies.
Dave

[redwudz]

I have two Sony SATA burners running with a Nvidia chipset computer with no problems. If it does turn out to be a issue, you could always use a PCI SATA controller. SATA optical drives are fairly new, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are some minor problems. But Nvidia and the other controller manufacturers have probably issued motherboard software upgrades by now.

Nero's OK for just burning, but I wouldn't trust it with encoding or authoring. JMO. Especially with DL discs ImgBurn is recommended.

[DAVE440]

I agree about Nero. Every VCD i've attempted to make had either audio sync or frame freeze problems during playback.

DVD movies I've tried took forever to encode and either had interlace problems or audio sync issues. I don't really burn movies except my own home videos but I want those to be right also.

I'll look into imgburn.

Thanks again,
Dave