burning question...:-)

[Gunny]

I have been burning DVD's for some time, like years. And have used several different brands of burners, Lite-on, Pioneer, Sony, etc. I haven't burned anything for a short time and the other day when I wanted to burn a few, I noticed that the times to do this procedure, were doubled, and a little more. I have not done anything to the two units I have, firmware, updates, etc. Have not even used them to the best of my memory. I am using the same programs and have not done any changes to these either. I use Ripit4me, DVD decrypter, shrink. I use to be able to do a complete movie, (normal movie 1hr, 30, 40 minutes) in about 30, 40 minutes, from the beginning to the final finished product.

The drives seem to work ok, the movies turn out the same, no strange noises. But every step is taking way longer, one and two times as long. I have a Pioneer and a Lite-on now that I am using, and they are about a year maybe a year and a half old.

I just wondered if anything simple came to mind. Just to see what would happen, I have a older burner, a TDK that I used one time just to see if it would make any difference, and the times were back to normal, with using it. One thing I just remembered is with the burners that were taking so long when it got to the final stages on the copy, DVD Decrypter, the unit buffer graph seemed to bounce back and forth really drastically, where normally it would just bounce between 100% and 98 %.

Thanx and take care.......Gunny

[budz]

Don't use DVD DECRYPTER to burn your discs instead use IMGBURN. Check to see if your dvd burners are in PIO mode which can slow down the drives. Your dvd burners should be in DMA mode.

[Gunny]

Hi Budz

Don't get me wrong here, but I have always used this combination, and was just wondering why they changed with out me initiating any thing. I am always open to new and better ways of doing things. Thanx for the tips. Do you know if Ripit4me works with Imageburn. I have always used this combination because I thought Ripit4me only worked with DVDDecrypter. I use DVDDecrypter for the final burn, also.

I have checked on this setting you are talking about with the burners a long time ago and if I remember right it is under device managers and right click on the particular burner, is this right.?

Thanx and take care.......Gunny

[Gunny]

Hi BUdz

Never mind I remembered how to get there and they both are set for the AUTO if available DMA setting. Any more ideas.???

Thanx and take care.......Gunny

[redwudz]

ImgBurn is a updated version of the DVD Decrypter burning engine, written by the same author. The decrpyption part wasn't replaced for legal reasons. But RipIt4Me or DVD Fab HD decrypter will both work fine with Shrink and ImgBurn. ImgBurn is also the best program for dual layer burning. IMO. DVD Decrypter still has other uses besides burning, so I still keep it around.

Are you sure that the drives are the part of your process that's slow?

[Gunny]

Hi Redwudz

I am assuming they are, because nothing else has been changed. They both are about the same age and amount of use they get. I use one for the decryption, and shrink, then use the other burner for the DVDDecryptor for the final burn. So they just go from one burner to the other with out any break in the process. It has always worked flawlessly. And the really strange thing is they both started this being slower at the very same time. Which would give you the idea some thing has been changed, but to my knowledge nothing has. And the total computer seems to be ok too. No new programs have been added, and the computer is kept cleaned out, defragged, etc. These two drives are the only thing I notice this slow down, normal otherwise. Weird. If it was just a small change, like a few minutes, no big deal but to double, and almost triple in some instances, there's a problem. And I am useing good media, verbatim, Philipps, etc. And they are all the same speed too, 16X. -R and R+, no difference.

Thanx and take care.......Gunny

[Gunny]

I downloaded Imgburn now. Does this decrypt too or just burn.????

Thanx and take care........Gunny

[budz]

I downloaded Imgburn now. Does this decrypt too or just burn.????

Thanx and take care........Gunny

IMGBURN only burns. Use DVD DECRYPTER just to rip sinlge layer dvd discs.

You mentioned PHILIPS media which isn't the best dvd media to use. VERBATIM is fine. Post the brand of your LITEON & PIONEER burners and also their firmwares.

[redwudz]

If you could determine that it's actually the drives that are running slow, you might go ahead and uninstall the channels the drivers are on. Windows occasionally misreads the DMA/PIO status of drivers. It won't hurt anything and just requires a reboot to bring them right back. But it would be unusual for both drives to revert at the same time.

I suspect you may have something interfering with the data transfer, if indeed, it is a problem with the drives writing/reading slow. Two programs that might give you some info: Nero InfoTool and Nero CD-DVD Speed. You can find both at: http://www.cdspeed2000.com/download.html or you may already have them if you have the Nero suite.

If it's a problem in the OS or your software, it might take a while to locate.

[Gunny]

In Reply to the other post about the Mod and firmware...

TDK- DVDRW 1280B--firmware-T751
Lite-on--DVDRW SHM-165H6S--firmware--HS0D

Thanx.......Gunny

[Gunny]

Hi...I did the PIO/DMA thing, per earlier post. These two programs you mentioned, (by the way I have the Nero suite) what are they going to tell me.? Are you saying I should try burning some thing with Nero to see if there is any difference. I use Nero when I am making stuff I take off the Tivo, which I have not done for a while. I think I will do some thing from the Tivo today just to see if things there are any different.

You are right if it is with the computer/operating system, this could be a problem, but being I don't notice any difference there, makes me think it is with the drives some how.

Thanx and take care.......Gunny

[redwudz]

DVD InfoTool will just give you background information on your drives. You may or may not see anything useful there. The CD/DVD speed program will let you check your burned discs and may tell you something about how they were burned. Neither one may be of any help, but may eliminate some factors as a cause.

It could be both your drives had similar problems at the same time, though that would be unusual. BTW, do you have a antivirus program or some program that may be monitoring your system that could be interfering with the transfer to the DVD drive? Or other burning programs that may have partial control of the drives? I don't know, I'm just guessing.

If you do use Nero, you might look at the Nero burn log. It has a fair amount of info that may also give you some clues. Or you could just do a simulation burn and see what that does.

[bourboner]

I downloaded Imgburn now. Does this decrypt too or just burn.????

It won't decrypt an encrypted DVD, but it will read an un-encrypted one and create an .iso file for you.

Re: ImgBurn vs DVDDecrypter burn quality, this may be of interest. To quote Lightning UK! (the developer) himself:

To sum up....

The quality of the burn produced by one bit of software is/should the same as that from a different bit of software.

The software has no control over the burn quality, that's down to the drive and it's firmware.

Use decent media and you'll get decent burns. We recommend Verbatim (MMC dye) or Taiyo Yudens.