buffer underrun..what is it??

[Outlaw_IG]

what's buffer underrun and how can i know if my CDR support it (with any program..)

[Boone]

a buffer underrun is what happens if the drive runs out of data to write (the source is slower than the writer).

what you want is buffer underrun protection, which will know when your buffer is about to underrun, stop the writing, wait for the buffer to fill up again, and go. Some common buffer underrun protections are called BURN Proof, Smart-Burn, etc.

[eliminator]

Most good programs (Nero/CloneCD) show if your burner supports/and how much buffer memory it has.

[sonyman]

a buffer underrun is what happens if the drive runs out of data to write (the source is slower than the writer).

what you want is buffer underrun protection, which will know when your buffer is about to underrun, stop the writing, wait for the buffer to fill up again, and go. Some common buffer underrun protections are called BURN Proof, Smart-Burn, etc.

I forget which protections do this, but some, such as Sony's Power-Burn will also lower the write speed if your CPU/Hard Drive is having a hard time keeping up.

-Scott

[tyronemoss]

so if your cd burner had buffer underrun protection it will write slower than if it didn't?

[cfitz]

No, buffer underrun protection in and of itself doesn't make your drive burn slower. It just allows the burner to adapt if other activity on your computer causes the flow of data to the burner to slow down. So, buffer underrun protection allows the burner to respond to other causes of slow-downs while still burning a good CD.

cfitz

[tyronemoss]

so if your computer is faster (P4 3.06GHZ 2048MB PC1200) you can run more things at a time than you could with a intel celeron 133MHZ 32MB ram??

[cfitz]

Sure.

[tyronemoss]

lol. while buring a cd

[cfitz]

Personally, even now, despite the benefits of buffer underrun protection schemes, I still leave my computer alone while burning, and just use buffer underrun protection as an insurance policy on which I never collect. I learned to burn a number of years ago on a slow system with an old Memorex 2x drive that had no buffer underrun protection, and I guess I have never un-learned my old ways. But, these days it only takes a couple of minutes to burn a full disc, so it isn't much of a penalty.

cfitz

[tyronemoss]

oh.. wow 2x it will take you away from the computer for 20 minutes

[eFrisky]

Hard to believe that some folks here have never had the pleasure of burning with a x2 or x4 burner

Wait... wow! surprise, surprise, there's lots of info regarding the menacing Buffer Underrun in the CD-R FAQ..!!

http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq04.html#S4-1

Most of mankind's knowledge regarding burning is stored in this document. Read it.