Problems with 1.0f on Sony DRX-500UL

[ggermano]

Hello All,
I am a new member, would like some help on the following problem:
I had been burning Optodisc DVD-Rs at 1x on the Sony DRX-500UL
(external version of the 500A) running 1.0c, using DVDit 2.5. I updated the Sony firmware to 1.0f in the hope of being able to burn at 2x or 4x, and now am consistently producing coasters. I tried DVDit, EZ CD Creator 5.3.2 and Nero 5.5.9.17 (the free demo): DVDit starts burning at 1x and fails with a "Build failed: unknown error (OSErr, 143360)", EZ CD Creator goes through the entire burn at 2x but fails in the verify phase ("Access to the specified device, path, or file is denied"), and Nero also does the entire burn at 2x but then hangs while writing the leadout ("total time" as displayed by Nero increases but nothing else happens).
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
GG

[Pradeep]

Do you have errors when using the provided Veritas Record Now?

[ggermano]

Thanks Pradeep, I shall try Record Now. Two other things I am planning to try are 1)burning a DVD-RW (not made by Optodisc), and 2)reinstalling the 1.0f firmware. I did not disable DMA access when installing 1.0f (Sony only recommends doing it with the internal 500A drive), but maybe I should have anyway...
I would also consider "un-ugrading" to the 1.0d firmware (or possibly to the 1.0c that the Sony was running when I bought it) if I knew where to get it ...
I'll let everybody know how it goes.
Thanks
GG

[Justin42]

The drive is quite picky about media-- I've been sticking to the bigger brand names (Verbatim, TDK, Fuji, etc) and have been having really really good luck with it. I've upgraded my DRU500A (in an external firewire case) to 1.0f with no troubles.

Don't worry about re-flashing 1.0f with DMA disabled, at least not before trying some better media. The DMA setting doesn't matter for firewire, since you don't have the drive on an IDE channel.

Try the software that came with the drive for sure-- I've had no end of trouble with ECDC 5.3.2 failing verifies on every drive I've tried it on (a couple of LiteOns at work, my Plextors at home). Nero is very strange and doesn't always work-- 5.5.9.17 flat out won't work on DVD+R's. I think their support for the DRU500 family is VERY spotty still, I really hope the next version comes out quickly.

Good luck! This drive really rocks once you get it going...

[ggermano]

Thanks Justin, after further testing I believe the culprit is indeed the media
- DVDit burns perfectly (and at 4x) on the Sony DVD+RW blank that came with the burner!
Since I still had 30 or so blanks (Optodisc DVD-R), I thought I might as well do some testing for the sake of general knowledge, and here's what I found:
1) The Veritas (Record Now) software that came with the DRX-500UL completes the burn successfully, but apparently at a variable speed - it starts out at 4x, then drops to 2x and then to about 1x. The average is about 2x, it almost appears as if Record Now paces itself down as it recognizes problems while moving away from the center of the disk - smart software if it does. The problem is, however, that the completed DVD is not computer-accessible, either with regard to its individual files or by WinDVD or PowerDVD - it may still run OK on my home DVD player, but who knows... I suspect that installing DLA (Record Now's packet writing app) might make things better, but I already have DirectCD and the two do not get along.
2) EZ CD Creator 5.3.2 can actually be tricked to do the job, one must select the 1x writing speed (default is 2x, and 4x does not appear as an option). Then, when Creator enters the "verify files" phase, just hit the cancel button and confirm with "stop recording" and "close" - Creator will claim "CD created successfully", and, indeed, DVDs produced this way are recognized and played by WinDVD and PowerDVD, and its files accessible.
3) Nero 5.5.9.17 can be handled the same way with the same results (choose 1x as writing speed and uncheck "verify data" before starting the burn) - however, it took it 15 minutes to complete a 2 min burn at 1x...
4) One can only guess as to whether DVDit (the burning app that ships with Premiere 6.5) would work if one could slow it down to 1x, since the version I have (2.5.4, just downloaded) automatically selects the maximum speed allowed by the burner... my gut feeling is that it would.
Anyway, I hope this helps some other poor soul who may be stuck with a large batch of "bad" media: there may be hope if you are willing to compromise on burning speed...
Thanks for all your help, all the best
GG
P.S. The "DRU-500A updated alphabetized media list" thread in this forum is quite informative - maybe one of the moderators can append our mini-thread there as well.

[Pradeep]

Are you saying that you are burning at 4x DVD+RW? Are you sure the time remaining counter doesn't just change as the burn progresses?

I find with Record Now that the time remaining starts off very low, then gets longer (and more accurate) as the burn goes on.

[ggermano]

Yes, DVDit burns at 4x on the DVD+RW - it takes about 13 min (by my wristwatch) to burn about 3.5 GB of data. You may be right about Record Now's counter, all I know is that it starts out at 13 min, goes regularly down to 11 min, then jumps to 23 min, goes regularly down to 6 min, then "cycles" for a large number of times between 5:49 and 5:40 - overall time to comlete burn is about 30 min, or 2x...
GG