Pacific Digital CDR-5W48 Always Spins Down at 32x

[scream]

I got the PD CDRW described above in my PC, P4 1.8, 512MB, W2K, etc...

Whenever I burn an ISO, or copy files, the CD always spins down just as it goes over 32X. It doesn't matter what speed of CDR (even 52x) or what software I use. I could hear something going on when using Nero, but I could never really tell. Then I got Alcohol and now I can SEE it on the performance graph, always just over 32x.

You may thinks its something foul in the PC, but I just bought a Liteon 52-32-52 Int. Plugged it in, even tried the very same connector on the IDE cable, and it has never spun down yet in the middle of a record. The Alcohol performance graph shows it even hit 52x at the end of burning linux ISOs. I never go over 32x without spin down on the PD CDR, even with these Memorex 52x.

I've patched the PD with the latest I've found. Its at VSG5.

I was reading around here and someone said one shouldn't patch with the latest Lite-on 48125W code if its already patched to the newer PD code.

Is this correct? What should I do to get the PD to operate as it should? I want to keep a functional burner (the PD CDR) for another PC.

[Ian]

Have you tried other media?

[scream]

Thanks.

Yes, Memorex CD-R 52X, Philips CD-R40X, TDK 48X and probably some others, thats just a quick sample. It never seemd to matter which brand I used.

[scream]

bump

[Ian]

Hmm.. what type of power supply do you have? Got enough juice to run all your devices?

[scream]

Antec Tru330.

One HDD, one floppy, both of these CD-RWs are still installed. I actually ran all this on a plain 250 for a while before I got around to installing the Antec. Didn't have any other type of issue with devices mysteriously failing.

[Ian]

Yeah, that Antec should be plenty.

[scream]

Stumped? Me too.

Seems a waste that to get the best performance I have to run it at 24, because on some ocasions, even setting software to max at 32x, it still spins down.

And its a 48x

[Inertia]

Try testing with Nero Drive Speed and if it recognizes the 48x speed of the drive set it at that speed and see if it sticks.

Something may have caused the drive to reset to 32x, and hopefully Nero Drive Speed may reset it. It's in the Nero Toolkit folder.

[scream]

Hmm? It was already at 48x, and remained that after I pressed "detect".

Should I try burning with this program loaded?

[Inertia]

You can try it with Drive Speed loaded, but it shouldn't make any difference if it's already set at 48x. I would exit Drive Speed after a quick trial.

Put a blank CD-R in the tray, open Nero CD Speed, hit the "Start" button and run the Write Transfer Rate Test. If it successfully completes this test at 48x, then I would try burning again with the best quality media available.

If this drive is a rebadged Liteon, it's possible that Smartburn is lowering the drive speed in relation to the media in use. You could test this possibility by disabling Smartburn in Nero at Recorder | Choose Recorder | Options.

I am not recommending that you use the drive with Smartburn disabled, only to run this test to see if it is responsible for the slowdown.