Question about my burner (pls help)

by **JustRob** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 8:53 pm

Hi folks.

I have an NEC 9100a burner that came with my Dell. I read on here that it is 40X but when I burn CD's I get 24 max no matter if it is data or music. Is this normal?

My friend has a plextor 40x12x40 or something like that and he burns at 40 and it is much quicker. Can someone explain to me if 24X is the max I can get or do I need to update anything? Firmware or the Easy CD program I use? ---Buffer Underrun is fine---

Lastly I have always used Verbatim CD's (same result) but this go around I got TDK a 50 pack for 10 bucks. The guy told me they are an excellent media brand so if you have opinions on media that would be great too. Never a problem with Verbatim I just cant get them at the price I got the TDK.

Thanks

by **CDRecorder** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 9:09 pm

First, you will only get that 40x speed near the end of the disc. If the disc isn't full, you won't see the 40x speed.

Secondly, make sure that DMA is enabled. Instructions for enabling it can be found in the FAQ Forum here at CDRLabs.

by **JustRob** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 9:14 pm

Thanks. I did check the DMA. It is ok (enabled). These are blank CDR's I am talking about. Well to be honest I am not sure what this drive is. It says NEC 9100 in my dvice mgr and when I look at the properties it tells me 40X. I figured I would get faster burn times instead of 6 minutes for a full cd.

Not complaining its plenty fast for me but when I see my friend with what I thought was pretty equal in speed burn a disk in 3 minutes I kinda wondered why. Thanks again for the reply.

Rob

by **CDRecorder** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 9:19 pm

Burn times of 6 minutes certainly aren't 40x; that sounds like 12x.

What brand of blank CDs are you using, and for what writing speed are they rated?

Also, if you didn't already check, make sure that DMA is enabled for all optical and hard drives in the computer.

by **JustRob** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 9:34 pm

Hi again

I have tried Verbatim data life plus and TDK data CDR 48X. They will both burn fine but when they burn under EX CD creator it says 24x/Max. I thought it would let me go at 40 but it wont. I wanted to try it at 40 and if I got errors slow it down a little but I have no option

Thanks again for the help

by **CDRecorder** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 9:36 pm

Do you have the latest version of Easy CD Creator?

by **JustRob** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 9:38 pm

Yes. Updated tonight to 5.35.xx. I was at 5.2x.xx before. Not sure if the drive will go faster or if I need to try a new burning program. I just would love to see if it would go faster.

by **CDRecorder** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 9:41 pm

What firmware version do you have? You can use Nero InfoTool to find out. InfoTool is free, and you can download it here.

Edit: Try running InfoTool with a blank CD-R in the drive, and look at what writing speeds InfoTool reports.

by **JustRob** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 9:55 pm

Whoa (im a cpu idiot) I guess I shoulda stated that. I did look into what you said.

under the nero tool it has firmware 109B buffer size 2mb.

The speed test: avg 23.57, start 18.56, end 28.57

Forgive me if this is not the correct info but you know what you are talking about and I dont. LOL

Thanks

by **CDRecorder** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 10:29 pm

Actually, that's very good information. Would it be possible for you to post (or e-mail me) the CDSpeed graph of the speed test you mentioned? If you go to File -> Save Results -> HTML in CDSpeed, the program will export an HTML file and a PNG graphics file. The PNG file is what I would like to see. If you want to e-mail me the graph, I'll PM you my e-mail address.

by **JustRob** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 10:49 pm

Thanks.

I talked to a friend of mine who apparently knows a little about this but who knows really

Anyways he told me even though I used verbatim and tdk brands I should try another type just to be sure. He thinks its a media issue? I told him that when I am getting ready for the BURN it is set to 40X but as soon as I hit record it will show the BURN part again and the only option is 24X and lower.

Strange. I read a little bit about it on the net and I could not come up with a solution so unless we can figure this out (no presure) lol I am off to try another brand from my local best buy tomorrow. I saw Imation and Fuji so if you have a recommendation please advise.

PM your email and I will send you what you need......again thanks for your time.

Rob

by **CDRecorder** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 10:55 pm

You're welcome. It's possible that it's a media problem, but I'd be surprised if it is. If you want to try some other media, I'd recommend the Fuji.

P.S. I'll PM you my e-mail as soon as I'm finished typing this message.

by **JustRob** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 10:59 pm

TY I will give it a shot. They will let me return it so I have nothing to lose. Just need one disk to check it out. If I cant get it faster like his and others I have seen I will just buy a new drive on my return trip LOL. Now that I know I can go faster I have to do it.

TY

Rob

by **CDRecorder** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 11:15 pm

Thanks for the screenshot; you are getting a normal result. Your drive won't reach the full speed until about 70-80 minutes through the disc. If your disc is smaller, the drive won't reach the maximum speed. Could you try this same test with a blank CD-R in your drive?

I'll e-mail you some screenshots demonstrating the fact that the drive won't reach its maximum speed until the end of a disc.

by **CDRecorder** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 11:32 pm

Thanks; I got your e-mail. Based on what you have shown me, I think that it is a media problem. Most recent drives decide what speed they think is "safe" for the media; that is, the drive tries to select the speed that will optimize the recording quality. I think your drive is slowing down because it thinks that the media can't be burned at 40x.

One other thing you could try is updating the firmware to the latest version. This could help because new firmware releases sometimes update the way the drive selects the optimal recording speed.

If the process of updating the firmware fails, though, it can cause problems, so do it at your own risk. You might find firmware updates on the Dell web site or at http://www.firmware-flash.com.

by **JustRob** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 11:36 pm

Thank you very much again for all the help. I will try 10 brands if I have to or pitch the drive. As long as I know I have done everything I can to save this ol bugger

Ty and good night

Rob

by **CDRecorder** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 11:48 pm

I certainly hope you don't have to toss the drive, but if you do end up wanting to get a new drive, I'd recommend buying a Lite-On drive, such as the 52x32x52x LTR-52327S.

by **CDRecorder** on Mon Sep 01, 2003 11:50 pm

BTW, I'm not affiliated with Lite-On; I've just had really good experiences with Lite-On drives.

by **JustRob** on Tue Sep 02, 2003 3:59 pm

Hello again. NEW INFO

Well I got some FujiFilm CD's from Best Buy today. I did the CD intentifier and they are: Taiyo Yuden. My TDK were CMC Magnetics.

The TDK would take about 7 minutes to burn and while successful it just toook too long. The fuji's on the other hand would allow me to select 40X in my drive while the others were 24X. It burned a CD in about 3 minutes and showed me an actual write speed that went from 32-40 bouncing around the whole time. The buffer level stayed at 100% the entire time and it was very nice. The burn was successful!

I appreciate all your help and I guess you were right

Thanks again and Cya

Rob

by **CDRecorder** on Tue Sep 02, 2003 4:04 pm

You're welcome. I'm glad to hear that everything is working properly! You also might be glad to know that Taiyo Yuden makes some of the best CDs, which is why I recommended them.

BTW, the "bouncing" speed reported by ECDC seems normal; the same thing happens when I use ECDC 5.3.5 with my LTR-48125W, but from what I can tell from CDSpeed and Nero, the speed really isn't bouncing like that.

Question about my burner (pls help)

Question about my burner (pls help)

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