Hi-tech discussion on slow DVD ripping speeds

Hi guys. I've done all the research on DVD ripping speeds and still can't figure this out. I've got a new Plextor 12X burner and a cheap Artec 16X Dvd-rom for a reader. The Plextor out of the box rips very fast (varies from 5X to 13X depending on the disk), but the Artec is usually around half of that (2X to 6X). This is based on DVD Decrypter on the exact same disk.

I've tried all the usual stuff. It's in Ultra DMA 2 mode, stock firmware is up to date, I've tried 40 and 80 wire cables, and most recently I bought a Promise Ultra 133 TX2 IDE Controller thinking the problem was the secondary channel wasn't fast enough. That didn't help either.

Currently I have 2 hard drives on the ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe Mobo in IDE 1, and the Plextor burner alone in the primary channel of IDE 2, and the Artec 16X in the primary channel on the Card's IDE1 all by itself.

Computer is AMD XP2700+ with 1.5G ram, Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo, not overclocked. The asus has built in Ultra DMA 133 controller, and I have a Promise Ultra 133 PCI IDE Controller.

Could it be that the Artec drive is just that bad?? It's rated at 16X and I can't think of any other bottlenecks to try. I did try putting the hard drives on the PCI IDE controller and the opticals on the Mobo, each with their own channel and that just resulted in slower hard drive reaction.

 

Hi Pontistv, As a general rule DVD roms usually rip faster than burners. Thats strange. Any way, This is just how I would set my drives if I had your system board. Master IDE 1 would be your main HD. Slave IDE 1 would be the DVD rom. Master IDE 2 would be the burner drive. Slave IDE 2 would be my second HD. No need for the controller card unless adding other things. Have you checked for a hacked firmware up date for the dvd rom? I guess there could be a slight problem with the DVD rom. Like I said this is just how I would do that system.

Jerry

 

Jerry,

I got the impression that if you used two different speed IDE devices on the same channel the faster IDE would slow down to the slower IDE's speed. So that would put Hard Drive #2 down from Ultra 5 ATA100 to Ultra DMA 2 ATA33, right? (The Promise card says it has independent programmable timing registers in the controllers design, which I assume is supposed to keep that very thing from happening).

Can't find hacked firmware for the drive, except Region code removing firmware. Know where I can get some? I am up to date on the factory firmware though. Doesn't seem to be locked below 2.1X though... gets faster than that usually.

 

Here's an interesting addendum to this discussion... I just ripped the butterfly movie with my Plextor PX-712A in 5:34, averaging 9.6X and Maxing out at 14.5X. That's a personal best! Apparently there's not a 13X barrier as I have read here and there.

I've read elsewhere that guys hit a 5X wall with the Artec DVD-ROM. It seems I have too.

Can anyone suggest a dvd-rom known for fast rip times (12X +) without hacked firmware?

 

i too use a liteon 166s . my fastest is 12x to date but it is a very nice drive as nephilim states . i had a artec drive before my liteon and i had slower rips with it and it had trouble reading +r's for some reason .
i personally think the liteon 166s rocks . i paid $35 for mine and its been the best drive ive owned . i agree its worth every penny .

 

Well, I've been keeping track of all my rip speeds lately, and I swapped out my Artec 16X DVDrom for my LG GCC-4480B CDRW/DVDrom (Walmart, <$50). While not a drastic improvement, it is slightly better. The best it has turned so far is an Ave of 5.3x and Max of 8.1x. Although even with better scores, that DVD still took 14:09 to rip. Looking back, most movies with this drive took around 21 minutes, with a low time record of 11:55 (Ave 5.3x, max 7.2x). It's intersting to note that the rip speed is slower than today's 8.1x peak, but it took half as long to do it (11:55 vs 14:09). Although data size could account for that.

I've heard great things about this lite-on drive. Could you give me the whole part number and also what, if any mods it takes to make it run that fast? Also, how about longevity?

Here's one more thought for today... it seems my drive is getting faster as it gets used more... In order, my peak rip speeds from first to last are 5.5, 5.3, 5.7, 5.9, 7.2, 6.2, 6.1, 5.9, 6.0, 8.1. Not exactly a straight learning curve, but nonetheless it may be there.

Have you guys had any configuration where the "great" Lite-on drive didn't perform right? Like IDE2, slave?

 

mine is JLMS XJ-HD 166S , i havnt did anything to it . its worked great right out of the box , so i see no need to mess with it . if it isnt broken dont fix it . thats the rule i use . i havnt had a reason to monkey with it . its always done a great job for me .

 

Newegg shows several different liteon 16X dvdrom's. The 167T, 166S, and 163D. Does anybody know the difference between these drives, and which one is the hot ticket?

 

here is http://www.crazypc.com/products/storage/storage.htm#dvdromthe one i have .

 

I ordered the 167T Liteon drive today. Don't know much about it. Was hoping to hear from somebody that had it on it's ripping speeds. Oh well. I think that it is replacing the 166s. Newegg has only got the OEM 166s's left, and they are on backorder. I think the 167T added automatic balancing (ABS) or something.

 

The reason why your dvd burner rips slower than your dvd-rom is because when the manufacturers put out these things, someone (I think RIAA) told them to limit ripping speed. So they rip at 2.0 max I think. You need to have a hacked rom to change that, or in case of Sony (maybe some other makers have this too, I don't know) get a speed selector program to change that.

 

Actually, its my Plextor burner that rips lightning fast. It's the DVD-roms that are slow for me. I thought at first it was a IDE channel problem, but nope. It's not a DMA problem either. I've even added a PCI IDE controller and 80 wire ata133 cables. Nothing seems to change things, except when I change drive brands. And all of the dvd-roms I've tried can rip as fast as 5-6X, so they're definitely not locked at 2x.

Tell me about this speed software!

 

it only works for sony so I don't know if it helps you.
As for DVD-Rom rip speed, I think if you get a patched rom, you can unlock it.

 

With regards to my Plextor, it's definitely not locked. It rips at 14x sometimes, and always at a very good speed, usually double what my two DVD-roms read at. Speed read I guess! However, I do NOT have to press the eject button to do it.

It's my two DVD-roms that are disappointing, although neither appear locked. They rip from 2.x up to 8x depending on the movie. Usually 3-6x. Sure would like to get them up to speed. Tried everything. I ordered the 167T Liteon. Should be here Friday. $29 at newegg shipped, retail box. Gotta love that. 3 day shipping.

Can't wait to see if its really all about the drive, like Im guessing or not.

 

Alright, got the Liteon 167T in the computer now, and so far I've had mixed results. Here's my opinion overall on the drive: Like everyone says, it's noisy on startup for about 3 seconds. And, it has a slightly cheap tray (I've seen worse). It's really quiet while going slow speeds, like watching movies. When you're ripping at really high speeds, its noisy just like any drive at 8X+. No noisier than my Plextor, I don't think. As for my quest for faster ripping speeds, the jury is still out... but looking good so far. I've ripped 6 movies so far, the slowest having a total time of 22:16 averaging 4.0X, maxing at 5.7X. The fastest movie (Triggermen) was a single 4.7GB Disc that ripped in 4:58 averaging 10.9x, and Maxing out at a whopping 15.6X Max. That beats my Plextor's record of 5:03 averaging 10.7, maxing out at 14.6X (on a 4.7GB disc). While Im very excited about the new top speed record, Im a little concerned that the other 5 movies have been more like Ave 4.0 - 5.2X, Max of 5.6 - 7.4X. That's five medium speed rips and one super-high speed rip. So far other than that one hi-speed rip, it hasn't really outperformed my LG CDRW/DVDR yet.

One more interesting fact learned today. I've been ripping movies two at a time using DVD Decrypter. Usually I write to two different hard drives, but recently I've been writing both movies to just one hard drive (a Western Digital 160GB 8MB cache 7200 rpm ultra dma 100 drive). I noticed today that the second decrypter started was hitting the buffer 100% mark, and as soon as it did, it started to slow down the disc rip speed. As soon as the buffer would fall below 100% it would start to speed the rip speed back up. This seems confusing to me, as the Ultra 100 drive should be able to handle 100Mb per second, while two Ultra 33 dvd roms should only be able to transmit 66Mb per second max between the two of them. Anybody have any ideas on this???

 

Maximun transfer speed is just that...If you are on IDE, best way is to still go to 2 different drives. No matter how slow your HD is, it should still outperform your dvd-rip.

 

I would think so too, but the 100mbs rating of the hard drive is a burst rating. I assume that means it can handle a short burst at that speed (probably by using the 8mb cache to help that), but not actually sustain that speed in writing.

Although if I can use the burst excuse for the hard drive, should that be the same way they rate the DVD rom?

Trying to write to 2 hard drives resulted in no buffer usage by DVD Decrypter, so obviously the single hard drive was definitely not keeping up. I read somewhere recently that a 150mbps SATA hard drive was benchmarked at sustaining 50+mbps, which seems way short of the 150 burst rating. Perhaps the same is true with IDE hard drives, putting them well below 50, and making them certainly in the range of not being able to keep up with the 2 DVD roms.

 

Also should note that I've backed up several more DVDs and still haven't seen very fast rip speeds with the Liteon 167T... just that one fast one. While my Plextor burner consistently hits high speeds around 10-12x regularly. I did bad boys 2 in both drives just to see, and the winner is...

Plextor 10:08 Ave 7.7X, Max 10.9X
Liteon 14:59 Ave 5.2X, Max 7.4X

This was with just one drive running at a time. Go Plextor!