I just bought a new Plextor 716A drive and burned a few good DVD-Rs on Sony media at 8x, and then suddenly I started having this strange problem (with the same discs as I was using before). The drive would flash yellow, amber, green for a while during the lead-in writing, then it would spin up, spin down, spin up, spin down, over and over for a minute or so, then finally start writing after about 2 minutes total. Then, when the disc comes out, there is a half-inch thick ring of darker dye in the center than in the rest of the disc, and it can't be read by either of my DVD drives or my DVD player. (See below) I tried 6x burning, with the same result. Then, with 4x burning, I was able to burn the Sony discs, Khypermedia discs, and Fujifilm DVD-RW discs with no problem. I thought it might be a DMA mode problem like I had with my previous drive, which kept it from burning at full speed because it was in PIO mode, but the drive was showing up in DMA Mode 4. I tried uninstalling the secondary IDE channel and restarting the computer, just in case, but it made no difference. I don't understand what the problem is here. The drive was burning the Sony DVD-Rs at 8x just fine for a while, then for absolutely no reason it just started making these coasters (but only above 4x). I had burned a good disc at 8x immediately before I burned the first disc that had this problem, and now I have 9 coasters in my trash can. This drive is supposed to handle up to 16x, and the discs are branded for 8x. Any ideas? I've also had strange results with the two brands of media I'm using (Sony and Khypermedia)... See my post about that here: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/148243
Khypermedia is crap media so no wonder it isn't working any faster than 4X. Post the manufacturer ID of all the different brand media you've been using and we'll go from there. You can use this tool: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_tools/dvd_identifier.cfm If you're after the highest burn speeds then top quality media is a must
Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear... The scan is of a Sony disc, not of the Khypermedia. The problem is occuring while trying to burn Sony discs at above 4x, I can't test any other discs above 4x because the only ones I have are 4x Khypermedias.
Your Sony's aren't on the recommended media list on Plextor's site but they're on the compatible list so you should be fine there. What firmware revision do you have installed? It looks like the latest is 1.03 which improves writing on -R media. http://www.plextor.com/english/support/downloads/firm_716.htm
Ah, I see you're way ahead of me then My next suggestion would be to try some of the media on the recommended list and see if you can get the desired burn speeds.
The ring may be from where the drive cranks up the burn speed but I couldn't tell you for sure if that's what's happening in your case.
Two guesses... I've left PlexTools open while burning with Nero and I notice something interesting. I have all the following options in PlexTools turned on (and others, but these are notable): Enable Buffer Underrun Proof Enable SpeedRead CD/DVD Enable AutoStrategy Change BookType for DVD+R Change BookType for DVD+R DL Then, when I start burning with Nero, they all magically become unchecked. Nero doesn't even say "Buffer Underrun Protection Activated" like it used to. So, I have two theories. First, buffer underrun protection is being turned off somehow and this is causing the bad burns above 4x (though it shouldn't be, considering my computer and hard drives are fast and the drive is able to burn at 16x, and it's on DMA mode 4). But I read online that DVD drives burn a Lead-In to test the media, and perhaps since the AutoStrategy is apparently being turned off somehow, maybe the drive is burning a ridiculously long lead-in test, and that's what the huge ring in the center is from. Does that sound likely?
Sounds like having PlexTools open while running Nero might be a factor doesn't it? What happens if you leave PlexTools closed? I have PlexTools installed for my PX-708A but I never leave it running when using Nero and have never had any issues with burn speeds or the buffer underrun shutting off.
I'm relatively sure I only started opening PlexTools after this problem began (to try to troubleshoot), but I'm not positive. I'll check into trying to burn with it closed tomorrow... Thank you for trying to help, btw
