http://sisoftware.jaggedonline.com/indexbuy.html?langx=euro¤cy=&a=OCS&location=buy The Lite version of Sandra is free. The DVD and CD discs are about $25 US each. Sandra will do the other benches without the discs, you just can't bench the optical drives without them. That finalizing rings a bell. I had a drive recently start acting up and it still worked, but wouldn't finalize. Since RWs don't need finalizing, give one of those a shot just to see if it works. If it will consistently record the RWs and not Rs, you may have hit the problem. I had to get a new drive. If you had another drive to put in to check the setup would be the easiest way to be sure. If in doubt, that's the way I check them when benches are inconclusive.
I agree, I couldn't have said it any better. Like aabbccdd said, 150 is just a baby when comparing to the burning cycle. So far I've done 2000 plus (both dvd movies and PS2 games) with my DRU 710A and it's still burning flawlessly.
I'll agree, it should be just getting started. I just mentioned it mimiced some symptoms I'd seen and it wouldn't necessarily be from wear. I still don't understand fully what happened to the Pioneer it happened to. It still reads and writes. It writes good to RWs and they play okay. RWs don't need finalizing. The burns to R media won't finalize, but all the files are on the disc. They read no disc in the standalone player, but on the PC they are seen as an audio DVD and the player goes ahead and plays as it would a regular DVD video. I can play them with WinDVD7. That's how I know the burns were good. It just doesn't finalize the discs. If there was a good drive that could be swapped out with this one, it would be an easy way to see if it is the drive. But as I mentioned before, some of the software has a common problem of not finalizing. XCopy is notorious for it. It's difficult to pin this one down. That's why I mentioned trying to record with RWs and see how those turn out. If it's the software, then that shouldn't make a difference. If it's the drive not finalizing, the discs wouuld be playable because RW doesn't need finalizing. I know it isn't conclusive, but it is a good indicator.
A few thing I noticed with your log. Don't know if they will help, but easy to try and see if it helps. [bold]info DMA Disabled[/bold] DMA should be on. http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/260038 [bold]info Writing speed requested x1.0, effective x2.0[/bold] Try burning at 4X. [bold]info Using Patin-Couffin driver Version 1.28, Internal revision 28 - Async. Access mode[/bold] This is a few versions behind. Latest: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_tools/patin-couffin.cfm
I missed counted 450 burns and forgot about the 150 or so I gave away... but it is all meaningless if someone burned 5000 discks I am wondering maybe their jusl low grade burners? It not about the finalizing... it never makes it to the writing part?
Went to device mgr. and DMA was on, all so down laoded Patin-couffin but it stated folder already was there... installed anyways- have to go to work and then early wake up will try burning tomorrow 1-22-6 at 1500 hrs. thanks for the suggestions keep them comeing hopfully things will be better, although havent did anything- I will try burning at 4X do not no way it would make a differance? I thought the lower the better? also the is the fast the disk the beter, even though I would burn at aq lower speed?
Well could not wait... In the primary IDE channel properties it had the following: Device 0 transfer mode- DMA if available current....... PI0 only >>>> after unstall/restall...Ultra DMA mode2 Device 1 Transfer mode DMA if available Current.......PIO Only >>>>> after unstall/restall....Ultra DMA mode2 Secondary IDE Channel Properties: Device 0 transfer mode-DMA if available current.......PIO only>>>>after uninstall/restall...Ultra DMA mode5 Device 1 transfer mode-DMA if avialable current.....PIO only >>>>>after unstall/restall...Ultra DMA mode4 I will burn on return from work tomorrow.... I pray this will work
PIO should have made it exceptionally slow and that would cause drive problems. Let's hope you found it. If I were you, I'd check those DMA settings periodically for a while. Sometimes there's an underlying problem that causes the DMA to switch to PIO.
@brobear I agree. His log showed he was burning at 1X and at that speed, he would have never known. [bold]info Writing speed requested x1.0, effective x2.0 [/bold]
NO not always ,depends on your setup,burner,media etc. general rule of thumb is to keep your burn speed at 4x with 8x media. BUT i have a really good machine (per my sig.) and burn at 8x most the time (except burning on the fly) which i knock it down to 6x .and actually when i do a quality test my scans i come out better at 8x than at 4x .so take some time and run a few test after you burn a dvd
What is the differance in doing it on the fly then using a single burner [I do all my burning on the fly] also how do I test the quality of a burn? should I use 4x if I use 8x [TY] media? 2.1 AMD athron processor 1.5 G memory 80 GB HD atx 6 fans case 400 w power supply msi k7 motheer board 5700 gforce video card 7.1 sound blaster
burning on the fly is risky ,like with nero(disc copier) its better to back it up from the harddrive. i would go 4x at first see where your at then try 8x .use DVD InfoPro to test your media or you can use nero toolkit
Here's an article I picked up off the web that does a good job of explaining the situation. You can substitute DVD for CD in this read as the function is similar. DMA vs PIO mode Traditionally, CD-ROM drives have used Programmable Input Output (PIO) rather than Direct Memory Access (DMA) for data transfer. This was favoured for the earlier designs because hardware implementation is simpler and adequate for devices that require low transfer rates. The drawback is that the CPU must mediate the transfer of data, often byte by byte. As the data rate of CD-ROM drives has risen, so has the load on the CPU, to the point where 24-speed and 32-speed drives can completely saturate CPU utilisation in PIO mode. The severity of CPU loading depends on a number of factors, such as the exact PIO mode used, the PC's IDE/PCI bridge design, the CD-ROM buffer size and design and the CD-ROM device driver. DMA data transfer is always more efficient and requires only a few per cent of CPU time. It uses hardware to control data transfer directly to system memory, and only require initial memory allocation and minimal handshaking from the CPU. A further advantage is that performance is device rather than system dependent. DMA-capable devices should give consistent performance, regardless of the system they're attached to. The key info is that PIO maxes the CPU and DMA uses a low percentage of resources and gives better performance. DMA transfers the load off the CPU so the system can function properly. Slow is okay for a DVD burn when the outcome is iffy, but you don't want the system overloaded and running at a crawl. Speaking of DVD burns. I'm starting to look at the old 4X quality limitation as old news. It may have been good advice and may still hold true in certain cases. Drives and media appear to have made improvements or someone was pulling our collective "leg" from the start. I've accidentally burned some DVDs at 8X and they have never had a problem. I consistently burn at 6X without flaws. I suspect 8X would probably be okay. However I've been indoctrinated with "4X", so I still have a depressed feeling when I stray too far from the "security blanket" speed. I have one burner that will burn good 8X media at 12X. One of these days I'm going to let it rip. My fear is that the world as I know it may end. LOL Seriously, on the matter of write speeds, a lot depends on the system. The user should try slightly higher speeds in rational increments, something like 4X to 6X to 8X to ... If write errors creep in, back off to the speed that is successful. The only difference between 6X and 4X is about 14 minutes for 4X down to about 10 minutes with 6X. Not a whole lot of time saved. Also, take into account that the possibility of write errors increases as the speed increases. There's something about a comfort level, mentally, as well as a safety zone for the equipment that seems to have come about. 4X???
