Slimtype DVDRW SOSW-833S Media Problems

Thanks Fishman!

Was the jittery/juddery playback on all formats from all sources or just the dvd drive?

Tony

 

I've just discovered something - the instructions that came with my recovery disc told me to go to BIOS and select the cd/dvd drive then reboot.

This doesn't work..... in fact it seems to make a perfectly good boot disk not work.

I've just inserted the recovery cd and rebooted ignoring all the rubbish about the bios and the recovery cd works fine.....

Tony

 

I think it was not beacause of media or anything. I've noticed huge jumps of CPU usage in the Task Menager... It's the same now when I'm copying data from CD/DVD or when I'm writing a CD/DVD. As far as I am persnaly concerned, I think it's some kind of system fault. Once when I was copying a big file from DVD the system once again started to go blocky but than I've done system recovery, but the one that Win XP provides and it was OK since than excluding the problem with the optic drice I've mentioned earlier.

 

I still of the acer as a piece of junk. I've found it ok to use, but have given up on using the dvd burner for dvds. I can burn dvd rws that play, but now I am just going to buy an external setup from SVP. Get a USB caddy for 14.99 and a dvd burner (Philips writes everything) for £20 and cheap postage (sign up for their buyers club for free and get special offers emailed). You can slo get your discs damn cheap from there as well. The external will not burn as fast as with other laptops, BUT it will burn reliably and somewhat faster than the piece of c in this laptop. Not a perfect solution, but a reaosnable one at under £40 inc postage.

 

HOW I MANAGED TO BURN DVDs AT 8x with SOSW-833S


Hello to all

I know this thread is a month old but I recently figured out what was wrong with my SOSW-833s drive and I post the solution here as it might help others with similar problems.

It is going to be a long post. I will describe my problem first; then the solution and I will give some general advice in the end.

So,

[bold]The problem:[/bold]

I got a new Acer 5024 (1Gb ram, 100gb hd Samsung, ati x700 e.t.c.) back in November. Since the beginning I had problems with the SOSW-833s burner, more or less the same with those described by many other people in this thread.

Briefly,
-Write speed was very slow (less than 1x) despite Nero showed 8x or 4x or 2x during burning. Usually it took 3-4 hours to burn a 4gb dvd. I had the “buffer level” problem. During writing buffer level was fluctuating between 20%-40%.

-The same occurred with CD burning at high speeds >8x (if memory serves right)
-Video playback was slow and crappy
-Copying large files was slow
-NTI software and NTIbackup refused to recognise the drive as a DVD burner (still do!). Only CD burning was possible.

I didn’t do anything (like firmware update e.t.c) because I suspected a hardware problem and send the laptop back to Acer immediately. They diagnosed a faulty drive and installed a new one.

Notably Acer support was very good (UK). I phoned them, explained the problem and they give me their courier details along with their customer number to arrange a pick-up. Next week I had my laptop back with a new drive (oh joy!).

Unfortunately, the problem persisted!

I guess they don’t bother troubleshooting and why should they? The description seemed like a faulty drive so they change the drive. I think it is easier and cheaper for Acer and any other company to change the drive and get refunded by the drive manufacturer rather spending a whole day or more troubleshooting.

Anyway, I was very pissed off (for a second time). This time I updated the firmware from VRS2 to VRS3 and to my surprise the problem (almost) solved.

-Video playback was OK
-Copying files was improved
-Burning DVDs was possible at 4x. At 8x, I got the usual “buffer problem” and burning a DVD took 4 hours.
-NTI DVD Maker still didn’t recognise the drive as DVD burner

I was (almost) happy.

However, after a couple of months the same problems showed up. DVD burning was not possible at reasonable speeds (not even at 1x), video playback crappy e.t.c. Now, I can recall that the problems showed up after a friend of mine tried to burn something on a cheap, crappy DVD. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the brand.

And while I was ready to send the machine back to Acer for the second time, I accidentally found out the real source of the problem (at least in my case):

[bold]It is not the drive that is faulty, it is the IDE channel that transfers data very slow.[/bold]

In my case Windows (XP Home) had downgraded IDE transfer to PIO mode instead of the much faster DMA. I believe that this is the problem in most cases described in this thread although it is possible that some drives are indeed faulty.

I solved it and now I am able to burn DVDs and CDs at maximum speeds (8x) and (24x) and video playback, file copying are perfect.
Just for the reference: 4.3gb burning takes 11-12 min depending on the type of files (large files, DVD images e.t.c). During burning, buffer level is always at 98-100%


[bold]SOLUTION[/bold]

What to do if you experience similar problems:

First, go to Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager > IDE/ATA/ATAPI controllers,
double-click secondary IDE channel (that’s the DVD drive) > Advanced Settings.
In Device 0, Transfer mode should be “DMA if available” and Current Transfer mode “Ultra DMA mode 2”.
If it is in PIO mode then you have the same problem with me. Good news is you can solve it.
Even if it is not in PIO mode give it a try and do the following things. Windows home sucks, so you never know!

The solution is to change the transfer mode back to Ultra DMA mode. The simplest way is to uninstall the DVD drive from Device Manage > DVD/CD-ROM drives and reboot. Windows automatically installs the drive on the next startup and reset IDE channel to the fastest possible mode.
That’s what happened with the firmware update I did and I thought it solved the problem. Actually, what happens is that after the firmware update Windows re-install the drive and subsequently reset the IDE channel mode.

If it doesn’t work see here for a detailed overview and troubleshooting of the IDE channel modes

http://winhlp.com/WxDMA.htm

Actually, “DMA reverts to PIO” is a very common cause of DVD burning failures.

A more drastic solution is to install Windows XP PRO. Windows Home uses different version of drivers from Windows PRO and I believe that Win Home’s IDE/ATAPI drivers are crap. Also, the weird implementation with the NTIDRV.SYS could be another problem. Why Acer decided to use a driver from NTI for their laptops is something really strange.

Interestingly, when I installed Windows PRO on the second partition the drive worked fine without the NTIDRV.SYS. Just imapi.sys and cdrom.sys were used. After installing NTI CD/DVD Maker the NTDRV.SYS showed up.
Now I have dual boot WIn Home and Pro. Under Win Pro NTI Maker recognises the drive properly and burns DVDs while in Windows Home it still cannot recognise it as a DVD burner. However, Nero burns DVDs at maximum speed in both systems.


[bold]General Suggestions:[/bold]

1. Check the transfer mode. It should be in Ultra DMA and not PIO mode

2. Defragment partitions and convert at least one to NTFS. It is also necessary to burn large files > 2gb. Defragmented hard disks is another hint for efficient DVD burns.

3. Use blank DVDs that you have tested working. Crap or incompatible DVDs are common causes of burn failures. If you use crap DVDs Windows might downgrade transfer mode to PIO! Note that DVD drives cannot read and write some DVDs even if they are of good quality. It’s a common issue with most DVD drives. Firmware updates sometimes help to solve it.
Use Nero InfoTool or something like that to check the disc’s manufacturer. Personally, I have only tried few brands. I managed to burn at maximum speed with

Octron DVD-R 1x-8x (RITEKG05)
Gigatain DVD+R 1x-4x (n/a)
Creation DVD-R 1x-8x (OPTODISCR008)
TDK DVD-R 1x-8x (RITEKG05)

Mitsubishi DVD-R 1x-8x (MJC ME) is totally CRAP! They are supposed to be max 8x but Nero detects max speed 1x. Actually, I ‘ve never managed to burn something on those shits because of a "could not perform disc-at-once" error. So stay away.

4. If possible install Windows XP Pro

5. Get rid of NTI CD/DVD Maker and NTI Backup and use NERO.


I hope my post helps and saves form the hassle of returning the machine or buying an external drive.

Van.

 

You are geniuos Van ... thanks a lot!

 

Thanks mate will try. I have gotten xp pro on it within a week. Still burns discs badly. I have been using ridsik. Anyway I tried and tried to get narnia to burn and play, but it would only play on a rw. I hd the image on my external hard drive and burnt it to disk on my desktop. The disk plays perfectly. So it was the crappy acer that was the problem. Will try the ultra dma thingy and see. Thanks a lot mate watch this space

 

I have just checked all the details on my device manager.... Your laptop is unique in that acer bothered with 2 IDE channels. Anyway I have both HDD and DVD on primary IDE channel. BUT it is already set up for DMA Ultra DMA so this does not help me. I guess I will only ise RW discs on the laptop and use my desktop for dvd burning with my external HDD. But thanks for the help an glad it helped you

 

It is really strange that you have only one IDE channel. Other people with the same machine confirmed that? The common setup is to have one dual IDE controller and two channels (like mine).

Anyway, give it a try and install WIN Pro on the other partition, not on top on the WIN HOME. It could be some sort of system fault / driver installation issue e.t.c.

After installing WIN Pro, install NERO and nothing else! Not NTI crap, no daemon tools, no alcohol e.t.c. I 've read somewhere that they can interfere with the ATAPI/IDE drivers.

Oh and check out the link I gave in my previous post. It is really good and you might find something useful.

Good luck

Van.

 

Hi there I have a 1642 wmli I have reformatted the hard drive and installed XP Pro as a clean install. I just have one IDE channel. I am annoyed as I build and fix PCs all the time. This piece of junk was a replacement for an older emachines and is actually worse than the older machine. But still that's by the by. I have done everything and the burner will not work properly. Thanks for the help anyway.

 

I know this can be frustrating...but a friend of mine has a 1642 wlmi.
I was really curious about the one IDE channel you said and checked his laptop. Indeed it has only one IDE channel with two devices. Device 0 is the HD (Ultra DMA 5) and Device 1 is the DVDRW (Ultra DMA 2).

However it reads and writes discs with no problems. He burns 4.3gb within 12-14 minutes at 8x.

The drive is not the Liteon SOSW, it's a AVX X-something..

So maybe it's not the one IDE channel your problem...

 

As i thought.... cr@ppy liteon. Can I replace the drive with another one? I can get an NEC from SVP.co.uk for about £50. WOuld it be easy to change?

 

hi you can replace the drive but to take the existing drive out is not how you would think the screw to take the drive out is under the keyboard

 

eeek. so I could end up busting gthe silly thing? Gah! Why couldn't acer just use a decnt drive after all the complaints they get about his one. It costs enough money to buy and they are allegedly a decent laptop manufacturer, though I personally think their build quality it cr@p

 

I Have an Acer Aspire 3610 with the Philips DVD +RW SDVD8441. I had problems burning anything to DVD backing up or copying anything. I resolved the CD burning problem, by updating Nero, but i'm having problems again. I end up with an unsuccessful or failed burn whenever burning anything in Nero. Nero is fully up to date. I can copy photos to cd no probs, but not anything else! I am updating drivers as we speak. Its also appears I only have 1 IDE channel (not that I know what that means!)

Anyone got any suggestions if updating driver doesn't work?

In fact, its found no new drivers. Aaaarrrgghhh. I have wasted so many CD's as it is, getting increasingly frustrated. Sat near a window, laptop may get thrown out soon...!

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Tanya )

 

hmm so changing the drive probably won't work either then!! I just think the best thing is to flog the acer and get a decent laptop. If only I had the money to do so!!! Currently I am encoding to an external hard drive and burning from my base unit. I am quite fed up. The only advice I can give you is to buy your discs from www.svp.co.uk where at least you are getting them cheap. Good luck.

 

Ok here's where I am. There are 2 dvd replacement drives from SVP.co.uk that will fit the acer laptop. They cost around £45 each. Some goodish news. I have found some cheap discs that do burn on the drive. They are Rivision discs 4x and cost £12.98 for 100 from svp.co.uk They burned woth no problems in a reasonable time. This could be another solution and I am pleased to have found recordable media at a cheap price. Pity it is only 4x but better than taking an hour to urn a disc. Am testing it now with different size data and will let you know the results. 1/2 gig took about 4 minutes.

 

have you fellas tried setting the speed in drive properties window underneath the record tab?

 

Are you guys also having issues burning music cd's with the SOSW-833S, aside from the DVD-R issues? I have an ACER Aspire 5004WLMi and the burner stinks on this one.

 

Well, my drive was faulty. when TEW999 (above) broke his laptop we sopped drives over b4 it went to the insurance company and his is working okish in the Acer. You know what I've done? I've bought an HP from Staples and it is brilliant! The burner does everything it's meant to an no coasters. The 833s burned duff cds, dvds everything.It is a total waste of time. Replace it with one from www.svp.co.uk