Hey, all.
I have a "4x" DVD+RW drive that refuses to burn at any speed other than 2.4x. It's an internal NEC ND-1100A, purchased many moons ago.
What could be wrong? There are four obvious possibilities. Allow me to discuss...
1) Is it a software problem?
No. I have tried many different programs, namely Nero 6 Ultra and RecordNow Max, and also a few no-name titles. They all refuse to burn faster than 2.4x. I even installed the drive in a different system, with a different version of Windows XP, with no luck.
2) Is it a hardware problem?
No. The hardware behaves wonderfully, apart from its refusal to burn at 4x. If this were a hardware problem, I'd expect some other manifestation than that refusal.
3) Is it a problem with the blank media?
Probably not. In the time I've owned this drive, I've used at least five or six different types of DVD+R media, all of them rated at 4x or faster. With one exception (CompUSA house brand), I've used only major-brand media, including Sony, Fuji, Memorex and Verbatim discs.
4) Does my firmware need to be updated?
Possibly. When I bought the drive, I had 1.A0 firmware. I tried upgrading to 1.93, but the flasher gave me this error message: "Target drive is not found." The firmware update site is here: http://support.necsam.com/oem/downloads/flashfirmware/readme.asp?ID=6
I actually opened up my system and connected the drive as a master (instead of as a slave, which is how I have it set up normally), to see if that would allow the flasher to recognize it, but I did not succeed. So, I scoured the internet, looking for a different version firmware. On the German version of the NEC site, I found a different firmware upgrade: to 1.A3 (I had 1.A0). The flasher recognized my drive, which gave me some optimisim, but the upgrade to 1.A3 has not enabled me to burn at 4x.
So, I am at a loss. What should I do? I don't have the cash to buy a new burner, so I'd really like to get as much out of this drive as I can. Any suggestions?
I have a "4x" DVD+RW drive that refuses to burn at any speed other than 2.4x. It's an internal NEC ND-1100A, purchased many moons ago.
What could be wrong? There are four obvious possibilities. Allow me to discuss...
1) Is it a software problem?
No. I have tried many different programs, namely Nero 6 Ultra and RecordNow Max, and also a few no-name titles. They all refuse to burn faster than 2.4x. I even installed the drive in a different system, with a different version of Windows XP, with no luck.
2) Is it a hardware problem?
No. The hardware behaves wonderfully, apart from its refusal to burn at 4x. If this were a hardware problem, I'd expect some other manifestation than that refusal.
3) Is it a problem with the blank media?
Probably not. In the time I've owned this drive, I've used at least five or six different types of DVD+R media, all of them rated at 4x or faster. With one exception (CompUSA house brand), I've used only major-brand media, including Sony, Fuji, Memorex and Verbatim discs.
4) Does my firmware need to be updated?
Possibly. When I bought the drive, I had 1.A0 firmware. I tried upgrading to 1.93, but the flasher gave me this error message: "Target drive is not found." The firmware update site is here: http://support.necsam.com/oem/downloads/flashfirmware/readme.asp?ID=6
I actually opened up my system and connected the drive as a master (instead of as a slave, which is how I have it set up normally), to see if that would allow the flasher to recognize it, but I did not succeed. So, I scoured the internet, looking for a different version firmware. On the German version of the NEC site, I found a different firmware upgrade: to 1.A3 (I had 1.A0). The flasher recognized my drive, which gave me some optimisim, but the upgrade to 1.A3 has not enabled me to burn at 4x.
So, I am at a loss. What should I do? I don't have the cash to buy a new burner, so I'd really like to get as much out of this drive as I can. Any suggestions?
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