Why is my burner slowing down?

[Questi4110]

Recently (started about 4 days ago), on 12x, my burner has been burning really slow (700 meg files take up to 20 minutes). This has happened within the last week and i have tried 2 different softwares (Nero and Fireburner) and both have the problem. However, i suspect the problem to be that i recently lowered my Page File allocation. I just increased it back to 400 megs and it still has the same problem.
The CDs burn fine but take too long.


What is the problem?


THANKS

 

[Souka]

Try different CDR media.

Does either program report "buffer underrun avoided" messages?

What's happening with the buffers during burn?

What have you changed on your system? drivers, patches, programs, etc....

 

[Questi4110]

it doesn't report any error. And the buffer is around 95-100% when it is burning. I dont think i have changed anything major in the past couple weeks such as drivers.

 

[Souka]

if you have two cd-rom drives in your system....including the CDRW drive, try doing a disc-to-disc copy....does that work faster? This will eliminate slow HD performance issues....

Try some different CDR media.

Use NERO CD tool and inspect some CDs.....gettting a lot of read-errors?

Good Luck!

 

[Questi4110]

ok i will try that stuff...but i have been using the same cd-r pack for a while and this never happened with those

 

[Questi4110]

hmm, well i tried to do a cd to cd copy but it said that they were on the same IDE channel which is not recommended so i didn't do it. Also, when i opened up Nero CD Speed program from the Nero Tools sections and tried a write transfer rate test, it came up with read errors on my blanks cds. I even tried a memorex audio cd which is an expensive cd and it still came up with one. I even checked all the connections to make sure nothing it loose. I also put in a cd lens cleaner CD (the one with a brush on the bottom) and still no difference. I dont know what i could have changed in order for this to happen.

I dont know how to fix this problem, someone please help.


THANKS

 

[Souka]

Well it's very possible that your burner is failing.

If it's under warranty, try to get a RMA.

If it's not under warranty, check the hot-deals forum here at Anandtech... they have CDRW drives for free or just a few $$.

 

[Questi4110]

ok, but could the problem be with my hard drive also?

if so, is there anyway to check it besides a cd to cd copy?


THANKS

 

[Souka]

Hmmm....good idea.

Download a benchmark program....sisoftsandra for example. (goto www.download.com and search for sandra).

Compare your HD to it's database...might give you some good info.

 

[ProviaFan]

I have this problem with a Philips 12x8x36x (not sure about the RW speed number though) CD-RW also. Sometimes it burns normally in Nero, but other times - even when set at 12X - it takes 30 minutes to burn 400MB to a CD.

In my case, the problem is not the hard drive. The burner shares a channel with my DVD-ROM, but IIRC it also did this on occasion even when it had the channel to itself (as master).

 

[Sideswipe001]

Have you checked for a firmware update to your drive?

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: Sideswipe001
Have you checked for a firmware update to your drive?

Yes. I updated the firmware once (for a different issue); didn't solve either (FWIW, the different issue was trying to get the CD-RW to work on a PCI IDE controller, something that I later learned won't work with any optical drive and this particular POS controller).

 

[Questi4110]

ok, i just put in a new drive, i'll post the results of its speed in the future.
But anyway, where can i get a firmware update to my drive anyway?



THANKS

 

[amdskip]

Firmware should just be a google search. Try replacing the ide cable for kicks.

 

[Souka]

get firmware updates from the manufacturer of your drive.

Plextor drive goto www.plextor.com
Optorite drive goto www.optorite.com
etc....

Some drives are rebadges of other name-brand so they can be flashed with a different firmware.....but research this VERY carefully before attempting.

 

[Souka]

.

 

[Questi4110]

my new cd-rw drive works perfectly so i guess there was something wrong with my old one. I am 1 month over the 1 year warranty, o well. I will try the firmware update.


THANKS

 

[Souka]

Same thing happend with my HP CDRW/DVD combo drive......if computer hasn't been turned off/on (rebooting doesn't work)for more than 12hrs, the busy LED flashes.....and device is non workable. I still have the drive for when I need to do a DVD to DVD rip.