I'm very confused when it comes to burning xbox 360 games, hopefully i can explain the confusion and get some solid clarification. I know this is a sketchy topic because there's so many different scenarios and i've read hundred's of posts on multiple forums about different individual's particular settings and results, but i just can't seem to figure it out. Just when i think i did figure it out i get a curve ball of bad burns.
Here's my set up:
Desktop with Windows XP SP3
ihas424B flashed correctly with C4eva's ihas cfw
external enclosure connected via usb
Verbatim 003 (possibly #96577, i'm not sure, but i do remember buying them off newegg.com on sale $50 for 50 disks)
My problem:
i can't get consistent quality burns. I usually get a solid spike at the layer break (approx PI Max 200+) but the averages across the board seem legit. I've also had times where the averages are relatively high. I've tried God knows how many setting changes and wasted God knows how many discs and still haven't found a solid setting that works.
Actually at one time imgburn was having a hard time verifying the image so i began burning in safe mode. i would clear opc and cycle the drive before every burn, i had
FHT/OHT/SB/perform OPC on
Burn Proof/OS off
Burned at 4x with 512MB buffer and verified image
and i had about a stretch of 12 good burns. Then following the same procedure i got a stretch of about 3 or 4 bad burns. Now i've tried the settings outlined by lightning uk:
FHT/SB/ = On
OHT/OPC/OS = off
(BP on and off)
cycle the drive once before changing settings.
i've received a stretch of 4-5 bad burns stated above.
My Questions:
General
1. What could the problem be?
2. Do i literally have to burn through 50 discs before i find a setting group that works?
3. Once i find a setting group that works, will it always work?
4. Is it a bad spindle and is that really possible?
5. What's the correct model # of Verbatim's to purchase and will they work or will i have the same scenario play out again?
6. Is it the drive itself and how could i tell?
7. Is there a certain model # of ihas drives that perform more consistently than others?
8. I don't see many people using the same ihas drive as i do, could that be an indication that i should go with a different drive?
Settings
1. What's the deal about clearing opc and cycling the drive? There's so many different opinions and it get's confusing. I've read that we should only cycle once before the setting changes, but why did i have success with 12 burns by clearing the opc before each burn?
2. What happens if you get a bad burn, do you continue on with the same settings? If so, how do you know when to try a different group of settings?
3. What's causing the inconsistency, wrong settings, wrong set up (IE: external enclosure), too many system processes, bad disks, or bad drive? How do you narrow it down?
4. I would assume that a person would pick a group of settings, burn and get good results, but the more i watch i feel like it has less to do with settings, because the burns on many tests seem to improve after each consecutive burn, so it leads me to believe that there's no a magic setting that will automatically produce a good disk, am i correct?
I hope i've explained my situation and my mind set and look forward to hearing back from lightning uk on this topic. Thank you!