Xbox 360 confusion and need's clarification

[thedon01]

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!

Edited March 15, 2012 by thedon01

[LIGHTNING UK!]

The whole thing of overburning DVD+R DL is hit and miss.

 

Nobody can really give you a definitive answer because such a thing doesn't exist. You're working outside of the manufacturer's 'tried and tested' limits. Whilst I'm sure they build their drives/media to perform well within said limits, there's just no knowing how they'll perform outside of them.

 

They'd have to do what CPU/GPU manufacturers do and test for ones that can be pushed beyond the limit without failing and sell them for a premium price. Of course no such thing/process exists for optical drives/discs.

 

So, to answer your questions...

 

General:

1. See above

2. Possibly. But even when you find the settings, your next spindle may not perform the same way. Again, see above - actually, 'See above' probably applies to all the answers.

3. Probably not.

4. Yes. It might be fine within normal limits though so not technically 'bad'.

5. I've no idea on model numbers. The Verbatims from Singapore seem to be the best though.

6. Possibly.

7. I've no idea, I don't keep tabs on this stuff.

8. No. AFAIK, they're all made the same way. Some just have the extra hardware for lightscribe and different firmware.

 

Settings:

1. I've no idea. Only LiteOn know what makes their drives tick and what doing these things actually does.

2. There aren't really that many settings to change. Half the ones I've read about make no difference to anything and are totally unrelated (or just flat out have no effect). OPC and force hypertuning are the only ones even remotely worth messing with.

3. It's internal drive stuff. You were never meant to burn the way you're trying to and that's why it fails.

4. Probably. The drive controls the burning and write quality. It determines success/failure. All the software does is send the data to the drive.

[thedon01]

So in your professional opinion is this the standard from here on out or are there advancements in the near future to smooth out the inconsistencies?

 

What's your preference on OPC and burn proof? I've noticed your results with FHT enabled, but how about OPC and burn proof?

 

And are there different Verbatim model numbers from Singapore or are they all the same?

[LIGHTNING UK!]

I don't make drives or discs so I have no idea what's going to be happening in the future! Your guess is as good as mine.

 

I saw no noticeable difference in burn quality between having OPC on or off... never have done.

 

The burnproof setting makes no difference, that feature (drive's internal technology) is always enabled for DVD+ format media and cannot be disabled.

 

That's why even when it's turned off, you can still 'pause' a burn for hours and 'resume' without any problem. In the old days before burnproof type technology, that wouldn't be possible. It used to be a case of: an empty device buffer = a coaster.

 

No idea about Verbatim numbers. Where they come from is printed on the label.