dbminter

I've seen this happen on just about every drive I've ever owned. I'll put in a Verbatim MKM 8x DVD+R DL that, randomly, only writes at 4x max. ImgBurn is set to write at MAX. ImgBurn says that 8x is available for these discs before the burn starts. Yet, sometimes, and it appears to be random, that it only writes at 4x. Is there a particular reason for this? Or is it again down to just whatever the drive returns for the maximum write rate?

What's WOPC?

The Device Buffer on this Pioneer is also different from my other drives. I don't think I've ever had a drive where the Device Buffer ever fluctuated from 99 or 100%. This drive does. It jumps all over the place from 70% to 100% during a burn. However, some drives apparently just do this and it's not an issue, from other posts I've seen in the past.

Yeah, my LG was slower at Verifying everything.

For some reason, the write strategy on DVD-R's I use goes to about 8x, then drops down to 0 for a few seconds before resuming climbing back up to where it was when it dipped. DVD-RW also has an odd idioscyncrisy. It seems to Verify at a slower rate than any other media. DVD-RW verifies at about up to 8x only.

Are the write rates sometimes an estimate? I ask because of this line in a log: I 14:15:58 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:00:19 I 14:15:58 Average Write Rate: 117,261 KiB/s (86.7x) - Maximum Write Rate: 117,261 KiB/s (86.7x) Notice how the Average and the Maximum Write Rates are the same. The odd thing is I actually watched the write to HDD image and it said at some point it was writing at 155x! So, I don't know why the Maximum Write Rate isn't 155.

I remember reading several years ago somewhere online that Alcohol supposedly supported up to 32 virtual drives. I said at the time, "How can that be? There are only 26 letters in the alphabet!" Unless they did something DD: Wow, I randomly chose DD: Guess where my subconscious must be!

This is probably a silly question as I can probably guess the answer, but what is the maximum number of drive letters allowed in Windows? The logical answer is, of course, 26, one for each letter of the alphabet. But, is that really the limit?

Noticed this in the log when writing an 8x Ridata DVD+RW: I 17:50:56 Destination Media Supported Write Speeds: 3.3x, 6x, 8x Why would it report such an odd value like 3.3x instead of 4.0x or even 4.1x? Is it just whatever the drive is returning?

Well, after some initial misgivings given my first results, I've decided to keep this drive. I've completed most of my other tests and this drive does pretty much what I need it to do. I haven't tested it with Ritdata 6x DVD-RW, Maxell 4x DVD+RW, or Ritek 4x DVD-RW, but it does write fine to Ridata 8x DVD+RW. So, even if it doesn't write to this media, as some LiteOns don't write to Ridata 6x DVD+RW, I can use something else. I had no problems writing to Ritek Memorex BD-RE so writing to Verbatim BD-RE, which hasn't been tested, shouldn't be a problem. There are some things I wish the drive did better. Like the jumping between 4x, 6x, and 8x speeds on writing DVD+R DL, but I've had LiteOns do the same. I've also had Optiarc/Sony and LG that jump straight to 8x. I also don't like writing 8x DVD+RW at 6x first then jumping to 8x. But, I've only ever had Optiarc/Sony that jumped straight to 8x, so, I can live with it.

Hm, looks like maybe this drive doesn't support it, anyway? I tried changing it, even saving it to the drive, but when I'd go back in and check the setting again in advanced settings, it still said disabled. I never actually tried a burn to see if the log said it changed the setting. I don't want to burn at just 4x or 8x.

It's disabled by default. Is there any reason that I should maybe not enable it?

Makes sense.

Is this some kind of setting that can be turned on in ImgBurn? Or how is it set?

Saw this in the log: I 16:22:29 Advanced Settings - Optimal Writing Speed: No What is this Advanced Setting? What does it do?

I was thinking of something, if it's not already implemented to add to ImgBurn. Someone somewhere to load the last written graph data .IGB file. A button or something in a menu. Or a command to open the C:\Users folder that contains all the .IGB files in some kind of window so the user can navigate the available .IGB files to find one from an older burn.

I checked the graph of the last DVD+R DL burn. You're right, it is a simple time versus speed. I was thinking of something else. I was thinking of one of those quality scans. Those are the ones I still haven't figure out how to read. The graph pretty much just bears out what I noticed. It climbs to 6x, stays there for about a GB, jumps to 8, stays there for 5.5 GB, drops down to 6, stays there for about half a GB, then drops to 4 where it finishes out under half a GB.

One thing I have noticed is the 99% Finalising disc on DVD+R DL. This is a drive where it doesn't jump to 99% and stays there for like a minute. The percentage gradually climbs as it does its thing and only stays at 99% for a few seconds.

Yeah, I've seen the graduated speeds on other drives before, like my LiteOn USB. I just don't understand why some strategies/drives write at the full 8x, like Sony/Optiarc and the LG, and some do this steps thing, like my LiteOn USB and this Pioneer.

Not really. I still can't make sense of one of those bloody graphs!

I'm just passing this along for the sake of passing it along. There's no way I can replicate this. There's no logical explanation for it or how it happened. But, here it is. I was in Build Mode. I entered a UDF and ISO9600 label and then I went in and added some files and folders. I saved the job and exited the advanced file browser mode. To my complete surprise, the ISO9660 was suddenly comprised of nothing but blank spaces and Japanese characters! I simply reset the ISO9600 field to what it should be, entered the file browser mode again to save the job, and exited it out. This time, nothing unexpected arose.

What exactly happens when you choose to create a layer break position at an .IFO/.BUP file when offered other than at a VOB? Does the break go before the video that the .IFO points to/the .IFO that the .BUP is a copy of points to? Or is there actually a layer transition that starts at that .IFO/.BUP file on the disc?

Well, my third DVD+R DL burn was more like it. It started at 6x for a minute or 2 then moved to 8x and stayed mostly there. It dipped sometimes to 7.9 or 7.7 but mostly stayed at 8 until the last 3 minutes when it dropped to 4x only. However, dropping to 4x at the end of a burn was also on my USB LiteOn, so I guess some drives do that. The LG didn't but it also didn't always go to 8x. That drive appeared to set varying rates of write maximum based on the size of the image. I 19:46:10 Average Write Rate: 8,714 KiB/s (6.4x) - Maximum Write Rate: 10,935 KiB/s (8.1x) So, I'll see how this goes.

Wow, my second DVD+R DL burn was even worse! Stuck at 4x the entire time! Pioneer drives really suck.

Well, I don't think I'll be getting another Pioneer in the future. Its write strategy for Verbatim 8x DVD+R DL (Disc ID: MKM-003-00) is all over the map! Its write rates keep fluctuating. It starts at 6x then goes to 8x for a very short period of time. Then, it drops down to 6x. Then it kind of fluctuates all over the spectrum. Then drops to 0.0x at the layer transition. Then back to 6x. Then very briefly ups to 8x. Then back to 6x. Then down to 4x for the last 2 minutes! It stays at 6x more often than anything else! I 17:20:56 Average Write Rate: 7,939 KiB/s (5.9x) - Maximum Write Rate: 10,929 KiB/s (8.1x)