Grain

Just got a couple mini spindles of Verb +R DL's in the mail, both med code MKM 001-000, one is rated up to 6X, the other 8X, obviously just a little newer packaging. Hurry up BenQ, need new firmware...

Last I heard it was scheduled for a NA release about the end of March, it looks good to me also.

More info: It acts normally on -R media, NO speed drop off, smooth curve to 8X. It will drop off on any +R media burnt on either a NEC 3520, Plex 716 or even the BenQ 1655 itself. It also happens at exactly the same spot on all +R media, approximately 200MB into the disc, WTF?.

My 1655 has changed the speed it scans at, was a nice curve peaking at 8X like below: Now it starts fine, followed by the sharp drop off, after which it won't even hit 4X, as below: It does this on all +R media, DVD9 & DVD5, haven't tried a -R scan since the change, but I suspect it would be the same. Any ideas what's causing this?

We've had some ugly car accidents down east in Canada, an 80 car pileup in Ontario, and a 60 car in Quebec. Deaths in both unfortunately. Been very cold where I live in Western Canada, as low as -29C! Thanks goodness it only lasted a couple days, and is close to melting today, with expected temps in the +10C neighborhood tomorrow.

Perhaps it's another case of the much talked about but never proved "learning" firmware .

What went wrong with your Plex LUK, if I may ask? Nice to see they have a good warranty, and a 3 day turn-around is excellent. I must admit it's the drive I go to for all DL burns, very happy with it's performance, even at 6X. Zapping another Verb right now, I've noticed with both Ricoh & Verb +DL's that they will read/verify faster if they're not burned at 2.4X, in which case they seem to only verify at 2X, VS 8X if using MAX burn speed(6X on Verbs, 4X w/ RICOHJPN-D00-01). This seems to have been the case w/ Ricohs on IB 1.0.0.0, but not Verbs, where they still only verified at 2X. With 1.1.0.0 both will verify at 8X, so perhaps that's the reason for the increased verify rate?

I've been riding the fence a long time on that, first I thought I was going to replace my early gen. PS2 w/ a slimline to get the progressive scan, but now I'm thinking I should just wait for the PS3. However chipping the PS3 will likely be quite a ways off, so a chipped slimline may end up being a decent investment, and also get the PS3 . Seems to be giving Sony a chuck of change....

My bad, too many spindles kicking about, the correct media ID of these are RICOHJPN-R02-03, whether that's better or not will be determined in 2 years .

Did you get warranty on the Plex? I'm looking forward to the 760's release, supposedly the end of March in N.A., not sure about Europe, but it may be sooner there. It looks like a decent burner, 10X +DL, 18X +R, both should be good for a laugh or two. Re Ricoh +DL's, I've had good luck with them at 4X, but having said that I haven't scanned them either. I'm anxious to try the 1655 at 8X DL, but so far it's still only showing 2.4X, I guess it needs yet another firmware update.

I also had trouble w/ a Seagate's program, their SATA HDD format proggy, didn't invest near your amount of time though, ended up using Windoz formatter , but it worked.

Has anyone tried 8X +DL's yet? I can't find any for sale in Canada yet, and am very curious as to how they're working out for folks.

Calling it a friendly fire incident now, WTF!

My only concern w/ GTA is that I haven't bot it yet, and now I'm spooked I'll get one of the censored version !

Good program for data, haven't tried it with video.

Your drive is a bit old, and may not like newer/faster media. I see there's a Herries 108 firmware available, I'd try that.

Is it possible to disable this program in msconfig/startup, so it will only start when called upon, or is it too hidden for that?

Does it act that way with non-MCC media also?

At work now, but if I remember right the above burn scanned in the low 90% neighborhood, which is all I ask of this drive with 16X burns. Does some nice work at 8X, or rather did with older firmware, will have to test 2.U4 & see how it does a little slower.

Appreciate that Kev, but it would probably be no faster for me to get it off your server, the slow link being at my end. Thanks though.

Well, maybe I'll take a week some time & download it, then give it a whirl. dial-up, that's the trade off for living in the country. I'll have to get a Sat. connection one of these days.

Nice rig Kirk!

Plays fine in PowerDVD & shows up fine that "other" program, although windows sees nothing, it shows no title when in the nec drive, but does in the BenQ 1655. Strange I 22:24:10 ImgBurn Version 1.1.0.0 started! I 22:24:10 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600 : Service Pack 2) I 22:24:10 Initialising SPTI... I 22:24:10 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices... I 22:24:10 Found 1 DVD-ROM and 3 DVD?RWs! I 22:28:08 Operation Started! I 22:28:08 Source File: G:\DVD ISO's\Maxtor ISO's\------------.ISO I 22:28:08 Source File Sectors: 2,285,848 (MODE1/2048) I 22:28:08 Source File Size: 4,681,416,704 bytes I 22:28:08 Source File Implementation Identifier: DVD Shrink I 22:28:08 Destination Device: [1:0:0] _NEC DVD_RW ND-3520AW 2.U4 (E:) (ATA) I 22:28:08 Destination Media Type: DVD+R (Disc ID: MCC-004-00) (Speeds: 2.4x, 4x, 6x, 8x, 12x, 16x) I 22:28:08 Destination Media Sectors: 2,295,104 I 22:28:08 Write Mode: DVD I 22:28:08 Write Type: DAO I 22:28:08 Write Speed: MAX I 22:28:08 Link Size: Auto I 22:28:08 Test Mode: No I 22:28:08 BURN-Proof: Enabled I 22:28:09 Filling Buffer... I 22:28:15 Writing LeadIn... I 22:28:37 Writing Image... I 22:33:52 Synchronising Cache... I 22:33:53 Closing Track... I 22:34:14 Finalising Disc... I 22:34:26 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:06:17 I 22:34:26 Average Write Rate: 14,559 KB/s (10.5x) - Maximum Write Rate: 22,202 KB/s (16.0x) I 22:34:26 Cycling Tray before Verify... I 22:34:43 Operation Started! I 22:34:43 Source Device: [1:0:0] _NEC DVD_RW ND-3520AW 2.U4 (E:) (ATA) I 22:34:43 Source Media Type: DVD+R (Disc ID: MCC-004-00) (Speeds: 2.4x, 4x, 6x, 8x, 12x, 16x) I 22:34:43 Image File: G:\DVD ISO's\Maxtor ISO's\------------.ISO I 22:34:43 Image File Sectors: 2,285,848 (MODE1/2048) I 22:34:43 Image File Size: 4,681,416,704 bytes I 22:34:43 Image File Implementation Identifier: DVD Shrink I 22:34:43 Verifying Sectors... I 22:40:19 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:05:30 I 22:40:19 Average Verify Rate: 13,853 KB/s (10.0x) - Maximum Verify Rate: 21,108 KB/s (15.2x)

This is as close as I have to your media code Cynthia, Verb +R 16x, MCC-004-00, burning one as we speak, I'll then see if it can read it.

Appreciate it Kirk