tmittleider

Is there any good reason to stick with an IDE drive vs. a SATA? There is a liteon LH-20A1S SATA model at Newegg for $45. The only differences I can see are that the H-version has LightScribe and a slower CD-RW speed (24x) vs. the S-version without LightScribe and a higher CD-RW speed (32x). Also, the SATA version is $10 more expensive. I like the thought of SATA for cable management reasons.

Thanks for the help and suggestions. I will try to use some higher quality media. I'm slightly skeptical, though, since I have successfully made burns to the same series of media. In fact, I have working DVDs that came from the exact same pack of disks! Oh well, unless you can think of anything else I'll try another brand - and then resort to calling Dell. I'm not too hopeful with Dell, though, since my warranty just happened to expire right before the DVD burning problems began! If I do have to get a new burner, any recommendations? I have plenty of SATA slots available or can use the current interface. Thanks in advance.

UPDATE: I have successfully flashed to the firmware version recommended: E113 I restarted my PC and tried to burn the file again at 4x as was recommended. The burn was going fine for ~2 minutes and then it died again. Any thoughts? (error message and full ImgBurn log below) Text from ImgBurn error window: I tried pressing Retry, but it obviously didn't work. Here is the full log for the ImgBurn session:

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll look for the brands you suggested next time. In fact, the DL media I currently use is Verbatim as I have read it is one of the better brands. I'm off to do the firmware fix if I can get my newsletter done shortly! I've had no problems with Dell flashes before; I'm not too worried about this one. Thanks to you both for your thoughts so far. I will report with my results...

Whether I do the firmware update or not, I'm still also wondering if I should do the 4x burn vs. a 1x burn. The 4x burn is listed by DVDInfoPro as compatible, while 1x is not (even though the disk SAYS it is). Any thoughts?

Check this old firmware update out: I'm guessing a firmware update is in order!

there is a newer firmware for your drive E113 (i think its for your drive i looked at the Ini file and your drive is listed) http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/...p;fileid=173334 would like the opinion of some other users before saying that this firmware is for you drive, i am confident but then again its not my drive at risk You beat me to the reply (see my edit above). Thanks for the link! I regularly check the Dimension 9150 driver update page, but this isn't listed there. I'm pretty sure most Dell users would have NEVER looked anywhere else for a firmware update - most probably never even update anything! Would you recommend a 4x attempt after updating firmware (if other users can support the firmware suggestion)?

why you choosing a speed not supported by drive/media better to choose a speed listed. Unfortunately I have to admit it's a Dell - this was my first PC purchase. I'm building myself a new rig next time - I'm sick of the the Dell system's inflexibility. The media says it's 1-8x compatible right on the disk. The drive has a 1x speed option. Why do you suggest it's not a compatible setting? [edit]Are you referring to the line "I 11:52:55 Destination Media Type: DVD+R (Disc ID: RITEK-R03-02) (Speeds: 4x, 8x)"? If so, I'll try at a 4x speed and see what happens. It's strange that the disk says "1-8X Speed" right on it, though[/edit] My brief review of DVD burning forums suggests that writing at a lower speed usually results in better quality burns. Is this not the case?

Hi - I'm tmittleider and I'm an ImgBurn noob. I have successfully backed up copies of several (<10) DVDs before both on single- and dual-layer disks. However, the 2 most recent ISOs I've tried have failed numerous times and now I have a nice series of coasters. Please offer any advice re: my burn failure. I'll post all of the information I can think of being relevant, and will try to find more if you need it. Are the DVDs I'm using just garbage? Is my drive headed 6 feet under? (it still burns CDs properly) Thanks in advance! ImgBurn Log: Drive Info from DVD Info: Media Info from DVD Info: