XGD3 - Failure to get good results

[james2805]

Hello there,

 

I have a IHAS 124 B and Verbatim 8x MKM-003 disks. Some printable surfaced ones and some Silver ones.

 

My settings:

FHT: ON

SMARTBURN: ON

OHT: OFF

OS: OFF

 

OPC: ON

Clear OPC before each burn

 

I have tried many variations, and this is so far what I have had most luck with, but even then not great.

 

I burn at 4x Speed. They verify in IMGBURN without a problem. The problem comes once testing with Kprobe. My results are not terrible as such, but they are a little obscure too.

 

For example, before the layer break is where the problems are, consistently rising/high PI, then after the layerbreak at 50%, it settles down to nearly 0 for rest of the burn.

 

The last few burns I have made with same settings have all been worse though, I hade a PIF of 9 on last one.

 

See example of one of the better burns below:

 

Edited November 14, 2012 by james2805

[LIGHTNING UK!]

I wouldn't bother clearing the OPC history before each burn, it shouldn't be needed with the settings you're using (*).

 

(*) I'd actually turn 'Perform OPC Before Write' off. It made no difference when I was testing this stuff out.

 

If that's a typical burn from your drive, it might be worth you trying another one to see if it behaves the same way with that same system/configuration/discs.

 

[james2805]

I wouldn't bother clearing the OPC history before each burn, it shouldn't be needed with the settings you're using (*).

 

(*) I'd actually turn 'Perform OPC Before Write' off. It made no difference when I was testing this stuff out.

 

If that's a typical burn from your drive, it might be worth you trying another one to see if it behaves the same way with that same system/configuration/discs.

 

Yeah, it's a typical burn on those settings. I found it odd that it reduces to 0-10 PI after the layer break. Haven't seen many people posting results like that?

 

So you think it's a dodgy drive? I bought it from a guy in Lithuania on eBay, as seemed the easiest way to ensure getting a Revision B.

 

Did I read some people saying that PC world might have some REV B's?

 

I mean, I just did another burn, same settings, turned Burn Proof off, and increased buffer, although I don't think that will help the cause. And I got a result which I think is acceptable, but not up to the standards that I want. And I want consistency. See result below:

 

Edited November 14, 2012 by james2805

[LIGHTNING UK!]

Burnproof makes no difference to anything. It's not even relevant on DVD+ (plus) format discs.

 

If your buffers aren't all over the place, giving ImgBurn even more memory won't help either - it'll just be taking memory away from other tasks.

 

Drives are self contained, it's the chipset in the drive and the firmware that do the burning (and therefore have control of burn quality etc). Nothing you do this side of the SATA/power ports on the back of it should make any difference.

 

As you've tried a couple of different spindles of discs and got what I assume are basically the same results with both, it can really only be the drive that's letting things down. You can buy a new drive for the price of a spindle (or 2) of discs, so it's not worth wasting loads more on the one you've got... just try and get another one.

[james2805]

Thanks for the replies mate, will try and get another. From a different source.

 

Thanks again. Really appreciate your time

[mattjk]

Long shot as its new drive but might be worth giving the lens a wipe with a cotton bud in Isopropyl alcohol see if it improves things at all. One thing is for sure with these drives they are consistently inconsistent lol. OPC off was definitely better for me using LUK's settings. Always worth doing a full burn on stock FW and see what the results are like, if they are still awful then you know to cut your losses and buy a new burner/laser.

 

This is the best burn I've had.