drive problem

[shar]

Not really an imgburn problem but I just got a new nec 3550. Came with 1.05 firmware, I went ahead and put 1.06 on it.

 

Problem is the buffer says 100%, but the device buffer is usually around 96% and about every 60 seconds or so the device buffer drops down to 0-20%, every 60 seconds and the buffer never goes down at all.

 

Obviously it slows down the write speed a little. I've used verify on a bunch of the disc's and they're all fine.

 

The images are on a raptor 10k rpm drive... the burner shares an ide channel with another dvd drive but its not in use during the burn. No cpu/io intensive apps running, ie virus scan, prime searching etc.... PC is an amd 3200+ with 1gb of ram.. so it?s definitely not slow. I'm wondering if this is normal or if maybe I got a defective drive?

[Mike Bowler]

i don't think this a problem i'm no expert or anything but i think the buffer has to flush itself every now and then.. correct me if i'm rong people

[blutach]

Welcome to ImgBurn Forum - the place where you get LIGHTNING fast responses

 

Something's unfilling the device buffer. Not the best thing to happen but hopefully BurnProof will help you out.

 

What media are you using? And how does a scan in DVDInfoPro look?

 

Can you post a log please?

 

Regards

[shar]

I'll have to post a log later, i didnt save any and I don't have anything to burn atm.

I'm using TDK 16x dvd-r

 

I did a scan in dvdinfopro and they suck.

first one i did verify on and it was okay.

 

cloud.prohosting.com/rqvcd/woah.png

cloud.prohosting.com/rqvcd/woah2.png

 

(external linking not allowed, copy and paste in a new browser)

 

_NEC DVD_RW ND-3550A 1.06 (ATA)

Current Profile: DVD-R

 

Disc Information:

Status: Empty

Erasable: No

Free Sectors: 2,298,496

Free Space: 4,707,319,808 bytes

Free Time: 510:48:46 (MM:SS:FF)

Supported Write Speeds: 2x, 4x, 6x, 8x, 12x, 16x

 

Pre-recorded Information:

Manufacturer ID: CMC MAG. AM3

 

Physical Format Information (Last Recorded):

Disc ID: 0@P-!-00

Book Type: DVD-R

Part Version: 5

Disc Size: 120mm

Maximum Read Rate: Not Specified

Number of Layers: 1

Track Path: Parallel Track Path (PTP)

Linear Density: 0.267 um/bit

Track Density: 0.74 um/track

First Physical Sector of Data Area: 196,608

Last Physical Sector of Data Area: 2,495,103

Last Physical Sector in Layer 0: 0

[kevdriver]

shar, CMC MAG really suck for media. Your burner is probabley having difficulty writing to it. That could be the reason for your lousy scans as well. Try Verbatim or Taio Yuden media.

[Grain]

It's normal for your device buffer to bounce around a little, they're only 2MB as a rule. If it isn't getting so low as to start dragging the non-device buffer down (labeled as Buffer on ImgBurn, and is it's own buffer) then I too suspect it's just a poor media problem. Try burning them slower if your going over 8X, you'll likely have better luck with those at 4 or 8X, but your best bet would be to get some others, such as Kevdriver suggested.

[Defenestration]

Hmmm, I wonder if this could be related to a similar problem I was having with the device buffer repeatedly emptying during burns.

 

http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=1833

 

While it was suggested that my problems might be down to the fact I'm burning on a laptop to an external burner, the problem reported by shar would not appear to be due to this problem.

 

I'm waiting for IB 2.1 to see if boosting some of the thread priorities helps (BTW LUK, what registry keys are used to control this new thread priority feature ?). If not, then I still think there may be some sort of thread synchronization issues which results in the thread that fills the Device buffer either

 

a) having the data, but simply not sending it to the drive fast enough

 

or

 

b ) not having the data to send

 

As the System buffer always stays pretty constant at 100%, then that would tend to rule out (b ) as the problem. I would be interested in running a build which contains extra debug information for the thread which fills the Device buffer to identify exactly why it has problems keeping this buffer filled.

Edited September 7, 2006 by Defenestration

[LIGHTNING UK!]

The buffer drops when WOPC kicks in to check the quality of the burn, it's totally normal.

[shar]

Thanks, I guess I'm overly paranoid

 

I always thought tdk was good media, but i guess i'll stick to TY or Verbatim, altho I've had playback issues in my laptop drive with Verbatim's.

 

Anyways heres a new speed graph/pipo test, i burned at 4x, much better then before but still not great.

 

cloud.prohosting.com/rqvcd/woah4.png

cloud.prohosting.com/rqvcd/woah4a.png

[kevdriver]

shar, TDK used to be very good media back in the 70's and 80's. Their cassettes and VHS blanks were excellent. Like many others they have put profit ahead of quality and now as a result all their current media including DVDs' are not very good anymore.

[blutach]

@shar - in order for us to see your graph, you will need to put IMG tags around the urls.

 

Regards

[dontasciime]

i think he said cloud prohosting does not allow external linking

[Shamus_McFartfinger]

Blu: Looks like the site these pics are hosted on doesn't allow hotlinking. Upped here so we know what we're looking at.

 

 

[Shamus_McFartfinger]

i think he said cloud prohosting does not allow external linking

Doh! I should have read this before replying.

[Shamus_McFartfinger]

Shar: Turn verify on within ImgBurn. It'll show you how bad the media really is.

[chewy]

shamus,

how does the verify function show much about the burn?

 

I have gotten my nec 3550 to work well as a secondary scanner,

of course I prefer my benq 1650, you can't make any judgement on a burn and weigh in the pie totals when scanning with the nec as it reports

pie in an exaggerated manner. The drives are very inconsistent from one to another, you have to run scans at 4x, 8x and 12x and find the best speed for each individual drive. The only meaningful thing I got from his graph was the pif total of 265 which seems low, a transfer rate graph would be just as informative, maybe more so.(verify with graph)

 

the best thing would be to flash that drive to dee's 1Y6 and use bitsetting for dvd+r media for compatibility

 

http://liggydee.cdfreaks.com/page/3550/

Edited September 8, 2006 by chewy

[blutach]

i think he said cloud prohosting does not allow external linking

Doh! I should have read this before replying.

My d'oh really.

 

Shar you might wanna invest in ImgShack Quickshot - it's free.

 

Regards

[Shamus_McFartfinger]

shamus,

how does the verify function show much about the burn?

You know as well as I do that a graphical report on the verication of media is easier for new people to understand when it's explained to them.

 

We may only have a small forum here but we simpletons do the best we can. A PIF scan (or any of that techno-gobbledegook) doesn't mean a fucking thing to someone who doesn't understand what they're looking at. Our main aim is to help all manner of people with all manner of problems and have the process explained, where possible, in simple terms. Baffling people with bullshit is easy. Hence, my suggestion to enable verify.

 

Lastly, do you think having verify enabled within ImgBurn and the results displayed with DVDInfoPro would help a person new to this process or not? The answer seems pretty clear from the snapshot below where the burn succeeded and the verification failed.

 

[blutach]

Baffling people with bullshit is easy

1st fact of life - BULLSHIT BAFFLES BRAINS.

 

Regards

[blutach]

The only meaningful thing I got from his graph was the pif total of 265 which seems low

His burn is not compliant with OSTA, as it stands.

 

Regards

[chewy]

I think the burn would verify

 

first one i did verify on and it was okay.

as he said

 

otsa standards require otsa approved testing equipment

Edited September 8, 2006 by chewy

[cornholio7]

I think the burn would verify

you can see it didnt

[chewy]

I think the burn would verify

you can see it didnt

 

not shamus's