Device Buffer only 96%

[ryan]

For some reason, in my burns lately, the device buffer has been a constant 96% instead of the usual 100%. The media is the same as I've always used and the burner is too. I've also noticed that sometimes the device buffer drops to 0% then goes back up to 96% on large burns (around 4.3-4.4gb ones). I'm burning at 4x, which isn't too fast, so I'm not sure if it's my drive starting to fail or maybe it's my HD being fragmented and can't stream data to the drive fast enough?

 

It's not much of a problem (I'm mostly curious why this could be happening and if it's a possible hardware problem) but the buffer getting emptied in the middle of the burns adds about 1-2 minutes to burns because the write speed temporarily drops when the buffer is emptied.

[polopony]

dont worry about the buffers being 96% my NEC's hover around that ,The buffer dropping off may be the drive doing WOPC tests ,basically the drive constantly checks the laser power to make sure you get optimal burns over a wide range of media ,what drive is it ?

[ryan]

It's a NEC 3550A. It has always been using 100% before, so it dipping to 96% is a bit strange.

[Movie Junkie]

Did you make any changes to your system? IE: Add or remove anything, re-install or upgrade any program. Did you start using a different brand media when you noticed the change in your buffer?

[LIGHTNING UK!]

It can vary between different media/image types (sector sizes) and a firmware update could change the way the drive makes use of the buffer. Seriously, don't worry about it.

 

Unless it's always on 0%, you're fine.