Supported Write Speeds With TDK CDRW ... Not

[scuzzy]

A curious thing is happening when I try to burn an ISO to TDK CDRW "4x-12x High Speed" media : although the ImgBurn "Media Details" pane (in 'Write' mode) shows supported speeds with this media are "4x, 10x", if I use 10x, then although the burn seems to complete successfully, the verify phase always fails almost immediately, with

"

Failed to Read Sector 11 - Reason: L-EC Uncorrectable Error

"

But if I use my "favourite" speed of 8x - which is *not* in the supported list - then everything is fine, and the burn and verify both complete successfully.

 

[ The ISO is a collection of Windows patches produced by the Heise "Offline Patcher" utility ]

 

I'm quite happy to continue using my working solution but I figured I should report the issue in case there's a bug in ImgBurn.

 

Here's the media details pane contents :

ASUS DRW-1608P2S 1.39 (ATA)
Current Profile: CD-RW

Disc Information:
Status: Complete
Erasable: Yes
Sessions: 1
Sectors: 295,928
Size: 606,060,544 bytes
Time: 65:47:53 (MM:SS:FF)
Supported Write Speeds: 4x, 10x

TOC Information:
Session 1... (LBA: 0 - 295928)
-> Track 01  (Mode 1, LBA: 0 - 295927)
-> LeadOut  (LBA: 295928)

ATIP Information:
Start Time of LeadIn (MID): 97m26s65f
Last Possible Start Time of LeadOut: 79m59s74f

Current Format Capacity:
Sectors: 295,232
Size: 604,635,136 bytes
Time: 65:38:32 (MM:SS:FF)

Preferred Format Capacity:
Sectors: 295,232
Size: 604,635,136 bytes
Time: 65:38:32 (MM:SS:FF)

Maximum Format Capacity:
Sectors: 295,232
Size: 604,635,136 bytes
Time: 65:38:32 (MM:SS:FF)

 

And here's the log :

I 01:51:25 ImgBurn Version 2.4.2.0 started!

I 01:51:25 Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional (5.0, Build 2195 : Service Pack 4)

I 01:51:25 Total Physical Memory: 1,048,048 KB - Available: 709,832 KB

W 01:51:25 Drive G:\ (FAT32) does not support single files > 4 GB in size.

W 01:51:25 Drive H:\ (FAT32) does not support single files > 4 GB in size.

W 01:51:25 Drive I:\ (FAT32) does not support single files > 4 GB in size.

W 01:51:25 Drive J:\ (FAT32) does not support single files > 4 GB in size.

W 01:51:25 Drive K:\ (FAT32) does not support single files > 4 GB in size.

W 01:51:25 Drive L:\ (FAT32) does not support single files > 4 GB in size.

I 01:51:25 Initialising SPTI...

I 01:51:25 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices...

I 01:51:26 Found 1 DVD-ROM and 1 DVD

Edited August 22, 2008 by scuzzy

[mmalves]

Maybe when you select 8x the drive is actually burning the CD-RW at 4x? Anyway, the latest firmware ensures best quality burns so I'd apply it if I were you. As for the description, it looks like a translation error, and from what I can tell, a bug was fixed where a pressed DVD disc was identified as DVD-R.

[scuzzy]

Maybe when you select 8x the drive is actually burning the CD-RW at 4x?

Maybe ... I suppose it should be possible to calculate the actual speed from how long it took for the number of sectors involved ... um.

 

Anyway, the latest firmware ensures best quality burns so I'd apply it if I were you

I suppose so ... and hopefully it would be possible to downgrade the firmware version again if the new one turned out to be bad. But I'm kind of reluctant to mess with a drive that seems to be performing very well otherwise

 

As for the description, it looks like a translation error, and from what I can tell, a bug was fixed where a pressed DVD disc was identified as DVD-R.

Well ... I've just tested that (with the 1.39 firmware still installed) by putting a pressed movie disc in the drive, and seeing what ImgBurn says the drive reports :

 

ASUS DRW-1608P2S 1.39 (ATA)

Current Profile: DVD-ROM

 

Disc Information:

Status: Complete

Erasable: No

Sessions: 1

Sectors: 2,163,376

Size: 4,430,594,048 bytes

Time: 480:47:01 (MM:SS:FF)

 

TOC Information:

Session 1... (LBA: 0)

-> Track 01 (Mode 1, LBA: 0 - 2163375)

-> LeadOut (LBA: 2163376)

 

Track Information:

Session 1...

-> Track 01 (LTSA: 0, TS: 2163376, LRA: 2163375)

 

Physical Format Information (Last Recorded):

Book Type: DVD-ROM

Part Version: 1

Disc Size: 120mm

Maximum Read Rate: 10.08Mbps

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: 2,359,983

Last Physical Sector in Layer 0: 0

That looks okay though ... doesn't it ?

 

Anyway, I take your point about latest firmware usually being the best option. But what do you suppose Asus means by "Modified drive" ?

 

Thanks mmalves.

 

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know whether the supported speeds reported by a drive will vary from drive type to drive type ? In other words, do some drives manage a different set of speeds from other drives ? I've always wondered why my drive reports "4x, 10x" for these discs while TDK states "4x - 12x".

[mmalves]

If the newer firmware had any problem it'd have been pulled a few days after release and a newer version with fix would be released. As for the wording I think it's due to bad translation, happens all the time with LG firmware releases

 

As for the speeds, it's down to each burner manufacturer, their test methods and firmware development team, so yes, each burner model may show different available speeds for the very same disc