Toshiba SD-R5002 won't burn at 16x , only 12x

[abbadon]

I love this burner, but for some reason I can't burn CD-R's at more than 12x, even when I select 16x. I have the 1031 firmware and have used Nero, CloneCD, and Alcohol 120%. CloneCD and Alcohol both tell me it's at 12x, and Nero burns at 12 even though it says 16. Any ideas?

[alexnoe]

Use CD-Rs which the drive consideres good for 16x writing (no, this has nothing to do with the speed which is printed on the disc...)

[abbadon]

I have tried 1) generic 32x discs, 2) Memorex Black 16x, and 3) Ridata 99min [no speed printed], and none work. 16x seems pretty slow these days, I can't believe any new media would burn at less than that, and I have tried these media on others drives and they do burn at the rated speed.

[alexnoe]

Try Mitsubishi or Taiyo Yuden

[woodlikesbeer]

suspect this is either a problem with your drive (unlikely tho as toshiba are suposedly the best manufacturers of optical drives) more one of the writing software has messed something up (usually it's Easy CD that does this - Nero's supposed to be pretty stable)
I would 1st try nero's website and get drive updates, if there aren't any or they don't work reinstall windows - I'd stick nero on straight after your hardware drivers are installed.
very unlikely to the media (to completly disagree with the other person in this forum!) - even the cheapest disc should burn at labelled speed.

[alexnoe]

woodlikesbeer
even the cheapest disc should burn at labelled speed.Where's the connection between the speed which is printed on a disc and the speed which a certain recorder can record it at?
Maybe you should gather some experience about media and speed...for example with an Asus 52x recorder in connection with Moser Baer 48x discs, or any drive of your choice and DST disc...

Anyway, if setting the CD write speed doesn't work due to a bug, then it would be either a bad firmware bug, or an even worse software bug.

[woodlikesbeer]

1st'ly sorry if I caused any offense disagreeing with your advice - none was intended

2nd - I do have quite a bit of experience with data recording and media speeds - for the last 6 yrs I've been working for a data protection company and much of this has been spent studying the ways the ways Cd writers and media work together (basicly to prevent people copying CD's, DVD's etc (a complete waste of time as it isn't possible to prevent people cracking the various codes currently used and will be used, tho u try explaining this to record companies who are all far more concerned with ripping the public off with massively over priced CD's and DVD's))

The biggest connection between whether a 48x CDR will burn at 48x on a CDR drive is that they have to by law (certainly the case in the UK and I imagine in Germany too). In order to sell and distribute a product that say's it will burn up to the stated speed it MUST burn at that speed on any CDR drive unless clearly stated on the packaging/disc that it wont on specific CDR drives, otherwise the manufacturer of the disc is in breach of most of the Trading standard laws that exist. (the same applys to the manufacturer of the drive).
Obviously there will be less law abiding companies that try and distribute media that breaches these laws but in my experience they soon face legal processes suggesting they revise their claims.

Compatability issuses between media and hardware is something that several colegues of mine have been monitoring with great intrest (a waste of time in my view) but we have concluded that problems lie with firmware bugs disagreeing with software (problems related to the speed at which new drives are released without proper compatability tests). This is usually the reason, we have found, that a software program wont give u the option to burn at the media's full speed (a point I raised with a Nero rep at a meeting who agreed with most of this but wanted to blame OS problems rather than their software - but she would as she's selling it!)

Another intresting point raised in various meetings and discussions down the pub is that the computer used isn't able to transfer data accurately enough between drive and media at the desired speed so the software doesn't give u the option to do so - something I'm not so sure about as the amount of work required to do this properly would mean the software price would be ridiculous (tho I have seen a beta program at SONY that did this but so far have been unable to get my hands on it or find the author of it - tho believe me I'm trying!).

For the average home user tho I still suggest reinstalling completly (I know this is a pain for most people) and not to run more than one piece of burning software on your system (especially plugins for media players as these are notoriously poor and the cause of many a problem). Most of the problems I've come across are related to software not installing properly as there are too many registery conflicts between softwares.

Oh and Windows 2000 pro is the only one worth using in my experience as it rarely goes wrong (unlike XP pro and home which are still riddled with bugs, the humble 98SE and the absolutly dire Windows ME)

Hope this is of help, I will probably pay more attention to forums as I've quite enjoyed my 1st outing into the world of the home user and will add a link to a website I'm in the process of building explaining why CD's and record companies should die so we can all get dirt cheap entertainment knowing the artist is getting a decent wage and not some fat money grabbing bloke at the top of EMI and the likes. :)

[alexnoe]

Nah....i usually don't take offense: this straight forward way of expressing something is just, well, german...

In Germany, there are sometimes discs sold which cannot be burned at all, such as bad batches of Vivastar DVD-R, or PostTech or Digital Storage Technology CD-R.

Then, certain writers just don't like certain media. Instead of risking coasters, the manufacturers often prefer to lock the speed down for certain media and to guaranty good write quality, instead of a fast bad burn.

For example, an Asus 52x recorder will burn Moser Baer 48x discs only at 16x, instead of risking a coaster.

Are you familiar with the MMC command set, especially concerning setting recording speed?
The software just asks the writer "which speeds do you support?", and the writer will answer.
Some writers answer, depending on the media inserted, others always deliver a complete list.
A LiteOn, for example, will always report the complete list. But if you insert TY 24x discs and try a "set speed to 48x" command, the writer will refuse it, because its internal table says "not more than 40x" for these discs.

The same way, an Asus 52x will not accept any command "faster than 16x" on Moser Baer discs, or it accepts it, but ignores it.
The Plextor 2410TA for example accepts a 24x speed command always, and ignores it if necessary (due to crap media)

Yes, I've sent the corresponding commands to a LiteOn writer and to a Pioneer DVD writer using an own program...

[Ramirez]

Abbandon,its looks like you're not alone with that problem,check this out.
As a last note for the performance of the drive, we can add that the writing times at 16X exceeded the expected limits for the specific speed and possibly the drive wrote the 80 minutes of our data compilation in 12X instead of 16X, with all the different media we tested.
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Articles/Specific.asp?ArticleHeadline=TOSHIBA+SD%2DR5002&index=10

Have you tried to flash this drive with latest firmware available? Its looks like this drive too damn picky when it comes to the quality of recording media.