8x write or not

[hammer]

Hi

I bought a medion pc all singing all dancing with a pioneer 8x DVD writer. So I purchased some 8x to use all going well. I use record now max for burning and to my surprise it still took the same time to burn as my pioneer ao5 in my previous pc. So it tried Nero as soon as I put the blank in the 8x option disappears. The discs I used were ANV a ritek disc. So I then tried a ridisk (tdk) no difference. So I contacted SVP where I purchased the discs they suggested I flashed the firmware. As I bought a pc that is supposed to burn at 8x I did not see why I should have to do this. I emailed Medion. I eventually after three phone calls and two emails had this response.

Thank you for your message. I apologise for the slow response but as I am sure you have realised this is an extremely busy time of the year for us. It is difficult to get through to us on the phone and we have to give priority to those people waiting on the phone, at their own expense.

The advice is that the "8x" logo on the disk platters you have purchased will refer to the READ speed not to the WRITE speed.

8x Write speed disks have only very recently been released and are very expensive - certainly well in excess of the £15 that I understand you recently paid for 10 platters.

The Nero software in combination with the drive hardware have detected the maximum write speed available on the platters and have automatically set themselves to the maximum that can be supported (i.e. 4x write speed).

As an aside, it is likely that, at present, 8x write speed will be much less reliable than 4x write speed and it will take some time for the technology to become more stable.

I hope this information is helpful to you but please feel free to contact us again if problems persist or if you have further concerns or questions.

So it’s either my pc or the discs I have sent this latest reply to SVP to see what they have to say the discs were supposed to write at 8x Medion say they read only at 8x and write at 4x what is going on. Two different 8x discs neither write at 8x
hammer

[danielwritesback]

Well, they certainly sent you a bunch of fiction instead of tech support. The only factual thing they said is that 4x will result in better writing quality than 8x.

The advice you received to update the firmware of your optical drive was correct. Visit the optical drive manufacturer's web site and pick up an update.

The new firmware may, or may not, contain an updated, faster write strategy for the particular discs you purchased. Each individual media is made differently. This means that your writer needs to contain a listing or directory of media types. It also means that you need to purchase supported media for your drive. New firmware will increase the drive's internal list of compatible media.
You may be able to find a written list of compatible media at the manufacturer's web site. I would also see advice at cdfreaks.com.

Cheers.

[hammer]

thank you danielwritesback good plain english i thought what medion said was rubbish. Svps advice update firmware makes more sense with your explanation on discs.I have tied to update firmware before but to no avail.I download the file open try to install to here C:\DVR107D\FW121 an window opens with black screen.
\\\\dvd-rom/dvd-rwfirmware update utility ver207a
then says available target not found.
is this because my drive is partitioned maybe and the info is not in the c drive but maybe in the d drive.tried changing c for d no difference there.where is the target i ask.

[danielwritesback]

A window with a black screen indicates a DOS operation that completed quickly leaving nothing to view. It is very likely that you need complete directions for this firmware. It is also very likely that it must be located upon a bootable 3.5" diskette.
For DOS based flash programs, the computer must be started with this bootable diskette (instead of starting the computer with the hard drive) and the flash files must be unpacked and located on the diskette. Then one types a certain command (listed in the instructions) to activate the flash.

For malfunctioning Windows based flashers, just use Safe Mode by furiously tapping the F8 key during startup. This will start Windows without any drivers that possibly "hide" the presence (or accurate specs) of your writer drive.

It is best if the computer's Bios (standard options section) is set to auto detect; and also, to auto type (not lba, normal, large. . .) any IDE (disc drive) channel that is in use. The auto detect information is then accurately passed on to Windows during startup.

Oh, do make sure that no disc is in the writer drive while starting up before flashing. Of course, there should be no disc in the drive during flashing either.

Target not found means one of four things:
Dos flasher software that is well written, but expecting a prepared and bootable 3.5" diskette (startup disk) as the target.
Dos flasher software that requires extensive paper instructions.
Windows flasher software that just can't find your drive.
Badly written (because of the cryptic error message) flasher software that is not intended for your drive has just saved you a spot of cash by refusing to cause harm.

I'd go with getting better directions on the operation of the flash software.

If this fails, verify that the writer drive is set to Master and on it's own cable (remove the computer cover to view). For the drive and the flash software to work best, the writer drive should be in the expected location; which is Single Master of the Secondary IDE channel.
Also check out advice at cdfreaks.com forum on how to flash update your drive. Although, I would ignore any advice to change it to an RPC1 drive. New factory fresh firmware should do the trick while preserving the warranty.
After you successfully flash the drive with information recommended by the drive manufacturer, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the performance of your writer drive.

P.S. You may need a friend that is well versed in DOS if the flash program is DOS based. Typing out all those DOS commands. . .