Really slow burning! Almost 3h30m!

[em64t]

I shall let the log speak for itself.

I 14:45:26 DVD Decrypter Version 3.5.4.0 started!
I 14:45:26 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600 : Service Pack 1)
I 14:45:26 Initialising SPTI...
I 14:45:26 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices...
I 14:45:27 Found 1 DVD-ROM and 1 DVD±RW!
I 14:45:54 Operation Started!
I 14:45:54 Source File: C:\temp\COUNT_OF_MONTE_CRISTO.ISO
I 14:45:54 Source File Sectors: 2,296,101 (MODE1/2048)
I 14:45:54 Source File Size: 4,702,414,848 bytes
I 14:45:54 Source File Implementation Identifier: DVD Shrink
I 14:45:54 Destination Device: [1:0:0] Slimtype DVDRW SOSW-852S PSF2 (D:) (ATA)
I 14:45:54 Destination Media Type: DVD-R (Disc ID: RITEKG03) (Speeds: 0x, 2x)
I 14:45:54 Destination Media Sectors: 2,297,888
I 14:45:54 Write Mode: DVD
I 14:45:54 Write Type: SAO
I 14:45:54 Write Speed: MAX
I 14:45:54 Link Size: Auto
I 14:45:54 Test Mode: No
I 14:45:54 BURN-Proof: Enabled
I 14:45:55 Filling Buffer...
I 14:45:56 Writing LeadIn...
I 14:46:11 Writing Image...
I 18:13:17 Synchronising Cache...
I 18:13:54 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 03:27:59
I 18:13:54 Average Write Rate: 369 KB/s (0.3x) - Maximum Write Rate: 2,812 KB/s (2.0x)

I just recently upgraded to DVD Decrypter 3.5.4 and this is the very first burn. Previously, I burned with DVD Decrypter 3.5.2 and the time was much shorter.

[Shinigami-Sama]

make sure your drive is set up as u-dma?
or maybe your HDD was being accessed alot?

[em64t]

The burner is Ultra DMA Mode 2 as you can see from this screenshot.

http://img262.echo.cx/img262/9196/udma22ct.th.jpg (http://img262.echo.cx/my.php?image=udma22ct.jpg)

Likewise the HDD is Ultra DMA Mode 5.

I do not recall the HDD being accessed alot and the buffers were frequently at 99%.

[em64t]

I tried another disc from the same spindle and the result was the same. I tried different media and the burning time was much shorter, like 20 minutes as previously experienced. :-)

[code65536]

Hm, the reported support speeds of 0x and 2x doesn't look quite right. I wonder if your RITEKG03 media is being properly supported by your drive's firmware.

Could you dump/backup your drive's current firmware (http://dhc014.rpc1.org/howto.htm#LtnFW) and e-mail it to me (http://codeguys.rpc1.org/contact.html)?

Anyway, you *might* be able to get better performance by flashing to the latest PSX3 firmware (http://codeguys.rpc1.org/firmwares.html#SOSW-852S).

[em64t]

Thanks for the recommendation.

Well I did update the firmware. But fortunately or unfortunately I no longer have any of the blank RITEKG03 discs to compare the performance. Putting back a recorded disc, I did noticed the supported write speed is only 2x and not 0x, 2x as previously reported.

I am using some 4x discs that seem to have same performance after the firmware update as before the update.

But this brings back the same question as I had in a post earlier. If the media support is in the firmware, why did it burn faster in DVD Decrypter 3.5.2 than DVD Decrypter 3.5.4? Of course I am comparing the same media, hardware, firmware, etc.

[code65536]

why did it burn faster in DVD Decrypter 3.5.2 than DVD Decrypter 3.5.4?
Well, the drive's firmware determines the set of speeds that can be allowed and then sends that data to the software. The software picks from this set of speeds and communicates its choice to back to the drive's firmware.

So given this context, you can start imagining different scenarios where something might've gone wrong with this process. Maybe the old firmware had a bug that caused it to report 0x, but DD-3.5.2 was able to filter that out. Maybe 3.5.4, for one reason or another, doesn't filter that out any more and the 0x tripped it up. I don't know why exactly, but that's just one possible scenario that one could dream up to explain the difference.