8X and 12X media only burning at 4X

[DaveF71]

I've run into a weird siutation lately. I've got a Plextor 708A, a Sony 700A dual layer, and Lite-On's 16X DL burner. I usually use Verbatim media that's certified at least at 8X (although the last spindle I bought said it was good up to 12X). Anyway, it's a good brand, and I've never had any trouble with it -- until now.

When I pop one of the Verbatims into the Plextor, ImgTool Burn 1.1.6 shows 2.4, 4.0, and 8.0 as my burn speed options. Perfectly normal. When I take that very same disk and put it into the Sony or Lite-On, the same program shows 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, and 8.0 as my speed choices. As far as I know, 2 and 6 aren't even valid DVD+R burn speeds. Burning at 4X seems to work, but anything past that consistently produces coasters. Just to make sure I hadn't gotten a bad spindle, I tried some other brands, and 8X blanks from Memorex, Philips, and TDK all show the same wonky speed ratings on the Sony and Lite-On, but show proper ones in the Plextor.

Anyway, the drives are using the latest respective firmware, I'm using the latest Nero version, and the machines housing the burners are both running XP Pro SP1. Are the Sony and Lite-On drives *that* finicky about media? I'm not exactly using no-name disks here.

Any input or suggestions would be appreciated.

[erdoke]

Originally posted by DaveF71

Anyway, the drives are using the latest respective firmware, I'm using the latest Nero version, and the machines housing the burners are both running XP Pro SP1. Are the Sony and Lite-On drives *that* finicky about media? I'm not exactly using no-name disks here.


It's enough to investigate this issue with one of the burners, beacause the SONY is identical to the Lite-On. I would say it is a Lite-On clone, just like an ASUS drive is a Pioneer clone.

And yes, these drives can be "finicky" about media. For this is only a firmware issue, you can wait for a solution. It will come close from the "two manufacturer". ;)