DVD writing hell - any ideas

Hello there

Can anyone please help me i'm having so much trouble with by DVD drive.

I'm using a Samsung X60 T2500 with 2Gb ram X1600 100Gb hard drive and a TSST Corp TS-L632D CD/DVDW drive. I have firmware version SC01 installed.

I was having problems burning using Nero and cyber link 2Go which came with my comp. WIndows explorer wouldnt let me copy anything to DVD, for some reason it worked with CD-r's. When I tried to burn a DVD in nero it would take about 1H, 30mins to burn one and would hog all the system resources in the process, winamp would play with a horrible jerky sound, and divx and the like wouldnt play any video.

My CPU is a dual core, so i thought there must be a problem.

So i did a complete new install, formatted hard drive and the lot.

Re-installed CyberLink, but not Nero, tried to burn first using explorer - did not work at all. Then through Cyberlink, this made the drive work very loud but it didnt hog the system and burnt in about 15mins, not bad i thought.

But then after the first one its gone back to being over an hour to burn and not ablt to do anything else.

I've checked the Primary IDE controller PIO UDMA thing in device manager and it says:

DMA if available
ULtra DMA mode 5.

Is this correct.

Please help me, i really need my computer to work, and i am quite loathed to send it back to samsung so that they can keep it for 3 weeks, and then say it was a software problem. Plus I am burning so many coasters, you wouldn't believe.

Many thanks

Jamie

 

Try and find updated firmware for your drive

Get the latest chipset drivers from intel

Use good quality DVDs

Thats the best pieces of advice I can give you. My Acer used to be awful at burning DVDs, however lately it seems to have cured itself. not sure if its due to updating chipset drivers, or using better DVDs. Its one of the two!


Do you have a Primary and Secondary IDE controller?

 

try different media

you probably got some crappy discs

 

Thanks for the advice,

I've tried using different media, where can i find out what chipset i have.

many thanks

Jamie

 

Make sure you have set DMA on both primary and secondary IDE channel. If you only have a Primary IDE channel then you will see two drivers hooked up to this, make sure both are set to DMA mode.

 

On the Samsung X60, the optical drive is the first device on the secondary IDE channel.

Device Manager > IDE ATA/ ATAPI Controllers > Secondary IDE Channel > Advanced Settings should read "

Device 0
Device Type Auto Detection
Transfer Mode DMA if Available
Current Transfer Mode Ultra DMA Mode 2

If it not set to DMA, use the System Diagnostic software in the Cyberlink DVD suite.

John

 

Yes opticals are usually on second channel and must be set to UDMA (usually 2). Otherwise you get something similar to the first post.

Ivan

 

Well, since you did check for proper transfer mode, as in first post, my question is did you have this problem from day 1? add and strange software?

As others, if the hardware is good, try new drivers, media, then call / email support.

 

Actually he said that he checked primary channel. The secondary is in question. Like John said. It is not uncommon that for example you hit, bump into, or drop your notebook and that optical drive for a brief moment disconnects from the bay connector (it is actually very easy to do it). On the next boot the connection could be bad, and after a while it connects again, (for example the first time you press the drive's door) but now as a PIO transfer device (Windows "feature" - making it safe that it works) - and that produces the exact symptoms that jimjam described.

The fix is in setting the secondary channel master device (like John Ratsey said) to UDMA if available and I'm sure it will connect as UDMA 2. Actually you do it in Device manager - IDE ATA ATAPI controllers - Secondary channel (properties) - Advanced Settings and set it to DMA if available. Reboot.

Well I hope that it is simple like this. I saw it on a few occassions. But if it is already set like that - it could be something with the drive. Or driver. Try removing it completely and then leave PnP to do its job. If you can try putting it in another notebook (most have standard connectors and can be easily exchanged).

Ivan

 

Hi Ivan,

Sorry, poor choice of words. It should have read “as above” other than “as in first post”. The rest was assumed?

My old Arima/Pioneer used to get the Windows mode change regularly. My current laptop has been outstanding so I credit the NEC drive for now.

Regards, Mike

 

Thanks guys i owe you all a large pint of beer.

My dvd now burns in about 9 mins and I can do everything whilst it burns.

You truly are the best, many thanks

Jamie

 

Hi Mike, Jamie

No problems at all. And yes NEC is usually good.

And Jamie: I am glad everything worked out well.

Cheers,

Ivan