Slow DVD Writing Speeds

[8ball2253]

Hi all,
I own a Lite-On SOHW-1693S KSOB DVDRW which has been experiencing extremely slow writing speeds. DMA is enabled and it is the slave drive. When I write ANY DVD disks, no matter what their certified speeds are, it burns at 1.5X and takes around 30 minutes, what's wrong?

 

[tuskenraider]

Nevermind.......need to read more thoroughly.

 

[Jon]

Two questions:

What is your motherboard?

If an IDE burner, is anything on the same cable?

 

[8ball2253]

Taken directly from Nero InfoTool:
Hardware Information
--------------------
CPU : Intel Pentium 4 2400 MHz
Bus Speed : 133 MHz
Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-8STXCFS
System : Fujitsu GA-8STXCFS
BIOS : Award 6.00 PG
Memory : 768 MB
Sound : Avance AC97 Audio
Video : NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420

Interface Information
---------------------
Adapter 1
---------
Description : Primary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : system32\DRIVERS\atapi.sys
Company : Microsoft Corporation
Version : 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Description : IDE/ATAPI Port Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: ST380020A
Type : Disk Drive
DMA : On

Adapter 2
---------
Description : Secondary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : system32\DRIVERS\atapi.sys
Company : Microsoft Corporation
Version : 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Description : IDE/ATAPI Port Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: LITEON DVD-ROM LTD163
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : On
Autorun : On
Description : Slave: LITE-ON DVDRW SOHW-1693S
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : On
Autorun : On
Adapter 3
---------
Description : Unknown Adapter

Driver
Description
Company : n/a
Version : n/a
Description : n/a

Attached Devices

Adapter 4
---------
Description : Unknown Adapter

Driver
Description
Company : n/a
Version : n/a
Description : n/a

Attached Devices
Description : ID 0 (0): CW5966K ECS675H 1.0
Type : CD-Rom Drive
Autorun : On


Software Information
--------------------
Operating System : Windows XP Professional (5.01.2600 Service Pack 2)
Country : United Kingdom
Language : English
ANSI Code Page : 1252
OEM Code Page : 850
DirectX : DirectX 9.0c

Hope this answers your questions. Please help! It takes like 30 mins to burn a DVD at 16 x (as stated by nero, though after actually seeing the true burn speed, 1.5x).

 

[tuskenraider]

Have you checked to make sure your drives are jumpered correctly? Even so, I'd try swapping the DVD burner to the Master postition on the cable.

 

[Jon]

May want to try installing the correct SiS chipset drivers. I only found reference to a GA-8STXC board using the SiS 645DX/962L chipset.

Also, I notice this is a slave drive with the master being another DVD-ROM. Are you doing a direct DVD copy? If so, you're running into controller saturation and that would explain slow burn speeds.

Are the media being detected as 16X by Nero and indicating burning at 16X?

Lastly, if you have the correct drivers and are not doing direct copying, you may want to uninstall and then reinstall the IDE controllers. I've had to do this myself for the same issue in the past. Worth a shot if all else fails.

 

[8ball2253]

Okay i am a beginner when it comes to assembling PC's.
Could you guide me through how to change my DVD ROM drive to slave and my writer to master, and what is a jumper cable.

In regards to you're question Jon, i am doing HD>DVD burns, not direct copy. Nero detects it as a 16X and burns at 16x, however it's true speed is around 1.5x.

What do you mean when you say May want to try installing the correct SiS chipset drivers. I only found reference to a GA-8STXC board using the SiS 645DX/962L chipset.? Could you point me in the direction of these drivers?

I will uninstall the Primary and Secondary IDE channels and will get back to you.

Okay upon doing that, DVD write speeds not improved. Still, 16X Maxell DVD-R's burn at 1.38x. I noticed that the buffer continually fluctuates, it goes 94%, 16%, 98%, 4% etc. almost every second. CPU usage is ~72%. Maybe this buffer is the cause of slow speeds.

I've coastered 3 DVD-R's trying to sort this damn burner out! Please help!

 

[Jon]

As far as master/slave goes, there is a jumper block on the back of each optical drive. You will see a set of about 6 small pins, like this :::

One set, top and bottom, of those pins should be covered with a small plastic block called a jumper, like this ::|. Each set of those pins should be labeled M, S, or CS (Master, Slave, Cable Select).

You want the drive at the very end of the IDE cable to be set for master. The drive connected to the middle connector on the cable (closest to the motherboard connector) needs to be set as slave.

The drives will have the pins labeled either directly below the pins, or will have a diagram on the manufacturer's sticker on the top of the drive. Both may need to be removed to check this.

The IDE driver I found here. Just go through the steps for operating system type, IDE driver, and you should end up confirming the download of IDE driver version 2.04a (zip file).

 

[8ball2253]

OK jon i opened up my PC today and swapped around all the cables for the DVD-ROM drive and DVD-RW drive. This was because for some uncanny reason, my DVD-ROM Drive (OEM) would not remove, it was simply jammed onto something. I thought swapping the cables around would do it. Now when i boot into windows, it still comes up as the same configuration! What is going on, wouldn't swapping ALL the cables around do it? I tried uninstalling and reinstalling both the drives and the primary and secondary IDE channels with no luck. Maybe there is a BIOS tweak that needs to be carried out.

Help! Im at my wits end with this damn burner!

 

[tuskenraider]

You still need to verify the jumpers on the drives, not just swap cables.

 

[8ball2253]

Right mate could you guide me through this:
I attached some long grey cable (i think its a bus cable? Not sure about this hardware stuff). It had a label "Master" so i attached this to the back of the DVD-RW. Then i attached the "Slave" labelled part to the DVD-ROM drive. i attached the power cable and audio cable to the DVD-RW drive. What i do not understand is that all that is connected to the DVD-ROM drive is a power supply, nothing else, yet it is still recognised as a master! How is this possible!

 

[tuskenraider]

Right mate could you guide me through this:
I attached some long grey cable (i think its a bus cable? Not sure about this hardware stuff). It had a label "Master" so i attached this to the back of the DVD-RW. Then i attached the "Slave" labelled part to the DVD-ROM drive. i attached the power cable and audio cable to the DVD-RW drive. What i do not understand is that all that is connected to the DVD-ROM drive is a power supply, nothing else, yet it is still recognised as a master! How is this possible!

Because you didn't set the jumpers on the drives correctly, that is what ultimately determines master/slave settings. Jon's post explains it pretty clearly I think, even for a novice to understand. Also, if you're using Windows, you won't need the audio cable for sound, it'll be done digitally through the IDE ribbon cable.

Maybe this link helps.

 

[8ball2253]

Okay I just set the DVD-ROM drive to slave and my DVD-RW drive to master (thank you jon) and now it is all fine in windows. However even after all of this, my 4X rated Phillips DVD+RW rated at 4X is burning at 2.4x. When i run simulation under Nero CD-DVD speed, it simulates at a healthy 4.02X. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the Primary and Secondary IDE's with no luck. The buffer is continuing to fluctuate. The device buffer is going 5%, 90%, 17%, 90% very rapidly and after much reading into it is the cause of my slow speeds. What is wrong!

 

[8ball2253]

Anybody?
Before I contact Lite-On technical support, I want to be sure I have tried everything. Once again to clarify:
My DVD-RW is now the master drive on the secondary IDE cable with UDMA 4 enabled.

My DVD-ROM is the slave drive on the secondary IDE cable with UDMA 2 enabled.

My HDD is the master drive on the primary IDE cable with UDMA 5 enabled.

I have noticed that when I burn anything, the device buffer constantly fluctuates between 0% and 100%, not staying at any % for more than a second, while the read buffer remains 100%. I have read around and found that this is the cause of the problem.
What can I personally do before I contact Lite-On technical support. I have tried reinstalling Nero and using other burning programs and other media discs with no luck. Help!