Memorex True 8x DVD Recorder only records at 4x

[zoberoi]

Just purchased the Memorex True 8x recorder and 8x Memorex DVD +R media and cant seem to get Nero 6 to burn DVDs at any rate greater than 4x.

Anyone have a clue as to why this might be the case?

thanks
z

[zoberoi]

what seems more strange about this is that the specs of this Memorex True 8x drive (external) which i got from Fry's does not exactly match the specs of the True 8x drive featuerd in the CDRLabs reveiw of the Memorex True 8x.
http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.ph ... page=Intro
i even checked the part # 32023277 for both the drives and they match.

The main difference between what I have and what was featured in the reveiw is the CD-R (write) and CD-RW (re-write) speeds.

The model reviewed here has CD-R: 32x and CD-RW: 16x where as the one I have has CD-R: 24x and CD-RW-24x. My box is also different from the image of the one reviewed where my box shows CD-R and CD-RW speeds as 24x and 24x (unlike the image of the box of the drive reviewed which shows 32x and 16x)

However both these verisons of the True 8x model have a DVD+R and DVD-R speed of 8x but i cant seem to get nero to write to a 8x media DVD at 8x.

Checked for nero software updates and memorex firmware updates and still no luck. Any other things i should be looking at?

thanks
z

[Ian]

There are three versions of the drive based on designs from Lite-On, NEC and Pioneer. It sounds like you have the Pioneer version.

What firmware does the drive have?

[zoberoi]

just check, using the Nero Info tool and it says version 1.10
is there a better way to check this?

[Ian]

There are other ways, but InfoTool works fine. In fact that's usually what I use.

Do one more thing for me. Put in one of your DVD+R discs and use CD Speed to determine the actual manufacturer. Click on the Disc Info button. It's next to the drive name and has a picture of a blue CD/DVD on it.

[Ian]

Also, if it is a Pioneer based True 8x, you should be able to update your firmware to version 1.13:

http://www.memorex.com/products/dltrk.p ... _FW113.EXE

[zoberoi]

hmm....it says RITEK R03 (although the box was a Memorex CD+R 8x)

and it also says recording speed is 2.4x - 4x (with this recorder)

[Ian]

Since Memorex is one of the largest media companies around, they use discs from a number of different manufacturers: Ritek, CMC, MCC, Philips.. you name it.

I'd try the new firmware. If that still doesnt' work, I'd try other media.

[zoberoi]

just tried the firmware update and that seems to have done the trick!

thanks a lot, appreciate all the help!

z

[zoberoi]

tried to burn a few test dvds using the 8x setting, the software and drive seem like they are working just fine, but it still takes about 1hr 25 mins to burn (recode) a movie (.vob, .iso files etc.) onto a dvd.

(have a P3 1.2 Ghz, 1 gig RAM, so not a slow machine by any means)

are the "burns DVDs in less than 12 minutes" advertisements meant only for data backups and not movies?

[Ian]

are the "burns DVDs in less than 12 minutes" advertisements meant only for data backups and not movies?

It will also burn movies in that time if they're already pre-encoded, etc.

[Wesociety]

(although the box was a Memorex CD+R 8x)

Wow! I've never seen any CD+R media before!