verbatim ( benq 4816p) and 48x fuji cdr....

[kpassman]

hi guys, i have a prob that killing me. like most of you, i jumped on the recent officemax verbatim cdrw deal. I got it and have been using it with what i believe to be excellent cdr's (fujifilm 48x, ty's) but I can only burn at a max speed of 16x. i'm a newbie and any help would be appreciated!!! thanks!

[cfitz]

DMA enabled?

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7625
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6645

cfitz

[kpassman]

thanks for your response.....
i'm using win me and I think I have dma enabled (device manager/ dma turned on for the hard drive and the burner). I'm using a p3 500 with 256 mb of ram with a 20gb 5400 udma 33 hd drive..........

[cfitz]

Where are you finding the 16x limitation? When you attempt to set the burning speed, is 16x the highest that is available to you? Or do you set a higher speed (e.g. 48x) and find that during the burn the drive/burning software limits the burn speed? How do you know you are being limited to 16x burning speed? By timing a burn? By some other means? Have you checked the writing speed by inserting a blank CD-R into the drive and running CD Speed's transfer rate test? What burning software are you using?

cfitz

[kpassman]

i really appreciate your help....

i'm using nero with the "reg fix" that shows the real time burning....
48x burning is available and I choose it but it maxes out at 16x...

[cfitz]

What kind of disc are your burning (e.g. ISO 9660 data disc, CDA audio disc, etc.)? Can you run Nero InfoTool and relay the information reported on the "Configuration" tab? Can you post a copy of the Nero burning log? Have you tried any other brand of disc? The Fuji/TY discs are top quality, but Benq is not, so maybe it has having trouble with the discs even though many other drives would burn them with no problems. Take a look at the few entries in the media compatibility thread ( http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6005 ) and you will see that Benq doesn't do very well at burning CD-Rs at their rated speeds. Finally, can you time the burn and report the actual elapsed time?

cfitz

[kpassman]

WOW.. I really appreciate your dedication. thank you kindly CFITZ!

I tried burning audio and data (from and image). in infotool, it has my hd and my cdrom under my primary ide with dma on and my burner and dvd-rom under my secondary ide with dma also on.

I tried it also with sony (ty's) and verbatim's (mitsubishi). Funny thing about the verbatims was that the cdr's are labed 24x but 32x was available at the burn speed setting. tried 32x and got coasters.

i timed the burn and it ranges from 5-7 mins for almost 700mb of data.

I've tried all your help but i figure it's the burner so i'm thinking about returning it........

[cfitz]

I've tried all your help but i figure it's the burner so i'm thinking about returning it........

I've had the same bad experience with Benq. I got a drive for $19 six months ago and figured "how can I go wrong for only $19?" The unfortunate answer to that question was "by finding a Benq in the box." At least, that was my experience.

Like your drive, mine was incapable of making good burns at any speed, producing either out-and-out coasters or discs with many damaged and unreadable sectors in CD Speed's scan disc test.

The lesson I learned is that even a free drive isn't worth it if it can't be trusted to reliably make good quality burns.

I was hoping you weren't experiencing the same problem with Benq that I did, so I was trying to find a solution short of returning the drive. But if you are able and willing to return the drive, then I agree that that would be the best course of action at this point.

cfitz

[kpassman]

I really REALLY appreciate your help!!! I hope that I can return the favor someday.......

[cfitz]

Well, I don't think I get much credit here since I couldn't solve your problem, but I do appreciate your expression of gratitude. Good luck!

cfitz