Windows 7 - 16X DVD burner speed now limited to 4X

I am currently running Windows XP Media Center Edition SP3, current
updates. P4 3.6 with 1gb DDR PC3200.

After a installing several MS critical updates, I noticed that my
computer DVD burner's speeds were limited to 4X (I had two DVD burners
installed in the system.) Previously, they both had been burning at a
full 16X. This was on my old computer, a P4 1.9 with 1gb of RDRAM.

Then I moved to this computer, brought it up to date with all the MS
critical updates and noticed that now THIS computer's 16X DVD burner
(there is only one, but there is also a DVD-ROM installed) will now only
burn at 4X.

I ran the Nero Drivespeed utility to check the burners' capabilities on
the old computer and they came up as 16X capable. I also verified that
the blank DVDs were 16X capable. I checked the burner in this new system
and it is capable of 8X with DVD-R and 16X with DVD+R (it is a Sony
computer, and IIRC they were pushing the DVD+R format originally.)

IMO, the most likely candidate is one of the MS critical updates but I
may be wrong.

And I know I could remove all the recent updates until the speed is
normal and then reinstall them all, checking the speed after each one,
but unfortunately I developed a habit long ago of removing the update
install folders from the Windows directory.

Has anybody else experienced this slowdown of burning speed and if so,
do you know what caused it?

TIA for any help you can provide.

--
John Corliss

Which burning program is suddenly being limited to 4x, and which
*other* burning programs have you tried?

I like Imgburn, which is free.

Nero 6 (on the old computer) and Sonic RecordNow! 7 on this one. I am
just about to install Imgburn as I type this.


it is good, but somewhat limited in a few regards. Although it will burn
data DVDs, as the name says it is mostly for burning images to disc.

--
John Corliss

I believe both of those, Nero 6 and Sonic RecordNow, are quite
obsolete, right?


What are you trying to do? We could make better recommendations if we
knew more about your requirements.

I am trying to burn data dvds. I just installed and ran ImgBurn, latest
version, and it also is limited to 4X max.

--
John Corliss

Restore the system to a System Restore break point prior to the installation
of the MS Updates.  Then try again and report your results.



--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

Have you tried swapping burners?

Or, perhaps uninstalling it and letting windows re-install it.

Thanks for that advice David, but unfortunately I have no restore points
saved. I had believed that I was at a good point to get rid of them and
used Disk Cleanup to do so.

Pooh, in ACF, made a suggestion that led to me remembering that I have
an update history I can refer to on the Microsoft Update website. I will
get a list of the updates I did, then download them and reinstall them
over themselves. That way, I will be able to remove them one at a time
until (hopefully) I get to a point where my DVD burner speed is no
longer limited to 4X.

--
John Corliss

I was hoping to avoid having to do that, but I could as a last resort.
Since I had the exact same problem on my other XP computer though (and
with both of the two burners I have installed on that system), I doubt
that it would do much good though.

--
John Corliss

Thanks for the suggestion, Bob, but I do not think that would do much
good. The main reason I sent the OP to this group was in the hope that
somebody else had noticed the same problem and could identify which
update (if any) was responsible.

--
John Corliss

You could go to the %WINDIR% directory and sort folders by date.

Then look at all the $NtUninstallKB######$ folders and determine those that
were installed AFTER a point where DVDs were burned at the higher rated
speed.

Then go into each folder [ %windir%\$NtUninstallKB######$\spuninst ] and run
the spuninst.exe utility on those updates suubsequently installed after DVDs
were burned at the higher rated speed.

Then reboot and try burning DVDs again and report back your results.

--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

Thanks David, but as I mentioned in the OP I deleted all those folders.
Pooh gave me a suggestion which made me remember that I can view my
update history at the Microsoft Update website, then download the
updates and install them over themselves. This will restore those
folders so that I can remove the updates until the burning speed
(hopefully) is restored, then I will know which update (if any) was
responsible. At that point, I will contact MS about the issue if this is
the case.


--
John Corliss BS206. No ad, CD, commercial, cripple, demo, nag, share,
spy, time-limited, trial or web wares, OR warez for me, please: just
freeware- which I define as legally obtainable, local install computer
programs that can be used indefinitely at no cost, monetary or otherwise.

Filtering out messages containing b7r7tn@gmail.com in the "From:" header
will knock out a lot of the forgeries and trolling in this group. I also
recommend filtering out any messages which are crossposted to other
newsgroups.

Forger-trolls use altered headers, rogue services and anonymous
remailers and feeds to hide their identities and to forge messages from
others. Unless otherwise noted, you can at least block messages from
these sources by setting up filters based on the path header for the
following domains: aioe.org, alt.net, anonymous, astraweb.com,
datemas.de, dizum.com, ecn.org, enfer-du-nord.net,
frell.theremailer.net, goblin.stu.neva.ru, google.com, googlegroups.com,
mail2news, mixmaster.*, mixmin, newshosting.com, newsreader.com,
octanews.net, open-news-network.org, reece.net.au (in the Message-ID
header), remailer, rip.ax.lt, tioat.net, usenet4all.se, xsusenet.com,
x-privat.org, etc. (as they appear).

How is the optical drive connected ?

Is it SATA ?
Is it IDE ?
Or is it in a USB enclosure and connected via USB ?

If the latter, maybe the USB port is running at USB 1.1 speed ?

According to this, the drive is supposed to control the write speed.
I am at a loss to explain how Microsoft could get involved. Only
a bus limit comes to mind, and "funny" buffer fill behavior might
be a hint. Normally, when my burner is burning, the buffer hardly
ever empties, which tells me the bus feeding the drive is never
a limitation. The buffer starts to "drain" on the burner graphical
representation, near the end of the burn. If you see some other
behavior, it could be a "bus limitation". And then you would  check
the hardware reasons such a thing could exist. Maybe, it could
even be a switch from DMA to PIO mode.

http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=18967

Another way you might test, is to do some read benchmarking.
The purpose of that, is purely to check for bus bottlenecks.
If it can read like crazy, then you know it is not a physical
problem like a bus, after all. My Nero Lite had some tool
in it for benchmarking.

Paul

Rule of thumb is to wait ~4 weeks before deleting $NtUninstallKB######$
folders just in case a problem is noted and you have to "roll back" an
update.

--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

it is PATA (IDE), Ultra DMA-66. Cable looks to be some kind of weird
proprietary 40 wire which is not as wide as a standard 40, but is
actually half as wide as a standard 80 wire. Thank you Sony.


No, I looked into that one. it is using DMA, not PIO.


This system does not have Nero on it, just Sonic. It does not come with a
lot of helper tools, but it has told me that the drive in question is a
Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-108 running firmware rev. 1.10 Double Layer.

I have DVD Identifier installed though:

http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/

it is the most current version, but development on the app seems to have
ended on Jan 10, 1999.

Here is what it says about the drive and a disc from my spindle:


** INFO : Drive = PIONEER DVD-RW  DVR-108 - [FW 1.10] - [ATAPI]
** INFO : Write Capabilities = DVD+R DVD+R-DL DVD+RW
** INFO : Write Capabilities = DVD-R DVD-RW
** INFO : Disc = [DVD-R:RITEKF1]
** INFO : Reference Speed : 1x DVD = 1385 kBps
** INFO : An Writeable Disc Is Recommended For Accurate Results
** INFO : Write Speeds (Supported By This Drive On This Disc) Listed Below

** INFO : GET PERFORMANCE Write Speed Descriptor(s)
Descriptor #1 =  5540 kBps ( 4.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]

** INFO : MODE SENSE Write Speed Descriptor(s) [Legacy Command]
** WARNING : MODE SENSE Is Obsolete And Not Always Properly Supported
Descriptor #1 =  5540 kBps ( 4.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]


I am going to see if I can find a newer firmware version for this drive.
Maybe that will end the problem.

--
John Corliss BS206. No ad, CD, commercial, cripple, demo, nag, share,
spy, time-limited, trial or web wares, OR warez for me, please: just
freeware- which I define as legally obtainable, local install computer
programs that can be used indefinitely at no cost, monetary or otherwise.

Filtering out messages containing b7r7tn@gmail.com in the "From:" header
will knock out a lot of the forgeries and trolling in this group. I also
recommend filtering out any messages which are crossposted to other
newsgroups.

Forger-trolls use altered headers, rogue services and anonymous
remailers and feeds to hide their identities and to forge messages from
others. Unless otherwise noted, you can at least block messages from
these sources by setting up filters based on the path header for the
following domains: aioe.org, alt.net, anonymous, astraweb.com,
datemas.de, dizum.com, ecn.org, enfer-du-nord.net,
frell.theremailer.net, goblin.stu.neva.ru, google.com, googlegroups.com,
mail2news, mixmaster.*, mixmin, newshosting.com, newsreader.com,
octanews.net, open-news-network.org, reece.net.au (in the Message-ID
header), remailer, rip.ax.lt, tioat.net, usenet4all.se, xsusenet.com,
x-privat.org, etc. (as they appear).

Heh. I can guarantee you, that is what I will be doing from now on!

--
John Corliss

Sorry, that last version of this post contained my normal signature
file. I have been trying to remember to edit it out for this newsgroup.
Accordingly, I canceled that message and am now going to send this version.


it is PATA (IDE), Ultra DMA-66. Cable looks to be some kind of weird
proprietary 40 wire which is not as wide as a standard 40, but is
actually half as wide as a standard 80 wire. Thank you Sony.


No, I looked into that one. it is using DMA, not PIO.


This system does not have Nero on it, just Sonic. It does not come with a
lot of helper tools, but it has told me that the drive in question is a
Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-108 running firmware rev. 1.10 Double Layer.

I have DVD Identifier installed though:

http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/

it is the most current version, but development on the app seems to have
ended on Jan 10, 1999.

Here is what it says about the drive and a disc from my spindle:


** INFO : Drive = PIONEER DVD-RW  DVR-108 - [FW 1.10] - [ATAPI]
** INFO : Write Capabilities = DVD+R DVD+R-DL DVD+RW
** INFO : Write Capabilities = DVD-R DVD-RW
** INFO : Disc = [DVD-R:RITEKF1]
** INFO : Reference Speed : 1x DVD = 1385 kBps
** INFO : An Writeable Disc Is Recommended For Accurate Results
** INFO : Write Speeds (Supported By This Drive On This Disc) Listed Below

** INFO : GET PERFORMANCE Write Speed Descriptor(s)
Descriptor #1 =  5540 kBps ( 4.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]

** INFO : MODE SENSE Write Speed Descriptor(s) [Legacy Command]
** WARNING : MODE SENSE Is Obsolete And Not Always Properly Supported
Descriptor #1 =  5540 kBps ( 4.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]


I am going to see if I can find a newer firmware version for this drive.
Maybe that will end the problem.

--
John Corliss

Hey, John...

I vaguly recall a similar problem from years ago but it has been too long
for me to remember it in any detail, let alone a solution.

I did Google a bit, found nothing of any use to you except this (maybe)...
http://www.digital-inn.de/exact-audio-copy-english/35560-eac-has-reset-max-speed-my-new-dvd-writer-how-do-i-restore.html

Check out the last post regarding a built in disc database.  No solution but
maybe a reason.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder?  Tired of the rat race?
Maybe just ready for a change?  Check it out...
http://www.floridaloghouse.net

There is no such thing as Usenet cancels, anymore, unless I am mistaken.
I believe most NSP's stopped honoring cancels a very long time ago due
to abuse.

Yes, the descriptors (or lack of) appear to be the source of your problem.

--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder?  Tired of the rat race?
Maybe just ready for a change?  Check it out...
http://www.floridaloghouse.net

Hi, dadiOH! Yep, I burned a CD-R with some pictures for a friend a
little while ago and it was able to do 32X on that disc. Looks like the
burner is just too old and does not recognize Ritek Corp. discs, which is
what all my DVD-R and DVD+Rs are.

I verified that my firmware version is 1.10 for the drive and found a
newer (1.20) version. However, the update failed and nothing I have tried
will make it work. Probably does not matter though, since the firmware
does not include the ability to read Riteks.

As for why this happened on both this computer as well as my old one, it
probably was just a coincidence. My beloved Memorex (eGAD I burned a lot
of discs with that unit!) crapped out about the time the old unit is
power supply was going. Then this newer computer with its older burner
(I installed the Memorex in my previous computer) was unable to read
Riteks from the get-go.

I have other and newer burners on hand, so I will try installing one or
more of them into this system. Should work, that is unless Sonic has a
cow because the original burner has been removed.

--
John Corliss

There is a page for your drive here.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Professional/Computer-Drives/DVR-108

As for Nero, the main tools are not free, like Nero Express. But the
utilities, such as InfoTool or CD/DVD Speed, were written by Eric Deppe
and distributed for free. You can find copies on download sites. I think
on occasion, I have even located these on a Nero FTP server. I use an older
version. At one time, the author of the programs also distributed
them from his own web site.

http://majorgeeks.com/Nero_InfoTool_d120.html

http://majorgeeks.com/Nero_DiscSpeed_d118.html

Seeing as somebody ran into this yesterday, how many driver files
do you have in your Device Manager entry for the optical drive ?
This is mine. WinXP Pro SP3 x32.

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/8156/dvdgh22.gif

Paul

I'd like to thank everybody who replied with suggestions and ideas. I
installed two other DVD burners into this unit and they both work fine,
so it was just the age of the Pioneer DVR 108VA I had in it before. It
just could not recognize the newer Ritek Corp. discs I was trying to burn
with. As for my previous computer, it had its own unique problems which
were unrelated.

So my problem has been solved and again, thanks!

--
John Corliss

I just had an "AHA" moment.

Burning programs report info for CDs and DVDs differently.  That is because
DVDs are writing bigger chunks of data.  I do not recall the exact ratio but
it means that a burner that says it will do 32X on a CD will say it can only
do, say, 4X on a DVD.

IOW, there is nothing wrong with the burner and it is (probably) reporting
correctly.  Try putting in a CD disc and checking write speeds then do the
same with a DVD and you will see what I mean.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

Winters getting colder?  Tired of the rat race?
Maybe just ready for a change?  Check it out...
http://www.floridaloghouse.net

This is a weird thread.  I as read from this thread from day one I have 2
dozen posts in this thread via GigaNews.

When I looked at this thread on NewsGuy there were half as many with the
original post not there.

When I went to another PC and used GigaNews I still only see half as many
posts.

Thus my quandary of why many posts no longer exist.  From what I have seen I
do not see the content being hit by spam filters.  The only thing that I thnk
is at the root cause is the use of ccountry.net via GigaNews.


--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp