The big external enclosures thread

I am beginning to think that Plumax has some doggy 911+ enclosures.
I am on my 2nd one, the 1st being a disaster, and locking up/crashing my system(s) both, regardless of 1394 host adaptor card.
The 2nd being a little better over 1394, I actually reached 17.6X burn on my LGH22N.
But the USB side sucks, Would not recognize my BenQ1640>164B, does recognize my LG H22N but will not produce 8X or above burn.
The USB side is not recognized in the Oxford updater regardless of what drive is in the case?
Any ideas from those who are having better results?
thanks

dishnit,

Two things I can comment on:
1. H22N via Oxford 911+ can hit 18x, no problem.
2. Oxford 911+ cannot be configured via USB.

If you are having a hard time configuring the 911+ via firewire, it likely could be the host chipset. My laptop has a TI chip in the docking station and I cannot configure it when connected to that port. Also, burn speed is limited to 12x. When connected to my laptop via a generic 1394 chipset, it will hit 18x no problem and can be configured. Weird, I know as TI is supposed to be really good stuff.

clintb,
Once again thanks for the comeback.
Just what is the Scan USB Bus button on the Oxford Updater do?
As for 1394 Host adapters, I have Nec, TI & Via. I have not tried to configure the 911plus Firewire side using the TI chipset, just when I have been connected to Nec or Via.
My TI Host is really a Syba 1394b host adaptor, which the 911Plus 1394 side, runs well on. Actually it is the only host adaptor I have used since installing the LG H22N, My BenQ 1640 & Liteon SH 165H6S had nothing but problems with the oxford bridgeboard.
None of my 1394 Host adaptors are combo'ed with USB.

The 911plus USB side has been connected via a Belkin full USB2 7 port hub (all 7 ports support USB2 at all times, regardless of any USB1 device connected).
I should try to direct connect to my motherboard USB, which uses the Intel ICH8 controller to see if I get improved results on the USB side.
Quite frankly, I have had less problems with my Prolific 3507 cases than with the Oxford 911plus and I get consistant 16X burns from them on firewire & 12X on USB2 regardless of the drive attached.
The pickyness of the Oxford 911plus in regards to what drives burn well or are even recognized, leaves a lot to be desired. I expected more....and perhaps that is the problem.

I still need help.

"Logical UNIT IS IN PROGRESS OF BECOMING READY (20401)"
what does that mean. I tried to create a disk under the testing drive in NERO on 16X and 8X DVDs. I am wasting or creating too many costers and I don't even use them. Do I need the latest firmware for my Oxford 911+? If So where can I get it and get the utility to send it to my enclosure?

Please help


Eddy

Watchman101,
Do a search, this thread, for postings by clintb, he has been invaluably helpful. Specifically look at page 37, posts 922, 923, 924 & 925, also page 38, post 926.
Pay particular attention to the Striping & Spanning settings section.
That should get you going.

clintb,
I am only getting a 7MB burst rate on the AT2+ chip with my LG H22N? What gives?

clintb,
I am only getting a 7MB burst rate on the AT2+ chip with my LG H22N? What gives?[/QUOTE]
Update....I looked at the Oxford 911plus bridgeboard and indeed it is labeled AT2+.
But I suspect something is wrong with the USB2 side.
On the Cypress USB2 chip I have tried;
Liteon 165H6S-HSOE = No recognition
BenQ 1640>164B = No recognition
LG H22N-1.01 = 7Mbit Burst rate
Pioneer 111L-8.06 (ext) = 7Mbit Burst rate
These results have been replicated on Toshiba Laptop,
Dell 400SC
Dell 9200
These same drives that were not recognized on the Cypress AT2+ chip are recognized and burn fine on Prolific 3507 (USB2 side) or Nec USB external cases. So no problem with the drives.
On the Plus side, I am now getting consistant 18X burns with my LG H22N with Quality scores of 97>98 on Verbatim Intelliflix MCC 004.
My Liteon 165H6S is now back in a Prolific 3507 case and happy.

The Oxford chip is considered to be the bridgeboard; not the board it's mounted on. Put differently, it bridges between the 1394 interface and IDE. The Cypress AT2+ is another type of bridgeboard, which happens to be mounted to the same physical board as the Oxford. Seperate the two, they're totally different. As to the question about why the Oxford Updater has a USB button, it is for newer chips that have USB functionality built-in. The 924 is one of those chips.

I can only speak as to the drives I have, which are in my sig. The BenQ's and the LG do fine via Cypress AT2+ and Oxford 911+. Both have good burst rates on either connection. With the low burst rates you're getting, I'd look into the host side of things.

Attached are some pics of the H22N connected via the Cypress AT2+.

clintb,
Nice burn on the AT2+ side.
I am impressed with the burns the LG H22N is producing.
Thanks for the clarification on Bridgeboard specifics.

I have a Cypress AT2LT external case in which the 1640>164B now resides. No problem 16X burns over USB2 using the same Host adaptor. So I would say it is not my host adapters, especially since I tested the AT2+ on 3 different systems with different Host Adapters.
My 164B burn is not as pretty in QS as yours, but as you can see by the burn spped graph, it did not struggle to achieve a 16X burn.
I've also included an Oxford 911+ burn on my LG. Thanks so much for your assistance in getting the 911+ side to work.

I've emailed Dealsonics on my AT2+ problems, as this is a replacement case for the 1st defective Oxford 911+ Plumax case, I'll shall see what they do.

Ok, I have 2 Plumax PM-525C2-PTS cases, which I bought through DealSonic. They of course use the Oxford911+ & AT2+ chipsets.

I used the settings that "clintb" recommended, verbatim. I hooked up the GSA-H22N (FW 1.01) burner. Using Verbatim's DVD+R 16x media @ 18x, I was only able to hit 15.7x, before it dropped the speed back to 12.0x, finishing off the burn @ 5 mins 45 secs.

While not a bad burn time, the burner usually hits 5 mins 15 secs internally.

Now, since I can't run burst tests with Nero CD-DVD Speed, since DAEMON Tools won't allow me to see my external drives (just with Nero CD-DVD Speed), I can only go by the transfer rates with DVDInfoPro.

Oxford911+ = 5 mins 45 sec
AT2+ = Burn topped out @ 5.0x near the half-way point, I stopped the burn & lost the dvd.

This has occured with both cases, what could be the cause the less than 18x on firewire & super slow burns on AT2+ ?

Please help.

r_saotome,
I've returned my 2nd Plumax PM-525C2-PTS case for lousy AT2+ burns & 7Mbit/sec burst rate. The 2nd Oxford 911+ side worked great!! (the 1st was a dud)

When I use my Cypress AT2LT USB2 cases, I get 25Mbits/sec burst rates, and as you can see, 16X burns.
I should place my LG H22N in this AT2LT (also Plumax) case, to see if I can get an 18X burn over USB2.

One key for me to achieve 18X firewire burns over the Oxford 911+, was the Advanced Setting in Striping & Spanning and having nothing checked.

I still question the quality of the Plumax 911+/AT2+ cases. The 1st case the ground wire was not tightened down, let alone the 911+ side did not work and that the power cord was extremely touchy where it plugged into the case....and in fact did not work most of the time. I noticed the same power cord issue, although not so noticable/prevelent, on the 2nd case.

Dealsonic sent me an RMA and should have received my case today. So far they have been very good in their customer service area.
I certainly bought enough Plumax Prolific 3507 based cases from them that are running DVD burners and achieving 16X+ burns over firewire and recognize every dvd burner I put in them....something I cannot say for the Oxford 911+/AT2+ cases.

One other thing I might mention, For what it's worth, I have been burning Verbatim "Inteliflix" 16X media, & have noticed that sometimes my burns drop speed at the end, for what I can only assume is questionable media. This will happen more often in an external case burner and not so often on an IDE or SATA channel based burner. I do not notice this happening if at all with regular Verbatim 16X.

Yup, Dealsonic's service department has been good to me on several occasions.

I'm reading up, that the problem may also lie also with the VIA chipset, found on the DFI NF4 SLI-DR Expert Motherboard, but since all my the PCI cards I have use the VIA chipset, I can't be 100% certain.

If you have any luck with finding an alternative for 18x burning, that isn't Oxford911+ related, please let me & the rest of the ppl on the forums know.

I've also had huge success with the Prolific chipset & 16x burning myself, too bad Dealsonic doesn't sell any cases with that chipset anymore.

I don't think it's Verbatim's media, since this is also happening with Taiyo Yuden's 16x DVD+R media as well.

r_saotome,
Since both my Dells came without a built in 1394 Host adapter I use both NEC & TI Host adapters. Both seem to work well. I could not get an 18X burn over my VIA based 1394 host adapter using the Oxford 911+ case.
In regards to a plus 16X burn, I put my LG-H22N_1.02 in a PL 3507 enclosure and got a 17X burn (really 16.86X) on a 3.66GB ISO video file. I'll post a screen shot if you want. 4.10GB files or larger, cause the drive to fall back to 16X or slower. I am about to test some TY+R 16X in this drive to see how it does.

I had the same power cord problem with one of my Plumax cases. These are standard power cords and I have many of them, so I replaced it and forgot about it. I should have mentioned it, but like I said, I forgot.

This is a minor issue to me. More importantly these cases have built-in power supplies that take standard cords. I like that.

steve b,
The power supply problem I was referring to was not cord specific. I have several Plumax cases and they seem to work without a hitch. I am constantly changing drives in the cases, so the cords do get a workout.
My Plumax AT2LT USB2 cases, seem to be especially solid & well built.
I personally like the Plumax case & it's built in power supply. My problem was with the specific Oxford 911+ case, that would refuse to power up regardless of which cord I used, new or used.
DealSonic seems to be handling my concerns very reputedly and I would not hesitate to do business with them again.

r_saotome,
I installed my LG H22N in my Cypress AT2LT USB2 case, and got similar results to my PL 3507 USB2 side. 23/24 Mbits burst rates (higher than the PL 3507= 21 Mbits/sec) The burn would hit 16+X on an 18X burn, but then show a speed fall down towards the end of the burn, regardless of media used (Verbatim/Yuden 16X from Rima). Burn quality was good, although the 16X Yuden000 T03 at 18X, leaves a bit to be desired. This was burning an ISO, using Nero CDSpeed 4.7.
So the hunt goes on for the "right" external case. I may purchase a Nespire 911+/AT2+ to see if it's build/functionality is more on the money. I believe clintb has this case and is what he has based his results on.

Yep, that's the case I have. Got three of them from shop4tech around Christmas when they had a sale, a coupon and $10 off $30 for Google checkout. Each of them came to $27 and change, shippped. Wish I'd have gone for one more...

http://www.shop4tech.com/user.htm?go...a=3&s_cata=184

The link for the Nspire says the USB chipset is Cypress AT2. Is it really AT2+?

If it's AT2, what's the difference between that and AT2+?

Anybody that can help with a SpeedyCD complex problem please refer to post entitled "Help! Complex error with backpack DVD+/-RW burner" Thank you

I just bought an LG E10N, and I get burns like this:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/attachment....d=103656&stc=1

That was the only reason I choose E10N, over hunting for a good enclosure for H22N. Now I have a factory chosen enclosure, but I cannot write in true 16x, just like with any bad external chipset :-(

Actually I have a burst rate of 23 MB/s!

I have J07 fw, riplock removed by MCSE. Do you think maybe I should try J06 fw, or the one from E10L (crossflashing possible?)?

I don't think it's the system's USB bottleneck because I can rip in true 16x speed (after riplock has been removed be MCSE).

I have uploaded the original J06 fw, but it's the same.

noticed that plumax lists an e-sata 5 1/4 case that can be used with sata dvd burners?

was wondering when and if this idea would come of age?

a search for e-sata in this thread yielded no results

assuming the sata would just be a straight pass thru to the motherboard, and no chipset to worry about

zsero,
What kind of system are you burning from?
Laptop/Desktop? How fast is your hard drive? Has it been defragmented? How much Free Space on the drive?
How much memory does your system have? Built in USB2 Host or? How many Background applications running?
All of the above can affect your burn speeds. Even the USB2 cable you use can effect burn speed.
I have a Laptop with 120 GB HD@5400 RPM and cannot get an 18X burn on my external Samsung S184M. The same drive attacted to my desktop burns 18X....I attribute the difference to HD speed. I have 7200 RPM HD's in my Desktop. Both systems drives are defragmented, but the same media that burns at 18X on my desktop will only burn 16X or less on my laptop using the same burner. Often the 16X burn on my laptop, will drop down similar to your burns.
Both of my systems have Intel USB2 host controllers and use the same cables when I switch the burner from one system to another.
Some USB2 Host Controllers work better than others. PCI cards that combine 1394 & USB also can be less efficient, best to have dedicated USB or 1394 PCI cards.
Hope this gives you something that will assist you in achieving good burns.
In the end, it is the quality of the burn that counts, not the speed.

I am burning from a laptop (a fast one, the HDD could provide data at 38 MB/s), but I tried it on an other computer, this time a AMD X2 4800+ with 2 GB ram and RAID 0 hard drive, but still no luck, I got the really same graph (smooth until 14.8, drops after).

1. I think I have to try it with a different USB cable. One time I had continous read errors on a USB HDD, after looking for many reasons, I found that I needed a thicker cable.
2. Actually, I could get 5:40 burn times from Nero and 6:00 from ImgBurn (why is the difference?), and after I read some review about the same drives, I noticed even the internal ones could only get 5:35 times producing a smooth graph.
3. I think if I cannot solve that problem, the best would be to write the discs at 12x, to avoit the buffer underran part. Do you think I get better quality at 12x on a 16x-18x disc, than burning at their native speed on a media like TYG03?

Zsero,

I don't know what to say about your LG-E10N. I crossed flashed my LG-H10L to an LG-H12L and have not looked back. That drive is on an IDE channel and is a favored drive by me.

Another possibility is the Quality of the TYG03 you are using.

I had a Pioneer 112D never get higher than 13X on a "selected 16X burn" using YUDEN000 T03 (1st two Png's).
The same burner, burns this media with ease at 18X (2nd two Png's).
Go figure?
I will admit that I have not attempted another 16X burn, but after recently looking over the Disc Quality info at both speeds, I actually prefer the 16X to 13X burn over the 18X burn, PIF numbers are 1/4 as much.
So I may try this again, and see if this is an anomally of one disc in the cakebox I have, or of the drive with this media & burn speed selected.

There are some great burns in the Blank Media DVD section in this forum, Using TYG03 at 8X. You may want to experiment with your speeds.

From what you say, I don't know how to help you achieve a 16X burn, other than possibly trying other media. I personally prefer the Quality of Burn over speed, but would like to acheive this at the highest speed possible, just like you! So good luck!

Just FYI, I have an LG-H22N_1.02 housed in a recently acquired Nspire NSP-ED525 with an Oford 911+/Cypress AT2 bridge board, that can give good 16X USB2 burns, and 18X burns over the 1394 Oxford side when connected my Desktops. (see "clintb" postings and important 911+ settings in the "Big External Burner" Thread.
I'll have to try this Burner/Case combo, using USB2, on my Laptop (2.4GHz HYPT P4 - 2G Ram), but suspect it will drop to 12X.
Which could be due to either, or all: HD speed?/Host bottleneck?/Media used?, USB2 Cable around my neck? or Karma!

Szero,
The Sequel:
OK, Intriqued by the possibility of a 16X USB2 Burn on my Laptop, I present the following;

1st PNG = Media Code/Burn Speeds available, Laptop/LG-H22N, Nspire Cypress AT2 USB2 case.

Next two Png's = Burned from my Laptop/LG-H22N, Nspire Cypress AT2 USB2 case, YUDEN000 T03 Media, 16X attempt.
Not bad PIF's!

Next two PNG's = Same system, same drive/case/USB2/media/ISO file, 12X burn.
WTF!

Last two PNG's = Same system, Drive/case/Oxford 911plus side of Bridgeboard, Firewire 1394a/same media/same ISO file, burned at 16X!
Hey, now that is not half bad!

The media was the next three sequential discs from the YUDEN000 T03 cakebox from RIMA.

Conclusions;
Even "Quality" Media varies.
12X burns over USB2 with this case/drive on this media should be avoided.
Or, the Faster Burn speed, the Better?
None of the above!

Hi,in my experience, PCI USB cards max out at about 16MB/s (if it is a good, NEC based card). So, max write speed won't exceed 8x. I would always prefer the USB connection that is integrated into the chipset, but with Ali/Uli (and many Ati) based mainboards, you are lost.

Michael