External 1673SX requires media with a slow burning speed or firmware flash -- Help!

Got a problem. I need to purchase media. My first choice appeared to be the 8x Verbatim DVD-R's. These were not easy to find. But there is always the 16x Verbatim DVD-R's ? Right ? Wrong ! The 16x media won't burn at 4x, and that's bad news for an external burner.

When I wasn't sure what media to buy, I decided to burn three dvd's of different brands (same files, 4.3gb) and make a comparison DQ scan for each with Nero CD-DVD Speed v4.11. The brands used were Hewlett Packard 16x (CMC MAG. AM3), Office Depot 16x (RITEKF1), and Verbatim 8x (MCC 02RG20) ... In the end, only the Verbatim 8x produced a scan that was acceptable. Something similiar to better scans in the forum.

Side Note: When scanning with an LTD-163 drive, I noticed that different firmware produced different scans, and it looked like these drives need to be re-flashed occasionally, but that's another question.

What I have here, is an external USB 2.0 Lite-On 1673SX burner connected to a USB2 card (NEC chip) in a PC running retail win98 at 600 Mhz with 256mb RAM. Both the HP and OD 16x speed DVD-R's burn in Nero 6.6.1.4 at 6x speed externally, which is almost the limit for my PC's hardware. On the other hand, the 8x Verbatim DVD-R brings up a 4x burn speed in Nero, and this makes a world of difference ... The slower the speed, the better the burn, I think, externally speaking. But I haven't any DVD media that will burn at 2x, so I'm only making an assumption.

Does any of the new 16x media burn any slower than 6x when placed in a Lite-On external drive ? The scans were not very good.

When burning a DVD with a 600 Mhz cpu & external burner, the small buffer level indicator in Nero kicks up and down, 8% to 98% at 6x, 15% to 98% at 4x ... A 6x speed appears to be the limit (poor scans), but this could have been the media. I didn't have any 16x Verbatim DVD-R's to compare. So how do you get slower burning speeds with the new faster media ? I don't have a clue.

The following "OmniPatcher DVD Media Code Report" shows speeds that are available with various DVD media. To shorten my post, the other media codes & entries were removed, leaving only the three entries that apply.

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OmniPatcher DVD Media Code Report
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OmniPatcher version: 2.4.2
Firmware file name: 1673S.JS0D.stock.exe


------------------------------------------------------------------
General Information
------------------------------------------------------------------
Drive type : SOHW-1673S
Vendor ID string : LITE-ON
Product ID string : DVDRW SOHW-1673S
Standard firmware rev. : JS0D
Internal firmware rev. : JS0D
Firmware timestamp : 2005/08/22 16:41

------------------------------------------------------------------
DVD Media Support Summary
------------------------------------------------------------------
Total media codes : 331
DVD+R media codes : 114
DVD+RW media codes : 33
DVD+R9 media codes : 12
DVD-R media codes : 135
DVD-RW media codes : 35
DVD-R9 media codes : 2


DVD-R Media Codes (135)
------------------------------------------------------------------
CMC MAG. AM3 -00 [ 6x, 8x, 12x, 16x ]
RITEKF1 -00 [ 6x, 8x, 12x, 16x ]
MCC 02RG20 -52 [ 4x, 6x, 8x ]


My burner is actually a 1673SX.JS0B, but the information is basically the same as given in the OmniPatcher DVD Media Code Report listed.

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If the firmware exists (or becomes available), can this Lite-On external burner be removed from its case, mounted in a PC, and flashed differently so that 16x media can burn at 2x or 4x speed externally ?

Can 16x Verbatim media burn at 4x, or is the "OmniPatcher DVD Media Code Report" correct ?

Is older media the only way to burn externally at 2x and 4x speeds ?

Will a faster CPU help ? ... I can't go much faster.

I like my PC ... Which way do I turn ?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
.
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Hi,

it is typical for Liteon drives to support 16x rated media at speeds from 6x and higher. So, getting 8x media is the first choice. As you are located in the US, you might try 8x rated Taiyo Yuden (YUDEN T002 or TYG02) from rima.com

In addition, you may also try Liteon's Smart Burn utility and enable Hypertuning there. Maybe you will then also be able to reach 4x.

As a side note: Both, these 16x CMC and the Ritek aren't known as top quality media. They are even problematic with many new drives.

Michael

I asked the local supplier of 8x Verbatim media to check their computerized inventory of other stores. The search turned up several cases in a remote location. It was a 50 mile drive, but I've got some more, and DVD+R too... (but in about 5 days there won't be any 8x available at all).

Will try the Liteon Smart Burn utility and enable Hypertuning as you suggested. Then I'll see how the 16x CMC and Ritek media respond to this tweaking.

Thank you.

You are welcome

You should really check out www.rima.com They are, according to our US based members, one of the best sources of quality media. Actually, they have 8x Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden in stock.

Michael

Link for 8x DVD-R: http://www.rima.com/Merchant2/mercha...ory_Code=DMR8X

Link for 8x DVD+R: http://www.rima.com/Merchant2/mercha...ory_Code=DVP8X