A NEC 3540a 16X but I am getting 6X burn times on a 8X disk. Using USB2.0 External

Epoman 2005-08-27 10:13:15 UTC #1

So I have the 3540a drive using it as an external and I have the USB2.0 driver installed but I am only burning at 6X on 8X media. I am using this on a laptop with a cardbus USB2.0 Hub.

It took me 15 minutes to burn a full dvd (movie). On the cardbus I have also 2 external HD's besides the new burner.

If I transfer a 90 MB file from one HD to the other It takes about 30 seconds. So it's USB2.0 but it's slower than it should be.

I have this on a p3. 600mhz laptop. It burns fine but slow. Any ideas?

TimC 2005-08-27 10:30:39 UTC #2

Your system @ 600mhz is very slow these days so I would have thought that you're not going to get much better than you're getting.
However, it could just be a media problem as not all 8x media will be written at 8x on all burners.
Get something like Nero's CD-DVD Speed or DVDinfo which will show you the media ID & post back what you find.

zebadee 2005-08-27 10:37:03 UTC #3

Hi
One of the reasons manufacturers make money selling external drives at high prices compared to DIY is compatability. If you change your external housing you'll get a different response. Some external cases come with drivers for not only s/w but to get good interactivity between case & drive. My external case has such a driver for Nec but will only work with this case.
Try taking a look here
However I do think you're getting about the right response in your case.

Epoman 2005-08-27 10:37:44 UTC #4

Here's the info from NERO,

Nero CD-DVD Speed: Disc Info
Basic Information
Disc Type: : DVD-R
Book Type : DVD-R
Manufacturer: : CMC
MID : CMC MAG. AE1
Write speeds: : 2 X - 4 X - 6 X - 8 X
Blank Capacity : 4.38 GB

I bought Philips -R DVDR's and they are rated 1-8X speed.
I am using firmware 1.01 on the NEC.

Thanks for your help.

zebadee 2005-08-27 10:50:17 UTC #5

Hi
Sometimes the rated speed of media is not the same as the speed capabilities of the drive. Nec is conservative in this respect with certian media. For example even with CD SKC coated 52x rated media the 3540 will only write to a max of 32x. I know this wasn't a media problem as such from using my other drives. Some s/w like Plextools it will show media rate as put forward by manufacturer as well as the drives speed with that particular media. This is not always the same in fact recently with DVD you'll see 8x media with a drive capable of 16x with that media.

P.S. Although your f/w is 1.01 if this is the original it might pay to flash as although there's no new f/w as such 1.01 is in its fifth revision. Of course you might want to try Liggy & Dee's f/w.
Have a look here

sweetnamja 2005-08-27 14:42:27 UTC #6

check you transfer rate with nero cd/dvd speed... I think the problem is that you are using usb 2.0 instead of firewire.. The transfer rate should be about 11mb for an 8x burn.. Usb has never been good to use with a fast dvd burner.. Firewire is almost always going to be better.. Plus the more drives you have on your cardbus the slower the transfer rates will be..

zebadee 2005-08-27 15:39:46 UTC #7

Hi
My Nec external setup is playing up (don't know why as yet. but I'll get round to it sometime). So I've rigged up my LG 4163b to demonstrate the dip in performance that can be experienced. Media is 16x MCC 004 Verbatim.

zebadee 2005-08-27 15:44:25 UTC #8

Hi
Its ironic that my Nec was going to replace the LG.
Nec setup 1 3540a + external case (Q-Tec Â£30) impossible to live with.
LG setup 1 4163b + external case (Substance Â£10) regular as clockwork.
This isn't why I'm making this post just feels better.
If you look at post #7 the quality is very good, although speed was kept to 12x & not 16x. As already mentioned firewire doesn't seem to suffer this loss.