New NEC 2510A Slow Read and Write, 4X all around?

CD, DVD and (Ultra HD) Blu-ray Writers NEC / Optiarc Writer
#1

I bought a NEC 2510A last week and recieved my RiTekG05 8x Media from newegg about 2 days ago. I am fairly new with DVD burning, but have had some friends give me pointers and have read many of the posts here.

I noticed while burning a few backups I was getting a max speed in both Nero 6.3.1.15, and DVDDecryptor, of only 4X. I just ran Nero CD-DVD Speed to see what that gave me and it was at 4.14X for the entire time.

I have not changed the firmware and am at 2.15 from what DVDInfo tells me. I have thought about downgrading to the 1.07 v2 beta5, but not sure if I should. Do you guys think it could be my media or my drive?

I have also verified that I am running it as DMA.

Also, when I rip a DVD to my HD it only reads at 4X, which is annoying since the DVD Reader on this is rated much higher. I then ran a DVDInfo Speed test on a dvd backup I had previously burned. Its results were the same, it read at 4X to start, eventually climbing to 7.8X. However when I rip a DVD with DVD Decryptor the fastest it rips it at is 4X, and its annoying to wait 30+minutes to rip a dvd. Either way that is much slower then it is suppose to be. Here is the DVDInfo from the DVD I ran the test on along with the graph info.

  Media Information                            
Region information                                    N/A not a DVD-VIDEO
Media code/Manufacturer ID                                       RITEKG05
Format Type                                                      UDF 1.02
Volume Name                                                     BAD_SANTA
Application id                                                           
Implementation id                                              DVD Shrink
Recording Date/Time (mm/dd/yyyy)                       7/12/2004 21:58:07
Format Capacity                                            4.36GB(4.68GB)
Book Type                                                           DVD-R
Media Type                                                          DVD-R
Media Id Code Speed                                       8.0x  11080KBps
Available Write Descriptor                           CLV  4.0x   5540KBps
Available Write Descriptor                           CLV  2.0x   2770KBps
Write Strategy Speed                                        4.0x 5540KBps
2x Speed OPC beta                                                      08
2x Speed OPC power                                                     12
2x Write Strategy field 1                                     11 98 9A 80
2x Write Strategy field 2                               88 80 00 00 00 00
4x Speed OPC beta                                                      06
4x Speed OPC power                                                     18
4x Write Strategy field 1                                     0D 10 07 07
4x Write Strategy field 2                                     97 06 0C 0B
4x Write Strategy field 3                                     80 00 00 00
4x Speed OPC beta multi-pulse                                          04
4x Speed OPC power multi-pulse                                         1D
4x Write Strategy field 4                                     17 B8 88 75
4x Write Strategy field 5                               89 AC 98 81 00 10
4x Write Strategy field 6                                  00 00 D0 00 00
Data area starting sector                                          30000h
Data area end sector                                              22E11Fh
Linear Density                                                0.267um/bit
Track Density                                                0.74um/track
Number of Layers                                                        1

I dont understand what CLV is but it seems to be a format that the disk is being written at, do you guys have any clue?

Another thing I tried was moving my NEC 2510A from Secondary IDE Slave to Secondary IDE Master. I then ran the test again and still the results were sub-par. I was wondering if it would be a good idea to move the 2510A to the Primary IDE as Master. The thing is I have a total of 4HDs. 2 on my SATA RAID 0, and then two other drives for storing information. If you guys think it is worth it and may fix the problem do you think I should move the 2510A to primary IDE, Master? I did not think it mattered whether a device was on Primary or Secondary IDE, they each get their own channel to the bus from my understanding, but if you guys have heard that this has worked in the past let me know. I guess my next step is to downgrade to the different Firmware? I mean that sounds kind of weird but it it works i guess Ill do it.

Hope this screen shot is readable.
Thanks in advance guys.

#2

Hi!

Welcome to the forum!
Please use the search functions!
All your problems are discussed in every third thread here!

To sum it up:
RiTEK G05 can only be written @4x with the newer official firmwares. NEC has limited the writing speed for this media, as it is varying in quality. Other media will burn @8x. You need to flash to Herries 1.07v2b5dl (in DOS) in order to be able to burn this media @8x. There are also many other media types speeded up to 6x or 8x in this firmware. The drive will then appear as ND-2500A, but that is only the name string. The firmware is a modified HP 520n firmware (which is a OEM ND-2510A).
Reading recordable data DVDs from 4x to 8x is normal, only pressed DVDs are read faster. Official firmwares have a riplock for video-DVDs enabled. That’s the reason why the reading speed is locked when reading video-DVDs (burned and pressed). It is, because the drive shall not produce so much noise when watching videos. Riplock is disabled in most hacked firmwares (also in Herries mentioned one).
Remember: Flashing to hacked firmwares voids your warranty. You decide to void it at the moment you flash! And yes: You can flash forward and back to every firmware you want, at least in DOS.

#3

Very good thank you. As I said I did do a lot of reading before hand, but I wanted to make sure that what I was experiencing was firmware/media problems rather than a physical problem with my drive. I appreciate the helpful response and hope I can return the favor to others some day. I think ill stick around this forum. Cheers!

#4

I went and did the firware that was posted here and the drive shows up as a 2500A, but now I cant get it to work. I put a disk in and when i ask DVD Decryptor to read it there is just a clicking sound. Is this bad, can I go back to the 2.15 Firmware? Not sure what to do, going to bed now…hopefully there will be some answers when I wake up and get to work. THanks again everyone.

#5

I’ve no idea what this could be. Try it with a pressed disc first! Have you performed the update in clean DOS? Does it burn? Is it still set to DMA?

You can go to every firmware you want. Haven’t you made a backup of your firmware? Otherwise you have to download the 2510A binaries from the TDB’s site:

http://tdb.rpc1.org

#6

  • First I am curious as to why I should try it with a pressed disc first?

  • I performed the update in clean DOS, and it said it was successful.

  • It does not burn, not a single disk is getting noticed.

  • I checked to see if DMA is on still and yes it is.

  • How do I make firmware backups in the future?

  • I guess Ill have to download the firmware from tdbs site when I get home.

Any more ideas would be greatly appreciated, thx guys.

#7

OK, this seems to be something serious…

Firmware backups can be performed with the DOS flasher. Use “-out filename.bin” instead of “-flash filename.bin”.

#8

Well isnt it a lilttle late to try the backing up of my firmware? Since i already flashed to the 107v2b5? Will going back to the default firmware that came with my Burner fix the problem you think?

#9

Peregrine…

Did you make a b/u of your original fw? (ie. 2.15). As legnerp suggests, you would have had to give the command as “-out filename.bin”. You can always reflash your original fw (2.15).

As far as speed goes, I don’t mind 4x burns if my media needs it. I have Fuji +R rated at 4x but NEC did their research and set the fw to burn it at 6x, so I have a bonus of oh about 5 minutes burn time savings (or thereabouts) on a DVD5 disc.

The fw hacks that speed up the burn process are not 100% consistent. Ie., you might get a 4x disc to burn at 8x w/o problems on one, but then again, eventually one disc might give you poor results. If you go with quality media then you’ll be fine just about everytime. I have not used G05, but as Legnerp said, the quality of the discs were varying at 8x, so NEC reduced their speed to 4x.

Oh, and Welcome to the Forum.

#10

No I did not make a backup of my firmware. I thought it was too late to do that since I already flashed to the new beta one. Are you guys saying that I can still make the backup of my original 2.15 firmware now even though im currently running the 107v2b5? Im confused.

#11

OK, the answer here is to first of all flash back in DOS mode to the original firmware 2.15, you can get the .BIN file here… http://tdb.rpc1.org.

Now if after this you’re drive stills fails reading and writing then the drive is more than likely faulty. The clicking sound suggests the armature containing the laser is swinging and banging into the end stop for some reason. You should probably also ensure the drive is set to MASTER, and not SLAVE or CABLE SELECT, and also that it’s connected to the M/B with an ATA100\133 cable and not a standard IDE jobby.

If the drive works with 2.15 firmware, might I suggest rather than potentially muss up the drive, you buy a Lite-ON 166 DVD-ROM drive and flash it with a custom firmware (I think by The Dangerous Brothers, but maybe another firmware modifier) that will allow ripping at speeds upto 14x. This reduces the wear and tear on your NEC and at upto 14x discs (including DVDR media) you want to backup should be ripped in as little as 4 minutes (depending on their size).

There is a custom tool now by NEC themselves that provides a Bit Setting function for the drive, so in some respects unless you’re really desperate for lots of 8x recording compatibility there’s no need for 107v2B5 to be loaded onto your 2510A.

NEC 2500A@2510A (107v2B5)
NEC 2510A (2.15)
Lite-ON 851S@832S (VS08 Custom)
Lite-ON 832S (VS08)

#12

Peregrine…

If you did not make a b/u of your fw, then you will have to do as Gristy… said and dl it from his link and then reflash your drive (take out any discs) with the NEC 2.15 fw. I have a copy of it at home, but I won’t get off work for a few more hours.

#13

Ok, I should be able to find it on the website when I get home. However, if I dont find it I know I can ask you, thanks.

Edit: One thing I have noticed about this forum is that some peope tell me one thing and others say another. I mean a lot of people say flash your NEC 2510A to the 107v2b5 and now im getting the opposite. Most of the people here, from the posts ive read, say it is such an easy process and that there shouldnt be any problems. I know with anytime you change firmware there are potential problems, but I just wish everyone was on the same page. Thanks to all who have been helpful in this thread.

#14

Ok, I should be able to find it on the website when I get home. However, if I dont find it I know I can ask you, thanks.

Yes, will be happy to pass it on.

I mean a lot of people say flash your NEC 2510A to the 107v2b5 and now im getting the opposite. Most of the people here, from the posts ive read, say it is such an easy process and that there shouldnt be any problems.

I would say that most of the people who come to this forum (and others like it) are generally enthusiasts who have familiarity with the technical stuff that goes with these gadgets. And then there are others, like yourself, like me, who don’t get into the technical stuff but are curious to know how to play around and see what we can do (that makes us dangerous if we don’t pay real close attention to instructions). Just a piece of advice, if you don’t understand what someone is telling you to do, keep asking until someone with a little time and patience will answer you. And also, don’t change it if it ain’t broke…unless you know that you can make it better!

The 107v2b5 is a hacked fw for getting bitsetting, faster burns, faster ripping (I believe). However, the 2.15 firmware is good fw. I am burning my hearts content with it with fantastic results. I am waiting for the DL media to get more economical then I will buy it and start burning DL. Note however, that the 2.15 fw at present does not allow you to change the booktype and from what many people are reporting, you will need to change your booktype to DVD-ROM to get DL media to read back on standalones. There is a utility, unofficial of course [don’t get upset with me WES… :wink: ], that will let you change your booktype. I have done this but have not burnt DL media…yet.

Let me know if you need help with getting the 2.15 fw and with reflashing, although, this has already been posted elsewhere:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=87413

#15

Well I do consider myself a techie. I am a computer scientist and work in programming. Computer Hardware OCing and building has been a hobby of mine for some time. However, I am completely new to DVD Burners hence the reason I am here.

Its nice to see ppl who are willing to help, i have seem lots of other flames and ‘go use the search’ on other posts here. Thx for the help again demody.

#16

Of course it is now too late to back your original firmware up, you’ve overwritten it. But you asked how to do it in the future, so I explained it…

As all other people said, you need to download the 2.15 binaries from The Dangerous Brothers, so you’re back again.
I can’t understand your problems after flashing to 1.07v2b5dl, because I flash my NEC ND-2500A forward and backward nearly every day to test all known firmwares with all media I own…
So… it IS a simple process and there shouldn’t be a non-working drive after successful flashing! Perhaps it really broke by some cause…

Best wishes… :wink:

#17

Well im back to the 2.15 Firmware. It was a little shaky. At first i threw in a regular DVD Movie, Retail. It didnt load and I was like WTF. So i checked it in System Manager. It is only showing up as a CD-Rom device. However, I gave it another try at watching the movie and it worked. I dont understand it. Still showing up as only a CD-Rom device in system manager, but as a DVD-RW Drive in My Computer. Weird stuff, but i think its working. Now i just need to figure out where to get some good media that will actually burn at 8x, I may also look into buying that Lite-On drive, but i may jsut take the old DVD-Rom drive from another computer in my house. I guess Ill stay with this firmware unless you guys have any other recommendations.

#18

Hey Peregrine,

Glad that your drive is up and running again! I don’t know why your system manager is showing it as cdrom drive. What version of windows do you have?

As far as ripping is concerned, using a cheapo dvd drive to rip from is best as you’ll get faster speed and give your burner a rest.

I noticed that you have Nero 6.3.1.15. Why don’t you update to ver. 17? Also, Nero Info Tool or DVDInfoPro will give you info. on your burner. If it says what your top picture is showing (1st post), you’re definately back in business.

#19

Ok cool, Ill give it a try and update to the latest Nero.

FYI I am running Windows XP Pro, SP1, with all latest updates.

Edit: One more thing, I was wondering what you do recommend to get the DVD Reading to at least be marginally better when ripping? I mean 4x, that seems incredibly slow. When im watching a movie with it is that how fast it is realy reading? the main reason i want it to be faster is if/when im copying stuff off of backup dvds (ie files).

#20

When a standalone or dvd reader is playing back realtime, it is playing at 1x. So 4x isn’t that bad. I have a Liteon DVD recorder and it gives me slightly better ripping time than the NEC, but a good DVD playback will give you faster time. For me to rip and burn a movie (using Shrink or even X copy Xpress) will take about 45 - 50 minutes. And that’s burning at 6x. I think though that I read somewhere that the ND-2510A is ripping at 2x. Not sure.

Also, I’m using Fuji +R 4x media (RICOHJPNR01) and the NEC bumps up burn speed to 6x. You can get faster with the hacked firmware, but I like the stock fw if my results are pleasant. But someguys have found Ty Yuden +R (which is some of the best) rated at 4x but is burning at 8x.