PX-716UF DVD ripping speed question?

vbimport
#1

WindowsXP Home SP2.

Hi, Around February 25th 2005 I basicly became a new owner of a Plextor PX-716UF TLA# 0202 Manufactured December 2004 USB2.0 connected (replace an old Lacie Pioneer 105). I flashed to FW1.04II soon as I got it. For the
first couple weeks it worked fine. Ripped DVD’s using DVDDecrypter
~10.0x speeds.

About 2 weeks ago it started acting strange. It would start ripping
around 5.0x and drop to 0.0x and start back around 5.0x again over and
over and had a serious vibration coming from it. So I called Plextor
and RMA’d it. Today my replacement arived with a different Serial# but
with the same TLA#0202 but the FW is 1.04. I tried rippind a DVD and it
starts around 5.0x, drops to ~2.0x and speeds up to 3.0x to 3.5x and
settles around that speed. I flashed to FW 1.05 and tried another rip
but got the same speed results. But luckly no vibration. It runs
smooth. I figured Plextols Pro’s may have caused the speed drop on the
first burner so I uninstalled it before getting my replacement. I never
ran any of Plextools tests because I haven’t a clue about them.

I’ve checked and my DMA is correct. I read were WinXP SP2 would
sometimes get confused and set to PIO but still say DMA so I
uninstalled the ULTRA ATA Storage Controller under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllors and rebooted. I tried ripping the DVD againg and again it
starts around 5.0x, drops to ~2.0x and speeds up to 3.0x to 3.5x and
settles around that speed.

Any idea how I can get my ripping speeds back to around 10x’s?

#2

Since your drive is in an external enclosure and connected via USB this cannot be a DMA problem.

The rising and dropping speed sounds like a read problem. Are the discs dirty or scratched?

Are other devices connected to the same USB port and using it (transferring data) while you rip?

Also, the drives have a ‘silent’ option that reduces speed to avoid noise. You can check/set/unset it in Plextools (drive settings -> silend mode tab).

#3

Since your drive is in an external exclosure and connected via USB this cannot be a DMA problem.
That I wasn’t sure off. It’s convient to know. :slight_smile:

The rising and dropping speed sounds like a read problem. Are the discs dirty or scratched?
Nope their clean with no scratches. And I never ever touch the discs surfaces. :slight_smile:

Are other devices connected to the same USB port and using it (transferring data) while you rip?
Only my USB mouse is connected but I don’t use it or my computer while ripping and definately not while writing. I also turn Antivirus and software Firewall off during ripping/writing (My routers firewall is on during this).

Also, the drives have a ‘silent’ option that reduces speed to avoid noise. You can check/set/unset it in Plextools (drive settings -> silend mode tab).
Plextools isn’t installed. On my first plextor it was installed. I may have enabled the silent or inabled/disabled speedread then. If I uninstalled Plextools before getting my 716UF replacement would that still affect the new drive? I thought those settings were stored in the drives FW.

#4

The silent settings can be saved to the drive and will thus remain in effect even if Plextools is uninstalled. If you never changed the settings of the new drive it should still be on factory settings.

#5

My friend had bought the same burner with the same build date and had to send it back to the manufacturer as defective. They sent back a new burner with a build date of November 2004. What had happened was it had basically stopped burning, giving coasters each and every time.

#6

Any change you could try the PX-716UF on another computer with USB2.0 or perhaps try it via FireWire? This would tell us if the problem is related to your interface or not. I am using the same drive btw, also via USB2.0 and it works at maximum speeds. Let us know what you find out.

#7

I don’t have access to another computer. But my computer (laptop) has one 4-pin Firewire port with a external firewire-only harddrive connected to it. I was originally going to daisy chain the harddrive and Plextor but Plextors manual warned against doing so. So I use the 716UF on the USB port.

Today I disconnected to harddrive and connected the 716UF to the firewire port. I used the exact same movie DVD (a 5.95GB movie) that I did yesterday to test the 716UF on USB. Oddly it worked fine. Started ~5.0x, dropped to ~4.0x, then gradually got to ~10.5x (+/- .3x) by halfway through the rip then gradually reduced spead during the last half of the rip.

Next I disconnected from the firewire port and connected back up to the USB port. Tested the same DVD and suprisingly got the same (~10.5x max) result I got on the firewire port. :smiley: Have no idea what changed or got reset but I’m glad it did.

I swear, I tried this same DVD yesterday on USB four times with the same poor ~3x ripping speed. Thanks for the suggestion G@M3FR3@K, and everyone else.

#8

Let me ask this question. The author/creator/maker of DVDDecrypter added:

Added: All burners are now issued a ‘SET STREAMING’ command when make them read at full speed - even when not specifically told to do so via the option in the settings. Too many cases of PlexTools PI/PIF scanning putting the drive at 2x!
Could someone please explain why Plextools puts the drive at 2x and how to reverse this? Just for future reference. I’m kinda skeptical of reinstalling Plextools again.

He also has Tools>Drive>Plextor SpeedRead added to DVDDecrypters Tools menu.

#9

When performing a PI/PO scan with PlexTools the read speed is limited to 2X to get a (more) reliable result. I suspect this interferes with DVD Decrypter somehow (or other apps for that matter) and the author has come up with a different solution to make the drive read at full speed. I haven’t had this problem myself. I have enabled the SpeedRead DVD option in PlexTools and the drive works at maximum speed now, even when PlexTools is not running.

#10

G@M3FR3@K,

Thx for the info, much appreciated. :slight_smile: