Is this DVD writer the only device on the IDE channel?  If not, as an
experiment, try a burn with it being the only device.  I had an older CD-RW
drive and HP 200i on the same IDE channel and maxxed out the CPU even when
reading.  Putting each optical drive on its own IDE channel solved the
problem.

Carl

-----Original Message-----
From: PCBUILD - Personal Computer Hardware discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of James Maki
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 3:15 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [PCBUILD] DVD Writer Slow Down

I have a Sony DRU-510a that I have been using without major issues. System
is Windows XP Pro on a gigabyte 7nnxp mb, AMD 3200+ xp cpu, sata and ide
raid. Except for a problem set of Ritek 4X -R disks, it has performed at the
rated speed with -R, +R, and +RW 4X media. Last night, it suddenly started
writing about 1.25X! I have not made any changes to my system. DMA is
enabled for the drive. I am using Nero 6. It reports burning at 4X at the
beginning and end of the burn, but what used to take 16 minutes has expanded
to over 40 minutes. All the media is from previously used batches that
burned at 4X.

When I use Nero speed test with a +RW, it shows a burn speed of only 1.25 -
1.33X. One google search said that high CPU usage with the burn indicates a
bad burner.

So, does anyone have any ideas where my problem might be located? Can anyone
substantiate the high cpu usage/bad burner analogy? I don't know what the
cpu usage was before this problem started, but it not jumps between about
65% and 100% during the burn, then falls to the teens or twenties. Is a new
burner in my future?

Thanks,

Jim Maki
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