Slow DVD Burner

[LatahKidd]

I bought a laptop last summer and I've been having problems with the DVD burner that came with the machine. It seems to be running pretty slowly. When I say slowly I mean I have tried to burn about 4 gigs of data to a DVD as backup and it tells me the estimated time will be about 6 hours. The first time I did this I figured the internal clock was wrong but it really did take that long. I figured out today that it is not the burner as I plugged an external DVD burner from my desktop which runs quickly. Again it told me it would take about 11 hours. I tried calling the help desk and the person on the other end told me I needed to purchase a DVD burning program. That's BS considering it will burn the data but only problem is that it takes too long. I'm at my witts end, please help since Microsoft and HP tech support can't seem to do their jobs.

[Steve]

Hi LatahKidd,

welcome aboard.

lets see if we can fix your problem.

Firstly lets see if DMA is set on in Vista. DMA lets CD's DVD's and Hard Drive run faster.

Please see this page for details on how to turn on DMA .... http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...0c7db1033.mspx


regards

Steve

[LatahKidd]

Thanks Steve,
I tried following those steps but the DMA was only listed under one of the devices and it was turned on. Any other suggestions?

I think it may be reading the drive as a CD burner only and not a DVD burner as well. How do I check this to make sure?

[LatahKidd]

Just thought about it and it can't be the burner itself because I connected my external burner and it had the same effect. I'm really lost now.

[Steve]

Hi LatahKidd,

this could be a driver or firmware issue. What is the make and model of the DVD Burner? Also what is the make and model of your Laptop? and we may get some further clues from these..

regards

Steve

[LatahKidd]

I tried to uninstall the drivers and re-install them. I even downloaded the new/updated driver from Hp's website. The laptop model is HP Pavillion tx1119us but the burner came with the laptop. It's listed as Slimtype DVD A DS8AZH ATA Device.

I tried to burn a CD instead of DVD with a fairly large file and it was giving me the same estimated time.

[Steve]

Hi LatahKidd,

sorry for not getting back to you earlier

Can you burn a full CD and see how the actual time compares to the estimated time?

Also can you try another DVD Burning program like Burn4Free from Burn4Free CD and DVD - Reviews and free Burn4Free CD and DVD downloads at Download.com and see if it gives you the same time,

regards

Steve

[Yanek]

The Problem is well known in the DVD forums.
The Drive Slimtype DS8AZH ATA Device has poorly updated firmware,
and has compatibility problems with many DVD+/- Brands.
If you attempt to Burn for example 8x on a Riton or Taeyo Yudin DVD-r
if will burn very slow, of fail burning.
If using Nero, it may sometimes come up with Power Calibration Failure.
A temp working around is just to Burn at 1x.
I have tried many Media Types, some with success, and some varied,
and forced to Burn at 1x, with occasional power calibration failure.

I've contacted HP support a few times, and they ignore the Problem and tell me to use HP media. A poor reponse to where a Quality Product should be able to support a wide variety of media, and have firmware updates available. Does not seem to be supported by the Vendor who supplies this Drive to HP. When you Call HP support they do not even know who the Drive Manufacturer actually is.
I have patiently waited for 10 Months and no updates and support so far.

Poor Hardware Support from what I precieved as a Quality company in the past
That are ignoring the problem so many HP Pavillion DV6000 users are having.
The DV8000 series of Notebooks use another Brand of DVD Drive, and do not suffer from this problem.

I use an External USB DVD drive with the exact same Software..and burn successfully any media. Nero 7

Laptop
HP Pavillion DV6000 series..
Windows Vista Home Prem.
Slimtype DS8AZH ATA Drive