Question about my NEC 3520

[entropy1982]

Hey guys, I have been trying to burn with my NEC-3520A drive ... I updated the firmware to the latest one... and still i cannot burn at over 4X.... it doesn't even show up in the options in NERO 6 (i only see 2x and 4x in the dropdown menu)

Please help me
Thanks

 

[deathwalker]

Perhaps its a media issue!! Perhaps you should use your Nero tool kit software to do a little more investigation also....testing and such.

 

[amplemind]

3540A

 

[entropy1982]

Originally posted by: amplemind
3540A

huh?

 

[entropy1982]

Originally posted by: deathwalker
Perhaps its a media issue!! Perhaps you should use your Nero tool kit software to do a little more investigation also....testing and such.

Would it not even give me an option for higher burning speeds if my dvdrs are rated at a lower speed?

 

[deathwalker]

It will not give you a option to burn faster than the Media is rated!!

 

[soccerballtux]

I've got the exact same drive as you and its an incredible drive.....practically flawless...
So I'd be pretty sure if I were you that its the media you are using. I've got a bunch of dvd-r/+r/+rw media, all are rated at 4x, and none burn higher than that. So rest assured, there is nothing wrong with that sweet 3520A of yours.

 

[entropy1982]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
I've got the exact same drive as you and its an incredible drive.....practically flawless...
So I'd be pretty sure if I were you that its the media you are using. I've got a bunch of dvd-r/+r/+rw media, all are rated at 4x, and none burn higher than that. So rest assured, there is nothing wrong with that sweet 3520A of yours.

That's strange... i ordered these dvds and am expecting them soon but some people in this thread say they tried at 8x and 12x and 16x and they burned fine... how did they burn it at those speeds?

 

[brainwrinkle]

I recently bought a 3520A too, and it works great. I've burned two home movies with no problem. I have no idea what speed they burned at, though.

 

[fluxquantum]

Originally posted by: brainwrinkle
I recently bought a 3520A too, and it works great. I've burned two home movies with no problem. I have no idea what speed they burned at, though.

same here, i would definitely check the media out as the source of the problem. good luck!

 

[BlackFalcon]

Originally posted by: entropy1982

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
I've got the exact same drive as you and its an incredible drive.....practically flawless...
So I'd be pretty sure if I were you that its the media you are using. I've got a bunch of dvd-r/+r/+rw media, all are rated at 4x, and none burn higher than that. So rest assured, there is nothing wrong with that sweet 3520A of yours.

That's strange... i ordered these dvds and am expecting them soon but some people in this thread say they tried at 8x and 12x and 16x and they burned fine... how did they burn it at those speeds?

I've bought writable DVDs before that are marked as 8x but actually are 16x media. It's the same concept as if AMD or Intel has too many of a high grade processor so they downclock it and sell it as a slower one.

 

[furballi]

Check the media ID using DVD Identifier.

Also verify that the optical drive is running in DMA mode 2 in DEVICE MANAGER. If not the remove the affected IDE channel and boot into BIOS. Verify that the NEC is set to AUTO detect. Save and exit. Recheck in Device Manager to make sure that the drive is set to use DMA and running in DMA mode 2.

 

[crimson117]

Originally posted by: entropy1982

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
I've got the exact same drive as you and its an incredible drive.....practically flawless...
So I'd be pretty sure if I were you that its the media you are using. I've got a bunch of dvd-r/+r/+rw media, all are rated at 4x, and none burn higher than that. So rest assured, there is nothing wrong with that sweet 3520A of yours.

That's strange... i ordered these dvds and am expecting them soon but some people in this thread say they tried at 8x and 12x and 16x and they burned fine... how did they burn it at those speeds?

They might be using a 3rd party bios which can ignore the media's rated speed.

 

[vrbaba]

I have it too. I used to use DVD Decrypter to burn, and it burned at 7x to 8x for my cheap verbatim media rated at 16x. They all burned fine.

Just installed Nero, and it detected the media to be 16x and burned it at 16x, however, the movie was jittery after 30 mins. So Im guessing, I should not be burning this media at 16x. Im gonna try 8x later on. I dont have the hacked firmware installed though...just officiallatest ones, wonder if that would make any difference.

 

[walkure]

I was amazed at the speed of my first DVD burn with the 3520A the other night. I burned a 2+ hour concert that I downloaded (Smashing Pumpkins) in about 6.5 minutes. This was on Fuji 8x DVD+R.

 

[Budman]

Originally posted by: entropy1982
That's strange... i ordered these dvds and am expecting them soon but some people in this thread say they tried at 8x and 12x and 16x and they burned fine... how did they burn it at those speeds?

It's probably because they are using modified firmwares.

latest modified firmware here.

 

[entropy1982]

how much faster does the modified firmware burn at?

 

[entropy1982]

ok guys.... so i'm getting the antec P180 case....which i know is black inside... however i got the silver 3520A .... will that look really bad if i put it at the top of the antec? and would the performance difference between 3520A and 3540A be worth the 20-30 dollar loss (selling on ebay/buying new one)
Thanks

 

[Varun]

The P180 has a door, so just keep it closed and no one will see your silver burner.

 

[entropy1982]

yea i know but woudl it look really out of place once i place it inside? and is the difference between 3520 and 3540 significant? (what is the difference anyway?)

 

[Varun]

The differences are insignificant. The 3540 can write -DL disks a bit faster. It wouldn't be an upgrade over a 3520 IMHO.

 

[entropy1982]

ok cool thanks

 

[Gl4di4tor]

Hi, I had the same problem and fixed it check it out here: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=27&threadid=1714546