16x external burner only burns at 1-2x

[taliosfalcon]

i recently bought a fantom external burner which can supposedly burn dvd+ and -r's at 16x, but when i try to burn either 8x + or - dvds it will ssay burning started @ 8x but only go at around 1-2x, dma is enabled and my usb ports are all 2.0 (and set to 2.0) anyone have any suggestions?

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Is your burning software set up correctly, or is it perhaps a trial-version? These last are known sometimes to only burn at low speeds.

 

[taliosfalcon]

i've tried it with dvd decrypter which is completely free, and a licensed copy of nero, both of which will say process started @ 8x so trial version etc isnt the problem, the programs will think its started @ 8x although obviously it hasnt, and i'm 99% sure the software is set up correctly, i'm beginning to think the drive itself may be defective and i should start looking into an rma....
:suspicious: i just tried burning another dvd and in the time nero estimated it to take to finish @ 8x i got to 30% =(

 

[taliosfalcon]

another thing i've just noticed w/ nero is my buffer level seems to be jumping back and forth between 80-92, could this be the cause of the slow burning speeds? if so anyone know how i could go about fixing it? i'm using an a64 3200, gig of ram and 2 80 gig hardrives in raid 0, defragged. my cpu usage never goes above 10% while i'm burning..

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Nero has some utilities, NeroSpeed, CD-Speed or DVD-speed. Try those to manually override the burner-speed.

 

[taliosfalcon]

i've tried using nero drivespeed, and it doesnt change anything, programs will still say/think its burning at 8x, but its obviously not from the time it takes, and programs such as dvd decrypter that actually show the realtime speed will show it as starting burn at 8x...yet never actually rising above a 2x speed

 

[RealBlackStuff]

In that case it's time to start blaming the burner. RMA it if still under warranty.