Lite-on burner quick burn or not?

[needhelp]

I have just installed a new CDRW on my computer to replace the original old HP burner that I had. The new one is a Lite-on 52x32x52x and I burnt my first couple of disks with no problem but I was just wondering if I am getting a good burn time. It takes 15 minutes to burn 700Mbytes of data. My old one took around twice that long but considering it only burnt at 4x to 6x I was rather expecting the new one to do the same burn in just a few minutes and was surprised that it took 15 minutes or so. Am I expecting too much. Is 15 minutes about right for 700Mbytes of data?
I am using Nero express software. The computer I am using has only got a Celeron 400Mhz CPU so I guess that would make it a bit slow too.
Just thought I would ask the question though.
Thanks for any replies in advance guys.

[RJ]

15 Minutes for 700 MB is too long. A 12x burner can do it in 7 minutes, and a 52x in about 2 or 3 minutes.
Also your old 4x burner should have burned a CD in 20 minutes.

Is DMA enabled for the drive ?
What IDE drives do you have and how are they connected ?
What brand and model is the hard drive that contains the data you want to burn ?
Are you using 52x media and is the burn speed in Nero set to 52x ?

RJ

[pillainp]

Also you might want to check if Nero Express is doing a speed test and/or simulation during the burn process. These are one reason burning could take so long. Click on the MORE button at the BURN page and uncheck these options if you do not need them.

[needhelp]

How do I know if DMA is enabled or not.
Hard drive is primary master
burner is secondary master
CD drive is secondary slave.
yes using 52x media.
burn speed is set to 52x in Nero

[RJ]

Go into device manager.

If you have Win9x: Double click on your hard drive and check if DMA is enabled

If you have Win2K/XP: Double click on the primary IDE controller and check if DMA is enabled

Do you burn from hard drive to CD or from CD to CD ? Also did you check what pillainp told ?
And which brand and model is your hard drive and your cd-rom drive ?

RJ

[Redfallon]

Could be the 400Mhz CPU, my P3 550mhz takes much longer to burn a full CD, it is around the times you are experiencing. you think a 4x should have only taken 20min RJ? on a 400 celeron?

[RJ]

you think a 4x should have only taken 20min RJ? on a 400 celeron?

Yes. The CPU isn't really involved in that stuff - provided that DMA is enabled - so it doesn't matter if it's a 400 celly or a 3.2 P4. A friend of mine once had a 4x burner on a 500 MHz PIII and it took 20 minutes for him to burn. When he built his 2.26 GHz P4 he used the same burner for a week or so, and it took 20 minutes as well.
And I once installed a 32x LiteOn burner in a friend's 333 MHz PII. I didn't really time the burn then, but it was faster than the 7 minutes that I got with my 12x Plex.
So a 400 celly slowing down a burn speed from 2 minutes to 15 ? No way. What I think of is that the hard drive might be a little old and can't provide the necessary transfer rate.

RJ

[Redfallon]

hmmm, didn't think of the HDD....maybe my P3 is screwey to then, it takes FOREVER to burn on a 4x CDRW.....it's a 550mhz but it's a POS HP Pavilion...thanx for the info...I wasn't questioning you, just curious I just thought that's how long it took them to burn...I tested with my system in sig and it only took 15-20 minutes to burn a full disc at 4x....guess I have some investigating to do

[RJ]

Maybe you have similar issues, so I'd check the same things.
Also if your CD-burner is slaved to the hard drive, move it to the other channel. Burning from hard drive to a slaved CD-burner will take about twice as long as if the CD-burner were on its own channel. That's because IDE can only move data into one direction, so there are two alternately directed data streams for the same channel instead of two continuous data strems on each channel.
Or the hard drive itself. It is important that the hard drive can provide the necessary data rate.

EDIT: I checked the data rate of an old drive from 1996, and it should be enough to burn a CD at high speed.
1x CD is 150 KB/s. 4x CD is 600 KB/s or 0,59 MB/s (700 / 0,59, and the result / 60 = 19,8 minutes). Even an old hard drive is capable of more than 600 KB/s. The old hard drive I checked has a data rate of 16 MB/s. But maybe there are another limiting factors in old drives.

RJ

[Redfallon]

Haven't been inside the case in a while, but I imagine it's on the same IDE cable....never bothered with it much as it's an HP and wasn't ever my computer, just resides in the house with me, I've always built my own...I will check though, I am almost sure it's on same channel which would be why it's taking so long....never really thought it was anything than the slow processor! Thanx again.......

[needhelp]

Thanks for the replies guys. Not sure what the hard disk is but it is around 5 years old. Didn't look to see what it was when I installed the burner (didn't look actually) but its 8.4 Gbyte 5400rpm
Just out of curiosity I installed the old HP burner in another computer (466Mhz Celeron) and the only way I have been able to get it to burn in this computer is to install the drive as secondary master and disconect the CD ROM drive. just kept freezing when I configured it any other way. started to read the disk and stop after a few seconds. It burns okay configured this way but is still taking something like 30 minutes to burn a full disk using the drive as source and destination.
I have enabled DMA in the properties for the Burner in the original computer that I asked the question and noticed that the CD ROM drive does not have DMA activated, should I anable DMA here as well as for the burner.
I burn both ways, from the hard drive itself and sometimes a full copy of an existing disk.
Haven't tried to burn anything since I activated DMA
in the burners properties but will give it a try soon and let you know what happened. in the meantime should I enable DMA for the CD ROM drive as well.
thanks guys.

[needhelp]

RJ I was burning on the fly and it takes that long. The CD ROM drive is a ATAPI 40X Do you think that would contribute to the problem. I have another CD ROM drive that I could install thats 48X but would that make much difference. I am a little reluctant to install this one cos its the one I took out of the other computer that wouldn't work with the old HP burner. thanks RJ

[MaxRat]

I have a Lite-on 52-32-52 and I can burn a full cd in the max has been 5 minutes....I do a click on the fly... If I burn from the H/D it takes like 10 minutes hope this helps