Reliability at certain burn speeds

Every month, I back up my iPhoto library to DVDs. I'm a very impatient person so the faster I can complete the whole burn, the happier I am. On the other hand, I want a reliable backup. My question is: are the lower speeds more reliable than the higher speeds? Am I safer burning at 2x as opposed to, let's say, 16x or 8x?

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Disk Utility : Cannot set burn speed

I've created a DVD disc image from DVDSP3 and want to burn it to a new DVD-R at less than 8x speed, but Disk Utility has greyed out the speed setting.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanks!
-Bob.

Yes, you can set the burn speed in the iDVD '08 Preferences (finally).
I just can figure out what your problem is with Disk Utility - it's probably something simple we are overlooking.
+++++++++++++++++
You are CERTAIN that the DVD you tried had not already been burned to?
Message was edited by: F Shippey

Burning Speed

I have forgotten, or cannot find, how to set the burn speed for creating DVDs. From time to time I get bad spots on 4x discs, not one particular brand, when playing on a DVD player.
I burn with Disk Utility and would like to select a slower speed which allegedly give more reliable results.

David:
This may vary because of our different systems but when I use Disk Utility to burn it has a drop down menu where I can select the burn speed. The version of DU I'm using is 10.5.1 (198.1). Since my drive is a DVR-104 and the burn speed is limited to 1X but the menu is there.
I also use Toast to burn DVD disc images and it will allow you to set the burn speed.
OT

A WAY TO CHANGE THE BURN SPEED????

Hi,
I posted a similar question before, but didnt get a definative answer... I'll ask it in a more concise way. Is there a way to change the burn speed in DVD SP2? I didn't see any settings relating to that.
Thanks,
Lisa

There is a work around. In DVD Pro, "format" with the output device set to disc and the format to ".img". When this is finished, open Disk Utility and "convert" the .img file to a CD/DVD master (.cdr). This file can then be used to burn to a blank DVD. If you click the options arrow in the burn dialog before beginning the burn, you can select a speed other than "maximum". Not elegant, but it works. My HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4165B DVD drive only succeeds at burning at its maximum rate about 1/3 of the time. However, at 12X it has been quite reliable.

Changing burn speed in Disk Copy

I am using 10.2.8 so I use Disk Copy rather than Disk Utility to burn a disk image (.dmg) to a CD. It doesn't give me an option to change the burn speed and I can tell by the quick result that it is using the full 8X speed of my burner. I want to use 4X which from my experience with this burner is more reliable. How can I change the burn speed?
If you want to suggest that I buy 10.4, hold off and let someone answer the question about 10.2.8 first. Thanks.

Is the burner original Apple equipment or a third-party unit added later? On some Macs (what kind is yours--it may be helpful to know), third-party drives do not get fully supported without a little third-party software. I installed a Lite-On 52X burner in my Beige G3 with 10.2.8. According to lots of places, that should support Finder burning but it doesn't fully; like you, I get no speed control. Even after upgrading to Panther It did not fully work.
At the suggestion of the burner's reseller, I use the freeware BurnX Free. Problem's gone for me but I haven't tried it with .dmg burning.

Cannot Set Burn Speed in Disk Utility

Hi all,
It's been so long since I posted a question (years), I had to redo my settings and start over! Anyway I plan to make multiple DVDs from an FCE project of my daughters soccer season. I've done this in the past and make about 20 per season, but had trouble making then all work using iDVD'06. (Made alot of coasters.) I use Maxell or Verbatim DVD-R both at 16X. Then I was reading here about making it a disk image and then burning it at 4x with Disk Utility. I tried a test of an existing disk image file I made, but the speed option is 'grayed out' for some reason. Not sure why it is not selectable. I did the following:
1. Opened Disk Utility
2. Clicked on the .img or .dmg file
3. Clicked the Burn icon
4. A new window dropped down and I inserted a DVD-R
5. Clicked the 'Close' button
6. The speed selection is 'grayed out' but the 'Test Only' radio box was available
7. Hover my mouse over the 'grayed out' selection and it says 'Select a slower speed to work around burn failures', but I can't
Appreciate any help.
Thanks,
Rod

Yes, you can set the burn speed in the iDVD '08 Preferences (finally).
I just can figure out what your problem is with Disk Utility - it's probably something simple we are overlooking.
+++++++++++++++++
You are CERTAIN that the DVD you tried had not already been burned to?
Message was edited by: F Shippey

Burn Speeds for DVD 1x

I am using toast 7 to Burn an image file of a master copy DVD. However, I am only able to burn at 4x speed, and am getting hiccups in playback. How can I burn at 1x speed? Is this a hardware or software issue (if I upgrade to toast 10 will this fix?) Of course I have a job due and need a fast answer. Any help is great!
Thanks,
Josh

Toast should allow you to force a burn at 1x - check the burn speed option in the program. I don't remember, however, which versions this is available in. As I recall, the speeds the media can officially support are shown in bold, and the unsupported speeds are shown in italics. 4X is generally the minimum official speed of current media.
Do the hiccups appear at regular intervals, or do they only appear in certain areas of the movie?
If the hiccups are at regular intervals, this would sound to me like a disc problem. What brand of media are you using? There's a lot of junk media out there that could cause what you're seeing.
If the hiccups only appear at certain places in the movie, it sounds like the bitrate of the movie to too high for your player to handle. A lot of older players (and some newer ones) don't do very well when playing from recordable media, especially if the bitrate is over 6-6.5 Mbps. Speaking of that, what format is your audio in?
What software was used to author the disc?

Disappointing burn speeds...

Hi all,
I bought a MBP 17" CD last month, and I can only burn DVDs at 2x speeds. So far I have tried two different media types TDK and Nexxtech. Both are rated at 8x, but both only burn at 2x. Both are DVD-R.
My laptop has the following burner:
MATSHITADVD-R UJ-846 revision FQ3T
Any ideas on how to make it burn faster? Is this something I can take back and have replaced because of faulty performance? The laptop is rated (on box and receipt as having 8X burn speeds). My 15" MBP even burns these same DVDs at 4x (being limited by it's 4x burner).
I do not own toast, so my burn speeds are coming from the finder itself.
thanks for the help,
-Me

bigj6360,
I'll start off by letting you know that there is nothing wrong with your particular MBP or optical drive. This is an issue that is common to all Matshita (Toshiba) drives.
The isssue is that the drive will not recognize media labeled as "up to 16 X" as anything but 2 X. We all know that "up to 16 X" includes support for 8 X, but the drive does not. This is not Apple's problem, strictly speakng, but rather Toshiba's; they need to release a firmware update to their drives to fix this problem. Apple needs to include it in a software update.
That said, there are a few things that you can try. First, look on the internet for older 8X media. Any that you can find should burn quite well at 8x, but I recommend Verbatim media, as have others. I can attest that this media will consistently burn at 8X with your Matshita drive (it does with mine).
I recommend that you purchase all of the 8X DVD-R media you think you'll ever need now, before stocks run out. I am not certain that manufacturers are still producing media at this speed (it is certainly impossible to find it in stores any more). I suggest you purchase one "batch" now to test in your drive. If it appears to work as expected, you can then stock up.
Scott
p.s. This media can still be found in some Sam's Clubs, but it has been discontinued in favor of Verbatim 16 X. -s

DVD burning speed dropped

I have a powerbook and when i first got it and went to burn a dvd i had the option of a drop down menu box and it would show up to 8x for burning. Using the same media when i go to burn in the box it just goes to 2x anyone have a clue as what happen?
Thanks
Paul

In Toast you can select the burn speed you want up to the maximum your Superdrive will allow.
But there is a lot to be said for using lower burn speeds: 2x or 4x max.
Using 16x DVD media is fine - in fact it is difficult to buy any other - but there is a consensus in the Apple Support Forums that a slower burn is a better burn and that the most reliable brands are Verbatim, Maxell and Fuji, all DVD-R, burned at 2x or 4x (slow burns are better burns!). I always use Toast for burning.
I generally use Verbatim and when I can't get those, Fuji, and have never had a coaster from either.
Plenty of coasters in the early days from Sony, TDK and a few others.
The term "Best" means the fastest speed that the drive told Toast it can write to a specific disc. The drive's firmware and info on the disc decide what speed burns are available. When you press the speed setting button in Toast (after inserting a disc) you'll likely see some speeds in italics and some in bold face. The ones in bold face are supported by that media on that drive. The fastest one is what Toast calls Best.
Audio CDs in particular should be burned at the lowest supported speed.
Verification is a good indicator the disc is burned okay. However, other DVD players can still have problems with the disc. Media problems with various drives is not uncommon. Slower burning may reduce the chance of those problems, and is one of the reasons why RW (read/write) media is always rated slower than DVD-R.
There are some interesting facts here:
http://www.osta.org/technology/dvdqa/dvdqa4.htm and here:
http://www.osta.org/technology/dvdqa/dvdqa4.htm
But many will tell you that the 'slower burn is best' theory is outdated, as in this useful article:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/media/dvd-media-concepts.htm
Who really knows? At the end of the day, if your home-made DVD was verified by Toast and will play anywhere on anybody's DVD player, then that is the result we are all after!

Revisiting DVD burn speeds

In an effort to better my DVD burn times, I upgraded to a new internal DVD 8x/Dual Layer drive.
After installation, I burned a DVD of previously recorded material that I had also burned on the old drive.
Much to my disgust, the new 8x drive using the same 8x rated media burned at the same old 2x speed!
I burn with Toast 7. Out of curiosity I clicked on RECORDER>DISK INFO and found out the following about my blank DVDs (HP dvd-r 8x):
Write Speeds 1X, 2X
Then there a manufacture ID with a MORE button that takes you to a web site that tells you all about the reliability of the media and even comments from users.
The surprising thing for me was that even though the disk is labeled 8X, Toast rated it for much lower speeds. And it only burned at 2X
Then I found another site with some good DVD media info at:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm
So I guess before I shout too loud that my iMac's burn speeds are slow, i need to look for better recording media.

Not all media is created equally. Drives include in their firmware a list of write strategies for various brands of media. If the drive doesn't have a write strategy for the particular media that you are using it will make an attempt to burn the disc, usually at a slower speed (you would rather it worked but be slow, than be fast and fail). In some rare cases you will get a power calibration error, where the drive just couldn't figure out what to do with your media.
Toast isn't doing the speed limiting, the drive is telling Toast what it can burn the disc at.
I would stick with purchasing name brand DVD, Iike Verbatim, most drives include their media in their wrtie strategy lists.

Matshita UJ-846 burning speeds

I've just a got a PowerBook G.4 1.67 GHz Dual Layer Super Drive and it is a Matshita UJ-486 with firmware FAAG
and as I understand it burns DVD-R at 8x and DVD-RW at 4x but when I insert both DVD-RW or DVD-R it says in Toast
that it burn at 2x maximum, is it the media I'm using or the information I have about this drive is wrong?
Thanks for any advice

nOmada wrote:
...I insert both DVD-RW or DVD-R it says in Toast that it burn at 2x maximum, is it the media I'm using or the information I have about this drive is wrong?
Thanks for any advice
The information you have about the drive is correct. First of all, what does the media say for write speeds? If it is 8x or 16x DVD-R, it should be writable at 8x.
How to really find what is going on is to insert a blank disc and let finder show it as essentially a burn folder (but with the DVD icon). Drag any file onto that disc icon, then double click the icon to open the burn folder. Select "Burn Disc..." from the Finder's File menu and you will get a pop-up there which will have a speed setting set for the highest burn speed supported by the drive and the media (should be 8x or the media speed if it is lower for a DVD-R or DVD+R). You can then cancel that dialog and eject the disc.
If Toast still only wants to burn a higher speed disc at 2x, then that is a Toast issue, or at least is certainly looks like a Toast issue.

Do I need to have an external hard drive that has a certain spindle speed, like 7200?

In the past, when I did audio or video editing, the specs on the software required a certain rotational speed if I were using an external hard drive. Most of the time it was 7200. Do I need to use a specific spindle rotational speed for Final Cut Pro, or will drive 5400 or above do fine?

That still applies today as well. Helps to also use faster connection ports like Firewire 400 or 800, USB 3.0, or Thunderbolt rather than USB 2.0.

I can't burn a cd of my own created music. I either get the error 4261, or after "Checking media" the process stops and nothing further happens. Have tried different burn speeds and cds. Have re-installed iTunes.Any suggestions please?

I can't burn a cd of my own created music. I either get the error 4261, or after "Checking media" the process stops and nothing further happens. Have tried different burn speeds and cds. Have re-installed iTunes.Any suggestions please?
wm0203

Sounds like the CD drive died. Luckily they cost next to nothing to replace. Or get an external LaCie instead. I have a dual G4 1.25 and the CD drive was always so anemic I use a LaCie Porsche with it.

Can't burn disc via iTunes. Burn speed too fast. AGAIN!

"iTunes can't burn this CD because the burn speed is too fast for your CD burner or media. Choose a lower speed in the burning pane of iTunes Preferences then try burning again".
I have been having on going problems burning CD’s in iTunes for YEARS, and I know I am not the only one. I get the error message above. Having checked the forum at the time, and posted for help, I am know there is no real solution except to change brand of disc.
Thing is, now I can’t get ANY brands to work. I’ve been through Verbatim, Maxell, JVC, Sony, but none work. The only brand that would work were TDK audios which I can no longer find anywhere.
I know its not the burner, as Toast works fine, and I know I am not alone. Anyone got any ideas?
Even after years Apple seem to be blanking this question. It’s very frustrating not being able to burn my purchased itunes downloads to disc.

To anyone who is interested I think I may have found a possible solution. When you put a blank disc in the drive, wait about 30-60 seconds or so for it to stop spinning before burning.
This seems to work. It's a bit sticky but eventually works. I tried both TDK & Maxwell discs and 9 out of 11 worked. Absolutely no reason why the other 2 didn't, but it's a lot better than none.

What are the advantages of varying write speeds and burn speeds?

What are the advantages of varying write speeds and burn speeds?

The slower the speed, the fewer burn errors (or, in other words, you'll burn fewer "coasters"). I've always tried to burn at a slower speed, i.e. 2x - 4x. I'd rather wait a few minutes more and I've never had any burn errors.

Reliability at certain burn speeds

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