[MacGallant]

I bought a Sony DRU-820A DVD-R 16X burner for my MDD Dual 867Mhz G4.

While it is reliable and I haven't made any coasters with it, it is freaking slow, it takes around 28 minutes to burn a 4.2gb DVD-R at 16x.

I posted at the Apple Forums, and a fellow helping me out there told me he burns a 4.2gb DVD-R disc at 8X around 5-6 minutes from his Pioneer DVR100 dvd burner.

I still get the same slow results whether from the finder or from Toast 6 TItanium and whether I choose 16x or 8x DVD-R burning.

I'm using Sony certified Verbatim 16x DVD-Rs.

When burning from Finder, the disc recording log lists:
for burning 16x DVD-R:
Finder: Burning to DVD-R media with DAO strategy in SONY DVD RW DRU-820A 1.0a via ATAPI.
Finder: Requested burn speed was 16x, actual burn speed is 16x.
Finder: Burn underrun protection is supported, and enabled.
and for burning 8x DVD-R:
Finder: Burning to DVD-R media with DAO strategy in SONY DVD RW DRU-820A 1.0a via ATAPI.
Finder: Requested burn speed was 8x, actual burn speed is 8x.
Finder: Burn underrun protection is supported, and enabled.

The drive lists as (burning: yes , Unsupported)

I got this message in the system log when burning from Toast:
Mar 26 18:57:04 TARDIS kernel[0]: disk2: ioctl(_IOWR,'d',96,24) is unsupported.
Mar 26 18:57:04 TARDIS kernel[0]: disk2: ioctl(_IOWR,'d',96,24) is unsupported.

EDIT: the drive's firmware is 1.0a and the latest firmware on Sony's site is 1.0b which claims to offer stability and performance fixes but the firmware patch is only for windows. I emailed Sony tech support and a lady named Julie told me that the DRU-820A isn't supported on the Mac.

Anyone with a PowerMac G4 and a Sony DRU-820A care to offer any feedback?

EDIT#2: Here's the disk burning profile:
SONY DVD RW DRU-820A:

Firmware Revision: 1.0a
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Unsupported)
Profile Path: None
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RAM, -RW, +R, +RW, +R DL
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media: No

What's a Profile Path? I notice the Sony DRU-820A has no profile path

[production_coordinator]

I purchased the exact same drive today, and it was DOA. I'm taking it back tomorrow for a replacement.

I'll post with what happens...

[MacGallant]

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

I purchased the exact same drive today, and it was DOA. I'm taking it back tomorrow for a replacement.

I'll post with what happens...

Thank you sir! Keep me posted on your progress! Hmm... I would if I have a defective one myself.

[production_coordinator]

It took me about 28 minutes as well.

I'm tempted to load the drive into a Windows box I found in the trash just to upgrade to 1.0b...

[production_coordinator]

Well, I updated it to 1.0b, and nothing changed... it's still slow.

I'm just not sure what it could be!

[MacGallant]

I refunded mines today. Apparently, the Sony DRU-820A doesn't play well with the Mac and Sony doesn't support the Mac platform. Based on the advice of a Mac guru named Hussien at Apple's own forum for PowerMacG4, he suggested to get either a Pioneer or NEC or Mad Dog which has way better Mac support and works well with the Mac.

Here's the link for more info:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....3&tstart=0

My brother bought a Sony DRX-810UL external burner and it kept on failing to burn and he exchanged if for another one and it still had the same problem which comes to the same conclusion, Sony DVD Burners aren't really Mac compatible.

My brother refunded it and got himself an external Mad Dog 16x DVD Burner and it is fast and reliable. Which is why I started a thread earilier comparing his external Mad Dog burner to my slow Sony. Here's the link: http://forums.macnn.com/57/consumer-hardware-and-components/290448/why-firewire-dvd-burner-faster-than/

Burning at 8X for a 4.2gb DVD-R should take around 6 minutes and at 16x at about 3 minutes not 28 minutes.

My advice to you production_coordinator, is to refund the Sony and get a drive that is known to work well with the Mac.

[production_coordinator]

I've come to the same conclusion... which is unfortunate. 28 minutes is simply crazy...

[dark3lf]

Sony drives are ****. 100% of the drives I've used have eventually failed.