[kevs]

I've been learning a bit about burning cdr's, and people say to watch the buffer level. Where do you see this? thanks.

[chabig]

Here's how it works. The CD burner's laser needs a continuous stream of data to burn as it spins. But sometimes the data from the computer comes in fits and spurts because you're using the computer to do something else (multi-tasking OS, right?). So modern CD burners have their own on-board memory buffers to take up the slack when the computer falls behind. If the buffer empties because the computer hasn't sent any data for a while you usually get a failed burn and a wasted disc.

The buffer is not something you can see. Trying to watch it is nonsense. Perhaps someone was simply recommending that you don't tax the processor too hard during burning. But if your machine is fast it shouldn't be a problem to work in other programs while you burn.

Chris

[Apfhex]

Some CD burning programs will show you the current buffer level. Nero does this on Windows. I wanted to say that Toast did this as well, but, actually I don't think it does.

Reminds me of my currently-collecting-dust Panasonic portable CD player, which displayed status bars of the current level of buffer on the anti-shock memory (and when it reached zero, the CD skipped).

[Tsilou B.]

If you have a reasonably new burner (bought in the last three years), you don't have to watch any buffer levels anymore. These burners have a technology called burn-proof and that means if the buffer runs empty, they will simply wait a moment and then continue burning. You don't get any failed burns because of an empty buffer anymore.

[SMacTech]

Originally posted by chabig:
The buffer is not something you can see. Trying to watch it is nonsense. Perhaps someone was simply recommending that you don't tax the processor too hard during burning. But if your machine is fast it shouldn't be a problem to work in other programs while you burn.

Chris

All modern CD/DVD burners have buffer under-run protection. Software used to provide the buffer data visually so you might adjust the speed of your burner or see that your data buffer was running close to empty. It simply isn't need any longer on modern burners.

[Uncle Skeleton]

Is that true of DVDs as well? I notice that whenever I burn a DVD, Toast grays out the Buffer Underrun Protection option. I haven't gotten a coaster yet, but I also notice that my supposedly 8x burner only ever burns at 4x, and I wonder if that might be related.

[Tsilou B.]

Originally posted by Uncle Skeleton:
Is that true of DVDs as well? I notice that whenever I burn a DVD, Toast grays out the Buffer Underrun Protection option. I haven't gotten a coaster yet, but I also notice that my supposedly 8x burner only ever burns at 4x, and I wonder if that might be related.

Buffer underrun protection exists for DVD burners, too, but there are some models that support "burn-proof" for CD-R, but not for DVD+/-R. In most cases, you can get a firmware update.

[Tsilou B.]

Originally posted by Uncle Skeleton:
Is that true of DVDs as well? I notice that whenever I burn a DVD, Toast grays out the Buffer Underrun Protection option. I haven't gotten a coaster yet, but I also notice that my supposedly 8x burner only ever burns at 4x, and I wonder if that might be related.

You also need Toast >=6.0.3. Older versions do not support "burn-proof" for DVDs on new DVD burners.

[Uncle Skeleton]

Originally posted by Tsilou B.:
You also need Toast >=6.0.3. Older versions do not support "burn-proof" for DVDs on new DVD burners.

That fixed it for me, thanks. My burner is a HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4082B (whatever came with the dual 2.5 G5)

[kevs]

Thanks, great info.
I'm burning on Toast 6.0.5
but getting a lot of failures on my Lacie lite on lite external cdr 52x burner, even at lower speeds.

I've only had burner for 15 months, is there a firmware update? would it help? or is this thing just worn out?

I don't have problems with my Lacie DVD external, at best speed, or 24x I think.

[SMacTech]

Originally posted by kevs:
Thanks, great info.
I'm burning on Toast 6.0.5
but getting a lot of failures on my Lacie lite on lite external cdr 52x burner, even at lower speeds.

I've only had burner for 15 months, is there a firmware update? would it help? or is this thing just worn out?

I don't have problems with my Lacie DVD external, at best speed, or 24x I think.

Have you tried cleaning it? Do you smoke in your computer room ? If so, it could be a source of your problem. Regardless, dust/smoke is a burner's worst enemy.

[Cadaver]

Originally posted by kevs:
Thanks, great info.
I'm burning on Toast 6.0.5
but getting a lot of failures on my Lacie lite on lite external cdr 52x burner, even at lower speeds.

I've only had burner for 15 months, is there a firmware update? would it help? or is this thing just worn out?

I don't have problems with my Lacie DVD external, at best speed, or 24x I think.

I'd look at your blank media. Some are just plain bad, others work better on certain drives. Try a different brand of high-speed media if you're getting burn failures at higher speeds (above 24x).

[kevs]

Thanks, don't smoke in the room, but room gets dust, but where do you clean it? It's cased pretty well in steel I think.

I thought it was a media problem, but then the good new media I bought started failing too.