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173343
DVD burner in new laptop VERY SLOW - PLDS DVD+-RW DU-8A5HH
I just got a new laptop from Best Buy -- Dell Inspiron 3521. It has a PLDS DVD+-RW DU-8A5HH drive built in. I tried to burn a data CD, but it failed several times.
I tried these burns both in File Explorer and in CyberMedia Power2Go, both at Maximum speed or at 24X. This was using Philips 52X speed CDR's. Both times the burn failed at the end, when the burner tries to close the disc. It was only able to complete a burn at 10X speed (really slow) in Power2Go. File Explorer throttled down to between 7X and 10X to be able to burn, and didn't show a dialog saying whether the burn was complete or not. It left me guessing.
All this was after a call to Dell tech support and a trip to the Microsoft Support Site to use their online CDRW test. It said it updated something, but I don't know what.
I have to say, this is a letdown. I'm thinking I should have purchased a different laptop without a burner in it, and purchased an external burner. At least that way I'd have a choice of what I got. This burner is sloooooow.
Does anyone have any idea if this can be fixed, or is this just a limitation of the burner that's in this laptop? If it's the hardware, well then I guess you get what you pay for.
rongon001
7 Posts
1
August 12th, 2013 17:00
Dell telephone support fixed this. Went to the Microsoft Support Site and ran a hardware troubleshooter for DVD drives, which suggested updating the drive's firmware. He did that, and then we went back and burned a disc in File Explorer and it worked, but only at 10X. I opened Power2Go and burned a disc at 24X, and it burned successfully. I didn't actually measure the speed (Power2Go doesn't show you that), but it worked nice and quickly. I think the problem was an outdated firmware for the DVD/CD burner. Flashing it to the latest firmware fixed the issue.
I wish I knew what that troubleshooter was on the Microsoft support site, but now I can't find it.
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Dell - Harish M
1.3K Posts
0
August 11th, 2013 22:00
Hi rongon001,
How much time does it take to burn a DVD? Please specify the speed at which you burn the media and the content of the DVD .Have you tried with multiple brands of DVDs?
Please try the below steps to Turn Direct Memory Access (DMA) on or off
You must be logged on as an administrator to perform these steps.
Direct memory access (DMA) is usually turned on by default for devices such as hard disks and CD or DVD drives that support DMA. However, you might need to turn on DMA manually if the device was improperly installed or if a system error occurred.
• Open Device Manager by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Device Manager. Administrator permission required if you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
• In the left pane, click the plus sign next to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers to expand it.
• For each icon that has the word Channel as part of its label, right-click the icon, and then click Properties.
• Click the Advanced Settings tab, and then, under Device Properties, select or clear the Enable DMA check box.
• Click OK.
rongon001
7 Posts
0
August 12th, 2013 06:00
Hi Harish,
I think there's been some confusion here. This is a brand new Dell laptop, so it does not have IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers at all. It has a single SATA controller, specifically Intel 7 Series Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller. There are no DMA settings available at all.
This was not helpful, sorry.
Dell - Harish M
1.3K Posts
0
August 12th, 2013 23:00
Hi rongon001,
I am glad that the issue is resolved. In case you are referring to Microsoft fixit then you could click on the below link.
http://dell.to/15xMItv
briwlls
5 Posts
0
April 17th, 2014 09:00
Thank you, this Microsoft solution resolved our issue.
nicolasabr
2 Posts
0
August 27th, 2018 05:00
ah, what a thoughtful idea & solution 2 push the problems 2 da MS site, lol... as usual, THEY are to blame, not us !
my brand-new 5559 DVD drive sounds like if a f-16 passes by when trying 2 burn something (no, its not MS fault, lol)
You amateurs @ the helpdesksite & especially @ the whole DELL site should B replaced, like the whole garbage from DELL as such, gone R the times, when we could rely on the home-made quality from DELL, now it's just about making the highest profit with unreliable crappy hardware as is ACER junk & such....
gave it to my behated ex-wife 2 do something useful with it and went and bought a decent Apple notebook, about the same price with the big difference, that the Apple simply runs as promised & intended..
Go fly a kite there @ DELL
chiefvmax
2 Posts
0
February 25th, 2019 11:00
link not working
chiefvmax
2 Posts
0
February 25th, 2019 11:00
to bad you did give me the firmware download so I can do the same update