New DVD Burner Only Writes At 16x

Hi, a month or so ago I purchased a new Hp 1270i DVD drive for my desktop. Works great, my only complaint is that it insists on writing DVDs at 16x instead of 4x, which is the selected write speed in all my burning programs. DVD Decrypter won't allow it to write faster than 6.2x, but I don't like using that program all the time. The burner is an HP 1270i hooked up using an IDE to SATA converter (which I've connected other drives similarly in the past with no problems), and it doesn't matter whether I use DVD+R or DVD-R, I have the same issue. Anyone know how to fix this? I've tried everything I know to
try and no luck.

Anyone know what could be going on here?

question, why would you want it to burn at a slower write speed?

Slower write speeds improve burn quality. The golden rule is to burn DVD media no faster than 4X-8X. DVD DL should be burned no faster than 2.4X.

Write speeds are set by the software though. What software are you using?

The issue might be that IDE to SATA converter. SATA drives are so cheap now, can you not buy a new SATA DVD burner?

Edited by JonM33, 07 August 2010 - 07:44 PM.

Yeah, usually the software used determines the speed at which the disc is burned at, but it's almost like this drive has a mind of it's own! I set AVS Video Converter to 4.0x (instead, it decides to write at 8x or higher), DVDFab set to 4.0x starts slowly building up speed until it reaches around 12x, IMGburn set to 4x writes at 6.0x, etc. The best I've found is running the video files through DVD Shrink and then burning with DVD Decrypter (which I can manage to slow down to around 6.2x). And @the_patriot09: Yes, Slower Write Speeds=Better Quality DVDs. As for the DVD drive, it is a SATA DVD Burner. Is there a way that I can bypass any type of IDE and run both of my drives pure SATA? If so, how would I set it up?

Depending on if you have a spare PCI, or PCI Express slot on your motherboard:
PCI to SATA Card
PCI Express to SATA Card

Your media's mid code and your drive's firmware determine what burn speeds can be set with software,

Many times 8X is the slowest allowed burn speed, 4x is no longer the best burn speed with newer drives and media designed to burn at 16x and faster.

Imgburn will show the true burn speed but all bets are off with some off the wall converter garbling the commands.

Many sata chipsets didn't fully or even partially support sata dvd drives.

I would have used a pata ide burner with an older computer.

Or get a supported pci card.

Edited by DaChew, 08 August 2010 - 03:02 PM.

So, the pci SATA card and that'll do for 2 SATA DVD drives? Right now, I'm running one SATA HP 1270i (which shows up as a HP 1260D or something like that) through an IDE to SATA converter cable, and one HP 300n that still runs old school PATA (sadly though, it doesn't support DVD-R media). I had another SATA HP DVD drive about a year ago (IDE to SATA) with absolutely no problems until it started only burning at 2.0x, so I replaced that one with the 1270i mentioned above and all of the sudden, this write speed problem. Both the SATA HP drives support write speeds up to 24x (limited to 16x by DVD media), but the 1270i just won't get with the program.

I would ask the experts over at the Imgburn forum on which chipset supports dvd burners best. If I had kept up with all this I would know but got distracted with fighting malware and making a living.

Da Chew,

Good advise, you haven't lost a step.

Just to know: Why would IMGBurn forums know anything about my problem? That is probably the program that I use the least. Maybe I missed your point... if so, I apologize.

The members at ImgBurn are seriously into anything burning related (burners, media, etc.).

Just to know: Why would IMGBurn forums know anything about my problem? That is probably the program that I use the least. Maybe I missed your point... if so, I apologize.

Your questions and problems will require specialized help, you mention DvdDecrypter, Luk abandoned that program many years ago and took the burn engine and has improved it over the years, that program is Imgburn.

OK, gotcha. I thought that ImgBurn looked like DVD Decrypter's twin. Although I'm still not sure what ImgBurn has to do with my erratic write speeds.

Imgburn's logs and built in tools are unsurpassed for solving that riddle and if anyone knows the answer it will be the author.

Several of his beta testers are very knowledgeable also.

Imgburn is not the problem.

Edited by DaChew, 09 August 2010 - 08:29 PM.