I just got a Pioneer DVR-A09XL dvd burner (16x) and my computer is a vpr matrix pent 4 2.2ghz running windows xp home ed. the problem i am having is that it does not burn at the speeds it says it can. For dvd's it is burning dvd+r's at 12x when it says it should burn at 16x(i have verbatim 16x dvd+r's). But the biggest issue is when im trying to just burn a cd-r it's burning at 4x when it's supposed to be 40x. When i have no cd-r or anything in the burner and i click on properties it says max speed is 40x, then I put in a cd-r in and go back to those properties and it says max is 4x?!?! what happened? I called pioneer and they said it might be because i have a 40 wire ide cable, so i went and and bought an 80 wire ide cable and it still does the same thing. Then they said it could be i might not have dma turned on or something but they wouldnt tell me how to check, just told me how to enter the bios (this stuff is too technical for my ability) But i looked in the bios thing (hitting f1 a lot at start up) and the only thing i saw that said dma was when i selected the burner i saw Ultra DMA and it was set to code 4. No idea what that means. So, what can I do to fix this cause im sure confused. By the way I had a dvd-rom and a 32x cd burner, when i got this dvd burner i replaced the cd burner with the dvd burner. The dvd burner is on secondary ide master and the dvd-rom is secondary slave.

Are you using plain CDRs? It sounds like you might have used a CDRW disk, and most of those can only be recorded at 4X max. So no matter how fast your burner can record, it will max out at the max speed of your CDR/CDRW.
I have heard, however, that some of the 16X DVD burners on the market don't burn CDRs very well.

As for burning at 16X, most 16X burners don't write at true 16X speed, due to different writing strategies. From digital digest.com:

DVD burners optimize their ability to write to different brands of DVDs by internal "write strategies" that control the laser power and pulse settings to maximize its accuracy with each different dye formula, reflector density and plastic doping chemistry for each brand of blank DVD disc.

Media has a big part in the speed, and success of a burn. The better the brand/quality, the faster and more consistent the burn.

I've always used Plextor brand burners, and I just bought a PX-716A. I rarely get true 16X recording speed. 12X is more the norm than the exception, at least in my experience.

I think the Ultra DMA setting for your drive is correct, as far as I've read.

Maddhatter62

Thanks a lot for the info maddhatter that explains the dvd issue, but as far as the cd-r, they r cd-r's not rw's and they r out of the same pack i used on my old 32x burner and they worked fine. so y if my burner says it can burn cd-r's at 40x is it doing it at 4x?? The cd-r's r made by ridata do those just not work with my burner good maybe??

I also had another question about dma settings. I was reading some threads and people are saying go to device manager and IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers and then under properties for either primary or secondary ide they say to go to the advanced menu. I don't have one, why is that?? I have windows xp home edition with service pack 2.

I have XP Pro SP2, and this is how I reach the DMA settings:

Go to: START
CONTROL PANEL
SYSTEM
HARDWARE
DEVICE MANAGER
IDE ATA/ATAPI CONTROLLERS (Click on + sign)
PRIMARY IDE CHANNEL
ADVANCED SETTINGS

If you want to set the DMA on your secondary (slave) CD drive.

Then go to: SECONDARY IDE CHANNEL
ADVANCED SETTINGS

Ridata makes good to very good CDRs. Check out the CD Identifier tool:

http://cd-rw.org/software/cdr_software/cdr_tools/cdridentifier.cfm

It will identify the exact "version", and dye of the CDR you put in the drive.

Try DVD Identifier:

http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/

It will identify the exact "version", and dye lot of the DVDR you put in the drive. For example: Ridata has multiple "versions" of DVD-R & DVD+R such as
G03, G04, G05.

Once you find out which "version" of CDR/DVDR you have, do a Google search to see what your "version" is rated. You'll find people talking about CDR/DVDR quality at:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/ or http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/144253 as well as this forum.

Maddhatter62

thanks a lot for all the info that helps a lot. but, as far as how u said u find out your dma settings, i do that exact thing but mine does not have an "advanced" tab, just general, details, driver, and resources. y dont i have advanced? and how can i fix or get around this problem

Do you by any chance use the Intel application accelerator? It has been known to prevent some PCs from accessing DMA. If you have it, try uninstalling it and then check your settings. This can be removed through Add/Remove programs.

Here's an explanation of the Intel application accelerator:

The Intel® Application Accelerator replaces the ATA drivers that come with Windows* with drivers optimized for desktop and mobile PCs using select Intel® chipsets. It reduces the storage sub-system bottleneck, enabling the processor and other system level hardware to be more productive and efficient. In most cases, it is not a requirement for your operating system to work properly.

A shot in the dark!

Maddhatter62

Billster83, I don't know if you're still reading this thread, but I have the EXACT same problem as you.

It's burned a couple of coasters, dying twice during 'fixating' and once in mid-burn. And it's definitely doing the "I can only burn at 4x" claim back to the burner software. For CDs.

And it isn't due to the burner program, since I've tried a couple of them - under Linux.

Others have advised the 80-wire cable, and in spite of your lack of success with it, I'll try that next.

Various forums I've found with Google strongly recommend getting the latest firmware - and Pioneer just last week published 1.17, indicating they've been putting out many updates lately. Obviously, it's buggy.

Did your situation ever resolve, and if so, what worked??