Bullets 'n' Babes

I know Iron Monkey has used these so:

I finally thought I'd give DVD-Ram ago as I understand technically it far surpasses both DVD+ and DVD-R.

The idea of being able to use Windows Explorer with proper copy/delete functions appeals to me. I popped the disc in and realised I had to format the disc first as FAT32.

Looking on this link: http://www.wibble.co.uk/DVD-RAM/index.html , it explains you need to switch off cacky Windows XP burning support (which I've disabled anyway). It also says it takes a long time to format a DVD-Ram as FAT32 (45 minutes).

I set it off at 10pm last night and by 00:35 it had only done 31%. I left it going and in the morning it had finally finished. I set to copying 1.5Gb of videos to the disc using Windows Explorer and after 90-120 minutes it had only copied 3/4.

It also makes my PC grind to a halt with big pauses every time I try and do anything.

If I burn using Nero as either ISO or UDF it's MUCH quicker (normal + / - speed) but it defeats the whole purpose I wanted to use DVD-Ram. I accept it's what you have to do with DVDs/CDs but having to erase the entire disc each time and starting again is a pain (there's no way I'm using Multisession).

I've just burnt the same data using ISO 9660 in Nero and it took 8 minutes with about 10 seconds to wipe the disc (switching from FAT32 to ISO).

Surely it's not normal to take this ridiculous amount of time? I was only copying 1.5Gb of data. I wonder if I need to run a firmware upgrade? Or maybe the disc is faulty?

On another note I understand UDF is better than FAT32 but can't find out why???

UDF is mainly used on the stand-alone DVD recorders to enable them to store video & data on the same disc.

As for your record speeds, something is definitely wrong. I usually do a quick format if I just want to clean the disc & it takes about 20-30 seconds at most.

As for copying 1.5GB taking 90-120 minutes, you must have something wrong. For me it takes about 20 minutes to completely fill a 4.2GB disc when I drag & drop files onto it - about the same time as if you were to burn an ISO image.

Have you tried another DVD-RAM disc? What make & model is your DVD recorder? Like you said, you may need a firmware update. Copying files should not make the rest of your system grind to a halt. I was playing Half-Life the other night while copying files across to a DVD-RAM and it made no difference to the game.

I think you've either got a dud DVD-RAM disc or there is a problem with your recorder. Try a firmware update. I hope that helps.

IronMonkey wrote:As for your record speeds, something is definitely wrong. I usually do a quick format if I just want to clean the disc & it takes about 20-30 seconds at most.

I thought it best to do a full format as the disc hadn't been formatted before. Don't you bother?

So you prefer to use Windows Explorer with FAT32 to Nero with UDF/ISO then?

IronMonkey wrote:For me it takes about 20 minutes to completely fill a 4.2GB disc when I drag & drop files onto it - about the same time as if you were to burn an ISO image.

That sounds more likely and it takes this long when doing it via Nero with either UDF or ISO. It's literally only a problem when doing it via Windows Explorer which is the whole point I want to use DVD-Ram.

It's also not a problem playing the DVD-Ram back JUST using Windows Explorer.

IronMonkey wrote:Have you tried another DVD-RAM disc? What make & model is your DVD recorder? Like you said, you may need a firmware update.

I only bought 1 as I just wanted to give it a try and 1 disc is fine for me anyway. I only want to use it to copy DivX so I can play them back on my Home Hard Disk/DVD Recorder.

I have an LG model not sure the model number. I don't think it's the recorder as it records using UDF/ISO to the same disc perfectly fine and also records to + / - and DL too.

I could try a Firmware upgrade but I'm running a modded multiregion one right now so don't want to lose that. I somehow killed my last DVD Writer by upgrading the firmware (it suddenly only read CDs) so am reluctant to run it again. I did when I first got it as it was brand new and I wanted multiregion.

IronMonkey wrote:Copying files should not make the rest of your system grind to a halt.

It doesn't when I burn to "whatever" using Nero.

Yes you've been helpful thanks. I'm going to try Quick Formatting and if I still have no joy ask for a replacement. I bought it from eBay though so fingers crossed. I've also already left positive feedback as it appeared to be working (silly me).

I've cracked the problem it's Windows XP's native support using FAT32 is well rubbish. I am really against using Nero InCD as it's buggy and I'm really against having to much in my System Tray.

I've browsed CDFreaks.com (the Number 1 resource for CD/DVD Burning) and came across "Panasonic DVD-RAM Driver" it's meant for Panasonic burners only and is made by Panasonic but someone has hacked the Installer so it installs with non-Panasonic models (LG's are supported).

It works a treat quick formatting both both FAT32 and UDF in seconds and copying the same 1.5Gb in about 10 minutes, much better. This was using FAT32 as I wanted to see if it fixed the problem.

I've just re-formatted the disc as UDF1.5 and it's much quicker at copying files (about three times the speed). I'll stick to UDF me thinks.

It adds a DVD-Ram service which may bother some. Anyway direct links are here:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showpost.php?p ... stcount=20

My god UDF is sooo much better:

10-12 minutes with FAT32
3-4 minutes with UDF1.5

UDF also supports files over 2GB.

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Oddly the service I mentioned earlier doesn't seem to actually have any use. I've set it to Manual and Stopped it but the Disc still formats as it should and copies just as quickly.

Nice I'll leave it off then.