I've got a 1.25GHz 17" imac with superdrive. I'm finding it's taking quite a long time to burn a full 4.7GB DVD. Can anyone tell me what par is for burning this capacity?

Thanks,

J

How long is "quite a long time" and is it a data DVD or a video DVD?

It's a data DVD. I haven't measured the actual time but it's around 30 minutes. This is in addition to the time (again around 20-30 min) it takes to copy the files to the DVD folder first.

Is this the correct way to do this? I know when I do this on a PC, there is no delay in selecting what you want to burn.

Any tips greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

that speed is about correct... i had a 2x suprdrive that came with my Quicksilver Dual 800mhz.... i just fixed the problem buy buying a Pioneer DVR-108 (dual layer 16x) burns a full DVD in 3 mins

hmmmm, that's more like it! I was told buy a bloke in one of the mac stores that the newer 1+GHz imac G4's come with a "faster" Superdrive. However when I insert a blank DVD, the available speeds only go up to 4x.

Is the speed a property of the type of blank disc you use? I'm using some cheapo no namers at the moment.

Also, is the superdrive in the G4 imac upgradeable?

i guess that it would be upgradeable.. but it would be a bit hard for "unexperinced users"

also... with my pioneer drive.. i have haxed the firmware to allow me to burn 16x onto any disc... so a 4x disc can be writtin at 16x works good.. cept 4x will only 100% complete a full DVD at 8x... an 8x disc can be written at 16x and work 100%

A bit more on this topic...

When copying files from a DVD back to the HDD, the transfer speed is only about 2MB/sec.

Is this right or could I have something wrong with my superdrive?

Thanks,

J

that all depends on the Drives Reading capabilitiy... i can "copy" so to speak, a full DVD in about 5-7 mins with my new drive... i think what your stats are saying.. is about correct.. mabe a bit low?

i highly reccoment upgrading the superdrive if you are not fond of its speed

Yeah, I think that's on the cards. I'm technically able to do the job, just need to know what brand or model of drive is compatible. Do you know if there's a listing anywhere of drives suitable for a G4 1.25GHz imac? The one i've currentl got is a sony according to the system info.

From the text above (quoted), it looks like you inserted the blank DVD, and copied stuff into the DVD via the Finder. That is an additional step that the Apple Finder does just to make things look seamless. That copying takes quite a bit of time, and only after that can you actually do the burn.

Using Toast, you can (quickly) make a list of the files you want, and then press a burn button to instantly starting burning. Hence you save the copying step.

pretty much anythin will work my Pioneer DVR-108 works a treat... and i can share the firmware hack with you.. all you will need is Patchburn to enable support for iTunes/iPhoto/iDVD etc... but in Tiger you wont need Patchburn as Apple has supported all DVD drives in it

Note: Drive replacement, drive speed and firmware hacks have all been addressed below.

(EDIT: little dig at spelling removed EDIT 2: mathematical errors corrected)

Seriously however, replacing the drive is an easy procedure, the only real issue is that of 'supported' and 'unsupported' drives. The issue with unsupported drives is not that they do not work at all but rather certain functions either do not work correctly or at all e.g. burning from the finder or iTunes being the issue. They still read CD's/DVD's normally out of the box. A handy little helper ( patchburn reader, mentioned above) adds support for most of these unsupported drives and you will never know that your device is on the unsupported list. If you are burning using Toast then it does not matter if the drive is supported or unsupported. It WILL work as you expect.

EDIT: the cheapies: e.g. LG, Lite-on and BENQ are unsupported (don't work with finder burning), all work with Toast and will all have exactly the same functionallity as supported drives if you install patchburn reader.

To replace the drive you will have to follow a couple of simple procedures. Opening the case and removing the old drive should be fairly simple (try googling it). Often 'Apple' drives have a proprietary card on the back of the drive where the IDE cable is connected. If this card is present you will need to remove it and fit it to the back of the new drive (it SHOULD be this straightforward). Some people just buy a generic IDE cable and fit this, bypassing the Apple controller card altogether (I would not do this if I could avoid it). New drives also, as a rule, will be enabled (by a jumper/jumpers) as 'Master', this will need to be changed to Cable Select (CS) or 'Slave' (S). Also very easy.

SPEED.
Burning speed is derived from the original 1x CD format where 1x = 150 KB/sec. 1x DVD is equal to 9x CD, OR 1350 KB/sec. (Your Superdrive is capable of 4x burning or 5.5 MB/sec). Scale this up and 16x burning will require 21.6 MB/sec (sustained) or the equivalent of 144x CD speed. Just to add another layer of complexity CD's and DVD's get data written to them differently and the data transfer rate is not static (depending on burn speed) i.e not a continuous 2.6 MB/sec for 2x burning. Note: more so with CD's (formatted to work like an old vinyl LP) than DVD's (which are formatted like HD's), data rates start off slow (inside of the disk - (CD's)) and finish high (outside of the disk - (CD's)). DVD's are not quite the same but if you watch the activity monitor you will/MAY see two different data transfer rates while burning. (When burning the outer sectors higher data rates are required than the inner sectors) Taking an average does not work. The starting speed will be below this average while the finishing speed will be well above it
As an example, my G4 500 will suffer from buffer underruns (coasters) at 4x burning (DVD+ only. DVD- works) using Toast 6 and an LG 8x DVD+-RW. The peak data rate required of 13.5 MB/second being just outside what my HD/hardware is capable of (interestingly this rate should support 8x burning but it does not on my machine) (NOTE: I wonder about the hardware the iPod_man is using (burning a dual layer (8.5 GB) DVD in 3 minutes would require a sustained minimum of 48 MB/sec) SATA RAID maybe?) For comparison, the best sustained data rates I get from my boot volume is ~7.5 MB/sec (~13.5 MB/sec from non-boot volume)

FIRMWARE HACKS.
With the price of media this is a false economy. There is a GOOD reason why media has speed ratings. You might well be able to burn a 8x DVD at 16x and IF the media is good quality you may get away with it most of the time but you also run a high risk of making coasters too. Considering the tiny price differential and the potential to make coasters, trying to save 20 cents on a blank DVD seems completely pointless to me. If you had 4x media that you categorically knew would burn at 8x, reliably 100% of the time, a firmware hack might be handy to allow the higher speed but not otherwise.

FINALLY, your question. 20 to 30 minutes is normal for a 4x burner (15minutes@4x/5.5MB/sec + 15 minutes for verification). I assume when you say it takes another 20-30 minutes to copy it to the DVD folder (before burning) you are talking about copying a DVD (writing the contents to your HD and then burning it)? For example: if the data was already on your HD no copying of any sort would be required. Also, if you create an 'image' of the disk being copied first, this will take a bit longer than a straight copy.

Hope this clarifies things.

Cheers, kim

The other option is to get an external unit - most are based around the regular Pioneer drives.

This is actually a really good idea. You could buy a complete external unit ready to go or, alternatively, a cheap firewire case and a dual layer burner could be had, all up, for less than $200.