Basically I need a how-to in getting my Lite-On 811s to work in an external Firewire/USB2 (Plumax) enclosure. Everything seems to be connected properly as the drive IS recognized, but it is only recognized as a Removable Storage Device, not a DVD-RW. From what I have read it seems like people just plug the drive in and it is recognized correctly? Am I doing something wrong?? Also, I tried to flash the firmware to see if that corrected the problem, but of course I wasn't able to do so because the drive isn't recognized. The program told me that it was unable to find a Lite-On drive to flash...

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!!

I had problems with external enclousure, it was a cheap one, maybe that was the problem, but in fact I was able to burn some media with it, but other media always coasters, returned the drive to the PC and no coasters ever since.

So your problem is worse, your drive is not found as a burner. Maybe your enclosure is bad?

I had the same problem with my 811S. It was not recognized on the FW bus. When I switched to USB 2, it was immediately recognized and I was able to flash the firmware twice. Am now at HSOP. Hope this helps.

Interesting Jamerican... Does the FW work now??? I am going to give the USB2 a shot and hopefully have some luck ::fingers crossed::

Thanks for the advice... also, using Win XP, can access disks if i put them in, but only as a storage device and not as a CD-Rom(type) drive. Thanks again!!

Jamerican,

Like you said, switched to USB and it worked like a champ. I flashed the firmware. Are you able to run yours on Firewire? I am thinking that this is more likely an issue of the drivers on the enclosure and not the dvdrw... any thoughts?

Anyway, i am thrilled that it is working on USB, but obviously the transfer rate would be a lot sweeter on the FW... THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!!

Coughdrop,

If it's a USB2 interface you should be able to burn the disc at full speeds. But I assume you're using USB 1 only?

Also, as for drivers and Firewire ... since you're using WinXP you shouldn't need to load any drivers, as long as you're using SP1 (I think?) .

I have not tried it again on Firewire since it's working like a champ on USB 2. My Pioneer 106D, however, works great on Firewire in a similar enclosure. Must be something with the 811S. Perhaps if the drive were switched to master instead of the default slave it would work under Firewire. Something I have been thinking about.

It probably not the 811S drive. I am using a 811S (411S@811S) drive in my external USB2 with cypress chipset as USB 2.0 interface. It works fine when I am doing 4X but could not keep up with the data flow when burn at 6X or 8X. It is USB 2.0 problem which normally 6.0M/s.
Anyway, I am just using mine for 4X external drive and it works just fine.

Plumax External enclousre USB 2.0 with cypress chipset at dealsonic.

Hmm, USB2 bus can reach upto 40MB/s (theoreticly). Burning @8X needs ~11,5MB/s.
I think your problem is media and/or enclosure and perif. A simple thing as an bad USB2 cable can ruin your setup.

@Lcoughdrop

I'm also runnin a 411@811 no probs in my usb2 enclosure. I had problems in the beginning with a previous enclosure with the drive only coming up as external storage. I upgraded to a better one and it works like a charm now. Can't burn higher than 4x without buffering problems tho. Something to try is to make sure the drive is set as master in the enclosure, and not cable select or slave. My firewire hard drive doesn't come up unless its set to master. my 2 cents, I mean, pence.

I run an 811s in a FireWire enclosure that runs through the firewire port on my SB Audigy sound card. Works like a champ up to 6x, doesn't have the throughput to do 8x.

It was completely plug and play, and I have updated the drivers on it while in the enclosure.

That's wierd. I will try again with different cable. So far, i am using 2 set of certified USB 2.0 on a built-in USB-2.0 A7N8X or NEC controller card but had no luck beyond 4X. The drive is set at Master. I also tried with Optorite DD0401 drive and get the same result. Beside, this is the 2nd external enclousure that I tried on. The first one has NEC chipset the second (current) has cypress chipset.
The same drive it put inside my machine can burn 8X without any problem. So it is not the drive problem.
Thank you for your suggestion.

Chu

Booma,

Haven''t changed the default settings on the jumpers... Was told it comes as a slave by default... hopefully that's the problem Going to give it a shot later tonight and will post results. Thank you everyone for all your help so far...


Also for the USB 2 problem, from what I've read a lot of people have trouble with the USB2 drivers and many boards don't run at optimal speed... maybe use a program to gauge the connection??

You can benchmark your transfer speed with this tool:
http://www.sisoftware.net/

d/l the freeware copy and test

Latest Update: I double checked the drive to see where the jumpers were set. It WAS in fact set to slave. I switched it over to master and the drive was instantly recognized on FW... BUT, when I put a disk in it the disc came up as having INVALID FORMAT. I know the disc was fine (DVD) because i watched it last night on my dvd player. So... I switched over to USB2 and the DVD was recognized correctly.

Frustrated, I switched back to FW to see what was wrong and voila, it worked!!!

Very greatful to everyone in this forum for all your help...

Now if someone could just tell me the best (and simplest) way to make a DVD Backup... preferably with one or two programs. I recently received a free copy of DVDxCopy Platinum but the reviews i've read don't seem that great. Also, I haven't been able to find a comprehensive guide on removing the pesky warnings...

I been waitin 4 that report. great to see that everything is working as they should for u now.
personally, I use the dvdshrink/nero method. I rip and transcode with dvd shrink (pretty much automatic and is mostly braindead in terms of ease of use), then just select new dvd video in nero, and drop the files in the video_ts folder.
If I open dvd shrink and it says the movie is less than the 4.3 gigs, I either select the 'no compression', or I just use dvd decryptor to make an iso and do 2 click copies.
There are other methods, but that seems to be the best/easiest/certainly fastest method.
(I don't see the point of takin the time to rip to hard drive, then take the extra time to transcode the rip when it can be ripped/transcoded in one go - saves space too)

*Edit

Special request - can u try to burn some stuff at 8x and let me know the time taken ie if it has the thru-put to manage at 6 and 8x. Right now, my 811 is in usb2 and it won't handle 6x. the read buffer from my FW hd is fine tho. considering getting another case if I can be assured it'll work.

Booma, that's what I am waiting for too. Look like both you and I have the same problem with the throughput for USB2.0 enclousure. May I ask what are you using (who make your case and what chipset it has)? I am using Plumax with Cypress chipset for USB2.0.

Thank you very much.

I'm connected thru a cardbus adapter which I believe has an NEC chipset. The case itself is a no name brand, but I also BELIEVE it to be NEC. I'll open it when I get home and check again. I've been thru 2 usb hd cases so far, and none of em could support 32x cd burning much less 4x dvd burning. My FW hd seems to be more than up to the job with speed tests coming in with at least 30,000 KB/sec and trouble free burning. Guess we jus gotta watch and wait

Thanks again Booma,

I will give the 8x a shot as soon as I can get my hands on some Hi-speed discs... Right now the only ones I have support 2.4x Basically because I didn't want to start dropping $$ until I knew I had a working drive

I will keep you updated

Also, have you tried that benchmark program posted above? I am curious about the USB2 results because for some reason when I connected the USB2 I am pretty sure it was only running at USB 1.1 speeds. The port on the computer should be a USB2 but the popup when i connected the drive said "HI SPEED USB DEVICE CONNECTED TO NON HI SPEED USB PORT"

Make sure to check you cable and the connector. If you are using the USB header from you case, most of the time it rated for USB 1.1 not 2.0 so you device will be connect at 1.1 instead (even you are connect to USB 2.0 header on your board). To test out, just get a PCI USB 2.0 and see if you device show up with the correct USB version.

I just switched my drive from slave to master, reinstalled it in the FW/USB enclosure, booted up, and it was recognized by the computer for what it was. Seems to be working fine, although I still cannot write at 8X to the Ritek/Ricoh 8X discs. I am going to test it with a Maxell 4X to which I wrote at 8X when it was on the USB 2 port.

Sounds good Jamerican,

I just successfully burned my first backup!! whoopee!!

I am going to try and pick up some blank discs later today.

how long did it take? did it burn at full speed without all the burn proof (did the red light flicker to orange?)? fill us in please.

It took a little over 8 minutes burning to 4X Memorex DVD+R discs so I can safely assume that it burned at about 7.5 X. Burned with Burnproof, no flickering of the red light to orange. The buffer readings near the end of the burn were from one extreme to the other (low to high).No read errors, and playback was great. Tried 2 movies both came out fine. Now to test my DVD-R discs to see if they will burn. I did not have any success when the drive was on USB 2. Will report back when I am through.

hmmm, getting more interesting.
so ur saying that that test is with firewire because u had trouble burning with usb2? are u also saying that the buffer went up and down, but the burnproof did not chip in? which buffer was behaving like that , the burner one (At the bottom in nero), or the system one (the one in the middle in nero)?
I don't mean to keep grilling u, I just want to get the full low down so I can make an informed decision on whether to upgrade my kit to firewire.