CD burners too fast

[lllDash]

So I'm trying to burn Sonic R to run on my Saturn. I have burned StreetFighter Zero 3 before and that works just fine. But Zero 3 was burned with a CD-writer that supported 4x burn speed, Whereas I'm trying to do it on a computer that only has a burn speed of 8x. Here's the problem: 8x is too fast. My Saturn can only read 2x and 4x discs.

Some people have said in the past: "I burn 8x and it works". But there is something that some of you guys need to understand before you say something to this effect. New burners are not as thorough. the microscopic pits on the disc are less defined today than they used to be. By burning at a slower speed, it gives the laser more time to peice the disc thus resulting in more defined pits.
So even though people in the past has said that 8x or 16x is fine. That isn't true anymore.

So my question:
    Is there a way to FORCE the disc drive to slowdown? ImgBurn and other programs won't even try to burn at 4x or 2x even though some of these programs will let me select 4x or 2x.

Disclaimer: I do not condone piracy in any form. I already own Sonic R on PC and PS2, and I own Street Fighter Alpha 3 on PS2. Please don't turn this into a burning backups is bad thing.

Thank you for your time. ^_^

[buckoa51]

New burners are not as thorough. the microscopic pits on the disc are less defined today than they used to be.

Any actual proof to back that up? Sounds more likely that your Saturns laser is just getting old.

[zyrobs]

- you are using broken CD images which have errors (the most common problem!)
- you are using a cd burning app which is known to silently fail (Imgburn tends to)
- certain cd drives cannot burn mode 2 data tracks for some reason, and a few Saturn games use those (but, Sonic R does not use them).
- The laser in your Saturn needs to be re-calibrated or replaced
- The cd tray height in your Saturn needs to be adjusted

I only burn verified good cd images and I have NEVER got a single coaster on both Sega CD and Saturn, no matter the media, no matter the burn speed (I keep it at 16x or 24x generally), and usually no matter the Saturn (if it can't read CDRs, it usually has problems with originals too).

The worst result I got was skipping audio on a Sega CD, but considering that I bought it as a non-functional junk unit, that's a huge improvement already.

[mick_aka]

I've been burning Saturn discs for well over ten years with the same Pioneer writer at 24X, and the only time I've had an unplayable disc is when using VERY cheap media (Tesco value)

My backup of Shining Force III was burned in 2003 onto a Traxdata disc and I still use it with no issues whatsoever.

[buckoa51]

Also I should say earlier this year I had verified, good images just fail on me when I burned them to CD-R. The discs appeared to be good when read in the PC too. The culprit turned out to be a faulty DVD writer, which has since been replaced with a new one that works flawlessly at 8x burn speed, so could be that too.

[antime]

May 26, 2014 15:15:55 GMT lllDash said:

New burners are not as thorough. the microscopic pits on the disc are less defined today than they used to be. By burning at a slower speed, it gives the laser more time to peice the disc thus resulting in more defined pits.

CD burners don't burn holes in the disc. The disc is coated in a dye, and when heated by the laser, its reflectivity changes.

Most of my bad burns have in fact been caused by forcing too slow speed. My best guess is that modern dyes are formulated for high writing speeds, and slow writing speeds may cause heat build-up which affects the dye over a larger area than intended.

[buckoa51]

Indeed if they did actually cut the disc (I guess you meant pierce) you'd have a little tray you had to remove every few burns to shake out the cuttings

[lllDash]

May 26, 2014 21:57:34 GMT antime said:

May 26, 2014 15:15:55 GMT lllDash said:

New burners are not as thorough. the microscopic pits on the disc are less defined today than they used to be. By burning at a slower speed, it gives the laser more time to peice the disc thus resulting in more defined pits.

CD burners don't burn holes in the disc. The disc is coated in a dye, and when heated by the laser, its reflectivity changes.

Most of my bad burns have in fact been caused by forcing too slow speed. My best guess is that modern dyes are formulated for high writing speeds, and slow writing speeds may cause heat build-up which affects the dye over a larger area than intended.

XD I didn't say CD burners make holes. I just meant that the laser would have more time to penetrate the disc which leaves a more pronounced mark.
But you are right. I thought CD-Rs produce pits. But they actually produce burnt marks instead. Thanks for straightening that out with me.
But my argument still stands: Some CD burners don't do a thorough enough job.

Thanks for your help. But I'm not sure if it is because of the heat build-up, because the disc works on other devices (Music tracks work)

[lllDash]

Thank you all for helping me out. A possible culprit would be my Samsung DVD/CD writer. I'm gonna have to see if there aren't other disc burners I can use.
It's definitely not the Saturn. Everything else works just fine. I just bought it in April this year and it's in MINT condition, not a single scratch. I look forward to revisiting this Forum more often now that I have a reason to. Cheers  

[s8n]

i read a sticky on Club MyCE forums that burning slow on todays burners actually produces bad burns so i did a lot of reading and studying , definitely burning slow on burners a decade ago was in but not anymore.


i burn CD-R at X16 speed and i dont have any problems and if i burn at X8 i get worse results with Nero CD-DVD Speed


below is X16 speed







also not all burners are created equal , ive burned a Dreamcast game with one of my Pioneers and the ' scan ' shows a lot of errors with Nero CD-DVD Speed.


so i did some investigating on Club MyCE forums and bought 4 Liteon iHAS324 burners


btw you cant get any burner and start ' scanning ' with Nero CD-DVD Speed , it may give a result but it will not be accurate.

[buckoa51]

That's interesting, so what is required to run this Nero CD checking tool then?

[s8n]

hi buck , simply most burners can do it but not all give a accurate scan............


i asked over at Club MyCE forums for a burner that can scan accurately and i luckily got someone who took me under their wing and showed me some models that can do it.

so i tracked down 4 new Liteon iHAS-324 B burners , not only can it scan but burn nicely too.

[lllDash]

That makes a lot of sense. I will probably burn at 16x or 24x and see if that works. If not then I will need to invest in a better burner.

[s8n]

the optimal burn speed differs between burners , the way to tell what your burners optimal speed is by using Nero CD-DVD Speed.


with my Liteons ive tried X8 , X16 , X24 , X32...........


after scanning all CD-R's X16 had the least errors