Taken for a ride?

[karthik316_2003]

i bought the samsung sm-352b combo drive a few months back.its max. writing and reading speed is 52x.dvd reading speed is 16x.i got it replaced (warranty replacement) recently since it developed some problem(could not read and write cd's).now it is working fine.but then,i feel i have been taken for a ride.this is because,when i used nero 5 for burning,the cd-write dialog box would allow me to choose from a speed of 8x to 52x when i bought the combio drive newly.

now,after the warranty replacement the same software shows only a writing speed range from8x to a maximum of 40x.does this mean that my vendor has replaced me with a lower version of the combo drive? please help.

note:1.when booting,the bios detects the drive as samsung sm-352b only.
2.another software named "winquiry" which shows the model number and firmware version of samsung optical drives,shows the correct original model number and firmware as printed in the carton of the "original" combo drive.


while these show that the vendor has not cheated me,why is that speed selection problem with nero 5?
please help,digitians!!!

[darklord]

Well i don't think that you have been cheated.Basically for Samsung or the dealer to disable writing at 52X they will have to flash the firmware to an earlier version. Now flashing the firmware is not that easy & these people are least bothered to give time for this.For the problem that you are facing,there can be multiple reasons.Now the first one that comes to my mind is that the blank cd's that you are using may not be 52X.This might prevent the writer from automatically writing at 52X.

Now in case of Sony writers,if you might be knowing,in the 52X speed models when you insert a blank cd,u have to press the eject button for few seconds which enebles the 52X mode.

Then the most likely reason that i feel is that,you are using Nero 5.5 or something.Now what must have happened is that the earlier drive and the current drive though with same model no. might have firmwares with different versions.Now if the old nero does not detect the features correctly of the new firmware of thedrive it is a possibility that it might not be detecting the 52X write option too.I would suggest you get Nero 6 from somewhere if possible and then try.

I think of these many reasons,the last one the most correct according to me.Try out what happens.I hope this helps you.

[anupamsinha]

Try flashing the BIOS. I guess you can get the new firmware from Samsung. Just search their site. You may also find a page on Nero's website where you can get the link to the page(Drive's firmware). There is a Nero info tool run it to see what is the Max speed at which the CD can be recorded

[karthik316_2003]

you guessed it,right! thank you.
when i insert a blank samsung cd and enter nero 5 via autoplay,the burn speed is limited to 40x.
but,when i start nero 5 through the standard wizard manually,the write speed upto 52x is available.

8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

by the way,can anyone expain me the technology behind combo drives?
i.e,a dvd is larger in thickness than a cd.so,does the combo drive has 2 lenses,a third one for writing.....etc,etc about combo drives?