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Extremely slow Pioneer DVR-112D

M

mackmack

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 3, 2009
67
0
My '08 mac pro has a pioneer dvr-112D in it and it seems to be extremely slow when ripping DVDs in windows/bootcamp. It will take 30+ minutes to rip a DVD whereas it only takes 9 minutes on my PC. I ran the Nero discspeed benchmark and it says the drive is only reading at ~10X max at the end of the test. The drive should be good for 18X right?

This happens in both XP and windows 7.

I've checked that DMA mode is enabled so it's not an issue of it being in PIO mode.

Any ideas? :(
 
Do DVRFlash and update the firmware to version 1.28

that helps a lot. google it and read up on it before asking what it is.
 
HERE is the thread chronicling my upgrade. Read through it. The correct firmware files to upgrade to 1.28 are in there. and there is a really good tutorial linked in my initial post
 
disclaimer: you will void the warranty on your superdrive by doing this... not that it matters much, since they only cost like $30.
 
I need just the one firmware file right? Not both? If I try with just that one firmware file, it tells me there's a drive/firmware mismatch.

Do I need both firmware files?
 
use the 128 with the 115 kernel that is in the package download linked in the initial post. it will say that they mismatch, and that's OK.
 
to use the 128 file. download it. navigate to it in the finder. get info. delete teh ".zip". then drag it to the desktop. put it in a folder with the 115 kernel, so you have them in the same place, then DVRFlash it.
 
Ran dvrflash with both files.

Said firmwares and drive type mismatch,

Continue because force option was specified

Then WARNING: Hardware and Firmware really don't match!

Any ideas?
 
try it with both the files included in the 1.24 firmware update package, and note back what it tells you. If i remember right, i got that same message as you. if you blow it, no worries, you can flash it back. but, try both files in that package first. i'll have to report back in the morning. i have a sleepy baby and i'm quickly learning that when he wants to sleep, that's when i need to sleep! good luck. i'll check back in the morning.
 
Is there any way to tell if it worked?

Edit: Just checked DVRflash info for the drive, doesn't seem that anything changed. Oh well. Is the slow performance due to this 'riplock' I've been seeing online?

I'm curious because I just bought two HP dvdrw's for my PC and they're super fast. I guess they don't include riplock?
 
does this only flsh in windows or can you flash it in the osx side as well? I remember the dvr flsh as being an exe file?

I could not get mine to go above 1.24 for some reason?

tried from your other posting and keep getting this from terminal:

cannot excecute binary file
 
So why is the performance of the dvr-112d so bad when it comes to reading DVDs? Is it to reduce noise perhaps?
 
yeah that's part of it. but if you've updated the firmware, it could be that the drive is dying. or it could be nothing. i haven't used it much with bootcamp, so i really can't comment on its performance in windows.
 
bozz2006 said:
yeah that's part of it. but if you've updated the firmware, it could be that the drive is dying. or it could be nothing. i haven't used it much with bootcamp, so i really can't comment on its performance in windows.
Click to expand...
Nope, have not updated the firmware as far as I can tell. Might have to just use the PC for ripping DVDs. I've never had a problem with any of the drives I've used with them. This includes drives from lite-on, sony (lite-on), teac, HP...
 
If using the PC to burn discs is any amount of hassle, it might be worth your $35 to buy a new optical drive for the mac pro. you don't even have to get rid of the old one...
 
bozz2006 said:
If using the PC to burn discs is any amount of hassle, it might be worth your $35 to buy a new optical drive for the mac pro. you don't even have to get rid of the old one...
Click to expand...

would it benefit me to add my blu ray drive and get the other sata plugs to work?

would i see any performance increase in the way the drive reads/writes/accesses dvds or cd's?

what other drive would you recommend for me to get besides the current pioneer?
 
Hi there,

tried to bring my two DVR-112Ds to firmware 1.28. (I have used DVRFlash before and know how it is supposed to be used)
DVRFlash said something like "couldn't finish" and next time I rebooted my Mac Pro, it stopped at the light blue screen at auto log-in – cound't make it go by that point, tried several times.

I'll try and unplug the DVD drives to see whether I can make it boot without them, but any idea as to how I can get these frigging drives back to work would be highly appreciated... :(

(writing from my MacBook as the Mac Pro won't let me in...)

EDIT 1:
OK, now it does boot without the DVD drives – so it was them who caused the boot problems and I have to get them back running...

EDIT 2:
Now I booted with just one of the drives attached and waited a bit longer at the light blue screen – and there comes the Finder.
System profiler says, there is a DVR-112 attached – firmware version "0000", doesn't sound too good...

EDIT 3:
Hm, the display seems a bit choppy, Mr. Mac Pro doesn't seem to like this crippled DVD writer.
I'm so glad I cloned the Snow Leopard Install DVD to my external FW-drive! Want to install it tomorrow or so, after some hardware upgrades. Guess I'll have to add a new DVD drive to the list.
But if anybody has an idea how I can get my burners back to life, feel free to post!
 
you can flash it back. there is a wealth of info on the dvrflash forum. it's not busy, but the people there really know their stuff.
 
bozz2006 said:
you can flash it back. there is a wealth of info on the dvrflash forum. it's not busy, but the people there really know their stuff.
Click to expand...

DVRFlash doesn't even see it! (i. e. "./DVRFlash" doesn't find any drives) I tried, however to force-flash "blindly" with the name given in "System Profiler" – but to no avail.
But I'll check their forum anyway...
 
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