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#1 2004-06-25 01:15:34

standsolid
Member
From: Carlsbad, CA
Registered: 2004-05-23
Posts: 54
Website

USB 2.0 CD-RW Drives Burning Slow, Slowing system

Hello all

I have 2 external 52X CDRW drives, both USB 2.0. One is a lite-on in a generic USB casing.  the other is a memorex.

I have no trouble getting them to burn CDs (with  K3b) and they aren't burning any coasters.

But, whenever I burn a CD, the desktop is very slow to respond (my mouse cursor gets "stuck" at points).  Both drives have identical behaviours.  My HDD is configured fine, with hdparm settings set to the MAX, and it performs OK.

Also, about 75% through the burn, the drive slows down and the speed K3b reports is ~10X... at this point, the system is usable, tho.

Anyone have any Ideas?

here is some relevant output

# cat /proc/bus/usb/devices

T:  Bus=01 Lev=00 Prnt=00 Port=00 Cnt=00 Dev#=  1 Spd=480 MxCh= 6
B:  Alloc=  0/800 us ( 0%), #Int=  0, #Iso=  0
D:  Ver= 2.00 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=01 MxPS= 8 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=0000 ProdID=0000 Rev= 2.06
S:  Manufacturer=Linux 2.6.7 ehci_hcd
S:  Product=VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0
S:  SerialNumber=0000:00:10.3
C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=e0 MxPwr=  0mA
I:  If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=09(hub  ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=hub
E:  Ad=81(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS=   2 Ivl=256ms

T:  Bus=01 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=02 Cnt=01 Dev#=  3 Spd=480 MxCh= 0
D:  Ver= 2.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=05ab ProdID=0060 Rev=11.01
S:  Manufacturer=USB2.0 TO IDE
S:  Product=USB Storage Adapter
S:  SerialNumber=0000000000003E07
C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 2 Atr=c0 MxPwr= 98mA
I:  If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 3 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=50 Driver=usb-storage
E:  Ad=01(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=125us
E:  Ad=82(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=83(I) Atr=03(Int.) MxPS=   2 Ivl=32ms

T:  Bus=01 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=03 Cnt=02 Dev#=  4 Spd=480 MxCh= 0
D:  Ver= 2.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS=64 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=04cf ProdID=8818 Rev=a3.01
S:  Manufacturer=Myson Century, Inc.
S:  Product=USB Mass Storage Device
S:  SerialNumber=100
C:* #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=c0 MxPwr= 10mA
I:  If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=05 Prot=50 Driver=usb-storage
E:  Ad=03(O) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms
E:  Ad=84(I) Atr=02(Bulk) MxPS= 512 Ivl=0ms

# hdparm -t /dev/hda

/dev/hda:
 Timing buffered disk reads:  138 MB in  3.02 seconds =  45.76 MB/sec

$ cdrecord -scanbus

Cdrecord 2.00.3 (i686-pc-linux-gnu) Copyright (C) 1995-2002 Jörg Schilling
Linux sg driver version: 3.5.31
Using libscg version 'schily-0.7'
scsibus0:
        0,0,0     0) 'Memorex ' '52MAXX 3252AJ   ' 'QWS6' Removable CD-ROM
        0,1,0     1) *
        0,2,0     2) *
        0,3,0     3) *
        0,4,0     4) *
        0,5,0     5) *
        0,6,0     6) *
        0,7,0     7) *
scsibus1:
        1,0,0   100) 'LITE-ON ' 'LTR-52327S      ' 'QS0B' Removable CD-ROM
        1,1,0   101) *
        1,2,0   102) *
        1,3,0   103) *
        1,4,0   104) *
        1,5,0   105) *
        1,6,0   106) *


I mean, this should be like nothing for these devices....

thanks

//standsolid//


ewwwwww Arch is all gooey

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#2 2004-07-10 00:20:23

lilsirecho
Veteran
Registered: 2003-10-24
Posts: 5,000

Re: USB 2.0 CD-RW Drives Burning Slow, Slowing system

It is quite probable that the action you are getting is correct for the medium.  The actual transfer or write performance is likely to be affected by the area of the disc which is being burned (or read) and as the disc fills the rate is slowed.


Prediction...This year will be a very odd year!
Hard work does not kill people but why risk it: Charlie Mccarthy
A man is not complete until he is married..then..he is finished.
When ALL is lost, what can be found? Even bytes get lonely for a little bit!     X-ray confirms Iam spineless!

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#3 2004-07-10 08:40:27

standsolid
Member
From: Carlsbad, CA
Registered: 2004-05-23
Posts: 54
Website

Re: USB 2.0 CD-RW Drives Burning Slow, Slowing system

to test, I took the memorex 52x in to work (the only interaction I have with windows), and used the media from home with no trouble at all (flew by in like less tahn five minutes... acctually impressive) -- so I doubt its' the media

that and i've tried just burning it at 24X and slwoer with the same results


ewwwwww Arch is all gooey

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#4 2004-07-10 17:07:16

lilsirecho
Veteran
Registered: 2003-10-24
Posts: 5,000

Re: USB 2.0 CD-RW Drives Burning Slow, Slowing system

My experience with external 2.0 usb HDD has been similar to your report for the CD external.

Hype concerning 2.0 suggests speeds to 60KB but the true throughput is around 15 to 20.  I find IEEE1394 runs a good 25.  Googling confirms the USB speeds I experience and one wag suggests the name is appropriate, Universally Slow Bus.

I wonder what test you ran in Windoze versus the test run in Linux.  Perhaps there is a key there to the problem.

My experience showed high speeds of 60 to 80 at the beginning of HDD activity slowing to 15 or so after 40% of transfer and eventually as slow as 6 near the end of transfer.  This test was for 1GB video files and involved an external 10GB HDD by Hitachi with a small HDD mechanism(Simple Drive model Deluxe with both USB 2 and IEEE1394).  IEEE1394 is termed "Experimental" and mebbe 2.0 needs that designator also!!!

My previous reference to the media was not meant to indicate differences in the CD manufacturers products but the basic mechanics involved in recording and reading rotating discs.  The data density varies with the radius so the transfer speed has to vary.

I may be off-base with this but am ready for improvement at any time in the 2.0 performance which is disappointing.

I have been playing with RAMFS and enjoy immensely transferring files at well over 100MB/s so there is hope for the future of 2.0 but probably not from atapi drives.


Prediction...This year will be a very odd year!
Hard work does not kill people but why risk it: Charlie Mccarthy
A man is not complete until he is married..then..he is finished.
When ALL is lost, what can be found? Even bytes get lonely for a little bit!     X-ray confirms Iam spineless!

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#5 2004-07-10 19:39:56

standsolid
Member
From: Carlsbad, CA
Registered: 2004-05-23
Posts: 54
Website

Re: USB 2.0 CD-RW Drives Burning Slow, Slowing system

for the test on linux: i used cdrecord and a arch-0.6-base.iso

for the test on windows: ISO powertoy and the arch-0.6-base.iso

windows burnt the thing really quick, and I was still able to stream my mp3s without any hiccups. 

When In linux, it was a different story. I could barely move my mouse


ewwwwww Arch is all gooey

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#6 2004-07-10 20:18:02

Xentac
Forum Fellow
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2003-01-17
Posts: 1,797
Website

Re: USB 2.0 CD-RW Drives Burning Slow, Slowing system

Maybe you're only using the USB 1.0 interface in linux.  I haven't put any research into a 2.0 setup, so I can't give more information than that... but that would seem to make sense.


I have discovered that all of mans unhappiness derives from only one source, not being able to sit quietly in a room
- Blaise Pascal

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#7 2004-07-10 20:22:51

lilsirecho
Veteran
Registered: 2003-10-24
Posts: 5,000

Re: USB 2.0 CD-RW Drives Burning Slow, Slowing system

Perhaps using k3b with growisofs will help improve the linux performance.  This combo is recommended in linux.

I am not familiar with using same with USB devices but normal .iso operations with k3b require growisofs...cdrecord doesn't cut it.


Prediction...This year will be a very odd year!
Hard work does not kill people but why risk it: Charlie Mccarthy
A man is not complete until he is married..then..he is finished.
When ALL is lost, what can be found? Even bytes get lonely for a little bit!     X-ray confirms Iam spineless!

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