- Latest Plextor DVD not compatible with A8N-SLI Deluxe... need opinions.

[Jon J. Yeager]

I just bought a new system... it included the A8N-SLI Deluxe as a mainboard,
and the CD/DVD is the Plextor PX-716SA (SATA). I noticed the DVD kept
freezing the OS.

I call Plextor Support and am told that the A8N-SLI Deluxe and PX-716SA are
simply incompatible. Guess I should have looked this up before buying the
two items. There is an issue on (according to the Plextor agent) Asus' side
of the fence that prevents these two from working together.

Apparently, the IDE version of the PX-716 works fine with this MB.

The agent had no ETA for me regarding any possible firmware upgrades that
would fix the issue, or Bios upgrades on Asus' part that would do the same.
But told me that they "are both working on it". I then asked the agent,
"unofficially", how long it could take for them to solve it. He said 2
months.

I bought these parts less than a week ago. I could probably trade the 716SA
for the IDE. But then I'll feel stupid in 2 months if the SATA issue is
fixed and I'm stuck with IDE because I didn't wait.

Putting the DVD on one of the Silicon Image Controller (RAID) ports /FIXES/
the problem. The drive works. The downside is that I had to enable RAID to
do it (it was previously disabled, speeding up the boot-up process
significantly). And I probably won't ever be able to RAID my drives as long
as the DVD is there (but I could be wrong on that).

So anyway, I now have 2 hard drives on the main SATA controller, and 1 DVD
burner on the SiI.

Everything is working. The question is... do I still bring this drive back
and trade it in for a currently-compatible one (even if less highly rated
overall), or do I stick with this "well, it works" set-up and pray that
Asus/Plextor fix this issue that will allow me to put the DVD back on the
main SATA controller, so I can disable my RAID again, or RAID up my hard
drives?

My computer is currently IDE-free. Ideally, I'd like to remain like this.

Thoughts? Opinions?

 

[Jon J. Yeager]

Oh, forgot to add.. I am using rev.1.02 of the A8N-SLI Deluxe.

 

[Dave]

Oh, forgot to add.. I am using rev.1.02 of the A8N-SLI Deluxe.

Had this problem with my plextor PX-716A and Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe. Would
burn DVD / CD, but always get failures during verification (using Nero).
The problem was fixed in plextor firmware 1.04updated and later.

Note: 1.04 has this problem yon need the updated version. Current
available firmware is Ver 1.05 which I've flashed to the drive, but
haven't burn any discs with that yet.

Go to www.plextor.be and download the firmware

Dave.

 

[Dave]

Oh, forgot to add.. I am using rev.1.02 of the A8N-SLI Deluxe.

Note: I have the IDE burner, but Ver 1.05 is for the PX-716A/SA/UF
drives so may fix your problem....

Dave.

 

[Dave]

Note: I have the IDE burner, but Ver 1.05 is for the PX-716A/SA/UF
drives so may fix your problem....

Dave.

Here is the info on the firmware:-

Firmware versions for PX-716A/SA/UF

PX-716A/SA/UF V1.05

* Added: Support for newer 8X DVD+R media
* Support for newer 16X DVD+R media
* Support for newer 8X DVD-R media
* Support for newer 16X DVD-R media
* Support for newer 8X DVD+RW media
* Support for newer 4X and 6X DVD-RW media
* Support for newer DVD+R DL media

* Improvements: Write performance on CD-R media
* Write performance on DVD+R media
* Write performance on DVD-R media
* Write performance on DVD+R DL media
* Write performance on DVD-R DL media
* Write performance on DVD+RW media
* Write performance on DVD-RW media
* Write performance of AutoStrategy

PX-716A/SA/UF V1.04 (updated)

* Improvements: Compatibility with some motherboards <--- Note****

PX-716A/SA/UF V1.04

* Added: Support for newer 8X DVD+R media
* Support for newer 16X DVD+R media
* Support for newer 8X DVD-R media
* Support for newer 16X DVD-R media
* Support for newer 8X DVD+RW media
* Support for newer DVD+R DL media
* Support for newer DVD-R DL media
* Support for 6X writing on DVD+R DL media

* Improvements: Write performance on CD-R media
* Write performance on CD-RW media
* Write performance on DVD+R media
* Write performance on DVD-R media
* Write performance on DVD+R DL media
* Write performance on DVD+RW media
* Write performance of AutoStrategy (12X writing is allowed on 16X
media)
* Write quality of AutoStrategy
* Read performance of DVD media

 

[Jon J. Yeager]

I installed the firmware before posting my message. It's the first thing I
did. Then I called Plextor, and they told me this is a problem they are
already aware of, and don't expect to be fixed for another month or two.
/IF/ it's fixable, that is.

But it works on the SI (RAID).

Go figure. I was thinking of trading the DVD in for the non-SATA version,
but then I'd be stuck with the drawbacks of IDE (huge confining cables,
draws more juice from the CPU, slower, etc.)

If Asus told us they "will" fix this for sure, then I'd wait.

 

[Jon J. Yeager]

Just so we're clear here.. the Plextor PX-716A definitely /works/ with the
A8N-SLI Deluxe?

It's only the 716SA that doesn't... right?

I don't want to trade for the IDE model and realize it doesn't work either.
:-/ I am asking because I just realized that while the SA seemed to work
when put on RAID, it only reads - it won't write.

So keeping it is no longer an option. I am either trading it in for the IDE
version, or another brand SATA DVD writer.

Opinions?

 

[Nocturnal]

Wrong, it's compatible because I have one and I'm using it perfectly fine.

 

[Jon J. Yeager]

What? How the hell did you get it working? We tried everything on this end,
and even Plextor Tech Support told us the two are incompatible... they've
had numerous reports. Asus and Plextor are working on a fix.

You have the PX-716SA (sata) on the A8N-SLI Deluxe as a normal Sata
connection, and it reads and burns? Using either firmware 1.04 or 1.05 (I
tried both)?

Even if it /does/ work for you, unless you can tell me what you did to
/make/ it work, it doesn't help me much. I still have to return it.

 

[Dave]

Just so we're clear here.. the Plextor PX-716A definitely /works/ with the
A8N-SLI Deluxe?

It's only the 716SA that doesn't... right?

I don't want to trade for the IDE model and realize it doesn't work either.
:-/ I am asking because I just realized that while the SA seemed to work
when put on RAID, it only reads - it won't write.

So keeping it is no longer an option. I am either trading it in for the IDE
version, or another brand SATA DVD writer.

Opinions?

Yes, the PX-716A works with my Asus A8N-SLI, however I'm sure the SA
version of the drive is the IDE drive with a IDE to SATA adapter
"bolted" on the back, as the drive is slightly longer that the normal
IDE drive (or it may have been the PX-712SA they did this with, I know
the did it with one of their drives). Still doesn't really help with
your problem.... Sorry.

Note: Plextor released Ver 1.06 for the PX-716A/SA/UF drive today.

Also what bios are you running on your motherboard?

I have and IDE to SATA adapter, so I could see if plugging my PX716A in
to it, then on to the NVidia SATA controller on the A8N-SLI has any
strange effects. However means stripping PC down, but will do it if you
want over the weekend.

What are the symptoms of problem your are experiencing?

Regards,
Dave.

 

[Jon J. Yeager]

Yes, the PX-716A works with my Asus A8N-SLI

That wasn't the question. Plextor told me the 716A works fine with my
motherboard. We are talking about the 716SA. The SATA version, not the IDE.

however I'm sure the SA version of the drive is the IDE drive with
a IDE to SATA adapter "bolted" on the back, as the drive is slightly
longer that the normal IDE drive (or it may have been the PX-712SA
they did this with, I know the did it with one of their drives). Still
doesn't really help with your problem.... Sorry.

At the end of the day, you are just speculating. You never tried the 716SA
proper.

I bought it, tried it, and not only doesn't it work, but Plextor themselves
told me to return it without even troubleshooting it because it is
officially incompatible with the A8N-SLI Deluxe, and they don't expect a fix
for it for another couple of months.

 

[milleron]

Just so we're clear here.. the Plextor PX-716A definitely /works/ with the
A8N-SLI Deluxe?

It's only the 716SA that doesn't... right?

I don't want to trade for the IDE model and realize it doesn't work either.
:-/ I am asking because I just realized that while the SA seemed to work
when put on RAID, it only reads - it won't write.

So keeping it is no longer an option. I am either trading it in for the IDE
version, or another brand SATA DVD writer.

What other DL-capable SATA DVD burners have you found? The Plextors
(712 and 716) are the only ones that have made their way to Newegg.

I don't mind too much using the SI controller. I'm not worried about
performance compared to a regular IDE connection, since multitasking
isn't very important here, and I'm not much concerned about boot times
because I boot only once a day or so. I'd just like to ask once
again, before I spend the extra money on the 716SA if you've found
zero problems with it on the SI SATA controller? Have you had a
chance to test it there? Does it, indeed, work perfectly?

Also, isn't it possible to configure the SI controller as "IDE" rather
than "RAID?" This is very confusing to one who doesn't yet own the
board because the A8N-SLI manual definitely contradicts itself on this
topic. In its section on the SI controller it says that if one wants
RAID, in the BIOS one should "set the Silicon Image Controller item to
'RAID.'" This implies that there's an alternate setting that would
logically be "IDE." HOWEVER, in the BIOS section of the manual, the
only possible settings listed for the SI Controller are "ENABLED" and
"DISABLED." I'd like to ENABLE the controller but DISABLE its RAID
function, but the Asus manual does nothing but confuse me on whether
this is possible.

Thanks for any help on this.


Ron

 

[Jon J. Yeager]

I don't mind too much using the SI controller. I'm not worried about
performance compared to a regular IDE connection, since multitasking
isn't very important here, and I'm not much concerned about boot times
because I boot only once a day or so. I'd just like to ask once
again, before I spend the extra money on the 716SA if you've found
zero problems with it on the SI SATA controller? Have you had a
chance to test it there? Does it, indeed, work perfectly?

No, it did not. It would read, but not write. However, Plextor has since
released firmware upgrade 1.06, which deals very specifically with the
problems I had. I'm 90% sure it would have worked based on the description
of 1.06 and my specific problems using the drive on SI... but I can't
guarantee that. I had made the decision to go back to IDE before trying the
1.06 firmware on SI.

I am now using the IDE version of the 716 and have moved on.

 

[milleron]

No, it did not. It would read, but not write. However, Plextor has since
released firmware upgrade 1.06, which deals very specifically with the
problems I had. I'm 90% sure it would have worked based on the description
of 1.06 and my specific problems using the drive on SI... but I can't
guarantee that. I had made the decision to go back to IDE before trying the
1.06 firmware on SI.

I am now using the IDE version of the 716 and have moved on.

Thanks. That's the info I needed.
Ron

 

[Jon J. Yeager]

Thanks. That's the info I needed.

For what it's worth, I burned an entire 640mb CD in 90 seconds last night.
That thing really does burn at 48x. Hard to imagine the SATA version would
have done better.