# External DVD burner - Randomly disconnecting



## ebo0763 (Oct 16, 2006)

My external DVD burner is plugged on my USB 2.0 port.  It works great exept that sometimes,even if i don't use it, it just logicly disconnect (the plug still physicaly connected), its not in "My Computer" anymore, so I unplug it, and plug it back, then it works (for a while).  It is a *BENQ DW-1655* (internal type) that I've plugged with USB 2.0 adapter. The store that i bought it from checked the drive and the USB adapter and everything is ok, they've set it to Master and it dosent make a difference.  The same USB adapter works perfecty with my other "external" Hard Drive, and i use on the same USB connector of my PC (i use XP SP2, P4 3.2GHz, 2Gb RAM DDR, 80 Gb H.D.).  And i also installed the driver for my DVD burner (BCIB). Everything should be allright, i don't know why it does that.  Do you have a idea?


----------



## PC eye (Oct 16, 2006)

When going to burn a disk the power demand has increased a little more then you would see with other usb type devices. The usb bus only provides a certian limited level of current where the demand is greater then supply. This can happen with where the usual power for a burner or hard drive is 12v with the larger current seen available for the internally connected drives.

 Burning a dvd will have a tendency to draw more power then simply reading or playing one. You may want to consider going with an internal or internally connected model.


----------



## The_Other_One (Oct 16, 2006)

Dad had a similar problem with his old one.  Turned out to be his enclosure/USB to IDE converter.


----------



## ebo0763 (Oct 16, 2006)

_____For PC eye ____    Ok thanks, but I don't think its the reason why.  I have two cables, one for the USB connection (only for data transfer), and the other one is the power cable.  The power cable is connected directly from the wall to the power input of the dvd.  So the power that goes into the dvd dosen't come from the USB...  So what do you think?


----------



## PC eye (Oct 17, 2006)

It will see more power drawn there by the larger data stream placed on the usb bus itself. Although the usb is far faster then the ide transfer rate the ide generally much heavier loading between more then one drive. When booting your system with an ide host or running games from a cd in a drive even moving files from drive to drive you have a wider bandwidth.

 When using a web cam or card reader you are not placing a large load on the usb bus. Burning dvds requires minimal background activity on many systems since it draws heavily on system resources. The usb bus itself will see occasional glitches with printers and other devices even a mouse. Plus the board's usb drivers themselves will see bumps at times and need to be reinstalled.

 The main thing to know is that the current level for usb with no load is between 100mA and 135mA max with a low voltage of 4.75v to the max of 5.25v and seeing the maximum output of upto 500mA. Usb hubs are lower with a max output of 350mA. It's not the input power for the device or drive that gets pulled down but the low current on the bus itself.


----------



## ebo0763 (Oct 17, 2006)

Well thank you for all that information.  And i guess there is nothing i can do to fix my problem.


----------



## PC eye (Oct 18, 2006)

The main problem there is the lack of buffering that you will find with internal ide burners. Video processing and multimedia playback put a good load on the cpu as well. One little bump on the usb bus and the show is over while the frequent lags on the ide bus will pickup in a shorter period of time.

 The best results I hear of and found for myself was with the Sony models run here as well as Lite-On and Nec. The internal drives here will burn both "+" and "-" media without headaches except the occasional frizbie there.   But you have to expect a bad disk every once in awhile if you go through enough of them.


----------



## ebo0763 (Oct 19, 2006)

Well, thank you!


----------

