ok first up using the search facilitie i now know the drive is ok for 360 burns (or was when the posts were made) and is the ide twin to the 216 sata)

this is the drive im getting
hxxp://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/667/874/-/6178170/Pioneer-DVR-116D-20x-Internal-IDE-DVD+-RW-Drive-Beige/Product.html?searchtype=genre

some background info
at the moment i have a PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-112D 1.24 which though working faithfully for over a year started to do power calibration errors on the layer break, now since ordering this drive and before i typed this i discovered the culprit could be the media, Disc ID: CMC MAG-D03-64 (both on a box of bulbaq and ritek, same id on both which really is wierd) so my drive could be fine (i know verbatim is the media of choice but on my wages i cant always afford to buy the good stuff and the majority of the average stuff works fine for me) i have now placed that into my server pc for testing (linux system using wine and imgburn) and its had one failure one success(with a verification error) the failure was in the same place as it was in my main pc so it truely is the drive or more likely the media

now the questions
1) am i right that the media is the culprit? (bear in mind some times it works, normaly after a burn with better media almost like tricking it)
2) if the drive is ok, which is the best to use for future 360 burns the 112d (firmware 1.24) or the new 116d?
3) anyone know what the recommended firmware for the 112d and the 116d is ? i assumed just the latest official but then i know you can get custom firmware etc just havent found any (google is not always my friend some times he dont even talk to me)
4) is it safe to place either drive into an enclosure ? or does that give way to errors
5) any tips on drives or burning you have?(other then use verbatims ofcourse though if you know a cheap uk source of verbatims im all ears)

any and all help is greatfully recieved

sorry cant find the edit button...
ritek above should read ridisc not sure how i got onfused but oops so its bulbaq and ridisc that have the cmc dye im on about lol (i doubt that helps anyone answer the questions but i dont want to slam ritek with this dye as im yet to try that brand)

again im sorry to now tripple post but there is no edit button, and i kind of thought i would have a couple of replys by now maybe a mod can merge these posts together for me, please)

ok last night i managed to get another two of those discs to error and then one worked so i kept trying to burn (even the succesful ones are being bined teres only so many backups of one game a guy can need lol but they are dud discs in my opinion so its useful to test for others)
now heres the startling thing;
once there has been a successful burn, so long as imgburn is not turned off all others will be ok, turn imgburn off and you get a dud again. its like its keeping the drive in some sort of ready stance (yeah i know jack about drives lasers etc but to my eyes thats what its doing)

now i have further questions but rather then make another thread when its kinda related ill post here

6) i have a sh-d 162c drive (with kroen firmware? think thats the name) that i use to make the original image to back up, but thats in my windows pc and of course the burner is in my linux server (running ubuntu) can you direct me to a tutorial for software to make backups on linux instead of windows (i might try installing the tools i use under wine later but would prefer a linux based option lol)

7) have i asked something stupid in the first 5 questions as i dont seem to be getting any replys? (i did search before asking) or is it just that the 116d is too new for most to be able to reply or compare?

first it would be a lot easier to conclude if you were burning this from Windows , check there are a few thread on burning from Linux.

My suggestion to clear the uncertainty on this, bring your burner in you Windows system and use Xbcreator to call imgburn (burn at 2.4x unles you are using verbatim 8x) .

then if all is nice. move it to a USB enclosure, it works great for me.

soso

well i got my 116d today. The media that errored in my 112d also errors in my 116d drive (the verbatims i recently got, though made in indea work perfectly in my 112d drive at the riddiculouse cost of the media im unwilling to try them in my second drive till i actualy need to back up a game (proberly buying wwe vs raw friday so ill update then)

the firmware for the 116d is 1.07 (most recent i could find with google was 1.07 so seems its upto date) manufactor date august 2008 so its relitive new in its life as well as new from play.com (though no box)

a little tip for all those that may be using wine, to get it to see two drives you have to;
1)go into wine configuration as normal and click autodetect then aply (this you have to do with one drive anyway)
2) click add
3) browse to media then cdrom select it (if cdrom0 is mounted then select cdrom or cdrom1 which ever is not already in the list)
4) click advanced and change the type to cd-rom( autodetect dont cover it)
5) click apply and then load up imgburn

i have to do this everytime i restart my server pc it took me two hours to discover this so a thankyou wont go amiss lol(only if it helps ofcourse)

(oh decided to keep it internal for now seeing as the cost of a external case is twice the cost of the drive my wallet made that decision for me)