Heartland

Haven't given this much thought before but is it possible to build 2 cd burners into a desktop CPU, one as master other as slave (I mean does that provide any conflicts or such) ?

Also do internal cd burners require firmware updates like their external counterparts ?

Yup it's possible to build a desktop with 2 CD burners, if you're using IDE you have 2 channels with up to 2 devices on each channel. If your systems only has 1 hard disk, then you could put 3 CD burners in there There shouldn't be any conflicts, some motherboards like Master and Slave configs while others will happily work with CS (Cable Select) it's best practise to have them on different channels so you can burn 'on the fly'

and yup internal CD burners can have firmware updates. Best checking with the manufacturers web site.

Ignore this post, just been beaten to the, eh... uhrm post by sisx seems you meant all internal anyway Tom

A colleague (and I use that word in its loosest context) used to run a G4 with an internal and external burner, without any hiccups.
I've got two DVD burners at work on a G5, one internal and one external. Had nae probs with them.
On the firmware front, the only updates I've needed have been for the actual machine rather than peripherals.

Thanks,

I was thinking of purchasing another cd burner as they are practically free these days (52x32x52 Samsung for 30 Euro) Have an older 12x10x12 Freecom (which is NEC built) burner which seems rather slowish when feeded 48x and 52x certified discs (i.e. cannot burn at 'maximum' speed) Perhaps a firmware update will solve that?

Anyway, thanks for the help will buy that Samsung.


Weeding, anyone?

I have two on board. no worries, just do as the clever man above wrote. switch those little clip things around for master and slave unit

but as a top trader, you shouldn't need more than maximum 4X speed

NEVER burn disks at maximum speed on a 52X burner, not unless you want interesting "remixes".

For trading I never burn faster than 8X, these days I don't read the disks in at speeds much faster than that either. For personal backup disks I never burn faster than 24X.

Also remember that if you wanna burn concurrently you need to have both your CD Burners of seperate IDE cables. Putting a CD ROM drive on the same cable as your hard drive isn't advised as your hard drives performance may take a dip.

I personally have a 52X burner (master) and a DVD ROM drive (slave) sharing and IDE cable and my HDD all on it's lonesome.

My old 8X HP burner sits in my second machine.