I just purchased a NEC 16X DL DVD±RW Drive, Model ND-3520A. The maximum write speed is 48x for CD-R media, but I have only been able to select 32x write speed with Nero 6.3 (and with 48x CD-R media).

When I use the Nero InfoTool, it says that the maximum write speed is 48x; when I put in a blank CD-R and refresh the Nero InfoTool, it says 32x is the max write speed. Is this a driver or firmware issue. Thanks for any help.

My guess is neither, it's most likely the blank media itself.

I bet you're using some generic blank media, besides, I find it best not to use speeds above about 16x anyways as I tend to burn too many coasters, even when using name brand media.

I have many drives, Aopen, Plextor and TDK among others.

This being said, you can check the manufacturer of that drive and see if there is a later firmware rev. Many times the firmware updates will recognize more blank media and also it can sometimes fix the speed issue and properly allow for faster burns.

There are hacked firmwares available for your NEC drive that allow faster burning on many DVD and CD medias. If your CD-R's only burn at 32X on the stock firmware, I would assume they are old/generic.

gtwannabe, can you link me to those hacked firmware sites, BTW, I've tried both Sony and Memorex CD-R's. Only 32x max speed for both.

Here ya go:

http://tdb.rpc1.org/

Here's the ZIP:

http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_file.php?site=tdb1&file=3520W125.ZIP