The interface is a bit cumbersome but easy enough to navigate and work with, once it is set it retains the info. To copy select either the original cd or image file, load the blanks and walk away. When the copies complete the drive(s) will eject, load more blanks to burn additional copies. It takes just under ten minutes for a 4gb dvd at 16x speed. Recently I throttled down the burn speed to 8x for greater compatibility.

If I remember correctly the wytron designates the partitions as a-z then aa,ab,etc. It appears to be a fat32 file system but I can not get winxp to recognize the drive. I had hoped to drag and drop the iso files I currently have but no luck. The only way I have found is to load the original disc into the source of the duplicator and rip it to the designated partition in the duplicator drive caddy. One thing to note is the controller keeps the same partition info for the drive. IE if you select 4.7gb partitions and copy a 750mb cd image you will still allocate 4gb for the cd image. There is not a way to name the partitions other than the default alphabetical letters. I assume if you have multiple hard drives in caddies you could have a very effective archive ready to copy.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have additional ?s.

Joe

I think your potential system sounds quite fine. I would ,however, check to see if they are now quoting against Pioneer's latest which I believe is the 111 version.


Martin

Athena
 

How about the Athena controllers? Or are they all about the same?

Joe

DVD duplicator
 

Well... I finally have my gear together and have fired it up but not actually run a disc as yet.

I got a Wytron controller complete with data cables, via ebay, from sandyyang78, good price(best price I could come across) and fast shipping. The 9space case I got from copycats complete with a 500 watt supply and power leads. I bought the 6 Pioneer 111 from Can computer in Vancouver. I must say I was very pleased with the service from each. Now to try the complete product. I am actually waiting for a new hard drive to arrive.
Incidentally, I had a question about the connections so dropped an e-mail off to Wytron in Taiwan and had an answer the next morning. The guy even made some suggestions to save cost and set up best. Can't beat that.

Now I still need to learn about the best way to print on or label a disc. Any suggestions?

Martin

Athena Duplicators
 

I built a Dup. tower with an Athena 11-1 controller. I built it into a 14 bay enclosure I bought a few years back that I had a couple of Firewire (2) drive controllers in to use for Video Production with each having an Hard Drive and DVD burner. I really never used both sets so I left one HD in and had 11 empty bays in it.

Right now I have 6 Pioneer DVD-111D burners in it (firmware 1.06 may upgrade firmware to current 1.23 once I can do it on my Mac platform). I also have a HD (in a removable Sled) and an ASUS E616A2 reader. I also have a Macpower DigitalDoc 5 to monitor the temperature at 8 points with in the enclosure. Right now I can increase it to 9 drives without removing anything and once I'm satisfied around the temperature in the case can get it 11 easy enough by removing the DigitalDoc 5 and the FW Drive but don't see this need at the current time. I use this to Dup the Video DVD projects I do in my Video Production company. I was burning through two computers and now have them free of this.

I choose this Duplicator card as it does a more dynamic HD partition in that it partitions the drive into 1 gig units and a CD will use one and a DVD will use 1 to 5 depending on the size of the project. Other units you have to configure a drive for either CD's or DVD's and each CD will use a gig and and Each DVD will use 5 gigs (even CD's on a DVD set up drive will use 5 gigs). I also used the removable Drive Sled to be able to have multiple HD's as the need arises. Current Drive is a 200 gig drive which allows for 184 CD or 34 DVD's in it's reporting function.

Another advantage of this Controller is that it allows for you to have different Burner model so if I need to scale up above my 6 Pioneer DVD-111D's and they are no longer easily available I can use the latest with what I already have. Other Duplicators require the same Burner's with the same FW to work properly.

I just built this is the last week and have only burned less that 30 DVD's on it as of yet, I'm looking forward to no longer using my Computer to burn copies. I will try to report in on my impresssions as I incorporate this into my work flow.

Trying to put together a duplicator
 

Hello, I've been looking into trying to put one of these together myself and this is what I came up with so far:

Acard Controller ARS-2033S : 1-to-7 DVD - costs $85
http://www.acard.com.tw/english/fb01...r&type1_idno=4

Silver Black 7 Target DVD CD Duplicator Case - costs $105
http://cgi.ebay.com/Silver-Black-7-T...ayphotohosting

3 Silver NEC 3550A drives from newegg - costs $117
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827152060

Seagate 120GB Internal Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive costs = $50
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....7&type=product
OR:
Seagate 120GB Internal Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive costs = $80
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....3&type=product

Total so far = $357(with seagate) and $387(with western digital)

That's what I got so far. I know I still need a dvd-rom drive, but that shouldn't be hard to get, so I just wanted to make sure I was heading in the right direction first, you know. If anyone has any feedback, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Cory's duplicator
 

I can't comment on the specific items. I am not familiar withe ACARD controller but it is probably similar to the wytron I bought. I would suggest finding the manual online and reading it, to make sure you have all the info you need and it is understandable. If you are doing any amount of copying you might consider filling the drive bays, thus ensuring you have the same model burners (just in case...). Hard drive wise , I ended up using an "old" 40G drive I had in an old computer. Works fine and as long as I don't need more than 6 or 7 dvd sources to be stored I am fine.
Make sure that the controller you purchase comes with all the ribbon cables you need, namely for the full number of drives it can handle. I forgot to check this but luckily the unit had everything. Make sur that the case has lots of ventilation, mine came with three fans and a 500watt supply along with all the power supply cords (another thing to check). What? me paranoid....???

Setup of the whole system was easy and it works fine.

Best of luck
Martin

Hardest Part
 

Fretting over the choices is the hardest thing you will face. Not knowing what you needs are, I would say the drive size would be a bit smallish. And keep in mind most of the units require same drive and same firmware version unlike the Athena controller I used.

Most controllers come will all the IDE cables your will need, at least in my research. As long as the case is designed for drives it should have the amount of cables to fill the number of bays it offers too.

Beware of people selling normal cases with normal computer power supplies.

Also cooling needs to be properly addressed and in my limited testing on my tower it seems to not be an issue at all as a few concurrently burns in a row increased temps in the case just a few degree F.

Keep us informed.

Brian

After further review
 

Hey guys, I've ordered everything except my hard drive. I looked at some of your suggestions and altered my components a bit. Here is what I have now:


Acard Controller ARS-2033S : 1-to-7 DVD - costs $85
http://www.acard.com.tw/english/fb01...r&type1_idno=4

Xcase 9 bay 500w 3 fans
http://copystars.com/xcase_9_bay_dvd...er_60_prd1.htm

ASUS E616A 16X DVD-ROM (Black)
http://www.laptops4me.com/product_in...ducts_id/11114

NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Silver IDE Model ND-3550A
http://www.chiefvalue.com/product/pr...tem=27-152-060

I'm having a problem here
 

Maybe it's just me, but I am missing something here. I have all those pieces now except for the hard drive, but I don't understand how the drives and the controller are supposed to stay fixed in the tower. Is there a piece I am missing from the tower. It came with a bunch of screws, but I don't know what to do with them.

new tower
 

Hi Cory

If you open up both sides of the case and take off the front cover you should see how things go together. Mind you the front cover is often the hardest part to remove. It is often held in place by a bunch of plastic snap pins/pieces. Look through the open sides and start playing with the front. Onmce you find "pivot" point start trying to release it. Once the front is off you should be able to slide the various drives into place and attach through the sides with those screws. hard to explain but once you get started you will see what is needed. Then connect all the wires and you should be running.
If you have difficulty take some pix and post them and some of us should be able to help.

Best of luck.

Martin

Hey, thanks for your help Martin. I've taken off the sides and the front, but I don't see where you're supposed to screw in the drives. Could you please help me? I don't think I'm authorized to post pics. I do have them though. Update, I see two small holes on each side of the drives. Are those the ones to stick the screws in? I tried screwing one drive in and it looked good. Also, do any screws need to go on the bottom of the drives?

Hi Cory

Sounds like you should be on your way. My case had a series of holes that when you lined up the screw holes on the drives it allowed one to place one drive above another and align them front to back by a small amount.

Most drives come with several sets of screw holes. Normally the side ones are what are needed. If you are not sure as to the screw hole/ screw combination try one to make sure the screw is not too long or that you are not cross-threading.
Depending on the space in your case you might find it easier to install one at a time and connect the power and data cables before going to the next. Matter of choice.

Martin

SUCCESS!!!! I got it to work last friday! It's been going good since. Thanks Martin and Brian, I really appreciate all of your help. I now have another problem, albeit a small one. I bought two antec 80mm tricolor fans for my duplicator, but the connectors aren't compatible with the ones on the duplicator. Any ideas? Thanks.

Hmmm...
 

Generally the fans I've bought came with an adapter to go from the standard drive power connector like the DVD Drives and hard drive have to what the fans need. Other wise you can just splice it in being sure to hook it to the correct wires. I'm betting the fan is 12 VDC.

built one
 

1. Acard 2033S controller from Amamax.com $145
2. 9 bay case from Copystars $84
3. Lite On DVD-ROM from Newegg $18
4. Pioneer 111 DVD RW drives from Newegg $35.00 each

All prices are the best I can remember here at work, but it was all free shipping and I have $500 in a 1 to 7 duplicator that would have cost almost $1400 at Microboards. BTW - it uses the same RW drives as a standard Microboards.

Super easy to build and works like a champ.

Cory,

Now that you have had the duplacator for a while how is it doing, any problems?

Where did you find a ARS-2033S for $85?

Thanks,
Bill

Hey Bill. Sorry, I haven't been on here in awhile. This is a great forum, so I can't just abandon it. My duplicator is still working like a heavyweight champ. Thanks for asking. I actually lucked out in regards to the Acard controller. I bought it off of ebay. Looking back on that, man that was a great deal. The cheapest price I found after that is $115.

I need a little help here.......
 

Hello. My name is Phillip Massey.
I was doing a search about building a dvd duplicator and I saw the responses here about building one. I just a have few questions that I know someone the answers to. So will anyone help me if you can.
Well, first let me tell you what I have.
PC/Dupicator case XCase model number 2727D
- Motherboard MaxSpeed KM800
- Processor: AMD Sempron (Boxed)
- Memory: 512 DDR
- 2 Hard Drive 120 gigs each
- Wytron DVD Controller
- 1 DVD ROM
- 5 DVD-RW
- 550Watt Powersupply
And this is what I would like to do :
I want to build an duplicator with HD and motherbord So really it would be a PC with 5 DVD burners.

first,do you connect or how do you conect the controller card to the HD or the motherboard ?
How would you install XP ? (since this will be also a PC).
Is the Master drive(DVD rom , the reader) will also be conected to the motherboard ?
My case only have the switch to turn "it "on. Meaning that I think I can only turn on one "thing "as one whole unit,either the mothboard or the burners. I dont have a switch to turn on the motherboard and then other swith for the DVD burners. If this case is a problem or if you know of a case to buy please let me know.
So I want to be able to burn DVD's and also use this as a PC.

I think that covers it,but if you guys know of anything that I didn't ask and I should, to please tell me.
thank you again for the help.


phillip massey
e-mail: phillipmassey@hotmail.com

I bought a controller, box premade and the drives. I didn't go the motherboard route. There are several part lists in threads along these lines. Each having a link to parts. The cheapest way I found was the box, controller and drives.

You don't need the motherboard, but if you do build it to fit both a pc and duplicator, you'll need a mother board that has a lot of power and connectors. Honestly, I think you would appreciate a seperate duplicator better.

Source for DVD Duplicators?
 

I am building a duplicator, but I am not clear on whether I am supposed to use an "image" file (.iso extension when I create using Encore DVD) or do I use a DVD that has already been burned as the source for duplicator?

Do you have a manual with the controller you bought? it should explain it in there. If not, I owuld go with the dvd as the source to store from.

I downloaded the manual (I am still awaiting delivery of the controller unit), but they are not specific about the nature of the source. Maybe I am making this much more complicated than it needs to be and all I have to do is burn a DVD and load it into the dvd-rom of the duplicator, save it to the hard drive, and start duplicating. That is my best guess, but I was hoping some of the existing users out there could clarify this one for me....

Any Problems with the DVD 399?
 

I also built a 9 target with the Wytron DVD-399 all of a sudden using the Load function at start-up it appears to no longer copy to the hard drive first. but will work with the Copy function disc to disc ! got any ideas ? I took the 120 gig hard drive out and checked it it appears to be ok. I reformated it did not know if it just got full or if the controller keeps the drive up to date. It still wont work... went thru the set up again if you have no ideas I guess it is back to company with the card and just when I was getting a fairly decent job to copy ?

if anyboody else has had this problem I would appreciate any help . I have updated the firmware to 3.27 I think is the latest

Larry

A couple questions
 

Greetings,

I'm new to the forum, I signed up here mainly for this thread. I'm planning on building a duplication tower and this thread has been the single best resource on the web for me!

My first question is, does a tower need any software, other than what comes with the hardware? Or is that not necessary at all? For example, some of the burner drives come with Nero or other burning software. Is that necessary for the burners to work? Or can that be detrimental for compatibility with the controller card?

My other question is, how do you upgrade firmware? Do you hook up the controller, DVD drives etc. to a computer, download firmware off the web and install it like that? Do you burn firmware to a disc and run it in the drives? How does that work?

Thanks for the help, I'm glad I've found this place and I'm glad to be here.

My first question is, does a tower need any software,

Controller cards have all the software you need for copying and other functions a little bit of a learning curve on each card.

My other question is, how do you upgrade firmware?

I've never ungraded my firmware but the Manuel for the card will describe how to download the firmware and copy to a CD then that is placed in the read drive to update all the drives.. at once. I use a Acard 9 burner model card with Pioneer 16 X burners


Larry Pierce

No, the controller card you buy takes care of the duplication control. Firmware, not sure.

Thanks
 

Thanks for the replies Larry and Steven. I'm about ready to make my purchases. Any other pointers people have on this subject is welcome. Thanks again.

Jake

Burner Drives?
 

Is it a good idea to stay away from OEM drives as general practice? I'm reading reviews at newegg and every drive out there has negative reviews mixed in with the positive ones. It makes me feel like I'm just rolling the dice with whatever choice I make.

Does anyone have any recommendations or words of wisdom for choosing my set of burner drives?

Thanks,

Jake

IDE Cables?
 

Greetings,

I have a couple other questions.

Do DVD drives usually come with IDE cables?

And, how do you power your drives? Do you need to hook them up with separate power cables? If so, how does that work?

Please excuse my ignorance, and thanks for all the help.

Jake

the duplicator controller normally ships with IDE cables (well all the wytron ones I've ever bought have had full set numbered 1 to 9 included)

the duplicator case power supply will usually have a full set of power plugs, though I've had a few that needed a couple of Y splitters to handle full set of 8 burners, 1 hard disk and the controller (with everything imaged to hard disk I never bother with dedicated readers, I prefer just doubling up one of the burners for reader duties to get 8 burners in a unit rather than 7 and a reader)

Pioneer and toshiba never caused me any problems ran off of wytron controllers

Buy a few extra drives at time of purchase for swapping out any failed ones you might end up with later on That way you wont have to worry about firmware revisions etc - theres nothing worse than trying to scrabble around finding one or two of whats become last years model of burner 12 months down the line to recomplete a matching set.