DVD Burner Guide, Optical Drive Flashing + Media FAQ

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gregv01@werk

n00b
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Aug 29, 2003
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Hello guys. I have one question, that I didn't seem to find answered here. Are there any of these dvd-rw drives that you can recommend(are great) that are external? The reason is I own a shuttle and want to be able to keep my cdrom drive installed and keep the dvdburner just for burning. Thanks for any info and great faq. thanks!
 
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Blasterboy460

[H]ard|Gawd
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Aug 2, 2002
Messages
1,610
i seriously think you should look at internal dvd burners, they are cheaper and they act like a cd-rom also, so its not like you are losing your cd-rom. you will be able to read and write CD's and DVD's
 
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BobSutan

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Apr 5, 2000
Messages
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In regards to the mention of the FS0F firmware for the LiteON LDW411S (which I've got).... How do I check the version of the firmware currently on the device?
 
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TechHead

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Originally posted by BobSutan
In regards to the mention of the FS0F firmware for the LiteON LDW411S (which I've got).... How do I check the version of the firmware currently on the device?
Click to expand...

Download and run NeroInfoTool. www.ahead.de
 
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coilz

Gawd
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Apr 3, 2001
Messages
818
Anyone know what a HP DVD writer 300c is? Saids Philips DVD 8310/44 on the top. But doesnt have much useful info on the net.
 
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TechHead

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HP? The 300n is an NEC1100A for sure.. no idea about this 300c.
There's a discussion here about the drive.. people seem to be confused.
 
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renegadez

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 9, 2002
Messages
271
the pioneer a06/106 looks good

does anyone know know anything about the
Pioneer DVR-107 8X DVD+/-RW
compared to the a06/106


which do you guys recommend?
 
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TechHead

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Don't double-post dude.. it just adds to the clutter.. I've replied in your thread too.
 
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Blasterboy460

[H]ard|Gawd
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if you want to change your 411s to an 811s "we are not responsible if you mess your drive up"

http://www.xs4all.nl/~wcprins/Firmware.htm

-worked for me:D

Advisement: From what I understand
"we are not responsible if you mess your drive up"
is a very serious caution, not to be taken lightly
fully research this and alternatives before you commit- Ice Czar
 
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KevC

Supreme [H]ardness
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Oct 21, 2001
Messages
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Here we have the LiteOn LDW-451S... is that the same as the LDW-411S?
 
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TechHead

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Same specs, different Pick Up Head (PUH), hence firmware is different from the 411S. It can be flashed to an 851S though.. 8X +R. Zebra Mod works on it.
 
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Spanner

Gawd
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Oct 18, 2001
Messages
643
Here's a question for the experts. I've got an LG 4081, and I'm getting CSS errors, I can't view let allown burn using this right now. I'm using W2K, all service packs up to date, and using DVD Xcopy. Any ideas?
 
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TechHead

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CSS errors? Do you mean CRC errors? Can you be more specific.. exact error details, system setup, IDE driver version, media?
 
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Blasterboy460

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get dvd decryptor, dvdshrink and nero and have fun. read some articles and learn to use the three
 
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BobSutan

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Originally posted by Blasterboy460
get dvd decryptor, dvdshrink and nero and have fun. read some articles and learn to use the three
Click to expand...

I bought a copy of DVD X Copy about 2 years ago, and once I learned how to use the above, not only did I realize I wasted a hundred bucks, I also found that I had far more options and granularity with the encoding process. With DVDShrink you can get rid of the commercials, FBI warning, and all sorts of crap that was a pain to do in the version of DVD X Copy I had. And Nero 6.x is great for burning DVDs. Out of the 200 or so backups I've made of my DVDs I've had 2 coasters, and 1 was my fault. The other was from a power-outtage.

The best part about DVD Decrypter with DVDShrink is DVD Decrypter gets rid of Macrovision and DVDShrink gets rid of the Region Encoding. I'm not sure which one of them automatically makes it so you can choose the menu you want without having to wait for the disk to let you.
 
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Spanner

Gawd
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Messages
643
Actually, I was getting CSS errors even just trying to play the DVDs. But then we realised that it was trying to read the wrong disk :D It's working fine now, and boy do I feel silly.
 
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sp3nx0r

n00b
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Jun 1, 2004
Messages
23
i bought a lite on LDW-851 and it's supposed to be an 8x writer. However, the only options I get on 6.3 NERO is 2.4x. Is there a way to check the speed that you can write max at, and could there be a reason why it's not burning as fast? This is the burning speed it gave me even before I put blank media in! I don't know what's up with it.
 
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TechHead

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What disc are you using? If the drive can't recognise it, it will default to a 2.4X (safe) writing speed. If you need to know the exact manufacturer of your drive, download SmartBurn from the Lite-On website, and run it.
 
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sp3nx0r

n00b
Joined
Jun 1, 2004
Messages
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ahh good point. i believe i found the culprit, slow media. i didn't realize that if you did a copy, the write speed was limited by the slower of the two discs (in this case, i was reading in a 2.4x and writing out a 4x, found it baffeling that it'd hafta write at 2.4x). good reference tho, the SmartBurn. thanks
 
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Pixeleet

[H]ard|Gawd
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Feb 24, 2003
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I've always wondered... how come Lite-On and NEC drives don't suffer from having only 2mb buffers whereas most other CD-RW and DVD+/-RW drives have 8mb buffers?
 
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TechHead

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Pixeleet said:
I've always wondered... how come Lite-On and NEC drives don't suffer from having only 2mb buffers whereas most other CD-RW and DVD+/-RW drives have 8mb buffers?
Click to expand...
The buffer size really doesn't matter.At 8X DVD-burning speeds, the laser is writing 8*1.355 = 10.84 MB/second. So 2MB will give you .18 second safety and 8MB will give you 0.72 seconds! WHat matters more are the buffer-underrun prrof technologies being employed.
 
MooCow

MooCow

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I'm trying to burn a 3 hour avi file to a DVD, but I found out that its going over the playing time. I thought DVD's were better than this??? :rolleyes:

Or hopefully I'm doing something wrong?
 
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Blitzrommel

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Just thought I'd throw in that the Plextor PX-716A is working very well for me so far, in case anyone was looking into it.
 
Diablo2K

Diablo2K

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Is it worth worrying about getting a DVD Burner that supports Dual layer?
Also I was looking at neweggs site at DVD Burners and noticed witht the dual layer drives that some will burn dvd+r9 and some burn dvd+r DL Is there a differance between the two?

I am looking at buying a new Burner which one should I get, I am on a pretty tight budget also!
 
Ice Czar

Ice Czar

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Dual layer is twice the space on the same disc, however I havent kept up with the current prices for media (which where outrageous last I checked) or the finer points of differences between the two

But TechHead is likely to be about before this time tommorow to answer that (he's nearly 180 degrees out from us being in India)
 
Diablo2K

Diablo2K

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Ice Czar said:
Dual layer is twice the space on the same disc, however I havent kept up with the current prices for media (which where outrageous last I checked) or the finer points of differences between the two

But TechHead is likely to be about before this time tommorow to answer that (he's nearly 180 degrees out from us being in India)
Click to expand...

I was just thinking that with the lack of media and also the really slow record times that it would be more important to look at the other specs and not worry about whether or not the drive has dual layer support.

How long would it take to record 9 gigs of data at 2.4x speeds?
 
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TechHead

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DVD +R DL and DVDR9 are the same. The official name for it is "Double Layer", hence the DL. @ 2.4X speeds, 8.5GB (the capacity of a +R DL disc) will take about 42-45 minutes.
 
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tiebird321

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jun 6, 2004
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might toss in a thought for anyone looking for a slim dvd-rw
best right now is the NEC 6500A
8x dvd+/-R
4x +/- RW
2.4x DL +R (wish it did the new -r DL)

curently under $150usd shipped from a couple of vendors

specialy nice now that name brand 8x dvd-r blanks are under $.40 each

it will burn any cheap media I toss at it at a 4x min
though it is sort of picky on the 8x media
The buffer underrun protection on it works really really well on cd or dvd burning
 
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talley

Limp Gawd
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Dec 8, 2003
Messages
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Blitzrommel said:
Just thought I'd throw in that the Plextor PX-716A is working very well for me so far, in case anyone was looking into it.
Click to expand...

Have you tried to play a movie disc made with it in any set top dvd players?

edit - spelling
 
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Specialist[X]

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talley said:
Have you tried to play a movie disc made with it in any set top dvd players?

edit - spelling
Click to expand...


why? is there something wrong with the plextor px716a? i was just thinking about getting it. what do you guys think of that plextor drive anyway? i mean i can get it for about 140$ before rebate. theres a 50$ rebate on that so it drops down to 90$. then another 30$ rebate which drops it even furthur to about 60$. well i assume this is a pretty good deal from where i can get it. let me know what you guys think. should i get it? what else would you recommend as in a better drive with just as many great features for its price?
 
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4PLaY

Weaksauce
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Jan 16, 2005
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T

TechHead

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4PLaY said:
TDK AID+1616DLN - some help - where to buy?!

It's kinda confusing sometimes what name I should look for.

here's some links to give you guys some idea.

Hardwarezone calls it AID+1616DLN
http://www.hardwarezone.com/article...p?cid=1&id=1239

Tomshardware calls it TDK 1616N
http://www.tomshardware.com/storage...burners-10.html

It's really confusing. I just wanna know where to buy it in the US. Online shop I mean.
Or is there another US name for this device?!
Click to expand...
Don't crosspost please..
 
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