Pioneer DVR-105: Firmware to burn 1x media @ 2x

[elister]

I've got white label DVD-Rs, they are 1x, they work just fine in my JVC player. I was told that this Cendyne is basically a Pioneer drive and had a firmware update that allowed you to burn at 2x using 1x media.

A few questions.

1) How reliable is this firmware, im assuming it was created by an end user who knows thier stuff.

2) How does one write to the firmware? Im used to flashing the bios with a DOS boot disk. Is it a Windows flash? Do I write the firmware to a CD-RW and boot into DOS?

3) Im still using the DVD Burning software that came with the unit, wich is Nero Express. I have Nero 5.5, but it doesnt do DVD burners. Should I be using different software?

I ran a firmware found off this site, http://pioneerdvd.rpc1.org. It has a few updates thrown into one firmware. Yet when Nero Express does not give me the option to burn at 2x. So im either flashing the firmware wrong, the software doesnt support this, or the firmware I used didnt work.

Any ideas?

[Barnabas]

IMHO,

using hacked firmware is taking a BIG risk. Burning media faster than it is made to be burned at can cause cracking of the disk. With 4x media so low now, it doesn't pay to take these kinds of risks. Read the forums on people that messed up a drive with hacked firmware.

What version does Nero say your firmware is after the upgrade?

Pioneer latest firmware is 1.33 btw.

Your drive IS a Pioneer DVR-105/A05, it's just offered and packaged by Cendyne. I have the same exact drive.

Nero has been able to burn DVD's for a while now.

Perhaps some users who have tried that hacked firmware can post the results here.

[macleod]

I have the exact same burner as you and I have the hacked firmware. I use princo 1X's and burn at 2X with the latest release of nero and I have never had a coaster as a result of the firmware upgrade. I say that because on my latest batch of prino's, 2 of them had some "weird" stuff at the outer edge and the last 30 seconds'ish of the movie on them skipped. I have played them on toshiba's, apex's, PS2's, and they all play fine.

[Excellerator]

I have been using that same hacked firmware for a while now with NO troubles. Works good. Its what Pioneer SHOULD have done in the first place. I have burned 2x even on cheap DVD-R's with no trouble.

[elister]

Thanks for the input folks, looks like the firmware didnt flash properly the first time I did this. But its working now, Nero Express now gives me the option of 2x, which will save me ALOT of time.

[Barnabas]

elister,

2 questions.

1: What was the version of your firmware before you upgraded it?
2: How does the media you are burning at 2x play on your stand-alone DVD player? Does they play to the very end of the disk without problems?

[elister]

elister,

2 questions.

1: What was the version of your firmware before you upgraded it?
2: How does the media you are burning at 2x play on your stand-alone DVD player? Does they play to the very end of the disk without problems?

It was the 1.33 version of the Firmware, located off the site I posted above.

Im using generic white label dvd-r media, sorry it took a few days to reply, but I havent yet burned a DVD movie until last night. It was just a 3.2 gig burn, so it didnt fill up the disc. It was converted from SVCD using SVCD2DVDMPG+, and played just fine from begining to end on my JVC player. I will attempt some 4.33 gig burns and report back to this thread if problems do arise.

The speed is such that im really not interested in 4x media at this time, its hard to find and filling up a 4.2 gig disc in 30 minutes is fast enough since I have 4 computers switchboxed.

That patch is a godsend.

[Alan69]

Just another post to say that the patch works wonders, get it if you have this burner. 30 minutes a disk is good enough to not worry much about 4x until they're equally cheap, and I've also had no coasters even from cheap discs.

Alan