VERY unhappy with 9571 drive - anyone else having problems?

[tdhg566]

I'm evaluating DVD burners for use in a corporate environment. Would like to include DVD-RAM if possible. People speak highly of the 9571 and the 4040, so I'm trying both. The 9571 arrived first, and it's a disaster:

(a) drive won't recognize DVD-RAM
(b) can't find a driver update on www.panasonic.com (Windows 2000 SP4 with latest patches is our standard desktop)
(c) dvdinfo says the drive won't report media codes

I'm pretty much ready to pitch this in the round file, or maybe give it to someone to take home and play with unless I get a breakthrough.

FOR THE RECORD: it's unfortunate that Sony doesn't support DVD-RAM because my DRU-510A worked perfectly, from day one. Panasonic will have to do a better job of getting THEIR products to work before they'll successfully promote DVD-RAM.

[Synergy]

I think this drive requires a device driver is installed before the DVD-RAM discs could be used. You can download the drivers from the following link:

http://www.mke.panasonic.co.jp/support/dvdram/lim/eoem/index.html

Apparently Panasonic's website no longer has the drivers and would direct the request to their Japanese site.

[The village idiot]

There is also another page that describes their optical drives and has links for the drivers. But I don't have it marked on this machine. Where is the driver CD that should have come with the drive?

[tdhg566]

All: I VERY MUCH appreciate the link to the drivers. Would not have found them without your help. Will try the updated driver today.

Village: a CD did come with the drive. Label says it contains W2K drivers, and they installed. Drive reads DVD-R fine (if noisy), but DVD-RAM failed completely.

If the new driver doesn't magically fix the media code reporting problem (unlikely since message sounds like it's a hardware/firmware problem), then I still can't recommend this drive. But it might still be usable in machines with another DVD-ROM drive that does report DVD-RAM media codes.

I'll let you know

[andydd]

Youre not alone. i thought it was rubbish too, I tried another one n eventually sent it back n got a 105 instead.

My probs were:-

Didnt recognise most of my DVD RAM discs (even new official panasonic ones)

Didnt recognise most of my DVD-Rs (new or old)

But then again ive seen great reviews of it and spoken to people who said it works great, I have a panny DMRE30 so hoped it would be the perfect companion ...but nope !

Also if you burn a DVD on a DVD-RAM disc..will it play in the DMRE30...of course it wont !

Pity..On paper it looks like a great DVD writer.

[tdhg566]

FINAL CONCLUSION:

[1] The product is packaged for OEM use, not for sale to the average consumer. A Jan 2003 driver CD is included. If that doesn't work for you, you may be SOL, unless...

[2] New drivers are located on an obscure (to me) web site, known only to the initiated. Fortunately the kind and all knowing experts in this forum took pity on me and shared the URL. The Aug 2003 drivers installed easily and fixed all my access problems. I've been able to physically format DVD-RAM media, read DVD-RAM that was formatted on a set top box, etc.

[3] The drive won't report media codes through dvdinfopro. This makes it pretty useless (to me) as the only DVD drive in a machine.

My 4040b just arrived, so I'll remove the 9571 and put it on the shelf until I can decide what to do with it. Hopefully the 4040 will work out better. If not, then I'll wait for the Iomega SuperWriter!

THANKS AGAIN for all the help.

[The village idiot]

I find it odd that it won't report media codes. My Panasonic LF-D311 does. And it is old, 1X only. Must be a firmware thing. I'll track down a link for that for you later. BTW, if you flash the firmware, you will have to run the RAM driver setup again. Else it won't find the drive again.

[tdhg566]

Village: just for kicks, I did flash the firmware again and it didn't make any difference. Also didn't have to install the driver again. Maybe I used the wrong firmware (was A112 and I flashed A112). I agree that it's strange. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I could easily be doing something wrong. I've also sent an email to Panasonic. Will be interesting to see what they say.

But the GOOD news is that the 4040 arrived, it installed like a dream (drivers on included CD worked <g>), and it DOES report media codes. For one off corporate purchases where gosh only knows who will be installing the drive, or where, it's a much better deal. Consumer packaging, instruction book, included CD with drivers that work, support for + formats, etc. etc. etc. Price difference is immaterial.

I think we'll settle on the 4040 for an internal writer, and hopefully the forthcoming Iomega Superwriter for an external version.

[TuxOmatic]

Just for the record, I bought the 9571 and use W2K SP4. I installed it a couple of months ago using the disk that came with it. Everything installed fine and it works great with DVD Movie Factory, RecordNowMax, etc. I use the RAM function a lot, moving things from my HS2 to the computer. I think it's a really nice drive. Sorry you got a bad one.

[tdhg566]

OK. I'm game. Does your drive report media codes, and if so, using what program? I only tried dvdinfopro.

[TuxOmatic]

Oh yeah, you did mention that you needed that. Since I don't check for media codes I kinda forgot that point. So, just for you, I downloaded the free version of DVDINFOPRO and tried it out with a BeAll blank. No dice. I get the same message that you got. Hope you enjoy your 4040!

[tdhg566]

Well, at least our results are consistent! Thanks MUCH for following through and doing the additional test. Yes, I plan on being happy with the 4040!

[The village idiot]

for firmware:http://forum.rpc1.org/portal.php
Panasonic optical info http://panasonic.jp/dvdram/english/

Panasonic download index http://panasonic.jp/dvdram/english/softdl/index.html

It appears that A112 is the newest for your drive.

[FOO]

Are you actually getting PAID for getting free information off
this forum ? Have you no shame ?

[The village idiot]

Are you actually getting PAID for getting free information off
this forum ? Have you no shame ?

Shame???? I'll get where ever I can. And if someone want to pay me for it, I'm available for employment. Anyone?

[tdhg566]

Final report of my dealings with Panny about the 9571. Got nowhere. They finally concluded it was "operator error" and gave me an 800 number to call. So, with regard to their PC based writers, I'm not sure they're listening.

Meanwhile, my 4040b works great. As advertised. That's my go forward device. And waiting on the Iomega external equivalent due out in Oct.