2 dead Pioneer A03 units, media to blame?

[winman42]

Hi folks, any experiences or help appreciated....

I have two machines. The first is a custom machine with a Pioneer
A03 installed, worked fine until a few days ago. 2nd pc is a SONY
Vaio, which came installed with a Pioneer A03 unit. (both pc's
are running XP pro)

2 days ago BOTH units stopped working. This is, to the best of
my recollection, after i used MEMOREX 2x rated media in each
machine.

The Sony Vaio unit will NOT read any type of discs, be it dvd-r/rw
or cdr/rw.

The drive in the custom machine will ONLY read cdr/rw media.

I have no idea why this happened, because i assumed some of
the older drives would have issues with newer 4X rated media,
not 2x rated media.

I have uninstalled the drives in CONTROL PANEL, as well as
the IDE channels. Nothing works.

Anyone have any ideas, or did this media somehow screw both
units?

Various virus checks didnt detect anything abnormal.

thanks,

Win

[PhilipL]

Withdrawn

[disturbed1]

Could be an ASPI problem.

If you have installed or uninstalled any program that has a burning interface, this can screw your ASPI.

2x media will not hurt the A03.

4x can be used on the A03/A04 IF you have the latest firmware installed.


Any DLA (packet writing software) can wreck havock with CD/DVD recorders. Uninstall these if you have them.

If you've recently flashed your firmware, you may of done a bad flash. There are ways to recover from a bad flash. http://forum.rpc1.org/portal.php has info on how to do this.

[winman42]

thanks guys...i havent installed anything recently, other than NERO 6
on both machines about 3 weeks ago.

The sony vaio unit has never had its firmware updated...its
using version 1.55

It shows as Pioneer DVD-RW DVR 104 1.55

The Pioneer update software says 'selected drive is not Pioneer model, maybe OEM model'

The Pioneer A03 in the custom was using a hacked firmware that allowed 2X writing for all media. No problems until now. I've since changed it
to pioneer firmware 1.90

Win

[disturbed1]

The sony vaio unit has never had its firmware updated...its
using version 1.55

It shows as Pioneer DVD-RW DVR 104 1.55

Win

An A04 with a 1.55 firmware

Typo right?

ftp://ftp.ita.sel.sony.com/ccpg/pc/PI-402000A01A2.EXE

Go there to get the newest firmware for your Sony's Pioneer Unit. This is their update utility for both the A03 and A04. Only runs on XP and ME, so you'll be fine.

2.00 is the newest firmware for the A03.

If your using Intel's Application Accelerator, try to uninstall it. Attempt to burn, if that doesn't work, reinstall it.

Go ahead and update to the newest ASPI layer http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/support/drivers_by_product.html?sess=no&cat=%2fProduc...ASPI%2BPackage

I personally use Force ASPI myself.

[winman42]

Ok, i made a mistake in writing this info..The sony unit is in fact
showing as It shows as Pioneer DVD-RW DVR 103 1.55

Sorry for the confusion. I'll follow that link, and see what happens.

Currently the Sony 103 unit will NOT see nay media loaded. Of course
its hard to tell if discs are even loading, because with the VAIO units,
you cant see the little light on the front of the unit.

[winman42]

Ok, i just tried running the sony update, from the link you provided.
I get this error:


This program is not designed to work on this computer.
This update is not intended for use with your computer model

Again, i'm using XP pro, and my Vaio model is the PCV-RX554

thanks so much for helping guys,

Winston

[winman42]

Anyone else have any ideas? Cant get the sony update software
to run on my machine.

Win

[lordsmurf]

The 103 are some of the worst drives to mess with. Read up at www.firmware-flash.com. There are so many variables, it would take all day to write them down.

If you get to a point where you give up, I repair Pioneer -R drives.

[winman42]

Wellm still no luck with either of my A03 units. I went out and purchased
an LACIE model dvd recorder. Its basically a Pioneer A06, which is
nice.

So i loaded up dvd decrypter, and put in one of the memprex discs
that is SUPPOSED to be 2x rated. And it comes up as a 4X disc.

I guess this is what #%$&^# my units !!

So memorex releases 4x media in 2X packaging, the idiots.

Win

[handyguy]

Won't pioneer give you a new writer if you have that media issue of using high speed media in it?

[winman42]

No they wont..Pioneer has made it clear that some older units,
like my A03 will have problems like this with 4x media..if you dont
upgrade the firmware. I didnt upgrade the firmware because i had
no intention of using 4X media, since the A03 doesnt write at 4x
speed anyway.

I didnt expect to get 2x media that was secretly 4x media, from
those clowns at MEMOREX

Win

[Barnabas]

You SHOULD upgrade your firmware, even if you don't want to use 4x media, or as companies make changes to the media they now make, they won't burn on your drive.

[Neckel]

Hi there...

I'm having (or had) a DVR-A03 which is used in a MacIntosh. I finally got the unit to work properly by downgrading the original 1.65 firmware to apple's 1.49 firmware. Everything worked more or less fine, meaning I was able to use the unit properly in OS 9, not under OS X though. Anyway, I was well aware of the burnout problem that could occure using high speed DVD-RWs. What I didn't know is that the same problem could arise by using high-speed CD-RWs. I tried to write such a CD-RW and my unit's dead now. Can't read or write DVD's anymore but managed to write a CD-R. Reading CDs is also not working anymore. Anybody had the same problem ?

[chaseru]

Try cleaning the laser lens directly. Open the case (there are instructions if you search for them) and thoroughly clean the lens with some good alcohol (90% or better) and a Q-Tip. This procedure is not hard and if you're about ready to throw the drive away it can't hurt.

My A03 was not working or only getting sporadic performance. I tried many of the suggestions above. It didn't work until I cleaned the lens. Its been working like a trooper since.

[jdizzy40]

Memores has a warning on their 4x media that the drive will be damaged if used without the firmware upgrade. The A03 is listed.

[nganvu]

Hi, everyone!
I have Sony Viao with a DVD-RW DVR-104. I am asking for the permission to jump in this thread, because my questions are kind of related to this topic.
I will wait for your answer first before jumping in. If it is not allowed, I will make out my own new thread.

Thank you
Ngan

[lordsmurf]

I've hacked a SONY A04 (PIONEER OEM) to a true PIONEER FIRMWARE 2x4ALL. Works great to this day.

What's your question?

[nganvu]

I went to disturb1 link and downloaded, the installed the file PI-402000A01A.exe to upgrade my Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-104.
While installing, I received this message as a pop up box: NO MATCh. I clicked at OK. Then I received anothe message: 0 drive(s) installed.
What did I do wrong?
I have a Sony Viao.
Can my drive use 2x and 4x CD disks?