Firewire Pioneer A03 DVD R/RW Drive

[krkenter]

Gang, question.

Would it be wise to connect my Pioneer A03 DVD R/RW via firewire? I will be using it to, of course, burn DVD and VCD movies. Is it wise to just connect it internally? Or does it really matter? Thanks.


How 'bout dem 'canes

[JimJohnD]

One consideration would be it needs to be connected to an IDE connector to do firmware upgrades.

[krkenter]

JJD,

I am not feeling you on this. Could you explain a bit more for a non-techie.

The reason I asked this question was because I want to buy this drive and I saw advertisements for a firewire, which seems to be an easier set-up than internal. I just want to know what I am getting into. If it is really is not hard to go with an internal thats not a problem. I will have to figure out how to install the beast

[JHebert]

I'm not sure if all the DVD authoring programs would work with the AO3 drive on a Firewire connection, so check into this before buying.
Also, unless you have a Firewire port already on your computer, you will have to install a Firewire PCI card which is can be just as hard as installing an IDE drive internally plus it costs more.

[krkenter]

Thanks for your comments JH. I am starting to get the feeling I should just forget about this firewire stuff and just install internally and not take any chances about compatibility issues like you mentioned. Thanks again.

[JimJohnD]

IDE is the interface many/most computers use for drive storage ie Hard disk, tape drive, CD-ROM, DVD etc.

It gives the computer a direct connection to all of the drives control lines. When you use a fire-wire box for an IDE drive the box translates the firewire signal to and from the IDE interface. While this works for general usage, transfering data, some of the control signals can get garbled in the translation when you are updating the drives on board programming reffered to as "firmware". From time to time this on-board program needs updated to address any problems people encounter using the divice that the programmers didn't think/know of when it was origionaly released. A new "program" is posted on the manufacturers web site and can be "installed" by the user. I believe the current firmware version for the DVR-A03 is 1_65.

I don't know if this helps but an IDE drive is one of the simplest installs a home user can do. Most computers can control four devices total using the IDE interface provided on most logic/mother boards today.

[Gary]

Just wanted to let you know that I run an A03 through a firewire cabinet with no problems. I do all of my burning using Prassi and have had 100% successful burns.

As mentioned, if you want to do a firmware upgrade you would need to remove it from the housing and attach it directly to an IDE controller to upload. This is not a big deal as you don't need to do it often.

[Robbins1940]

Its not that difficult to install an internal drive. I do it all the time.

But first invest a few pounds on a anti-static wristband, will save you money in the long run.

David

[krkenter]

Hey great hearing from all of you. This REALLY clears it up. Thanks a bunch for you help.