Compatable media for dru 510

[rawplug]

I want to find out if there is a definative list of supported media (DVD+-r and DVD+-RW) for the DRU510, do sony provide a list ?

Wheres the cheapest place to buy compatable media in the uk ?

Is it true that the drive wont recognise balnk DVD media which has not been enabled in the firmware ?


Cheers

[SaSi]

I will start with your last question first. Initial versions of the firmware were more relaxed in checking the compatibility of media for 2x speed. The earlier versions allowed media to burn at 2x, although the media may have been certified at 1x. Newer versions are more strict and know more media codes to exclude from 2x recording.

However, !!! , I have recently succesfully used Sentinel 1X -R media (the 1x is very clearly printed on the DVD face) and the drive suggested 2X recording. I burned and verified the 3 samples I had succesfully.

On the other hand, I have also been given unbranded media to try. The person who gave them to me has been using this media for 2X recording on Pioneer A05 drives. Burning them on the SONY with f/w 2.0e failed. The lead-out recording was unsuccesful.

Reverting back to f/w version 1.0e allowed me to succesfully burn and verify 3 of the disks. I still have 15 to go.

You draw your own conclusions.

To be safe, I normally buy TDK media, and prefer -R because it's cheaper. In the last few days I have found that TDK 4X media (both +R and -R) have hit the market here. Tried 3 -R I could find and all burned succesfully. I am now using the 4X +R media, with equal success and speed. (+R 4X media is faster than 4x -R by 5 minutes on the same content).

Of course, to use these disks I had to replace again the f/w with 2.0e. Will have to retrofit 1.0e to use the unbranded stock I have. Perhaps I might try the new 2.0f. It may be able to use these as well and save one more f/w flashing after that.

If you want to use the official SONY list of compatible media, you'll see all the major names there. Back in February, I bought one pack of Verbatim +R media - the first +R media I tried. You can search the threads for my misery back then. Never tried any of that damned +R disks for time. So much about the compatibility list. (had to replace the firwmare with a much newer version to be able to write to +R media, although that rendered a few -R brands I had been using with success to be useless.

And yes, I am not particularly happy with the SONY drive. Actually, it's the first SONY product I've ever bought in my life (now that I think of it), and probably will be the last one as well.

[rawplug]

Thanks SaSi,

So the firmware does block some media from being used, so i guess it must be possible to get list of which disks are okay with the firmware, where can i get this from ? I mean if I have this then I can at least get media which has got a chance of working.

A bit of topic but im using DLA which comes with the DRU510 and it fails to format the memorex CD-RWs, it just fails with a "general error" is there another program i can use to format my RWs with ?

Sorry for all the dumb questions....

RAWPLUG

[rawplug]

Has anyone tried the Pioneer DVD-R disks in their DRU510, the ones that Dixons sell in the UK ?