HP200i Read Problem or Dirty Lens

[carbotex]

I'm getting read error (almost all DVD) at about 60-65 % using DVD Shrink or CloneDVD on HP200i. So I use my Pioneer DVD-ROM to do the reading, and it will read without any errors.

I'm guessing that the lens is dirty. But do you know if they are using separate lens for recording and reading or just a single lens to do both?

Someone say if the lens is dirty, do not use CD/DVD lens cleaner from the store, the dust will scrat the lens and make it worse. But he suggested to use Air Blower instead to blow the dust off the lens. Is this true? What is the best way to clean the lens?

Do you think the lens is dirty or it's time to retire? I never had this kinda problem before.

[garryheather]

If the lens was dirty, you would probably have trouble reading all discs, all of the time.

It COULD be a dirt problem, but only if there is a lot of muck in the grease that is applied to the worm gear on the sled. If the sled is coming against some sort of physical resistance which means it's having trouble tracking on the disc, that WILL give you problems.

Dirty lenses are very, very rare - unless you smoke heavily, work in a very dusty environment, or leave the tray open for extended periods or insist on using extremely dirty discs.

I do not know about the HP, but the majority of writers will share a common optical block with with the reading element, it's the extra weight of the block which often slows down the reading capability of writers when compared to their read only counterparts. Read errors and writing problems will go hand in hand if it's a mechanical problem.

If it's still under warranty and you haven't invalidated it with hacked firmware, send it back and get it overhauled. Don't try and clean the block unless you've got the right stuff and a bit of background reading or you could do more harm than good.

[tompika]

I'm getting read error (almost all DVD) at about 60-65 % using DVD Shrink or CloneDVD on HP200i. So I use my Pioneer DVD-ROM to do the reading, and it will read without any errors.

In case of Ricoh type burners
the later the firmware, the better the reading and writing strategy.

If your running earlier FW than 1.51 go here
http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?download_id=309
where both the original and regionfree (RPC1) can be found.

Of course it could be a defected or dirty burner but updatings worth a try.



@garryheather
Since the original firmware can be flashed back anytime, I dont see how
the manufacturer can find out whether its been flashed with a hacked one.

Do you know something I don't?


Regards, tompika

[garryheather]

Some hardware can be firmware locked - some of the Pioneer drives for example need workarounds if you want to revert back to earlier firmware because by default they won't let you.

I have also worked on hardware that has "flash counters", which count how many times the firmware has been changed. More than a couple of times rings alarm bells in the workshop, especially if only say 1 update was ever officially released. Plus I have worked on devices where the serial number for the device is embedded into the firmware - if the serial in the firmware didn't match that on the case of the hardware, it is returned to the customer unrepaired with a warranty voided inspection charge. Plus if loads of drives start going back for repair with the same serial numbers embedded into them, you know something is up without even checking the serial on the box.

Generally speaking, using anything for a purpose for which it was not designed will invalidate your warranty. Forcing it to write to discs in a matter outside of it's specification by ripping its heart out is clearly going against the manufacturer's wishes and they are therefore not obliged to repair the drive within the warranty period.

[overloaded_ide]

Anytime you use compressed canned air and such be carefull!

I had a CDburner that was dusty, very dusty enviroment off a dirt road. Anyway the canned air somehow messed up the tray alittle. It worked fine before cleaning, but after the canned air it would close to about an 8th or 16th " of being fully shut then I had to press it that last little bit.
Drive still worked fine otherwise though.

Later it died with an enternal power problem and I rma'd it. Don't know how long that tray would have lasted that way though.

So canned air is ok for some things, but it can damage others!
Plus I am not sure if blowing all that dust around in there is such a good idea anyway. Bad enough dust collects on the surface, but do you really want to blow it into other parts that slide or spin or maybe have a little grease the dust will stick in
And don't let fans spin free when using it, you can damge bearings and such when they spin over normal speeds.

[carbotex]

It also produces few coasters and jitters playback when I use generic media like Ritek. But write perfectly (no coaster so far) on brand name 2.4x media (Verbatim, Fuji). Now I'm using TDK 4x media to play it safe. This proves that the generic media has low successfull rate and unreliable.

Yes I have updated the firmware to 1.51 right away after it was released. It's not under warranty anymore, so I decided to disect the drive and use Milky's(Me, Myself and Irene) type of microscope to check on the lens. I saw few dirts on the lens and few pet hairs inside the drive. I have a bad habit to throw in any DVD before cleaning it up from these debri.

So I tried using the canned air, to blow all the hairs away and the dirts around the lens, and use moisted cotton bud to clean the lens. Put Milky's microscope on again and check on the lens, all the visible dirts has gone.

After I reassembled everything back together, I put it on test. I put on the DVDs that this drive previously had trouble reading them, and guess what. It reads them now, but not all of them.

The DVD that I still have trouble backing up is Shaolin Soccer. Same error message if I use this drive to read the DVD. I can live with that since I could always use my Pioneer drive to read pretty much everything I put it without any error.

I haven't tried to do a record test on the generic media though.

[carbotex]

Hey, thanks all for the replies.

[tompika]

Some hardware can be firmware locked - some of the Pioneer drives for example need workarounds if you want to revert back to earlier firmware because by default they won't let you.

I have also worked on hardware that has "flash counters", which count how many times the firmware has been changed. More than a couple of times rings alarm bells in the workshop, especially if only say 1 update was ever officially released. Plus I have worked on devices where the serial number for the device is embedded into the firmware - if the serial in the firmware didn't match that on the case of the hardware, it is returned to the customer unrepaired with a warranty voided inspection charge. Plus if loads of drives start going back for repair with the same serial numbers embedded into them, you know something is up without even checking the serial on the box.

Generally speaking, using anything for a purpose for which it was not designed will invalidate your warranty. Forcing it to write to discs in a matter outside of it's specification by ripping its heart out is clearly going against the manufacturer's wishes and they are therefore not obliged to repair the drive within the warranty period.

Since we are talking about an OEM Ricoh5125A drive here I have some thoughts.

While other drives can be forced to improve reading-writing speeds they were not designed for,
Ricoh doesn't need it.
- the ripping speed is not locked
- there is only one burning speed 2.4x
(no FW can make it burn faster: phisically not able)

The only difference between a hacked and the original FW is that the first one is region free.

Before flashing firmware with Ricoh Updater there is an option to backup
the current one that contains a 19 character code.
Flashing back gives you this code back. Doesn't seem to affect the serial number.

BTW the manufacturers' websites say flashing original fw won't void warranty.
So it doesn't really matter how many flashes the counter says if the current one is original. Unless there are more hidden things we don't know about.

My Memorex is flashed with the latest Ricoh 1.64 FW.
I use it because Memorex has not released it yet.
I just flashed the original Memorex back then the Ricoh one again.
Here are the pics