Burning a 4x disc on a 2x drive?

[Jukka]

What happens if you put a 4x DVD-R into a 2x burner? (I'm guessing that it will only burn at 2x). And what's the difference between media that is advertised as 4x and others that are advertised as 1-4x?

TIA

Jukka

[BASDSucks]

Correct, it will only burn at 2x

[Solarjetman]

And what's the difference between media that is advertised as 4x and others that are advertised as 1-4x?

Nothing

[Jukka]

Cheers guys, some of the online shops I see say that you should check with the manufacturer before using 4x media, I guess they just mean if you want to burn at 4x.

Thanks

Jukka

[tompika]

In my case the Ricoh 5125a 2.4xDVD+R/W requires a later firmware so it can handle the new 4xmedias. Of course it won't burn at 4x.

I do not know whether the 2xDVD-R/W burners need a firmware update.

[Craig Tucker]

In some cases you are advised to check the drives firmware for compatability. An example is here

[tompika]

And another example here

Try here:

http://www.pioneer-eur.com/eur/support_update.jsp?category=support/update

[Jukka]

Ok, so what happens does it screw the disc or the recorder?

MY LG GMA-4020B should be delivered today + I have already downloaded the 108 firmware (with the windows flash utility). I've read a bit in the writers area and it seems to handle 4x with A108 Firmware anyone have any experience with this drive?

I guess that also begs the question that I asked earlier, if a disc is advertised as 1-4x would the burner need a firmware update for 2x burn? I suspect that no-one can answer this just some pointers would be nice.

TIA

Jukka

[bartman]

Ok, so what happens does it screw the disc or the recorder?

AFAIK a 4x disc can screw your drive.....I'm not sure how the disc will fare but it's probably a sure bet that it will be screwed as well....honestly I'm not quite sure HOW your drive can be buggered but it can't hurt to upgrade (and I don't know anyone willing to sacrifice their drive to find out either)

The reason for all this is that 2x discs are really 1x discs that are able to be burnt at 2x. A 4x disc is a 4x disc.....it uses a different write strategy and I think that when they are burnt at 2x it is really a slowed down 4x rather than a sped up 1x.....if you know what I mean . Your drive must therefore know how to write the disc using this different strrategy...hence the firmware upgrade for older 2x drives.

[erzug]

I have a Ricoh RW5125a (2.4x) DVD+r/rw burner. I burned the same movie files to a Memorex 2.4x DVD+R and it played with no problems. Trying the same movie with a 4x Memorex DVD+R produces lockups on both my standalones and PC DVD Reader. The firmware I am on is the latest 1.64 which, based on what I've read, was compatible with the 4x media. There were no problems or messages during the burning process and the drive recognized the media.
I'm not sure what to do at this point.

[wulf109]

Pioneer recommends that you upgrade the firmware of the DVD-104 to at least ver 1.30,they of the possibility of burning out the laser if you try 4X disks otherwise.

[richard98]

I have a Ricoh RW5125a (2.4x) DVD+r/rw burner. I burned the same movie files to a Memorex 2.4x DVD+R and it played with no problems. Trying the same movie with a 4x Memorex DVD+R produces lockups on both my standalones and PC DVD Reader. The firmware I am on is the latest 1.64 which, based on what I've read, was compatible with the 4x media. There were no problems or messages during the burning process and the drive recognized the media.
I'm not sure what to do at this point.

I have a similar problem. I also use a Ricoh burner. Memorex (RICOHJPN) 4x discs won't play on my laptop DVD drive (Samsung), while any other media seems to work with the Samsung drive. The Memorex discs play fine on several other players I've tested them on. I exchanged the unopened Memorex 4X DVD's I had for other media.

[erzug]

I received a reply on the DVDRPLUSRW forum which recommended I try to back down from the 1.64 firmware to the 1.51 version. I also checked the two Memorex media types using DVDIdentifer (v3.2) and the 2.4x had a manufacturer string of Ricohjpn00 (or something close) and the 4x media had "CMC MAG.F01". Obviously two different manufacturers and that might explain why the Memorex 25 pack 4x DVD+R's have been on sale for $28, $29 everywhere.
Anyway, after checking prices and availability of 2.4x vs. 4x, I might have to upgrade my burner to a 4x or 8x dual drive. I was trying to wait until there was a definitive date for the upcoming dual layer burning drives/media, or at least until there was more evidence that a firmware upgrade could allow an 8x drive to burn dual layered media.