Did Walmart stop carrying LiteOn? Is there a subsitute?

[chipmalee]

I went to the store and the sales clerk said they stop carrying LiteOn in January. Also there's none on their website. Anyone know why? I really wanted to give LiteOn a try. From what I read here, it seems LiteOn is the most hack friendly. Thanks.

[lordsmurf]

Radio Shack

[BCdave]

Costco (U.S.A.) has the Lite On HD-A740GX, with 160 GB hard drive, at $299.
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11123627&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=#productinfo

Anyone know if this model has the LSI encoding chip ??

[bevills1]

Just ordered Lite-On LVW-5005 for a backup to the 1 I've had a couple of years from http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCategory.asp?SubCategory=490 for $125 with free shipping. This NewEgg special expires 6/20/06, and 1 review of the product said Lite-On was ordered by courts to stop selling recorders with that chip which means no more hackable Lite-Ons once the 50xx series are all sold if the reviewer is correct about court order. Note newer LiteOns are not hackable. I read another thread in which 1 member said his Lite-On 5115 is not hackable.

[LCSHG]

Chipmalee

You need to be carefull that that the LiteOn you chose will accept and do what you want
Many of the latest LiteOn units will not take a hack
Wlile the sites below are speaking to the now discontinued ilo 04 series, the ilo Is a LiteOn product
You should look at these sites for info and direction and get a model with hard drive if possible


http://www.techolio.com/forums/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=7&sid=93e74b4aff1cfa353e0c9273a3f32f23

http://www.normediasolutions.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=12

http://ncc2315.com/ilo/


I have 2 ilo RHD04 [with HDD] --- 1-R04 [disk only]

PS EDIT
I am not aeare of a substitute that will do as you indicate

[lordsmurf]

and 1 review of the product said Lite-On was ordered by courts to stop selling recorders with that chip .

What chip? LSI is the encoder chipset used in many recorders, including JVC, Samsung, LG and others. Sounds like another stupid reviewer to me.

I actually have an extra LiteOn 5104 I wouldn't mind selling, bought it and then didn't need it. I never did find out if it had a hack or not, I just used it with a TBC. It would sometimes jitter when I tried to use S-VHS-ET tapes or when I did 3-hour mode, but it was always a nice machine in 2- or 4-hour mode.

[bevills1]

LSI chip is what the reviewer referred to which means just another stupid reviewer. Does LCSHG statement that many of the latest LiteOn units will not take a hack include the 50xx series and the LVW-5005 in particular?

[lordsmurf]

Last time I looked (winter 2005), some units could not be hacked, the newest ones. Mr Wizard was having a hard time with it. I've mostly been away from the LiteOn scene these past 6 months, busy with other stuff.

[bevills1]

In a post I saw in another thread the member had a 5001 and 5007 both of which took hacks, but same member said a 5115 he has would not take hack. This seems to indicate 50xx seires will hack while 51xx and later will not although I've no way to confirm this. Does anybody know of any 50xx that don't hack?

[LCSHG]

[bevills]

I belive you mis-interped me and ask a question as it were fact
Many of the newer LiteOn units have a firmware change that does not permit a hack [at this time]

[lordsmurf] comment as to Mr Wizard and the problem is right on

I did not include any units and not the 50xx series nor the LVW 5005
In fact the LVW 5005 can be hacked if one does not upgrade the firmware past 098
Many who have, report sucess with a down grade and than hack

My post was to caution a user and I belive the sites and threads I gave speak to this issue.
It was not my intention to get into the issue of what can or can-not be hacked. the sites and threads cover this in depth.

Please don't use my posts to prove your issue or point , which by the way I disagree with.

PS Edit
Some units were said unhackable Some users report that they were able to work around this problem
So It would be wise to read over the threads and comments to CP problems and a hack

[bevills1]

LCSHG, it seems you missinperpet my question, and I wasn't using your post to prove any point. I thought your reply and that of lordsmurf meant some LVW-5005 units may not be hackable and just wanted to know if anybody had failed hack expoerience with any LVW-5005. I actually had success downgrading the current LVW-5005 I"ve had a couple of years, and that's no issue for me. Sorry for causing any missunderstandings as I was only seeking any LVW-5005 failed hack experiences.

[LCSHG]

[chipmalee]

You are correct about the LiteON unit but this is changing fast and my post was to inform you of some problems
Read the posts I gave they cover many of the issues you may present

Be aware
I have three of the ilo 04 units which is LiteOn
These units prduce a video that I consider very good as I stated.
However these units along with the LiteOn can be an operating pain and one must realize this. I have not experienced problems that were no more than that A pain.
Ther are some that have experenced a true DVD drive failure, but the units can be modified, again the sites and posts
If it were not for their abilities and my wants. I would most likely prefer a different unit.
The sites do cover much in Drive replacement and repair for many of the LiteOn/ilo units.
Good Luck


[bevills1]

OK Lets start over

Your Quote
I thought your reply and that of lordsmurf meant some LVW-5005 units may not be hackable and just wanted to know if anybody had failed hack expoerience with any LVW-5005. I actually had success downgrading the current LVW-5005 I"ve had a couple of years, and that's no issue for me. Sorry for causing any missunderstandings as I was only seeking any LVW-5005 failed hack experiences
-------------------------------------------------------------

I can’t speak for [lordsmurf] I don't think this was meant. Going through the posts I think you will find that there were failed hacks on the 5005 but I feel that this was caused by owner error not with the unit. If you look at the posts and look for the Reliable ones. I think you will find that there has been success with a downgrade in the 5005 firmware to 098 that is hackable. I Know of NO 5005 that has retained firmware 098,or below, having any problems with a hack. Most would advise Not To ugrade any firmwate, untill throughly checked out as some may be one way only
I really feel that these sites and threads, cover the issue well.

[bevills1]

Completely agree with your LiteOn preference. I too would likely choose another brand if not for abilities of the LiteOn. In addition I had initial hack fail due to Mr. Wizard's info on ILO site that says "Download the newest SYSTEM firmware update from ILO's or LiteOn's Website" while http://ncc2315.com/ilo/ has update that states versions past 098 don't hack. The latest wersion from LiteOn for my recorder was 101 which is why initial hack attempt failed, but a 098 firmware found did hack and resolved the Macrovision issue in my instance.

[Bridge]

Here's something I've been wondering. Say you went out and bought a new single disk Lite on model. It has the "all write" and everything that the 5005 model has just about but it's their new model. It comes with the newest firmware. Yet, you have the hacked firmware of the 5005. Can you put in that disk and have the newest Lite on read that hacked 5005 firmware, downgrade it and run the 5005 firmware in a new model?

[LCSHG]

[ Bridge ]

Good Question
I don't have a LiteOn unit but have the il04 units these are made by LiteOn and have the same guts as many LiteOn units . The firmware is different and the ilo does not have Allwrite.


To your question I do not belive you can do this as Lite has really done some weird things to their firmware. I do feel that the general qpinion is NO but someone may say yes and prove it.

Go to this site
http://www.techolio.com/forums/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=7&sid=51ed198ba425c0fd90e5d3019244ad19

Go back a few pages. [Kain], [Harpmaker] and some others have had LiteOn and are well versed on this

Also you might check here
http://ncc2315.com/ilo/
http://www.normediasolutions.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=12

[ lordsmurf ] at this site . I belive has been involved in much of the issues and is knowledgeable.
he may chime in


PS
[kain has developed a firmware that will convert a ilo R04 to a LireOn 5005x with allwrite and than back to a R04 the same can be done with a 5005x to a R04 that can be hacked. Remember as a 5005x itis not hackd or can be. As a R04 it can be hacked but no Allwrite
I will only take 2 files and is quite easy. The files are on the 2nd site I gave.



[General]

I hope I remember correctly. When the LiteOn/ilo hack site said get the latest firmware for the LiteOn units and hack them, that was the procedure at the time than came the LiteOn firmware upgrades and it was found they had changed the hex location for the MV hack and created many problems for everyone. I think it safe to say the only reason for this firmware was to thwart the hack. In some cases a firmware upgrade becomes one way only—forward not back and worse many units were unable to hack. I don’t think anyone can be held responsible for such a change. Fortunately many who have the 5005 have reported they can go back to 098 and than hack. The changes that LiteOn made caught many Off Guard. It has been mentioned that one should not upgrade firmware unless it was a necessity and than only if sure it won’t screw up the system for your use.
To often a firmware is blamed for a recorder problem when it is not
There are some advantages to a firmware upgrade, like in the recognition of additional disks etc
I have used 6 different firmware versions in my ilo RHD04 units. For [ME], the only difference was one of the later ones got rid of a green tint, This only appeared on the ilo playback. As I do not use the 04 for play back it was not a concern. Again for me I would not upgrade if it meant loss of any hack

[bevills1]

Check http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=183223&page=2#post1466021 where experiences by a couple of LiteOn 5005 users seem to indicate LCSHG may be correct about latest 5005s not being hackable, and I've posed a question there on that very subject to a member who appears to be very knowledgeable and am hopeful he'll provide useful answer.

[LCSHG]

I have read and reread my posts
I don’t believe I said or indicated that the latest 5005 are not hackable. I believe I said/indicated that there are firmware problems with the latest LiteOn firmware and units

The latest 5005 units may have a MediaTek chipset rather than LSI for many reasons this could present problems for a hack

I really don’t know for sure and I don’t believe I would say that a unit could or cannot be hacked.

Again my posts, I feel, were to caution one [chipmalee] who idicated concern for a hack in the original post, to Be Carefully with any unit, or/and a firmware change.

The subject of the LiteOn units, their firmware and a hack has been very thoroughly covered on many sites. By KNOWLEDGE PEOPLE.. READ THE POSTS

I have the ilo 04 units, while LiteOn, they have not had the problems that face the LiteOn label units. They are discontinued.

[oldfart13]

If you were in Canada you could run down to Futureshop and pick up one of the new Daytek models they have there that are equivalent to the Liteon 5001 and 5005. Converting these to actual Liteons is easy then using Mr. Wizard's hack software, you can change them to what you really want.....

[lordsmurf]

The encoding chipset has ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING on the hackability of a machine. LiteOn exclusively uses LSI for the encoder chipset.

But the hacking is done on the motherboard and drive. The encoder chips have nothing to do with it. And even then, it's not really "hacking". You're simply enabling options that already exist in the motherboard firmware, but were hidden from public view. Firmware hacks simply "unhide" them.

[bevills1]

I did not mean that LCSHG posts implied any unhackability for 5005s but simply that the experiences of newer 5005 owners at the link in my last post seemed to imply that. All existing 5005 firmware versions I have found have 1840 as the second set of 4 digits in the serial number while the 2 users on the other site have second set of 4 digits different from that, and they experienced failed Macrovision removal hacks. My older 5005 had the same 1840 for the second 4 digits of serial number and hacked successfully with available firmwares I've found. Can anybody tell me whether I might be able to manually edit firmware using a hex editor to accomplish desired changes if existing firmwares from various sites don't work on a newer 5005? I have XVI32 hex editor if hex editing is a possible solution. Are there links that may be helpful how to do this such as changes needed and where in the firmware file to look to make those changes if hex editing is a possibility?

[lordsmurf]

The failure to hack the machine means the options are no longer in the code, or they were moved and nobody knows where it is. Like many other hacks, I believe this became public knowledge due to information leak. So even if the option is still around, good luck finding it without a LiteOn leak.

Most of what was known about LiteOn DVD recorders disappeared when they killed their forums.

[LCSHG]

[lordsmurf]

Quote
The encoding chipset has ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING on the hackability of a machine. LiteOn exclusively uses LSI for the encoder chipset.

But the hacking is done on the motherboard and drive. The encoder chips have nothing to do with it. And even then, it's not really "hacking". You're simply enabling options that already exist in the motherboard firmware, but were hidden from public view. Firmware hacks simply "unhide" them.

Quote
The failure to hack the machine means the options are no longer in the code, or they were moved and nobody knows where it is. Like many other hacks, I believe this became public knowledge due to information leak. So even if the option is still around, good luck finding it without a LiteOn leak.

Most of what was known about LiteOn DVD recorders disappeared when they killed their forums.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am aware of your work and input concerning the the LiteOn issue and its "hacks"

I agree with your assessment of the entire LitteOn issue and the Quote [Hack] Also the LiteOn Leak

To the first quote and sentence
Other sites and posts would indicate that LiteOn might no longer be using the LSI chipset. And if so, would preclude a hack There have been indications that many chipset companies, due to pressure, are building a CP block right into the chipset.
LSI was said to be resisting this. It would seem that you may disagree

Many of the LIteOn/ilo units were also said to be Non Compliant, meaning they ignored all CP, recording flag, etc. Do you feel this is correct?

If the options were eliminated I should think any "hack" would not be, reasonably, possible.
If the option is in the code but the location changed, this would cause serious problems but at least the options would be present.

I would be most interested in your opinion
I did take note of your comment [The encoding chipset has ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING on the hackability] and [good luck finding it]
I read Way Back in the forums that the entire LiteOn Issue was started when a "liteOn Leak" occurred.

[BCdave]

For residents of western Canada, A&B Sound is advertising the LiteOn LVW5005XS for $129Can (about $115US) this weekend.
They have a website, but I don't think they sell electronics on the net. http://www.absound.ca/

[garman]

I noticed a liteon 5045GDL in Wal-mart for 496 CND. 160G HD, don't know much about unit. -garman

[garman]

I noticed a liteon 5045GDL in Wal-mart for 496 CND. 160G HD, don't know much about unit. -garman

[LCSHG]

[ BCdave ]

The refference is to a 5005xs. Could this be a Canadian model The 5005x is a rebaged iloR04 with different firmware and AllWrite [ no 'hack" avail]. Is the 5005xs a variant of the 5005x. and a attempt to throw a block to the conversion of a 5005x to a iloR04.

[bevills1]

Fortunately my new LiteOn LVW-5005, which recently arrived, hacked successfully with available firmware as did my son's new one that was ordered the next day after mine was ordered. New units came with 101 firmware, and I first back flashed to official 098 version and then did the hack version. I'll have to leave it to others to try with newer firmwares that are difficult to hack, but I'm interested in learning if anybody does accomplish that task.

However, apparently the 5005s are not all erase eventhough they have all-write technology because I tried some DVD -RW for the first time that would write and produce copies compatible with 2 DVD players I have but would not erase in the 5005. I had to do full erase using Nero on the PC to get the -RWs erased sufficiently to be reusable. The DVD +RWs erase as expected in the 5005. This is likely just another pain eluded to by LCSHG and others.

[BCdave]

LCSHG, that's an interesting observation - the 5005xs may indeed be a version of the 5005x which they are selling off in Canada.
I'm afraid that I assumed that this was just the famous hackable 5005 model; I didn't realize that LiteOn had replaced it with an unhackable version (5005x). Thanks for pointing this out.
I can't find any user comments on the 5005xs, so I'd suggest that any interested buyers query the salesperson at A&B Sound (although it's unlikely that the salespersons would be knowledgeable on its hackability to remove MV).

[bevills1]

Note both LVW-5005s I got were ordered from NewEgg on 6/18 and 6/19 and just arrived yesterday, and both were easily hacked. This means some are still available in the US, but there's no way to know whether older or newer models of which I'm aware. The 2 I got had "LVW-5005 R" on the box if that may help.

[LCSHG]

NO Pain or Remedy --- Just For INFO

I do not have a LiteOn brand name unit

I Have a ilo R04 that is converted to a LiteOn 5005x with all the features of that machine Including AllWrite
It burns a +R/RW or a -R/RW ----- It Compleatly erases a +R/RW or a -R/RW

I have a niighbor that has a LiteOn LVW-5005, It is " hacked"
It will also do the same
It burns a +R/RW or a -R/RW ----- It Compleatly erases a +R/RW or a -R/RW

PS
I get the feeling that this thread has gone/going beyond the question in the orig. post
But a lot of the concepts and opinions are interesting