Sony Admits Problems with DRU500A

[aznguy]

To read full story:
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-966661.html?tag=fd_top

The internal drives are used with PCs and went on sale about 45 days ago. The external drives just started shipping. The company has shipped a total of about 30,000 of both drives, but although more than half could be affected, only a few dozen people have called to complain, according to DeMoulin.

Sony representatives said the problem occurs only with discs that are slightly outside the tolerance levels of the DVD+RW disc specification. The company has made an upgrade available for free on its Web site: the Firmware Upgrade 1.0d, which fixes the problem.

[aznguy]

Are We Going to be Screwed???

Sony announced Monday that it will be making an upgrade for its DRX-500UL and DRU-500A drives available on or before Dec. 9, which will allow drives to reach 4X recording speeds with DVD+R discs, cutting recording times roughly in half. The drives support 4X DVD-R, 2X DVD-RW, 2.4X DVD+RW and DVD+R recording.

[aznguy]

UPDATED: New Patch expected Available round Dec. 9
Firmware Upgrade 1.0e
This new firmware will allow your Dual RW drive to record at 4X on 4X compatible DVD+R media as well as improve the DVD-ROM reading performance with DVD recordable/rewritable media.

We expect this firmware to be released on or before December 9th, 2002. Please check back on this site then to download and install the firmware. We anticipate that 4X compatible DVD+R media will be commercially available later in December.

Man, Thanx ALOT Sony!!! We are getting our moneys worth with this drive...keke... maybe 8x soon...lol.. jk.

[JasonK]

Well guys, you are all posting old news which has already been discussed days ago in other threads. Some people having using the new firmware for days. Please browse around before starting new topics posting redundant information.

All Sony DRU500A users should upgrade to the new firmware.

[BLGinsburg]

Is anyone having problems using Pinnacle Studio 8 with the Sony DRU-500A? I'm about to get the drive but want to make sure Studio 8 will recognize it. I've read a few postings that say it's a problem.

Thanks,
Brandon

[ChrisX]

Well guys, you are all posting old news which has already been discussed days ago in other threads. Some people having using the new firmware for days. Please browse around before starting new topics posting redundant information.

All Sony DRU500A users should upgrade to the new firmware.

I didn't know about this myself. I haven't looked in the CD & DVD burner section for quite sometime. I am thinking of a purchasing this sometime in the future. Why is this redundant?

[donpedro]

Is anyone having problems using Pinnacle Studio 8 with the Sony DRU-500A? I'm about to get the drive but want to make sure Studio 8 will recognize it. I've read a few postings that say it's a problem.

Thanks,
Brandon

Do some search here and you can also try this

http://www.vcdhelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=121030&highlight=

or here

http://www.vcdhelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=124499

[VEFF]

Are We Going to be Screwed???

Sony announced Monday that it will be making an upgrade for its DRX-500UL and DRU-500A drives available on or before Dec. 9, which will allow drives to reach 4X recording speeds with DVD+R discs, cutting recording times roughly in half. The drives support 4X DVD-R, 2X DVD-RW, 2.4X DVD+RW and DVD+R recording.

That is for DVD(plus)+R! That is a free bonus upgrade from 2.4X!!!

DVD(minus)R can be written at 4X with the CURRENT firmware, assuming you have the media, which isn't going to be available for two to three weeks, according to a well-informed source.

[BJ_M]

4 x media has been shipping for several weeks .. i bought 10 pieces for testing ..

you can order here .. http://www.esbuy.com/4xdvdrmedia.html

[aznguy]

@JasonK - Well if you actually read the first post I put on "THE ARTICLE" its actually haven't been posted. The Following post may have been. READ THE DATE ON THE ARTICLE if you don't believe me man... So don't dis before you actually know what your talking about.

[JasonK]

You started this thread Nov 21. I believe the firmware was released Nov 8.

OK, so someone posted an article that has information which has already been posted here for days, but the information is not new. The firmware update resolving the burning problems has been posted and mentioned in other threads.

[BLGinsburg]

Thanks, donpedro. I'll keep looking around.

[Peka]

...Sony representatives said the problem occurs only with discs that are slightly outside the tolerance levels of the DVD+RW disc specification....

Should we really be shooting Sony for a problem caused by sh!t(low quality) media? I don't see the point in using media that doesn't meet the specs, especially if you plan on making DVD's for other people to be able to read. I'd prefer to spent the extra $$ on media that works, than make coasters.....

[donpedro]

Should we really be shooting Sony for a problem caused by sh!t(low quality) media?

1. I am not sure what do they mean, but if different burners can burn to media, why shouldn't Sony ? Just a tought....

2. What makes me mad is this

The company has shipped a total of about 30,000 of both drives, but although more than half could be affected, only a few dozen people have called to complain, according to DeMoulin.

So... Lets start calling and maybe they will fix problem.

Anybody with media compatibility, or any other issue, please call Sony Support

1-800-588-3847

I hope that it was correct number

[JasonK]

No need to call Sony. Simply install the firmware update which resolves the problem. Shit media usually is shit with most burners. Even if it works on the burner, it might not play your DVD shit media on a standalone DVD player.

[donpedro]

No need to call Sony. Simply install the firmware update which resolves the problem. Shit media usually is shit with most burners. Even if it works on the burner, it might not play your DVD shit media on a standalone DVD player.

I have seen some posts that there are still people that are having issues after installing or during installation of new (old 1.0d) firmware. So I sugest to call so they are aware of any issue and they will work on it so next batch is better. If they don't know about it, they can't fix it. Or do they read this forum ?

[jeepers94]

Most of the people who are reporting troubles with their upgrade did not do it as directed! If you bother to read their posts,they either had it on the wrong channel,or with another drive on the same channel.There is also a mention of some chipsets having problems with the flash.It always gets me,when someone who doesn't even own the product tells all about its weaknesses!

[Earthbulb]

Its very easy for SONY to just blame the media. Passing the blame is so easy to do and so many people buy it!

They say the media is badly made, but the average user cant run the type of tests needed to confirm this. I mean how do we know what the true nature of the problems with the media are ? You just go on their word which isnt good enough.

Way i see it, if another drive can burn to the media and it can work flawlessly in players capable of playing that format it should work in the SONY!

No Excuses!

[VEFF]

4 x media has been shipping for several weeks .. i bought 10 pieces for testing ..

you can order here .. http://www.esbuy.com/4xdvdrmedia.html

I guess, in hindsight, I should have been clearer my previous post:

The other (as in 'cheaper') media manufacturers will have 4X DVD-R media in two to three weeks.
The Pioneer 4X media (which I was aware of) unfortunately costs $8.50 a piece!

WARNING:
Also, note that a Maxell rep was quoted in a PC World article as saying that (most?) DVD-rom drives and home DVD players manufactured before THIS fall ('autumn' for the British out there) will probably NOT be able to play 4X DVD-R media!!!

[donpedro]

Most of the people who are reporting troubles with their upgrade did not do it as directed! If you bother to read their posts,they either had it on the wrong channel,or with another drive on the same channel.There is also a mention of some chipsets having problems with the flash.It always gets me,when someone who doesn't even own the product tells all about its weaknesses!

jeespers94, I am not sure who are you addressing in your post, but.....

I own Sony drive and I don't have any issues so far. I did my flash on IDE2 with another DVD-ROM on it, I have WinXP Home and my motherboard is Via chipset. So based on other posts that I read, my flash should fail (WinXP,Via,another drive). My point was that everybody on the beggining had issue with "cheap" media and other drives (not my experience) did not. As a result there is new firmware, that (BTW) works for me. So if there are still people that are having problems, there might be very good reason for that. And reason can be that drive or firmware does not work on 100%. Only way to change that is to let Sony know.

[scaftag]

Well i cant get my drive working full stop.
DVD-r refuses to burn anything in UDMA. It just freezes. So i switch to PIO and it burns...coasters! And my system becomes unresponsive.
This drive is a pile of poo....stay away from it!

[donpedro]

This drive is a pile of poo....stay away from it!

What to say ... ? My works great. Maybe yours is bad...

[Peka]

Well i cant get my drive working full stop.
DVD-r refuses to burn anything in UDMA. It just freezes. So i switch to PIO and it burns...coasters! And my system becomes unresponsive.
This drive is a pile of poo....stay away from it!

Sounds more like your system is a pile of poo. Mine works fine, I love it. Will like it even more when the 4x DVD+R media and firmware are available.

[scaftag]

Nothing at all wrong with my system, although its not the most up to date granted.
Everything works perfectly, can play all the latest games etc, the only thing not working is the drive. Looks like i may have a faulty one, plenty of them about judging by all the posts on different forums.

[arealgijoe]

I think you fells (an gals) have sold me on waiting on a Sony/Bologna drive for now. I have a DVD-R/RAM drive I got for a good price, under $200 and it works for now. I expect I will go for a Pioneer A04/A05 drive next. I have 3 systems and tend to upgrade one at a time. I wished I knew about the Cendyne (OEM/a04) deal at officemax before the deal ended there.

At least my panasonic E-30 doesnt have OS, IDE or similar issues. It just buns and burns away day after day, and I hope that stays that way.

JD

[sammie]

Hmmm, installed drive as slave on IDE1 (2nd bus). Recognized fine. Flashed bios, no problems. Had to upgrade Nero to get it to recognize the drive, but no problems. Buned and copied DVD +RW, +R and -R (including the notorious Maxell -R, I know on sale at Best Buy and I bought them before I read here), no problems. Wonder if there is a series issue somewhere? Perhaps we should list serial numbers? See if there is an issue with certain groups of drives.

[videofreak]

Is anyone having problems using Pinnacle Studio 8 with the Sony DRU-500A? I'm about to get the drive but want to make sure Studio 8 will recognize it. I've read a few postings that say it's a problem.

Thanks,
Brandon

I have used the DRU500A in combination with Studio 8. I created the DVD on harddisk first and then wrote it to both a +RW and +R disc. It worked well. No problems

Peter

[videolog]

scaftag,
Try disabling UDMA in the bios for this IDE connection only.
This worked for me.

[scaftag]

And then the drive works only in PIO mode, which is rubbish. Slows the system down.

[donpedro]

scaftag,
Try disabling UDMA in the bios for this IDE connection only.
This worked for me.

Hmmm.... I think I had issue with slow computer after I enabled UDMA too long time ago on my HP PC with Win98. It might help with one part of problems.