DRU500X firmware 1.0g is OUT

[HyperYagami]

http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/Peripheral/CRX/Support/common/download_dru500a.html

warning...Japanese

change from 1.0f: change: "Improvement of reading efficiency"

[NightWing]

Bablefish is very creative in translation but does that page state that 1.0f is newer than 1.0G? Hard to read. Or too many hours on a current programming project.

[donpedro]

Let's wait for English version

[Kennyshin]

Well, I'm updating to 1.0G right now.

[Kennyshin]

Well, I'm updating to 1.0G right now.

After updating 1.0f to 1.0g, I ran the firmware updater program and it looked like this.

[Bulten]

Well Kennyshin, why don't you try the drive now, after having updated to 1.0g, and report to us if u find any difference. I know many of us would appreciate it !

[Kennyshin]

You can get the file and update to 1.0G if you want to now.

http://www.sony.jp/products/Consumer/Peripheral/CRX/Support/common/fw500a10g.exe

Also, on my forum:

http://myclub-webbbs.korea.com/ipc/board3/art47/attach/fw500a10g.exe
http://myclub-webbbs.korea.com/ipc/board3/art48/attach/500a_10f.rar

It reads my Melody DVD-R media made by CMC at 4x only. Starting from 4x and always 4x.

[-BK-]

Any difference in writing or media-compatibility?

-BK-

[Digifreak]

Does 1.0g rip commercial DVDs any faster than 2X?

[-BK-]

Yes, like it does with 1.0f over here !

-BK-

[Digifreak]

I am only getting 2X commercial DVD rips with 1.0f. BK or anybody, are you getting faster than 2X commercial DVD rips with 1.0f? What speed?

[-BK-]

Using DVD-Decrypter 3.1.4 I get speeds up to 5x (but mostly a bit slower)...

Using RecordNowMAX 4.5 to rip to GI-file (Global Image) I always get exactly 4.3x speed!

All this with FW 1.0f.

-BK-

[Mr Zippy]

This firmware is now on the US Sony Storage support site.

http://sony.storagesupport.com/dvdrw/dru500adwn.htm

The changelog has not been updated though, still says the same as it did for version 1.0f

[briankai]

Tested the new "G" firmware out with the ever troublesome Ritek based 4x DVD-R's... ph33r the results:

Nero 5.5.10.0

Ritek 4x DVD-R:
- 3 data discs @ 4x (3.7-3.9 actual speed) OK!
- 2 movie discs @ 4x (3.7-3.9 actual speed, on-the-fly) OK!

DVD-ON (Ritek based) 4x DVD-R:
- 3 data discs @ 4x (3.7-3.9 actual speed) OK!
- 2 movie discs @ 4x (3.7-3.9 actual speed, on-the-fly) OK!

Movies Burned:
- Robot Carnival (bootleg - DVD5)
- Battle Royale (official - DVD5)

Movies Played On:
- Sony DRU500A (PowerDVD)
- Pioneer DVD-115 (Region-Free - PowerDVD)
- Playstation 2 V7


Movies Didn't Play On:
- Toshiba SD-2805 (Region-Free)

As I expected, the gap at the beginning of the disc continues to plague my some set-top players, but using another brand of media solves this (Pioneer, Taiyo Yuden, Memorex, Sony).

All data discs were verified with Nero, then had the files present copied back to harddrive. No errors, lag, or speed issues that I could see.

Looks like the Sony drive is almost mature at this point. Everything seems to be working as it should...

Kai

[Mr Zippy]

Whats troublesome about the Riktek x4 speed, I've burnt 6 Ritek Gen 4 (4x) on the DRU-500A with no problems.

3 on the 1.0f firmware
3 on the 1.0g firmware

All burnt at 3.9-4.1x according to DVDDecrypter - 16 mins for a 4.5 GB disc.

Play back fine on DRU-500A, Sony DVP-NS700V.

[-BK-]

Ritek 4x trouble???

Yes, off course...

Seems to me about 30% of these Riteks actually burn at 4x on my DRU-500.
Both tested on FW 1.0f and 1.0g...

They always start at 4x but in 70% they decrease to 2x after 1 or 2 minutes!

-BK-

http://users.pandora.be/DVD2DVD-R

[briankai]

Mr. Zippy,

I guess you're lucky enough to keep getting the discs manufactured on Tuesday or something. =P

Alot of people have had trouble burning those discs at the rated speed. In Nero, as an example, they say they are burning at 4x but were actually burning at 2x. Using a registry hack with that program allows you to view the real-time burnspeed, and they were indeed burning at 2x. This was with the 0.f firmware. This was not isolated to just myself.. many others were experiencing the same problem. Using name brand 4x rated media such as Pioneer & Taiyo Yuden burned at the correct speed without incedent.

BK,

Sorry to hear you're still having the same problem I was. Perhaps there were some bad discs manufactured or something. If I start running into that sort of thing again I'll let you know.

Kai

[-BK-]

OK, thanks for the feedback, Kai!
Hope to get some real 4x soon...

-BK-

[briankai]

To be honest with you, I'm probably not going to be buying any large quantities of Ritek based media anytime soon until things have settled down and they can prove themselves consistantly reliable.

Based on their performance and compatibility, I'm betting that the Taiyo Yuden's will end up being the best price/performance 4x media once they're more widely available. At around $2.00 USD per disc, they're not too bad on the wallet...

I'm also getting the impression that some problems may be related to poor support in the system bios or conflicts with other sytem devices. I have upgraded the firmware on the DRU500A twice, and I haven't had to disable DMA or the Intel Application Accelerator either time. All 3 of my drives are happily chugging along on UDMA33 as they should be.

Kai

[Mr Zippy]

Still odd how my Ritek Gen 4 Media are OK, has anyone thought to compare the full ADVDinfo media code, not just the main media code, I imagine the rest of the media code reveals batch info.

My discs are:

00 6A 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 52 00 02 35 0E 0B .J...@....R..5..
FE FF 80 00 03 52 49 54 45 4B 47 00 04 30 34 00 .....RITEKG..04.
00 00 00 00 05 88 80 00 00 00 01 00 06 06 0F 12 ................
A8 88 80 00 07 88 80 00 00 00 00 00 08 05 1B 0E ................
10 08 09 00 09 97 06 0D 0B 80 00 00 0A 00 00 00 ................
00 00 10 00 0B 06 21 13 A8 87 95 00 0C 99 99 88 ......!.........
80 00 00 00 0D 00 00 D0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
(all 00 after this)

Also bear in mind things such as IDE driver updates, my system is SiS 648/963 chipset with MS built in drivers for IDE (SiS updates not as fast), the DRU-500A is the secondary master with a coolermaster ATA100 screened round IDE cable, which may be helping.

I already have the registry changed to show actual burn speed in Nero, but all discs have been burnt with DVD Decrypter which also shows the actual burn speed.

[Chips144]

BK,

I had no problem with the Ritek GO4 dvd-r 4X media until recently. I burned about 50 in a row at a true 4X. Then suddenly they started giving me the same problem you are having. they start out at 4X, then after a few seconds, or at most a few minutes, they drop to 2X and stay there. I have verified that it is not a temperature problem. Since the Riteks I am using were all from the same vintage (although possibly not the same lot), I began to suspect the Sony. I contacted them online. Here is the transcript:

Connecting to server. Please wait...
Connected to ec112.ecicorp.com
Dawn has joined this session!
Dawn says, Hello, my name is Dawn. May I have your full name and phone number please?
You say, George
Dawn says, What is the CRX model # of your drive? What version of windows are you running? What is the mhz of your system?
You say, Sony DRU500A, Windows XP Pro, 1.7Ghz
You say, Installed in a Sony Vaio PCV-RX490TV
Dawn says, What burning software are you using?
You say, several, among which is RecordNow Max
Dawn says, We do not ship record now MAX
You say, Max is the upgrade to the software you shipped
Dawn says, Just record Now. What is the Version of the Record Now?
Dawn says, we do not support that software.
You say, the latest, 4.5
You say, The same problem happens with Nero
Dawn says, You will need to talk to Veritas or nero for support. We only support what comes with the drive.
You say, Record Now did not support the DRU
Dawn says, yes it did
You say, you had to upgrade to Max to get DRU support
Dawn says, ]no you did not
Dawn says, We would not ship it with the drive if it did not support it.
You say, The problem doesn't have anything to do with the software
You say, it worked at 4X for over a month
You say, now all of a sudden it starts at 4X then drops to 2X
You say, nothing was changed with the pc
You say, no new hardware or software added
Dawn says, You will need to trouble shoot with OUR software & then you can also run the drive test off the website.
You say, All of my burning software shows the same thing
You say, I ran the drive test from your website. It only tests for CD not DVD
You say, it passed the cd test
You say, that software doesn't test for dvd writing or reading
Dawn says, What it tests is the Read/write.
Dawn says, If the test passed then the drive is Fine.
You say, it tests read/write at a fixed speed, NOT DVD AT 4X
You say, go to the some forums on the internet and do some research
You say, I am not the only person experiencing this problem
You say, there are many
You say, with exactly the same problem description
You say, it was burning at 4X , now only at 2X with no system changes
You say, this is not a software problem
Dawn says, Sir the test passed the drive is Fine.
You say, I will share this conversation with those having a similar problem
You say, I am sure they will be grateful for the help

As you can see, Sony wants to disavow themselves from this. They don't even offer a hint as to what could be causing the problem. They don't even blame the media, they simply claim software problem. Next time, i stick with Pioneer.

Chips

[briankai]

I don't get the impression that they are specifically blaming your software, just that they aren't trained to troubleshoot anything outside of the narrow confines of the software they have licensed.

The DVD ID code tells alot.. but it can't tell you which Vietnamese sweatshop production line the things rolled off of, what quality control measures (if any at all) were used to verify the batch was good, or pretty much any other useful information other than what company produced them. There is a reason, after all, why cheap media is cheap.

The fact that online retailers prices vary so greatly is a telling sign that some of their products may not be on the up and up so to speak. I've seen pricing from 1.00 - 2.50 per disc... which is a pretty wide margin.

I can only speak from experience with the media I have gambled on. In the last "test pack" I purchased, I got 10 Ritek 4x and 10 DVDON 4x. Using Nero 5.5.10.0, and the "F" firmware, I burner 2 of each... both times they were stuck at 2 times, and had some mounting speed issues in the DRU500A. Since upgrading to the "G" firmware, all the discs have burned at 4x, and I haven't had any disc mounting issues whatsoever.

I have my nagging suspicion though that somewhere along the line I will end up running into a string of Riteks which will have the same problem as before, which is why I won't be purchasing any in great bulk in favor of higher quality media.

Kai

[donpedro]

Chips144, nice conversation... !!! I kind of undertand what they are saying. The burning sofware that was Sony shipped with was RocordNow and it burned DVD fine. Upgraded Sony's version was RecordNow DX. So I understand why they stopped discusion when you were talking about different sofware.

[-BK-]

Still odd how my Ritek Gen 4 Media are OK, has anyone thought to compare the full ADVDinfo media code, not just the main media code, I imagine the rest of the media code reveals batch info.

My discs are:

00 6A 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 52 00 02 35 0E 0B .J...@....R..5..
FE FF 80 00 03 52 49 54 45 4B 47 00 04 30 34 00 .....RITEKG..04.
00 00 00 00 05 88 80 00 00 00 01 00 06 06 0F 12 ................
A8 88 80 00 07 88 80 00 00 00 00 00 08 05 1B 0E ................
10 08 09 00 09 97 06 0D 0B 80 00 00 0A 00 00 00 ................
00 00 10 00 0B 06 21 13 A8 87 95 00 0C 99 99 88 ......!.........
80 00 00 00 0D 00 00 D0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
(all 00 after this)

Also bear in mind things such as IDE driver updates, my system is SiS 648/963 chipset with MS built in drivers for IDE (SiS updates not as fast), the DRU-500A is the secondary master with a coolermaster ATA100 screened round IDE cable, which may be helping.

I already have the registry changed to show actual burn speed in Nero, but all discs have been burnt with DVD Decrypter which also shows the actual burn speed.

My discs are the same:

00 6A 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 52 00 02 35 0E 0B .J...@....R..5..
FE FF 80 00 03 52 49 54 45 4B 47 00 04 30 34 00 .....RITEKG..04.
00 00 00 00 05 88 80 00 00 00 01 00 06 06 0F 12 ................
A8 88 80 00 07 88 80 00 00 00 00 00 08 05 1B 0E ................
10 08 09 00 09 97 06 0D 0B 80 00 00 0A 00 00 00 ................
00 00 10 00 0B 06 21 13 A8 87 95 00 0C 99 99 88 ......!.........
80 00 00 00 0D 00 00 D0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................

but won't burn at 4-speed.

My DRU-500 is attached to the 2nd IDE channel as master device, using an ATA133 rounded cable.
Got VIA chipset with latest drivers installed...

Can't figure out what's the exact problem.
I guess the problem is my DRU-500 itself?

-BK-

[NightWing]

Have you tried a std flat cable? Just wondering since some of these rounded cable kind of loose the shielding when they round the cable.

Just a though.

[-BK-]

Yes, I first had a standard cable...
made no difference!

-BK-

[NightWing]

What else do you have on that same channel? Also what else do you have running? Any changed added or changed at the same time the drop occured.

May want to move it. Some IDE channels are slow on the 2nd set of IDE ports.

[-BK-]

At the moment the DRU is the only thing on the 2nd IDE-channel.
I did a lot of testing putting it on different channels, even on my PCI IDE adapter... putting it single... putting it as master/slave, etc.
Nothing helped
It just won't write at a steady 4x on the Riteks!

-BK-

[NightWing]

Better off using the IDE channels on the MB. IDE add on card some times are not set up to handel a ATAPI drive { non HD }.

It may be worthwhile to get two name brand disk. Been seeing some stuff on problems with Ritek I think those are 2x variant media.

Good luck on finding out the problem.

[Coop]

RecordNOW 4.5 that ships with the DRU500 D O E S N O T list it as a supported drive, yet after it crashed my system, I had the same conversation with a sony rep who kept insisting that the software works.
It may work in DX, but I never tried it.

Switched to NERO for burning/erasing and all is well

Recordnow MAX (supported by Stompinc.com) does claim support for the DRU500 but reviewing several threads in their forum, it doesn't seem very stable either.

Sony obviously cut alot of corners when deciding on the software bundle - it really sucks.