ILO DVDRO4, $150 may be good deal.

[SuperTech]

Interesting !
DVD burners and DVD burners with HD's are not quite ready for prime time yet . Duh ! Most of us that are playing with these toys certainly know how to use Goggle etc. Piss off enough of us early adopters / evangelists of the concept and you have a MAJOR PR problem .
If Lite-on keeps dropping the ball like this they may lose the Market.
Circuit City no longer carries them .
Wallmart ....is a power on to itself ...too many returns your outa there !
Costco same thing .
I dont think these idiots realize that they may be shut down in North America . They have a forum ...and they don't use it. They get feedback and dont' clue in. These bozos couldn't t even figure out simple thermal issues with the early 5001 units . Mono tuners ??? WTF ?
To screw up such simple things is scary and very funny. ;-}

[belder]

Great posts and very informative thread. Many thanks!

I seem to see the hard drive audio dropouts (on my machine) happening after about 15 to 19 minutes of play. I rewind it after hearing the dropout the amount of time the drop happens may change. Also, if you copy from the HDD to a DVDR then the dropouts go away. At least they fixed the audio problem on other players.

Has Liteon/iLo just picked the wrong audio format to use for these decks?
Do you see it as being fixable?
Do you think they've given up on these decks?
Is there a chance that folks that hack these things could actually come up with a solution to the problems, as well as releasing more features on it?
Is it actually capable of being able to record + or - DVD's?

[SuperTech]

The 2nd generation DiMeNsion 8602 that all these toys are based on is easily capable of dealing with Plus and Minus DVD formats .
http://www.lsilogic.com/products/recorder_dvd_dvr_dtr/dmn_8602.html
The Burners ( 451's )are also capable. Lite-on is simply dumbing down the firmware so they can sell the same thing ( with a different sticker ) at various price points . It seems they created the ILO "name" to be Walmarts house brand . Not sure why they set up a complete division to do so. The Creation of a specific model with a totally different chip set the ( Lite-on 5101 ) for Sam's club ( aka Walmart ) does border on the insane. It makes no economic sense. And yes I totally understand the special "Model number" game that Large Retailers play. This is not that.

[SuperTech]

This could be cool ! Official DivX ( mpg4 ) support for the DiMeNsion 8602 /8652 chipset.

http://www.lsilogic.com/news/product_news/2004_10_11.html

Whether Lit-on actually makes this feature available for their current lineup is the question.

[NightWing]

I know there is one group rewriting the firmware for one of the routers/gateway out there.

Would be intersting to do the same for this unit.

Is Liteon and LSI Logic different companies?

[junkmalle]

I know there is one group rewriting the firmware for one of the routers/gateway out there.

Would be intersting to do the same for this unit.

Is Liteon and LSI Logic different companies?

Yes, they are very different companies. Liteon is a consumer products company in Taiwan. LSI Logic is a chip design/manufacturer in the USA.

[belder]

I'd be willing to try the upgrade posted by bugmenot, but does it also include the fix for the audio copy from HDD to DVD or the supposed fix for the audio drop out? Maybe a better fix...or a real fix? Is there any more information about what it does? Is it possible to reload the other firmware if it doesn't work? Thanks.

[kcsport]

So would the dvdr04 be good for the every day person looking to record tv Kid movies and digital 8 family movies. Kinda like a VCR replacement. I could live with the mono sound I guess. I'm pretty new to the set top burners and cant spring for a high dollar unit. Thanks!

[NightWing]

I know there is one group rewriting the firmware for one of the routers/gateway out there.

Would be intersting to do the same for this unit.

Is Liteon and LSI Logic different companies?

Yes, they are very different companies. Liteon is a consumer products company in Taiwan. LSI Logic is a chip design/manufacturer in the USA.

Though so. But the way companies are was wondering if some one got bought up by the other.

[JasonK]

ANOTHER NEW FIRMWARE

I just got ANOTHER email from iLO. Is as follows:

We have confirmed many of these bugs.
We have new firmware for your unit that should fix these bugs.
We are currently testing the firmware to make sure that it does before we
release it.
Expect a firmware update by next Friday.


Tech Support
URL: http://www.ilohelp.com

I've noticed the firmware posted for the DVDHDR04 is WMJA1185

The version they had posted last week is WMJA1178

I wonder if this new version is the one he is refferring to as it is different than the previous version. I no longer have my DVDHDR04 to test it. He didnt specify which bug, so it may be a generic form response. But hopefully it will fix the audio glitch.

[belder]

JasonK,

I just got the exact same e-mail. I loaded the new firmware today. I can't tell what was in it. I think it may have added "just fit" to my timer recording options. Not sure. The audio still drops out on the HDD.

Hope next week will have good news. At least they're trying and updating.

[Herbyg]

ANOTHER NEW FIRMWARE

I just got ANOTHER email from iLO. Is as follows:

We have confirmed many of these bugs.
We have new firmware for your unit that should fix these bugs.
We are currently testing the firmware to make sure that it does before we
release it.
Expect a firmware update by next Friday.


Tech Support
URL: http://www.ilohelp.com

I've noticed the firmware posted for the DVDHDR04 is WMJA1185

The version they had posted last week is WMJA1178

I wonder if this new version is the one he is refferring to as it is different than the previous version. I no longer have my DVDHDR04 to test it. He didnt specify which bug, so it may be a generic form response. But hopefully it will fix the audio glitch.

Gonna test it right now. I think Belder has tested this version or a second version and this is the third. I have not been able to really test the first upgrade, no time, but I take your word for it.
The funny thing is the webmaster screwed up again and didn't post an updated date. Fire that guy.

[SuperTech]

LSI logic , Cirrus Logic , Philips and ARM ?? make chipsets that the various Chinese /Taiwanese DVD Video Burners use .
GoVideo , Lite-on , Apex, Philips etc. all buy the Developement kit ( chipset, powersupply, Tuner, circuit board and stuff ) and take it from there.
Generally the Kits are turnkey and ready to go . They get some developement software, a bunch of licenses, schematics , BOM ( Bill of materials list ) the right to modifiy the software (or not ) .
It may well be that the cost of an additional Dolby Encoding License is why Lite-on uses a non-standard audio format while recording.

What you get is basically the " Kit" in a box with a new label. Sometimes the Mfgr. will significantly change the firmware , the Cirucit board , the sugested layout etc .
One method is not better than another.

[JasonK]

I responded to the previous email I had gotten from Lite-on, and got this response:

WMJA1185.DS1 is the newest one. This takes care of all the issues including audio skipping on hd playback.

Thank you for contacting Lite-On Tech Support. If you reply please include all
previous emails.

Best Regards,

Lite-On (USA) Tech Support,

[Herbyg]

The recordings that I made with the 75 firmware update seem to not have the audio glitches. The machine might need to be warmed up(20 or so minutes of playback) and that is why tech crew doesn't notice the audio glitch. Because they do what I just did right now. I fast forwared the 1 hr HD recording to about the thirty minute mark and let it play for five minute marks, no audio glitches. I think it might have to do with the unit or HD heating up. In addition, earlier recordings that I have with the original firmware sometimes had no audio glitches.

[Herbyg]

So far so good with the new firmware upgrade.
WMJA1185.DS1

No HD audio glitches.
No Digital Timer going haywire as other poster said about fw 1175.
Note: I never had Digital timer problem with 1175.
Everything Ok. with this upgrade.
So Far.

Digital Faq page http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/liteon.htm
Notes this:
5001 file extensions
DS1=motherboard
D11=motherboard and drive
D01=drive

[belder]

Herby,

I recorded 15 minutes on the HDD and so far so good. I'll know more when I record Letterman tonight. I erased all of the old recorded material with the old firmware. It dropped audio and I wanted to start fresh. Maybe my unit is one of those cases like the last update where anything recorded with the old firmware wouldn't work...but you had good luck!

We'll see.

[JasonK]

Here's good test:

Do a recording of 1 full hour.
Fast forward to 55 minutes and play from there. Listen for the audio glitch, particularly at the 30 second and 00 points on the counter.

Also try going to the 55 minute+ mark, and start reversing at 16X. Does it keep pausing, or does it fast reverse at a consistant fast speed??? That was the other annoying thing I noticed with mine, pauses during 16X reverse.

I'm still not sure about buying another iLO even if this fixed the audio glitch. I've been looking into a PC based PVR so I can have more features like online guides for programming, multiple tuner upgrade option, recording while watching other recorded material, and other "Tivo like" features. The Hauppauge 350 card with the hardware mpeg encoder and decoder, remote, and SageTV PVR software is about $200. There appears to be some bugs though.

[NightWing]

One thing to do would be defrag the drive just in case. Use to do this in the past on capture computers.

[haub]

Have you noticed anything else about the firmware that's in error or newly added functionality?

[oracle58]

I have been following this thread with great interest. I want to buy a DVD recorder for our church, where I record one worship service each Sunday (a mix of PowerPoint and live camera) using a standard VHS VCR. The tape goes into our lending library for free viewing, but occasionally someone wants me to make a dupe, which is a typical second gen VHS (ugly!).

A DVD/HD recorder seems to be the perfect solution, because I can send a signal to both the VCR and the DVD recorder. That would give me a tape for the library, and I can always burn a DVD or make a good quality copy to VHS for anyone who wants one. Based on the most recent postings, the iLO DVDHDR04 will be perfect, provided the latest fix has solved the audio dropout problem.

Thanks for holding iLO's feet to the fire for the rest of us!

[belder]

I wish I was having the same great results as Herbyg. Here is part of an e-mail I've sent to iLo.
---
I loaded the WMJA1185.DS1 firmware again to be sure. I even erased the hard drive, but did not defrag. I recorded two one hour shows lat night. This morning the playback was fine until I used fast forward on the drive to skip past some commercials. Then, the dropouts started at Title 3 Chapter 5. Something new began. I even got the reverse clock at 21:22. At 23:00 it goes forward again. At 31:01 there was a bad audio drop but at 32:00 there was none. At 33:00 the drop continued.

My unit was manufactured in July 2004. When I bought it the SN was
SN:4E05-0140-0146-G289
After the WMJA1178.d20 it was
SN:4E05-0140-0178-G2B9
And with the latest firmware update WMJA1185.DS1
SN:4E05-0140-1185-G2B9
---
I'm really cheering for iLo. I like this unit, but mine is not fix by any means.

[JasonK]

That's good to know that the audio glitch problem wasn't fixed. I'm glad I returned mine when I did. I'm not going to email iLO anymore since I no longer have the unit.

[TwistedLincoln]

While I haven't loaded the new firmware just yet, I did notice a new PDF "tech bulletin" that was just added to the site. It describes the supposed changes in the new firmware:

"Provides enriched audio playback for DTS (Digital Theater Surround)
environments
• Provides superior audio compatibility with other players for titles copied from the Hard Disk Drive to the DVD disc
• Facilitates a security feature that disables all function keys until the Recorder powers up and reaches “Ready” state
• Allows copied titles (from the DVD disc) to be merged with recorded titles (Hard Disk Drive) to create one larger recording session. Each file format (Copy and Record titles must be of the same recording mode, i.e. HQ to HQ AND must reside on the Hard Disk before the merge file process can be initiated)."

Doesn't sound like it's going to help...

I'll try the update now, and report back my findings later.

[NightWing]

Just a very strange thought. Do you have DTS on or off. And what audio setting do you have the HDR04 set to.

[belder]

Nightwing, I have mine on DTS OFF and Digital Out on Bit Stream. Do you think this setting has anything to do with the drop outs?

With the help of Harpmaker on the DC Liteon Forum I did a test of the Just Fit function of the iLo HD04 timer.

First, I selected "Just Fit" for a 3 hour timer record on a DVD+RW that had been fully erased. The Menu gives the speed of LP next to the image on the menu and the Empty box reads that there is 2 min 23 seconds left on the disc. Harpmaker siggested 1.5 hours to see if it had VBR and would fill the whole disc.

Then, I set the timer to 1 hr and 30 minutes. After the time had passed and the show recorded, the time on the DVD read 01:30:00 and the Empty space read 00:02:27. No speed was given. It used almost the entire DVD+RW to record an hour and a half show. This leads me to believe that VBR recording is on this machine. Thanks to Harpmaker for suggesting this.

[Mizio]

Does anyone know where to find the HD model? It is not on Walmart.com and I could not find them in a couple of Walmart stores that I visited here in CT. Lots of non- HD R04's though!

[NightWing]

Just wondering. Since it affect the audio flow would be a good test to see if flipping it does affect things.

Also does the player have a "Reset" feature? Wondering if so a "Reset" is in order After updating the firmware?

Intersting.... on the times. Wish the R04 had Just fit.

[belder]

The HD04 has Restore which will reboot the system and restore it to the default.

Mizio- The HD04 may be hard to find. I don't think iLo would send more out until they get these "issues" solved. Imagine being a consumer that doesn't know about this web site or how to download firmware and burn a CD-R. I imagine it would almost be instantly returned.

[NightWing]

Starting to wonder if it would not be prudent to restore after flashing the unit.

Tnks!