Getting nothing but coasters w/3550A/Dee's 1.Y4 Firmware w/Ritek-R04 media

[gguerra3]

Just got this drive. updated to Dee's 1.Y4 firmware. Using Ritek R04 media which I thought was good. Write's great and fast but when I try to read the discs I get invalid function error. Different programs, I used NTI Backup Now for Data DVD, I used Roxio, I used Clone Dvd for movies, all the same results. Could it be the media. I've had great luck with NEC drives in the past. Only seem to have problems with these disks I've burned with this drive. I've just made like five coasters.

[ROF]

I have yet to make a coaster with mine or customers 3550a drives. I never used hacked firmware though.

[hech54]

That'll learn ya' for using hacked firmware when there is absolutely nothing wrong with the manufacturer's firmware.

[ROF]

What made the hacked firmware so enticing to install?

It doesn't add any features that I can see and from the sounds of things it actually takes away some features (ie. Successful burns).

[gguerra3]

The main reasion for the hacked firmware is the bittsetting for DVD+R. The hacked firmware also adds compatiblity for additional media, which is the reason I put it on in the first place. The drive was doing the same thing with stock firmware. But thats is not where the problem lies, it' something running in memory that is conflicting with the drives ability to read. When I do a fresh restart of my PC the drives works great, plays the movie etc. After trying a couple of discs it does back to giving me errors, Invalid function etc. I will keep messing around with it. Does Stock firmware support bitsetting for DVD+R?? I've never had probs with hacked firmware.. I have a 3500 with mad dog has worked great for over 600 burns.. Not only that the burns I did worked great on my laptop.. Its just playback and reading that are afftected..

[ROF]

In Nero 7 Bit setting is only available for DVD+R DL using v1.05 firmware. The other two(+r/+rw) are greyed out. I've never found this useful anyways so I never use it. Of course, I've never had problems with compatibility and when I do it's usually DVD-R discs that are the issue.

[gguerra3]

I do use DVD+R bitsetting. I have two standalone players , one is an old apex and one is a sony. The apex needs the bitsetting. Also the hacked firmware removes region settings from the drive. Those are the two main reasons for using it. The 1.Y5 firmware for the 3550 does support bitsetting for SL and DL. Check the page here http://liggydee.cdfreaks.com/page/3550/

Anyway, I suspect my problem was with my real time virus scanning. I excluded the D: drive (DVD Writer) and it seems to be working better now. Will wait and see. It turns out those burns were not coasters after all..

[ROF]

Glad you got it worked out.

[OneSickPup]

I've never experienced any problems with any of Liggy & Dee's firmwares. I own a 3550 and use 1.Y5 fw. I honestly would suspect your media is the culprit - I'm not a fan of Ritek. In any case, you can flash back to the original firmware easily as long as you use Binflash. If you need more info try these links:

NEC FAQ: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=120934
Binflash Info: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=105676

Good Luck

[lenti_75]

What made the hacked firmware so enticing to install?

It doesn't add any features that I can see and from the sounds of things it actually takes away some features (ie. Successful burns).

dude, some of us want rpc1, faster rip speeds and bitsetting....is this less than the original without them ???

and successfuly burns is form the user, sometimes they don;t flash it right, I did it probably close to 100 times so far and no errors.

if you don't know don't post your answer.

[ROF]

@lenti_75

I only made an observation that it might have been the firmware. I also posted my usefulness for such things. Your usefulness may differ, but I also confirmed to the original poster that the official firmware only support DVD+R DL bit setting. Are you suggesting that I don't answer someones question directly or that I not offer my opinion on how useful I find certain features? That would seem to contradict what any forum is designed to provide. BTW, Examine what you've added to this topic. Did it help answer any questions of the OP? Did you answer any follow on questions? Were you helpful in anyway?

[bevills1]

IMO it's a good idea to shut down other programs when burning discs because some can conflict with burning, and I practice doing that anytime I'm burning. Also I have a Pioneer 107D with hacked firmware which will burn 2 different backups using DVDShrink and Nero 6.6 with no problems, but attempting 3 or more different backups results in a coaster everytime unless I reboot after the second backup and burn. I don't know if your problems might be due to same cause, but it couldn't hurt to try it. I'm unsure but suspect the cause may be due to resources being used up in Windows since rebooting corrects the problem. I never have coasters as long as I reboot after shrinking and burning 2 different backups.