Does Pioneer DVR-112D burn DVD+R and DVD+R DL media well?

[palmtree]

I just bought a Pioneer 112D after a brief research. Thought about Samsung SH-S203B, but my local store did not have it. Later I found out, Pioneer 112D does not support DVD+R bitsetting firmware flash. Doh! Is this true?

I will be burning a lot of DVD+R and DVD+R DL (yes this a lot too) media. Have I made good decision for those jobs? I can still return the Pioneer if I change my mind. What about these compared to the Pioneer I bought?
- BENQ DVD LS DW1655 BCDB
- Lite-On LH-20A1P

[aedipuss]

i'm not recommending or guarantying that this works with a 112D, but on the 111D i crossflashed to a 111L and gained the ability to bitset dvd+r. also it's now able to read/write dvd-ram and labelflash, not that i've ever run across a lableflash blank...

pioneer is one of the better drive makers. i have 3 of them, a samsung, lite-on and an asus. the pioneers all perform perfectly and are always my first choice for dvdrs.

[palmtree]

Thanks for the pointer aedipuss. Seems that crossflash is what I have to do with it.

Well Pioneer 112D supports natively DVD+R DL, so no problem there.
The likely problem however is.....
I like burn DVD5+R more and my main burning app is ImgBurn. Under ImgBurn there is no Booktype change option for Pioneer drives. Any ImgBurn user has found a way around it?

[aedipuss]

if you flash to the L version and the 112 is like the 111 then bitsetting dvd+r sl is automatic just like dvd+r dl.

[palmtree]

Thanks again, for the screenshot
Is there anything I might lose for the Pioneer drive, if I flash to DVR-111L. Have not used any Pioneer yet. This is my first Pioneer.

Btw is the firmware buffalo firmware you are talking about mate?

[aedipuss]

no features are removed going to "L". but, you better get the firmware for a 112. and yes it's from a buffalo drive they get the code.

http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?category=4&manufactor=25
or the 112L page - http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?download_id=2332

or get it from the dangerous brothers site.

[aedipuss]

sorry let me correct that no features removed statement. there is the loss of using pioneer standard 112d firmware upgrades. they won't work straight from the manufacturer after the upgrade. hasn't made any difference to me with the 111's as i like the added benefits and the buffalo firmware is usually updated soon after the official pioneer version comes out as it is a rebadged pioneer anyway.

[palmtree]

Del

[palmtree]

Thanks bro for the linky. You rock!
I will get some time this weekend to take care of it.

Edit: I just saw your last post about "no feature loss", I am just wondering whether I will be able to flash back to factory after applying the Buffalo firmware?

[aedipuss]

not that anyone would want to but it's possible. it's a multi-step process of flashing back with a modified installer to a prior version of the pioneer hacked firmware and then installing the latest official firmware.

[budz]

FYI make sure your PIONEER 112D works correctly before you decide to crossflash. The reason for this is you'll void the original PIONEER warranty when you crossflash your 112D drive. The defect is the drive will fail to read CD's. There was a defect in the first phase of the manufacturing of the PIONEER 112D & 212D drives. Depending on when your drive was manufactured will depend if you have one of those defective drives.

I just submitted my online form to get my PIONEER SATA DVR-212DBK replaced because it no longer will read cd's. It failed to read a Seagate hard drive CD that was needed to format a new 500gb hard drive & to create a backup of my operating system. Luckily I have over 20 dvd burners so it wasn't a problem to load the Seagate software.

Here's the online form regarding the defective PIONEER 112D & 212D drives:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/top/cat/article/0,,2076_310069579_484923529,00.html

[palmtree]

Thanks for all the helpful advices Well, I will keep my Pioneer DVR-112D manufactured in May 2007.

[budz]

Thanks for all the helpful advices Well, I will keep my Pioneer DVR-112D manufactured in May 2007.

Just because your drive was manufactured in May 2007 doesn't mean it could/could not have the defective CD problem. My 212DBK was manufactured April 2007. If you want just call the PIONEER 1-800 phone number and ask which manufacturing dates are the ones without the CD problem.

[on30trainman]

Before you do any crossflashing run a quick test to see if your drive can Read/Write to CDs. I recently bought a 112D (Built Feb 2007) that burned DVDs perfectly. Found out about the CD problem on this forum and did the test. Would read CDs but very slowly - took about a minute to even recognize the CD. Would not write CDs anyway/anyhow. Contacted Pioneer with Serial Number and they said send it back - emailed me a form with all the required info. Pioneer got the drive this past Monday - wonder how long it will take to get the replacement. Scuttlebutt seems to indicate that drives built March 2007 and later are OK, but check before doing that non-Pioneer firmware change.

[budz]

Scuttlebutt seems to indicate that drives built March 2007 and later are OK, but check before doing that non-Pioneer firmware change.

Not sure if that's true or not since my PIONEER 212 drive was manufactured in April 2007. But then again the model I have is the 212DBK which is a SATA dvd burner. I shipped it back today to PIONEER via UPS and hopefully I'll get a new drive soon after.

[on30trainman]

budz,
The March 2007 date is just a number I read in one of the threads on some forum - no other data to prove/disprove. Really hope Pioneer doesn't take long to get the replacements out - think I will call next week if it doesn't show up early in the week - they got it back this past Monday according to FedEx tracking. Hoping to get an email from them - at least when they ship. Kind of bothers me that we have to pay for shipping back to them when it is a design problem. Couldn't return it to the store I bought from - bought it at Fry's in Austin, TX when I was there visiting my kids and grandkids.

[budz]

yuh i bought mine from a computer shop in San Francisco when i was there back in june. to pay for shipping sucks but at least we'll get new drives.

[[_chef_]]

short answer: YES
long answer: As long as the used media is above crap, the drive will do its best.

[nicky57]

Buffalo firmware is older then the current Pioneer. The just released update to media code speededit will allow you to patch 112D stock firmware so that +r bitsetting is automatic, also increase the read speed. I did it and it worked like a charm and you can still update when new firmware comes out. My best drive now is even better.
Download here. http://home.arcor.de/ala42/MCSE_Mirror/MediaCodeSpeedEdit.zip

Homepage for the tool here
http://home.arcor.de/ala42/MCSE_Mirror

[[_chef_]]

I just bought a Pioneer 112D after a brief research. Thought about Samsung SH-S203B, but my local store did not have it. Later I found out, Pioneer 112D does not support DVD+R bitsetting firmware flash. Doh! Is this true?

I will be burning a lot of DVD+R and DVD+R DL (yes this a lot too) media. Have I made good decision for those jobs? I can still return the Pioneer if I change my mind. What about these compared to the Pioneer I bought?
- BENQ DVD LS DW1655 BCDB
- Lite-On LH-20A1P

It mainly depends on the DL media brand and MID.

[grex]

Buffalo firmware is older then the current Pioneer. The just released update to media code speededit will allow you to patch 112D stock firmware so that +r bitsetting is automatic, also increase the read speed. I did it and it worked like a charm and you can still update when new firmware comes out. My best drive now is even better.
Download here. http://home.arcor.de/ala42/MCSE_Mirror/MediaCodeSpeedEdit.zip

Homepage for the tool here
http://home.arcor.de/ala42/MCSE_Mirror

hi guys, im new here. i have been searching for an answer for my pioneer dvr-112d external writer, and stumbled across this forum in the google search.

i just bought my pioneer few days ago, and it seems that i can NOT burn with my hyena (sony d21) DVD+R at all. it started fine up to 3% and just stopped. never go more than 3%. i have tried different speeds etc to no luck. i have wasted many blanks on the way i have followed the above step and i got stuck on how to "FLASH" my drive. i just don't know how to do it. i have updated the firmware to the latest through pioneer website but still will not burn my DVD+R discs. also have tried the 112L file from dangerous brothers site, this program can not pick up my external pioneer in the system. it only lists the 2 sony internal drives, i can't select my external pioneer one as it's not in the list.

please hellpppppp......

btw, mine is external drive connected via usb2.0.

[[_chef_]]

Hey grex,

how did the 112 came into the enclosure?
Did you buy the enclosure and the burner seperately or did they came "as one" to you?

Either way, I suspect the enclosures chipset is the culprint of all your troubles.

[MysticE]

Well here's my 2 cents. I just bought a Pioneer DVR-115D after reading a review which included burning TYG02's (8X-R, my discs of choice). For me the bitsetting thing is no big deal (it will auto bitset +R DL), my BenQ will do SL if I feel the need.

Here's a scan of a Pioneer burn with a TYG02 burned with ImgBurn set to 'MAX'. It got up to 12.6X at the end.



I'm pleased.

[budz]

When scanning with a BENQ 1640 quality scans should be done in 8x speed not 4x speed. If you were using a LITEON drive then 4x speed would fine but for the BENQ 1640, 1650 & 1655 use 8x speed.

[grex]

]Hey grex,

how did the 112 came into the enclosure?
Did you buy the enclosure and the burner seperately or did they came "as one" to you?

Either way, I suspect the enclosures chipset is the culprint of all your troubles.

hi chef

thanks for the reply

it came with the enclosure as it was sold as external dvd writer

how can i tell if it's the enclosure that caused all the problem ? is there anyway apart from dismantling and rip the drive out of the enclosure and install it as an in-drive unit ?

i have upgraded to buffalo software to no luck either. (also tried 112L vers.1.24)

[obs]

i just bought my pioneer few days ago, and it seems that i can NOT burn with my hyena (sony d21) DVD+R at all. it started fine up to 3% and just stopped.

Never heard of this Hyena brand, but it sounds like it could be a bunch of junk. In any case, when you have problems like this, first thing to do is try different media, such as Verbatim..

[[_chef_]]

Hey grex,

was that external Pio sold as X112 or similar, means a "official" Pioneer external?
In general 2 problems appear often:
1st, the chipset in the enclosure is not really good or slows down the read/burn.
2nd, the usb ports on the computer/mobo are not properly installed or set up or cannot "deal" properly with the enclosure chipset for whatever reason.

Maybe you could try the external on another computer (use nero cd dvd speed for some tests)?

IMHO: USB is so well spread, but it sucks. Firewire and eSATA are better.