BenQ firmware can't handle 8X DL

[miamicanes]

I have a BenQ DW1625 drive that I was unfortunate enough to buy about a year and a half ago. Unfortunately, the drive's firmware (BBIA) has no clue how to deal with 8X DL media, and the bastards at BenQ haven't released a firmware upgrade for it since 2006.

Yes, I can burn 2.4x Verbatim DL discs flawlessly. The problem is, 2.4X Verbatim DL discs are now impossible to buy locally, and their online per-disc price is more than double the sale price of 8X DL discs at Best Buy once you factor in the shipping charges. I go through about 8-12 DL discs per month, so I'm *almost* at the break-even point for saying 'screw it' and buying a new drive.

That said, it infuriates me that BenQ apparently expects everyone to just junk perfectly good drives because they can't be bothered to update the firmware with a write strategy for burning 8x discs at 2.4x.

Is there any alternate firmware that can be used to save my drive from the junk pile? Or is there some legitimate HARDWARE reason why a drive capable of writing 2.4x DL discs can't burn 8x discs at a slower speed?

Likewise, if I *am* stuck buying a new drive if I want to be able to buy cheap DL discs on sale at Best Buy, is there a database somewhere of drives known to be capable or incapable of burning them?

Going forward, should I add BenQ to the pile of bad, evil companies (alongside HP and Sony) I try to avoid, or are all of drive OEMs (including Lite-On and Phillips) equally evil about EOL'ing drives before the ship from China carrying them even reaches the US?

[redwudz]

You won't have to worry about BenQ, they don't make drives anymore. And considering the high cost of DL 'coasters', I would say it's time to replace the drive.

[budz]

BENQ sold their optical drive dept. years ago to LITEON. IMHO they had the best drives with constant firmware upgrades when they manufactured their own drives. As for using CHEAP DL MEDIA, you get whatcha pay for as I posted in your other thread. :P No matter what DVD BURNER you buy using CHEAP DL MEDIA will never work in the long run. Why waste your money on CHEAP MEDIA! This is a well known fact that using only VERBATIM DL MEDIA is the way to go. Post your question at CDFREAKS.com and you'll see lots of replies to your question. If your BENQ 1625 still burns SINGLE LAYER MEDIA then good for you but if not then buy a new dvd burner.

[miamicanes]

By any chance, did Lite-On ever make any 1625s under its own name, and release later firmware for a Lite-on branded drive that would work on a BenQ 1625?

[MOVIEGEEK]

By any chance, did Lite-On ever make any 1625s under its own name, and release later firmware for a Lite-on branded drive that would work on a BenQ 1625?

Not to my knowledge,all updates ceased when they stopped making BenQ writers:
http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?category=4&manufactor=1
Are you using ImgBurn to burn?
BTW:writers are only $40USD these days,it's not like you have to get a new PC.

[oldandinthe way]

Never mind

[miamicanes]

I know, it just pisses me off to have to chuck a perfectly good piece of hardware that I bought less than a year and a half ago just because the manufacturer abandoned it. IMHO, anyone who wants to copyright and/or patent hardware drivers or firmware should be required to submit the sourcecode and build scripts along with the application as a condition of it being granted, so that if/when they decide to abandon it, the info needed to carry on development will be a public record and available to anyone who cares.

[budz]

Peddle that to LITEON who supposedly is working with the BENQ engineers who developed the firmwares & are now applying them to the latest LITEON drives. This is what I read somewhere at Cdfreaks.com.

[[_chef_]]

I know, it just pisses me off to have to chuck a perfectly good piece of hardware that I bought less than a year and a half ago just because the manufacturer abandoned it. IMHO, anyone who wants to copyright and/or patent hardware drivers or firmware should be required to submit the sourcecode and build scripts along with the application as a condition of it being granted, so that if/when they decide to abandon it, the info needed to carry on development will be a public record and available to anyone who cares.

If it were *perfect* then it would burn that media.
Maybe you can try MCSE on it.