LiteOn DVD drive owners must read this

[crazeplaya]

For owners of the 163. Do not upgrade to the latest firmware GH5S as it will result in the drive only being able to rip at 2x. This is because the drive will no longer work in DMA mode (in XP at least)

If you have already done this you may be finding it hard to downgrade to a 'FASTER' firmware, I did!

I found a website that can help to downgrade, it is http://digi.rpc1.org/0page.htm

To downgrade you should use the 'MtkWinFlash' utility. Make sure you understand how to use it and know the exact model number of your drive before you start.

[marvel2020]

Well said m8

I found out to late a week ago, but i was able to downgrade again

So Liteon 163D Users You Have Been Warned.

[Faustus]

Have you guys tried ripping out the host controller in device manager and letting it redetect?

[defense]

Have you guys tried ripping out the host controller in device manager and letting it redetect?

Just curiousl, what would the purpose of that be? Are you saying that you could get faster rip speeds by doing that? I get excellent rip speeds now and wouldn't touch a thing, i'm just curious if that is what you are saying.

[SVCDummy]

Why upgrade to begin with?!?

I get rip speeds in excess of 6x running on a 1.1ghz Durn and Win98se

Does the newer firmware offer any other advantages?

just curious...

[marvel2020]

SVCDumy wrote....

Why upgrade to begin with?!?

I get rip speeds in excess of 6x running on a 1.1ghz Durn and Win98se

Does the newer firmware offer any other advantages?

just curious...

Bascily upgraded to make the Rom Drive Region Free without the need for DVD Genie or DVD Region free tools.

But the upgrade put my from UltraDma mode to the Crap PIO mode, with rip speeds of no more to 2x speed.

Now that i'm back on the original firmware i'm getting rip speeds of 12x to 14x speed.

Flaystus i done what you said but i made no difference, it would still reinstall in PIO mode.

[Faustus]

In answer to why to try that well if it kicked into PIO mode (which happens sometimes) then ripping out the Host controller will cause it to reset. Of course if its hardset then it will not help, but it would be the first thing I tried personally.

[crazeplaya]

Now that i'm back on the original firmware i'm getting rip speeds of 12x to 14x speed.

Which firmware are you using now?

[Faustus]

One more question. How old is this firmware? My cousin said he updated his like less then a week ago to me and said nothing about slower rip speeds.

NEVERMIND: Scratch that, he has a 166 duh.

[Tonio Roffo]

I know the reason why Ripping DVD's happens at 2x:

Lessen drive noise during playback!

During playback of DVD's from a PC, 2X is more than enough to playback DVD, while the irritating sound of high RPM is gone.

For ripping of course, we want speed

[spaceman]

I have the liteon 163d & upgraded the filmware to GHR7 from http://digi.rpc1.org/163dfw.htm & i am now able to rip a dvd5 at 15.8X & dvd9 at upto 11X.Before i upgraded i was only getting half the speed with the original filmware...

[marvel2020]

I'm now using the GHR6 Firmware which was in the drive when i bought it.

[crazeplaya]

The problem firmware was the first one released after LiteOn's merger with JVC. Does anyone think JVC made the firmware to make the drives rip slowly on purpose.

Do JVC make DVD-ROM drives, and if so do they rip at only 2x?

[red lion]

Have you guys tried ripping out the host controller in device manager and letting it redetect?

Is there a chance this might damage your drive or is it 100% safe to try as i have a SONY DRU500AX that is locked at 2x rip speed also...

[Faustus]

100% safe. Worse case senario you have to reinstall the drivers for your controller, but it should be all automatic 99% of the time. Remove the host controller reboot, it redetects and ask to reboot again, then your done.

Its messing with your drivers, not your drive.

[MadeInJapan]

Sure enough....read this thread and upgraded my Liteon DVDrom from the link to the latest firmware as well as making it region free and am ripping DVDs at record speed....what took me an hour a few hours ago takes me 10 minutes now! Wow! Thanks

[defense]

I'm now using the GHR6 Firmware which was in the drive when i bought it.

Where do you check and see your "firmware?" I checked in Device Manager and under every tab and saw nothing like GHR6 OR 7. I do see "driver" and my driver is a series of numbers. Can you tell me how you are checking what firmware you currently have? Thanks

Update: Shit, I played around and saw that RecordNow Max lists all my drives details..and it shows my Liteon 163D has firmware GHR3! I am burning at up to 15.4x for most DVD-5's and usually an average of 10-12x for DVD-9's. However, sometimes it can average around 7x. Not to shabby though. Hell, I am a gambler and I'm gonna download GHR7 and see if I can't get this bad boy to rip at 20x! hahahaaaaa...I'll let you know in all seriousness if I can get an average any higher then my high averages now with the new firmware.

[defense]

Marvel, how did you downgrade your flash for your LITE-ON? I upgraded to GHR7 as I said and the first thing I noticed was that all of the DVD+R media which took longer for the drive to read..was now being read instantly! I was like..great start...then I started to rip disks to test the speed and it looked great initially. The speed jumped up to about 8x but after about 18-22% complete, the damn rip speed went to around 1-2x and stayed there. Once or twice it climbed back up to 5x, but that is still MUCH lower then I had with my original GHR3 firmware. Although, with the GHR3 firmware, it took a while for the Rom to read DVD+R as I said..but I would give that up for the rip speeds I was getting.


I tried to downgrade through Native Dos by putting this flash on a floppy but each time I do that I get a message that my "SONY DRU500a" isn't supported by the firmware, AND EITHER is my LITE-ON 163D! I'm not sure why the hell it is checking my Sony, but it ISN'T updating my Lite-On either. I also tried to downgrade using that "unstable" GHR6, and it is right. MY system didn't lockup but my Lite-On isn't reading any disks anymore..lol....I asked for this and got it. Let me know when you get a chance what you did to downgrade your firmware. Thanks

[defense]

well I did a search because I didn't like the "rigged" software from the above listed site and I eventually found this excellent site! http://forum.firmware-flash.com/dl_firmware.php?category=1&manufactor=17

I downloaded GHR7 from them, but that particular version seems to be the same as the other site. However, the site I linked has firmware from damn near EVERY DVD ROM drive! It also has all the LITE-ON firmware without hacks and all of them appear to be windows based. Too bad GHR7 continues to start out ripping fast but then slowly dies down around 18%. Looks like I'll have to try GHR5 from this site and if I can get a version that reads those DVD+R's like GHR7, but with the speed of my GHR3, I will be seriously ridin'!

[kcalczab]

100% safe. Worse case senario you have to reinstall the drivers for your controller, but it should be all automatic 99% of the time. Remove the host controller reboot, it redetects and ask to reboot again, then your done.

Its messing with your drivers, not your drive.

how do you remove the host controller??

[defense]

how do you remove the host controller??

Right click on my computer...then click properties.....then click device manager....then in device manager if you scroll down you should see IEEE 1394 Bus Controllers..click on that and you will see the OHCI Compliant Host Controller. Right Click on that and select "uninstall." Once you do that reboot your machine. That's a step by step for you so you should be able to take care of business now.

[kcalczab]

how do you remove the host controller??

Right click on my computer...then click properties.....then click device manager....then in device manager if you scroll down you should see IEEE 1394 Bus Controllers..click on that and you will see the OHCI Compliant Host Controller. Right Click on that and select "uninstall." Once you do that reboot your machine. That's a step by step for you so you should be able to take care of business now.

cant see IEEE 1394 anywhere

i have win 98 - is there a chance its XP or ME your talking about??

[defense]

figured that list would be specific to XP. Ok, do exactly what I said but check in the ATA/ATAPI CONTROLLERS LIST and see if the host controller is there. It should be right around there. Just open the "+" lists of everything if that doesn't work and try to find it.

[defense]

man, talk about a NIGHTMARE! ..I really did get what I asked for. First I get slower ripping speeds with GHR7...but the ability to read all disks lightning quick. Then I downgrade to GHR6 and I can't read ANY disks. Then I screw around with MTKFLASH and run the two .bin FILE COMMAND from DOS and then my drive becomes NO LONGER RECOGNIZED BY WINDOWS and my system IS SUPER SLOW.

So THEN I download MTKWINFLASH, MERGE the two.BIN files together within DOS because MTKWINFLASH does NOT handle dual.bin files..and finally I get my drive recognized again with the hacked GHR6 version of the firmware...but once again, GHR6 is just like GHR7 where I rip at about 4x or so. At least I got my drive recognized again..but this has been crazy. AGain, I asked for it..no problem though...does ANYONE know where I can get version GHR3 to downgrade to? Thanks

[marvel2020]

defense GHR3 is on the same page on that link i sent you.

Look in the LTD-163D for it

[defense]

defense GHR3 is on the same page on that link i sent you.

Look in the LTD-163D for it

Marvel, that is the "DOS" version and unfortunately with these damn LITEON drives they WON'T allow you to downgrade! That is what "flashfix" is for, but it isn't FOR THE 163 series drives right now, ONLY 165/166 series drives. That's why with the Windows versions you can "force" install the drivers, even though they are downgrading, it will erase other code. I prefer "dos" for flashing bios or drives, but in this case, I need the windows version of GHR3. This really sucks. The ONLY thing I can think which may help is if I go back one last time to GHR7. That version read all disks better then any other, I just get slow rip speeds. I wonder if over a little time, It may increase.


The reason I say that is because I noticed that when I put each BRAND of media in the LITEON AFTER it was flashed, it took longer to read that type of media...same with A DUAL LAYERED disk..but it did that ONLY ONCE. Afterwards, I put different titles of movies on the same type of media, and within a split second power DVD loaded up. Anyway, if you know where I can get GHR3 "windows" based, please let me know. Thanks

[MOVIEGEEK]

If you flash region free firmware you're playing russian roulette you should only use manufactuer approved firmware,here's a good site:http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Firmware/LatestFirmwareUpdates.asp

[defense]

If you flash region free firmware you're playing russian roulette you should only use manufactuer approved firmware,here's a good site:

Thanks MovieGeek but i've already found that site earlier. They only have "one" d/l for my drive and that is to a link that is no longer up. So they have "nothing" for my drive.

As far as playing around with region free software....lol...yea, read my post above...it's exactly like Russian Roulette. I don't use disks from other regions so I don't mess around with Region Free stuff..however, most of that firmware is hacked one way or another. I've just reinstalled GHR7 and it reads all my disks/ software included..lightning quick. Even much faster then GHR3...it's just the damn ripping speed is not nearly as fast. I will continue to play around with it.


Can ANYONE tell me if it is possible to somehow delete "all" firmware, or at least delete it somehow to be able to install an "older" version on my drive?

[spaceman]

defence i don't know why you are havin all these problems with GHR7,since i upgraded to it have been very pleased a dvd9 starts ripping at around 3.5-4.5x then constantly builds up speed to about 10-11x although i have had some rips that only go to 6.5-7x,but overall very pleased to rip a full dvd9 under 15mins sometimes 10-11 mins & to rip a dvd5 in 5mins is great.....

[red lion]

So what about the SONY DRU500AX any cure for it ripping any faster than 2x because that is what it is locked at.as for firmware think it must be the newest as it has a build date of january 2003 (2.0c)