Problems burning with Pioneer A04 since firmware upgrade - PLEASE HELP

[rufusrex]

I have a Pioneer A04 and had no problems using Nero and RecordNow burning DVDs on Opto-Disks. I successfully burnt about 12. I then upgraded my firmware to the latest from Pioneer (I believe version 1.35) and have since been stuck in coaster hell. I burnt a DVD then upgraded the firmware, later that day tried burning again with same media and got a DVD that would not play.

I called Pioneer and spoke to a tech in the Enginering Dept. and he told me the firmware CAN'T be the problem. Has anyone had the same problem? Is there any way to revert the firmware back? The tech told me there is no way. Please help before I ship this drive back to where it came from.

Thanks

[gooki]

Upgrading to the latest version of nero might help out a bit.

[Commander XJL]

Will these DVD's play on your computer with PowerDVD? Or will they just not play on your standalone?

[rufusrex]

I've already upgraded to the latest version of Nero and still nada. The burnt DVDs will play fine on Power DVD, but only on the Pioneer drive. I have another DVD drive and that won't recognize the DVD, nor will either (I have 2) stand alone player. The strange part is I was making perfect copies using Nero and Record Now before I upgraded the firmware. I think it a combo of the firmware and the fairly cheap media (Opto Disk) that may be causing the problems. I wish there was a way to restore the original firmware since I have about 35 blanks that are useless. I'll probably pick up a different brand of media tomorrow, but the thought of picking up $5-7 media at Best Buy makes me cringe.

Any other ideas?

[Commander XJL]

get a dvd-rw (a name brand one!) and test with that before making any decisions. Plus you can get name brand media for less than that if you need too. The media may not have anything to do with it, so test with a rewritable, don't start burning coasters, test first!
You can get a 3 pak of Memorex rewritables at best buy for 20 bucks, then you can test with those

[rufusrex]

I've created a DVD with the Pioneer DVD-RW that came with the drive. It plays fine in the Pioneer drive. My other DVD drive doesn't read DVD-RW so I'm out of luck. I've tried on my stand alone players and it doesn't play on those either, but I'm not sure if the players support DVD-RW. However, I was able to burn a DVD on the Pioneer DVD-R that came with the drive after the firmware upgrade succesfully and play it on my stand alone players so that is what is leading me to believe it is a combo of both the upgrade and the media.

To sum up:

Before firmware upgrade: Able to make perfect copies on cheap Opto-disks that would play on everyhting.

After Upgrade: Only able to make copy on Pioneer DVD-R, Opto-disks are now coasters.

[Deadeye]

Similar problem here. Used el-cheapo Princo blanks with no problems whatsoever before upgrading the bios on my A04. Did the recommended upgrade, and now the DVD's I produce are playable in various computer DVD readers, and in Apex stand-alones. However, these DVD's are not recognized by my Toshiba, Hitachi and Philips stand-alones. Same media, same burning techniques, etc. Very strange, and very sorry I upgraded the bios like Pioneer "strongly" recommended.

:angry:

[rufusrex]

Deadeye -

Sorry to hear you have the same problem as myself. I am so ticked at Pioneer, the tech in engineering swore that the firmware had nothing to do with my problem. I've only had the drive for 2 weeks so it looks like I'll be requesting an RMA for a swap and telling them the drive is faulty. A little dishonest, but not as bad as Pioneer releasing an "upgrade" that would make burning cheaper DVDs fail.

I've been trying to find a way to downgrade the firmware but have had no luck. I tried a utility found at http://www.dvdrinfo.com/ but I am still having no luck.

Deadeye, have you found another media that works and is fairly cheap? I'm concerned that the drive will no longer work with many cheaper medias and the thought of having to buy many different brands to find one that works is not appealing. With the new firmware it seems that all of the charts and guides telling which brands work the Pioneer are no longer valid.:angry:

[Commander XJL]

Deadeye, I have had the problem of burning a DVD, and it will play on my computer and only on an Apex, but not be readable in any other standalone I can find, and this was with good media. This has happened with both my A04 and A03, with 4 different burning apps, and with different firmware. I know this is a burning problem, don't know if it has something to do with my IDE chain, whether or not the burner is slave or master, I just don't know, I just know its not software or media. If anyone has an idea lets hear it.

[gooki]

A few ideas to try.

Uninstall all your dvd writing apps and just install one that you know works. (this has fixed a few problems I've had with CD writers in the past).

Check ou www.firmware.fr.st
If any place has the old pioneer firmware this place will have it.

Switch the ide channel to PIO mode to see if that works/makes a difference.

Please keep us informed.

[Commander XJL]

I've tried the reinstall idea, didn't work, are you saying switch from DMA to PIO mode?

[gooki]

Yes.

I've run my burner in both pio, and dma mode without troubles so it's worth a shot.

[Commander XJL]

OK, I put in a new IDE cable, took out an IDE device I never used, set my A03 on 2nd chain to master, and switched to PIO mode, I'll let you know

[jesoonster]

Why am i not surprised at this s--t happening. It really made me wonder if ppl weren't having problems with the new firmware. F--k pioneer. I'm starting to wonder if it's THEIR side of the problem that is causing all these compatibility issues with generic discs....

[rufusrex]

I'd be interested to hear if anyone out there has been able to use generic disks since the upgrade. I think Jesoonster may be right, I think Pioneer may be screwing us. When I called Pioneer he said I was the only call they received with this problem, which I find VERY hard to believe. The whole damn reason I bought a Pioneer in the first place was to be able to use cheap media - if I'm going to have to start paying $3 or $4 a pop for a disk I may as well get a DVD+R drive and use the faster speed.

Does anyone know of a way to downgrade the firmware? If not this puppy is going back today.

[klona]

I don't think there is a way to downgrade on A04. Pioneer Faqs (sticky post) notify a downgrade solution using DOS loader, but for A03.

I read somewhere about an hardware trick to reset the firmware to an old one, but cannot find anymore the info ! Does anyone have info about that ?

[jslombar]

I did the firmware upgrade to 1.32 on my A04 on Friday. I burned 3 movies this weekend with RecordNow DX. No problems whatsoever.
I use DVDPro(Grade A) General Use DVD-Rs from http://cdrdvdrmedia.com/
Just to let you know, I have a JVC SA75GD DVD Player, and it doesn't like Nero, But I'm 40 for 40 using RecordNow DX. Not bad for a DVD Player that isn't suppose to play DVD-Rs.

[rufusrex]

Just a quick update -

I was able to burn a good DVD with Verbatim. Has anyone had any luck with any other brand since the Firmware upgrade? I'm looking for a cheaper media that works.

I also have 35 Optodisks I'm stuck with. Anyone interested or should I list them on Ebay. They are in a spindle and have a gold face. They worked perfectly until I ran the firmware upgrade.

[thxtof]

Ritek G3 is the best cheap media ($1.25), it still works perfectly with firmware v1.32.

[jazzie]

Whoa!!!! Glad I read this post. I was gettin' ready to flash to 1.32 from 1.20

I've had no problems so far making backups on DVD Pro Grade A media (white w/ light purple) that play on almost all standalones.

I'm gonna hold off on the flash.

Anybody know if I flash to 1.32, and need to go back to 1.20, can I run the 1.20 firmware update and will it take?

here is a link to the 1.20


http://www.firmware.fr.st/

[rufusrex]

Don't flash! There is no way to go back if you need/want to. I've been trying using the utility on the site you referred to as well as a few others and it won't work. It comes up with an error. I would use 1.20 as long as possible, just be sure you don't buy any 4X DVDs!

[klona]

Seems there is a way to downgrade here : http://perso.club-internet.fr/farzeno/firmware/

but not yet reported working on the forum. At your own risks.

[rufusrex]

Tried that downgrade utility - doesn't work. Site also states:
"Please note : Since firmware 1.20 you shouldn't be able to revert back to previous firmware"

Looks like I'll be ordering some Riteks and eating some Optodisks

[Deadeye]

Let us know how the Ritek work out with the new bios. I've got a cakebox coming, but am having second thoughts.

:confused:

[rufusrex]

THXTOF in a previous post in this thread says that the Riteks were perfectly with 1.32 so you should be OK with your cakebox.

[thxtof]

I confirm that with v1.32 you can burn in x1 the ritek G03, but not in x2 like you could have done with v1.31

[jazzie]

rufusrex...

So you can not flash back to 1.20??? You are stuck at 1.32....bummer

Let us know what cheap media works with 1.32 and your standalone.

I'm holding at 1.20 till further notice....

[rufusrex]

Yes, that is the problem, I am stuck in 1.32 hell and stuck with 35 Optodisks that I can no longer use. I've ordered one of those sample packs from Meritline so when it comes in I'll post which DVDs work and which ones don't. If I can't find some inexpensive media that works this drive is going back (I've got a couple of weeks left so I can still get an RMA) and will go back to ver. 1.2.

[banano]

rufusrex

Long time lurker here... first post....
Try silver ones from atdiscount.com for .89 cents a piece. they work great on my 104 after updated firmware to 1.32 at 1x thou. I use RecordNow Max and they play flawlessly on my Pioneer DV-656A dvd player... hope this helps...

[padre]

banano

Welcome aboard! Have you run ADVDinfo against those discs to see who the manufacturer is? Just curious.

Padre

[rufusrex]

Thanks for the info Banano! I really appreciate the info. I'm waiting for a sampler pack from Meritline but I'm dying to burn so maybe I'll give them a shot. I think I can handle $.89 - how was the service from atdiscount?

[gooki]

Hmm i'd disagree about those $0.89 cent vivastar discs.

My personal opinion after ordering 100 of them is they are crap. After 1 gig they heavily pixelate and cause my xbox to freeze up :(

[tumbar]

I'm still singin praises about the .84 delivered accu's from cdrdvdrmedia.com. burning at a consistant 1X speed

"hold on there partner lets not go too fast"

Pioneer 104
Firmware 1.32

cheap and dependable...lol

Complete Manufacturer ID (ADVDInfo)
00 42 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E B3 50 00 02 7A 0C 15 .B...@....P..Z..
77 78 90 00 03 4C 44 00 00 00 00 00 04 00 00 00 WX...LD.........
00 00 00 00 05 CC C0 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 ................
Think they are Lead Data's......see that LD
:p

[dvd_maniac]

I have gone through 100 pack running on 104 firm 1.32 and have just ordered their 200 pack at .79 each and they have a 500 pack at .70 each that I will talk to my buddy about splitting.

[tomti]

I used a region 2 upgrade and i'm stuck in region 1 which is a problem for me. ;(

Moreover i burned only one DVD on DVD-RW(a pioneer one) for now and nor my SONY DDU1621 nor my CREATIVE 6X are able to read it. Maybe this a firmware problem too ?


I wish i had not touched this firmware ;( I hope that a new firmware will be out soon ;(

[JustMark]

klona/all,

Regarding the downgrade @ http://perso.club-internet.fr/farzeno/firmware/

I have successfully downgraded my 104 from v1.31 to v1.20 (Region 1, RPC-2). I used the original Pioneer firmware since I have no present need for RPC-1 capability.

I think the instructions were faulty, since they said to run "flash" first, let it fail then run UPGDVDx to perform the upgrade.

Just running the "flash.exe" file with the 1.20 firmware performed the downgrade without a hitch.

I have not tried this with 1.32 yet, I think I will leave that for someone else since I am happy with 1.20 for now (no 4x DVD-R media in my future).

Mark

[sarahjh69]

I really can't understand why anyone would
upgrade firmware that works.............Why????

you all know Pioneer are making firmwares to stop
you using media from non-approved manufacturers.

wait for someone to hack an existing firmware that works
if you really must. It can only be a matter of time before
someone brings out 2x writing firmware for all dvd-r media!

as for the supposed 4x media destroying your burner
who has tried it then??? sounds like bollux to me!!

[haner]

I'm running the default 1.30 firmware right now, which is region 1. Should I bother upgrading/downgrading to anything? I'd really like to have it region free.

[klona]

you have rpc1 firmwares 1.20 and 1.30 on http://pioneerdvd.firmware-flash.com/

Beware, it's at your own risks, and there are plenty of risks to flash your DVD burner, official or not firmware. You have been warn.

Personnally i have a A03 with firm 1.68 RPC-1 and I am happy with it and see no reason to update it. X4 ? pfui, my cheap dvdr are X1 !

[rufusrex]

I received my Sampler pack from Meritline and here are the results so far with my Pioneer A04 firmware 1.32:

Accu - burnt both, no problems. Burnt one all the way to the end, IFOEDIT said I had 1 MB left! Funny thing is though in ADVDinfo they had LEAD D..ATA, not LD as others have had. No matter, they burnt great.

DVD Pro Silver - ADVDinfo - VX_PRINCO - Looks great!

Meritline 2X - ADVDinfo - TDK G02 - much to my surprise I thought this would be the highest quality disk in the pack but 1/2 way through the movie BAD pixelation so bad it locked up my DVD player. Played on my PC and it froze up there also.

If anyone is interested I can post more results tomorrow. I still have a LAC, an Optodisk and a Meritline 1X. Based on the results so far Accu seems to be the winner.

[haner]

You actually sat through the movie? I just burned about 5 DVD's and just popped them in to make sure they played. Are there any other methods to use to actually verify the disc is perfect without watching it all the way through?

[thxtof]

1) Try to copy the DVD back on your PC: if it fails don't even bother go to step 2, you can just throw your DVD away.

2) Scan your DVD on your settop player, go through all the chapters quickly, and try to play the last 3-4 Chapters. Usually when there is a problem it's most of the time in the second half of the DVD, and it's getting worse and worse the closer you get to the end ! :mad:

[haner]

I wish my set top would play my DVDR's. I have a samsung 709 and it refuses to play my discs :( Ive been trying them on my DVDRom. Does it matter if I use my DVDRom instead of my set top? Also, when you mean make a copy, do you mean just make an image of it with recordnow max/nero or whatever program? TIA.

[thxtof]

Well some settop players are too old and don't seem to like DVD-Rs :(
DVD-ROM in computers are not as picky as settop players, so you can have a DVD-R that plays fine in your computer but may be only in 30% of the settop player on the market.

To copy the DVD back on your PC, either use DVDDecripter, select all the files and copy them on your HD, or just use windows explorer and drag&drop all the files from VIDEO_TS somewhere on your HD. If you don't get any error that's a good sign ;)

[haner]

Thanks for the advice!

[SurfDrifter]

I have Pioneer 104 with firmware 1.33 2x4All by Gradius...
I burnt some DVD's at 2x with SmartBuy discs successfully...Playable at standalones and readable by my Hitachi DVD-ROM...
I was using Nero 5.5.8.0 and/or 5.5.9.14...

Now, i don't know why, i tried burning other brands, but there are only readble by Pioneer 104 and not by anything else!! I then run tests with my TDK DVD-RW, but still the same...

I can't tell if this is problem of the firmware 1.33, because AFTER the flashing i used SmartBuy and an Intenso, which worked fine...I then re-installed Windows, for another reason and i used other brands than SmartBuy and now only readble by my DVD-R... I have burned 3 DVDs that play perfectly by Pioneer...

Any ideas?

[wayned16]

i burnt at least 15 dvds and not one would work correctly on this crappy 1.33 firmware. Using white lable gen 4 disks - had no problems with these disks before i upgraded, now i cant even get one to work.

we need a solution fast how to downgrade using software, not the hardware trick. As many of us would not have the experience to do that.
But it can be found here...
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/sccs.ltd/hack.htm

hope this very big problem get resolved soon.

also here is pioneers e-mail address - if everyone who sees this would like to send them an e-mail maybe they will do something about it faster.. so just send them an e-mail.

http://www.pioneer-eur.com/eur/support_contact.jsp?category=support/contact

also have a look at this
http://wwwbsc.pioneer.co.jp/product-e/ibs/device_e/dev00003r_e.html