104 & a04 firmware

[nosh]

Are the two drives different in architecture as I have used the same flash on both but the a04 wont burn datawrite yellows at 2x with prassi I get fails at beginning of disc. Could there be something wrong with the drive. Or is there a flash that will solve the problem.:confused:

[djadjet]

There is no A04 drive, they are all DVR-104. A04 just designates a Pioneer retail package (bundled with SW).

[nosh]

ILL look at the drive been faulty

[yamyam]

I have exactly the same problem i bought a load of datawrite yellow discs which my pioneer 104 frequently fails to burn it starts to write the lead in then fails, ive tried firmwares 1.20, 1.30, 1.31 & the latest 1.40 but still the drive fails i also have this problem with white label dvd-r & all dvd-rw discs, i think there is a problem with the drive itself or pioneer fix there firmwares so they wont burn anyone elses discs (i know they did this for TDK discs).

[nosh]

my 104 is ok at 2x with data yellows & primo & 1.40 for all but the A04 isnt just burns at 1x

[nosh]

put 1.40 if you get fails i got fails with other firmwares but the 1.40 for all is ok with mine but still 1x with data yells

[yamyam]

ive tried the 1.40 firmware from pioneer, the 1.40 patched region free & the 1.40 2x for all, i still get fails on datawrite yellows at first (because i havnt long had the writer) i thought my writer was faulty but now i am begining to beleive that they are crappy discs my writer just doesnt like.

[nosh]

do you use prassi if so make sure the datarites have a serial no on the inner ring:confused:

[yamyam]

No i dont use prassi, i use dvd decryptor & nero & end up with the same results from both & yes my datawrites have serial numbers on the inner ring (would it matter if they hadnt got serial numbers there).

[nosh]

my ate got some without the serial and they were coasters try prassi i'll send it you if you dont have it

[yamyam]

i havnt got a copy of prassi in a previous post someone suggested using it but i havnt been able to get my hands on a copy if you could send it that would be great. Thanks

[nosh]

pm me at stevedynamite@pounanie.fsnet.co.uk and i'll send it you if that doesnt work check your dvd rom & writer arnt on the same ide put writer on master on secondry ide (i found this the best) and check you have not bent or pushed any pins at the back of the writer or rom, make sure you have put the correct motherboard drivers in for the operating system you are using if non of these work I cant think of anything else that either you got a bad batch of discs or the writer is faulty, good luck mate.

[litz]

One thing I found that made my '104 work flawlessly : move the drive.

I had tried it in all configurations (slave, master, alone, etal) on
my a7v133's VIA ide controller. I could get it to work, all right, but ONLY in PIO mode and ONLY at 1x. and at that, it still gave me a comm error and barfed occasionally.

Even more worriesome : the entire computer became sluggish whenever burning, sounds got distorted, windows would stutter when opening, etc.

Reading through the forums, I saw someone had mentioned moving it to his Promise ATA100 controller. Seeing nothing to lose, I tried that as well, slaved to one of my ata100 HDDs.

Works like a charm. Initializes as UDMA, 2x speed works, and it burns flawlessly. And the computer is no longer sluggish when burning.

Maxtor ATA133 controllers are $50 or less at your local computer shop, well worth the cost esp. since those of us w/DVD writers tend to need HDD space anyway, and you'll need that controller for that large HDD you'll end up buying!

- litz

[yamyam]

Im just about losing both hope & patients with this problem thanks for sending me prassi nosh but my problem still remains i cannot get this piece of s*!& to write either dvd-rw, dvd-r (worked occasionally) or cd-rw but it will write to cd-r, the funny thing is i have 2 cd writers in my system both of which will write to my re-writable cds but my 104 refuses to i put this down to pioneers crap firmware 1.40 & 1.41 are no better than previous versions (even though they said it has improved read & write capabilites). As for the dvds i cannot figure it out.

I have a maxtor 133 controller card in my system & my motherboard also has a built in hpt370 controller (only use one or the other) but i have tried every combination to no avail.

Do you know where i can buy pioneer dvd blanks at an average price, then if it still doesnt write i can put it down to the drive.