NEC DVD +/- RW Model ND 3530A - Firmware support for -R Dual Layer burning

Hi Rich,

Dell does not give out any prior information on firmware updates, even the Moderators have said they do not know.
You can see if there is one available here:
http://www.micheldeboer.nl/firmware/
I must say this to please the Policy; the use of a non-Dell firmware will void the warranty on the drive

Best Regards




God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.

---

CD/RW Link

OK Jeff, thanks for the help - a couple of points;

Ive seen various third party firmware upgrades available on the net, but none of them say what they are upgrading to. In other words what do they add?

It seems that version 3.01 is the most preferred and it looks like its a case of "try it and see". That's all very well but when I read horror stories of people flashing their drives and everything crashing (Version 3.23 apparently, is notorious), then i'm inclined to hold back.

Which is why I am hoping there's some one out there whose actually upgraded and can confirm that  all is OK and -R DL now burns

I'm a bit disappointed with Dell as I brought my Dimension 5000 with what was described as a DVD +/-  Dual Layer burner. What they didn't say was that it burns only +R DL. A bit sneaky.    

Rich

Hi Rich,

One of our Regulars, Dave, may have some information on this. He is currently on-line and tends to keep up with some of the firmwares we see around here, I will see if I can get his attention.


Best Regards




God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.

---

CD/RW Link

Message Edited by Predator on 05-23-200601:40 PM

Are you sure the 3530A won't burn -R DL media? I know the Users Guide doesn't indicate it will, but it also doesn't indicate it will read -R DL media. I suspect that guide was written before -R DL media was available.

Download DVDINfoPro (http://www.dvdinfopro.com/) and see what the drive capabilities are.

If you go to the site mentioned by Jeff above and click on the 3530A link one of the things you'll see is a chart listing the write strategies used by each firmware. Note that both 'official' NEC firmwares and modified ones show a write strategy for -R DL media.

As for the horror stories about updating firmware, as in any horror story they are the exception and tend to be blown all out of proportion. Just look at all the bios updates Dell releases for hundreds of different models. People are updating all the time. Just follow some common sense rules, like don't do it during thunderstorms, hurricanes or tornadoes. I've updated the firmware on my 3520A and Philips 8701/BenQ 1640 many times with no problem.

Worst case scenerio....the power goes out during a flash and your drive is toast. For $40-$50 you can buy the newest NEC burner. About the cost of a tank of gas these days. :-)

Finally, unless you have a specific need for -R DL media, I'd stick with +R DL media. From reading the various DVD burning forums, the most popular of which can't be mentioned here without getting wrists slapped, many people have problems getting quality burns on -R DL media, especially Ritek media. On my 3520A I've only burned Verbatim +R DL media and have gotten very good results.

Dave

Dave,

Many thanks for the guideance, all of which is helpful. In response,

1) You are dead right about drives. Here in the UK a new drive is cheaper to buy than filling up your car so its no big deal.

2) Certainly the 3530A drive is capable of burning -R DL but after checking using Nero toolkit it says that the drive is enabled to read/write +R DL but not -R DL (hence the requirement to upgrade the firmware)

3) Worse still I can't even burn in +R DL which Nero says is enabled. Neither of the two main software packages I use (Nero 6 and Adobe Premier Elements 2) have burnt in dual layer. Adobe just errors out without an error message while Nero at least manages to burn the first layer before failing as it tries the second. This of course may be down to the software packages although Premier Elements 2 is relatively new and the site carries no new updates.

4) I have updated the only Dell firmware 3530A upgrade which addresses a +R DL problem, but this has no efffect.

5) It is worth noting that single layer burns in + or - are OK with both the above packages

6) With nothing to lose I may as well go to the site that can't be mentioned,download an upgrade and let you know how I get on.

 

Once again guys, thanks for the help

Rich

 

  

   

I also use Nero 6, are you running the most current version? You might try updating if not. Also, what media are you using for DL? I've only tried Verbatim +R DL with good results.

Dave

I checked the Nero website and there's an update available- i'll do that today

I've only tried burning DL with TDK

I'll load in all the updates and try again with Verbatim

One final point, aside from the DL problems Nero has never let me down. As an alternative to burning DVD video using Adobe Premier Elements 2, will Nero encode to MPEG2 and burn to disc. I've only ever used it to back up and burn Mp3's and it's solid as a rock.

Thx Rich