Eeprom changed by ? [a better life!?]

vbimport
#1

:confused: This is really ā€œconfusingā€ā€¦

1st let me quote from Svenson in thread (3rd page) http://forum.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=91091&highlight=eeprom

"*) The Ldw851fp program will modify a LiteOn provided firmware update program to allow it to load the 851 firmware into the 451 properly. You?ll have to look around for this program, but it?s easily found.

*) Every time you want to upgrade the firmware of the drive with the newest 851 firmware from LiteOn you will need to run the patch program as the EEPROM is not changed and the upgrade programs will recognize itā€™s not an 851 drive no matter what firmware is currently in it. "

As far as iā€™ve known and found out, Ldw851fp removed the checking of official win-update.exe. It also adds 8x burning for some medias. But no matter what, the hacked update.exe will do nothing on the eeprom!! Am i right??

My friend just bought a new 451s(GSB6) with no update/upgrade, all original. And he bought this crappy media AN31 that i wouldnā€™t even touch!! However, he said the burn is perfecly fine at 4x and it plays very smooth in his ps2. So, i was thinking what the heck is wrong with mine!! Even though iā€™ve read hundreds of threads on no-good burns on crappy medias, but iā€™ve also heard many sucessful cases!!

So i changed back from 851@GS0A to 451@GSB6. Then I used ltnflash124.exe to compare the firmware bin with my original GSB6 backup with the fc command, differences showed up, then i used my original GSB6 with ltnflash124.exe and then back it up and compare thme again. Still, SAME differences showed up. Anyway, Iā€™ve read something like this somewhere, and itā€™s pretty normal!!??

Which surprised me was when i compared the eeprom with my original, differences showed up!! WHAT?? How could this happen?? What have i done wrong?? What changed my eeprom?? Please helpā€¦

So, i flashed the eeprom with original and burned a data dvd with the cheapy media DVSN at 4x. And the dark circle is gone and the disc reads fine!!

SO, WHAT changed my eeprom, Ldw851fp??

#2

lite-on f/w after every write changes the eeprom whether its burn counter or data table with laser burn data no one knows, all lite-on dvd burners do it, 401 411 811 451 851 812s they all write to eeprom after a burn is complete.

#3

KenW, yes uā€™re right :iagree:

i compare the eeproms again after that 1st burn, and they are differentā€¦

iā€™ll try another one later to see if the dark circle is really goneā€¦ and if thatā€™s the case, then all the latest 451s/851s firmwares are no good on burning 4x -R!!?

#4

I have 401@811 using v4 hSOP I dont burn a lot of dvd-r 4x but I have not seen any dark circles so far when I do.

PS
I also beta tested v5-6 mod, and never had circle on -r either.

V6-5 was never released and although there is v6 in the works, it is looking doughtful that we will see this mod. V4 is latest stable Zebra mod.

Please people dont PM asking for the v5-6 mod as I dont have it there was no patch each eeprom was moded and emailed to beta testers so you see I cant help with sending you anything.

#5

Originally posted by totalz
[B]KenW, yes uā€™re right :iagree:

i compare the eeproms again after that 1st burn, and they are differentā€¦

iā€™ll try another one later to see if the dark circle is really goneā€¦ and if thatā€™s the case, then all the latest 451s/851s firmwares are no good on burning 4x -R!!? [/B]

Always make a copy of you eeprom before changing firmware and always restore the saved eeprom if you go back.

Also, if you have changed firmware, alway de-power you writer after the first write (not a re-boot, power off). Otherwise it can get in a state where it cannot read or write any media.

#6

Originally posted by C0deKing
Always make a copy of you eeprom before changing firmware and always restore the saved eeprom if you go back.
Why!?

Originally posted by C0deKing
Also, if you have changed firmware, alway de-power you writer after the first write (not a re-boot, power off). Otherwise it can get in a state where it cannot read or write any media.
Iā€™ve not encounter problem like this though!!

I had burned 2 -r @4x last nightā€¦ and the dark circles reappeared :sad: I burned the 1st one with RecordNow4.6, screw upā€¦ Then i burned the 2nd one with Nero6.3.0.3, because Nero was what i used to burn the ā€œperfectā€ copy!! But dark circle again!! :a Is that because the eepromā€™s ā€œcorruptedā€ after that very first burn?? This is killing meā€¦

The dark circle appears in the section from 220MB to 320MB approx. because thatā€™s where iā€™ve problem reading the data with my sony 1621!!

#7

Backing up the EEPROM is not normally necessary. However, the EEPROM and Firmware are able to be written to under some circumstances and if you have a firmware update, or some other program, go awry it may be possible to corrupt your eeprom/firmware so itā€™s always advisable to pull and store that data just in case you need it.

Changes are made to the eeprom for various reasons - region code, region code counter, and some things we donā€™t what are.

I kinda wonder if the thing doesnā€™t ā€œtuneā€ itā€™s self as it runs and stores that data in the eeprom (kinda like how your car tunes itā€™s self as you drive it and if you unhook and rehook the battery it runs a little rough till it ā€œrelearnsā€ what your engine needs). Perhaps new firmware also writes new base line data for this ā€œtuningā€?

Whatever the case, if you pull the eeprom and firmware before you modify the drives contents then you should be able to put it back to exactly where it was before you started playing, and I think itā€™s prudent to do that.

-Bob-

#8

Originally posted by totalz
[B]I had burned 2 -r @4x last nightā€¦ and the dark circles reappeared :sad: I burned the 1st one with RecordNow4.6, screw upā€¦ Then i burned the 2nd one with Nero6.3.0.3, because Nero was what i used to burn the ā€œperfectā€ copy!! But dark circle again!! :a Is that because the eepromā€™s ā€œcorruptedā€ after that very first burn?? This is killing meā€¦

The dark circle appears in the section from 220MB to 320MB approx. because thatā€™s where iā€™ve problem reading the data with my sony 1621!! [/B]

Youā€™ve been around this forum for awhile now. Iā€™m sure youā€™ve tried pretty much everything you can by now to rectify the ā€œcircle problemā€. Perhaps itā€™s time to begin suspecting a faulty driveā€¦

#9

Originally posted by Ssseth
Youā€™ve been around this forum for awhile now. Iā€™m sure youā€™ve tried pretty much everything you can by now to rectify the ā€œcircle problemā€. Perhaps itā€™s time to begin suspecting a faulty driveā€¦

Ssseth, i was always suspecting mine as not-a-good drive. But then, most people agree that LiteOn drives donā€™t work good on cheap dvd+/-r!!

CRAZY enough, I just burned another dvd-r(DVSN). But before that, i restored the very original eeprom. And the dark circle is gone again. What the heck??

Here are the differences between the original eeprom & the one after the very 1st burn :-
000000A0: 26 19
000000A1: 50 90
000000A2: 28 00
000000A3: 24 D7
000000A4: 34 5F
000000A5: 10 04
000000A6: 28 3C
000000A7: A1 B1
000000A8: 01 00
000000A9: AF 9D
000000AA: 00 08
000000AB: 00 0C
000000AD: 00 04
000000AE: 00 FF
000000AF: 01 FF
0000011C: 02 03

I hope some experts out there can help me outā€¦

#10

Maybe you should just restore your EEPROM before each burn.

This is very interesting, thoughā€¦ maybe peopleā€™s speculations on what the EEPROM changes do were right.

#11

Originally posted by Ssseth
Youā€™ve been around this forum for awhile now. Iā€™m sure youā€™ve tried pretty much everything you can by now to rectify the ā€œcircle problemā€. Perhaps itā€™s time to begin suspecting a faulty driveā€¦

Maybe itā€™s aliens bored with making crop circles. :smiley: