Huge firmware improvement!

[RedDawg]

Alright, let me start by saying that I have a Pioneer DVR-108 BK OEM. When I got it back in September I think, it had firmware 1.10 or so. Right after, when firmware 1.14 came out I downloaded it and I flashed the DVD-Writer. But I noticed a degrade in the quality and speed of the burning process, but I learned to live with it. Now, after 1.18 came out I thought to myself, before I upgrade this time, I'll run of couple of tests and record the results. So, here I was yesterday running Nero CD-DVD Speed 3.5 with firmware 1.14 still on the system and go these results...

...after it finished, I flashed 1.18 on the writer and restarted the computer. Then I ran Nero CD-DVD Speed and recorded these results...

...what the hell was that? :eek: I thought to myself. Why such difference, has anyone else come accross something similar? It'd be nice to know that I'm not alone. Anyways, I'm happy about the improvement.

P.S. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I only tested a Data CD (CD-R) not a DVD.

[dhc014]

Moved to the Pioneer forum...

Good information, but I wonder if it was a DMA issue...

[zebra]

Despite other uncontrolled dependent variables that exist (as Dave mentioned, the potential for the DMA issue to be a factor).....I have noticed an increase in write quality when migrating to 1.18.

When Pioneer release a firmware and make statements along the lines of Improved DVD+/- write quality or something to that effect, they don't usually tell tall-tales.

I expect very little else from Pioneer.

[dhc014]

The higher than normal CPU usage in the slower scan also suggests that DMA may not have been enabled before flashing to the 1.18 firmware. Updating the firmware can "fix DMA issues" since Windows will redetect the drive as it it were a completely new drive after the update.

[dwegner]

I have the same drive, the dvr108 and I am so happy with it, its so good. Never had any issues with in the three weeks I have had it but even after this firmware I love it even more. I have been using Verbatim disc and have not had one bad burn yet. Excellent piece of gear.

[RedDawg]

Thank you guys for the responses. Perhaps, DMA was broken when I applied firmware 1.14. Because, that is a huge improvement and the drive wasn't that slow before. But, all is well now. I just wanted to share my findings with fellow users.

[dwegner]

cheers mate, its always good to see the figures supporting the improvements.

[100_10100]

Good to know. I wasn't sure if I should bother upgrading mine, but I will now. Although, I must say that your first nero speed test was REAL crap. I have firmware 1.14 and mine certainly don't look like that.

[humeyboy]

Rather laugh at it

[IceBerg]

I just purchased a 108 it came with fw1.14 and I upgraded to fw1.18 before I burnt any disc's at all so I can't say what it is like compared to 1.14 but I can say it burns TTG02's and RICOHJPNR02's beautifully. I thought my 812S was a good +R burner but the 108 burns them just as well if not better. This drive is so much better than the Lite-On, it burns +R and -R fantastically. The 108 burnt the following two disc’s @ 12x (both are rated @ 8x) and the KProbe scans on the 812S look great, the 812S couldn’t even do a playable burn on the TTG02’s.

[Mug_Funky]

i'm not sure about the DMA issue in the CD-R scans above, but did anyone notice that the second scan uses CAV instead of CLV?

whenever i've had a DMA issue with my regular cd-r burner, it's looked different to the above scan - it'll speed up, then hit a brick wall, rather than jittering about a constant rate.

i hope this extends to burning DVDs as well - i don't really like the idea of having "speed zones" on a disc... having them on the road is bad enough

[chef]

i'm not sure about the DMA issue in the CD-R scans above, but did anyone notice that the second scan uses CAV instead of CLV?

Reading and writing strategies can be different.