LG 4120B is very picky

CD, DVD and (Ultra HD) Blu-ray Writers LG burner
#1

Hi,

I am just making some experiences with different media, mainly normal 4x DVD+R and DVD-R media (since I still have a lot of this stuff which I wanna use first before buying new media), and up to now, I am quite disappointed of media compatibility. For example. Optodisc 4x DVD-R media fails to read at about half the disc length in multiple drives, same with Ritek DVD+R 4x.

Furthermore, I found out that burning results decrease as this drive becomes quite hot in permanent operation. I already managed to burn an unreadable Taiyo Yuden 4x DVD+R (which normally works flawlessly with that drive), after a long reading session after which the drive seemed to have a very high temperature.

I am sill unsure whether to return that drive, or whether there is any solution to my problems. Firmware is A102, which is the original firmware.

Maybe somebody can give me any hint?

Thanx & cu,

Jackie

P.S.: Here are some detialed information of the media that makes me alot of trouble:

1.) (Very slow reading curce, fails with crc-error at about 40%)

Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD+R:RITEK-R02-001]

Disc Type : [DVD+R]
Manufacturer ID : [RITEK]
Manufacturer Name : [Ritek Co.]
Media Type ID : [R02]
Product Revision : [001]
Disc Application Code : [General Purpose]
Recording Speeds : [1x , 2.4x , 4x]
Blank Disc Capacity : [Not Supported By Method 2]

[DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com]

2.) (Very slow reading curce, fails with crc-error at about 25%)

Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD-R:OPTODISCR004]

Disc Type : [DVD-R]
Manufacturer ID : [OPTODISCR004]
Manufacturer Name : [Optodisc Technology Corp.]
Disc Application Code : [Unrestricted Use : Consumer Purpose]
Recording Speeds : [1x , 2x , 4x] (8x Cannot Be Detected)
Blank Disc Capacity : [2,298,496 Sectors = 4,489.3MB = 4.38GB (4.71GB)]

[DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com]

3.) Burnt after a long rading session with that drive, I assume that the drive got too hot, because other discs of that type are read flawlessly (only the first 200MB are readable, the rest fails)

Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD+R:YUDEN000-T01-000]

Disc Type : [DVD+R]
Manufacturer ID : [YUDEN000]
Manufacturer Name : [Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd.]
Media Type ID : [T01]
Product Revision : [Not Specified]
Disc Application Code : [General Purpose]
Recording Speeds : [1x , 2.4x , 4x]
Blank Disc Capacity : [Not Supported By Method 2]

[DVD Identifier - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com]

#2

Hi…

i’m using a 4120 to but i cannot say that i’ve had coasters with RICOHJPN R02 or that the drive is getting hot.

I use an antec sonata with an targan 350W power supply and just one 120mm fan (at 800rpm) at the back. The enclosure is “full” with

LG GSA 4120
Benq DW800@822
Liteon 165S
USB2 3 1/2" cardreader
Floppy
IC35L180 IBM 7200rpm
SV1604 Samsung 5400rpm
Fujitsu Siemens D1627A
P4 2.8 GHz
All AGP/PCI slots used

and i’ve following temp. in my enclosure: 35°C system and 53-64°C cpu (mainboard switches fan off if cpu temp is below 65°C). My system is very crowded for a midi tower but i’ve no problems with the LG GSA 4120 temp.

Is it possible that you’ve some hdd drives around the LG which might heat up the LG? If not… Maybe your drive is defective…

Regards,

Gerd

#3

You are using 4120B for up to 4x recording which was optimized more for 12x recording. Even though it is not the best recoder for 12x recording, 4120B is not and is not going to be a good 4x DVD burner if you media compatibility is your primary concern. I suggest return it and buy a used Pioneer A06 instead. :slight_smile:

From what I’ve heard, I don’t think 4120B’s media compatibility or writing (max) speeds for 4x media will be much improved in future firmware updates.

As for overheating of the drive, I’ve no idea about your system but even Plextor drives cannot burn media properly if heated too much.

#4

/offtopic: should i get a 80mm casing fan to blow on top of DVD Writer?

thank you

mitodna

#5

I think one 120mm fan to provide cooling for several DVD writers is enough in most cases. Even 60mm fan can be enough to cool one drive.

I have no memory of using a dedicated fan for CD and DVD writers except the tiny fans prebuilt in the drives like Yamaha 8424S, 8424E, and 4416E (and maybe there were more.) My Athlon 64 Chaintech board has a small fan, less than 2cm in diameter, between the CPU socket and PS/2 ports and it is the loudest among the whole system.

#6

Hi Kenshin,

beeing not “best” for 4x burning ist one thing, but producing coasters without any warning is absolutely inacceptable, even if the burning results are not the best at 4x, I expect them to be readable at all, or what do you think? I mean, Ritek media is not very uncommon or unusual, and this should work flawlessly :frowning:

cu,

Jackie

#7

When burning MCC002 media the 4120 turns out to be one of the best 4x writers I ever came across. PI avg. 6, PI Max 25 read with Liteon 166. Take into consideration that Optodisc is probably the worst media available.

#8

Hi surg,

I agree about what you say about Optodisc, but what about the Ritek media? This media is very common, and I think it’s absolutely inacceptable that the LG cannot handle this.

cu,

Jackie

#9

@Kenshin: Why can’t the drive produce good burns @ 4x? All drives burn with better quality when recording speed is reduced.

#10

That’s exactly what I meant. I’m not in your situation so I can’t really decide what is best to fix the problem. Since you can return the drive now at least, does so and use other drives for better 4x media compatibility.

If you expected DVD writers not to make coasters without warning, you should have used only proven media with the right drives and firwmare. And why should Ritek media work flawlessly? Because some Ritek DVD media do not work well with LG drives, LG drives are responsible? If you believe Ritek has better technologies and quality control than Hitachi and LG, I have nothing to say about that. The only Ritek media that I think are half as good as Taiyo Yuden and Hitachi-made Maxell are the ones approved by Ricoh and the Ritek media you used are not even one of them but of course some may think DVD-R and DVD+R media from Ritek with Ritek’s own media codes are also good enough so drives that don’t write to them well should be bad. Use better media or return GSA-4120B. It is that simple. By the way, I don’t have any Ritek-branded media. I have some hundreds of Ritek-made DVD+R and DVD-R media but most of them have ricohjpnr01 or ricohjpnr02 code.

#11

What do you mean by reduced? Did you try burning Taiyo Yuden t02 8x DVD+R media at 4x? That is an example of reduced recording speed. Actually, GSA-4120B can burn some 8x media at 12x with “excellent” results according to many users.

What is wrong with a company that is very reluctant to support poor-quality media? It’s just a different industrial policies mainly due from industrial relationships. For instance, Lite-On IT and BenQ have closer, a lot closer relationships with Ritek and CMC. Naturally, Lite-On CD writers were always better with their media writing at higher speeds than LG and Samsung. Princo made sure their 4x DVD-R media worked without much problem with Pioneer writers because they were able to maintain some kind of relationship with Pioneer.

Why do you think Sony and LG list only media from Mitsubishi, Maxell, and a few others to be “compatible” with their CD writers and DVD writers? Japanese are the standard and they are the originals, therefore, some of the companies do not feel the need even to test any further outside the Japanese archipelago. Even South Korean companies develop their products in Tokyo and that’s the end of it.

Some people might reply “don’t use crap media” to statements like “LG 4120B is very picky” though I like neither of them.

#12

Hi.
What happens if you buy a DVD recorder n is almost impossible
to get the recomended media where you live?
I haven´t seen any TY DVD media where i live (country), the only MCC media that can be found is cd-r.
Ritek is the most popular here because of it’s availability.
Instead of buying a recorder because of it’s performance, we end up choosing by the media which it is compatible with n that’s not good for the companies.

cya

@Kenshin: How’s Yoojin doin’?

#13

Ritek makes various products just as Intel does for the maximum profits. Some Ritek media are very good and some others are not. Some of those “excellent” results were from tests with Ritek 8x DVD+R media recorded in a GSA-4120B at 12x speed.

You should complain to your media importers rather than to LG or Hitachi. Even when the writer seems to write well to certain media, there must be reasons why such media are not well supported by some writers and poor-quality media don’t become high-quality even with the most compatible writers.

TY media are easy to get actually and they are not expensive. TY media do cost more to import than Princo. Ritek sells media of various grades to suit different markets and brands so the prices vary a lot as well. In some cases, Ritek costs more than Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden.

I have to ask again. Why is there need for GSA-4120B if there is no serious need (and availability) for 5x DVD-RAM, 2.4x DVD+R DL, and 12x DVD+R? The drive product is only good if the features are used well. Otherwise, Lite-On and NEC offer better value. Pioneer and Philips still make the best-overall DVD writers in my opinion. Hitachi and Toshiba drives are good but maybe their firmware coders are not as hard-working. As for myself, I asked my friend to sell his 4120B because I knew I could get media ready for 12x DVD+R writing, 5x DVD-RAM writing, and 2.4x DVD+R DL writing.

#14

Hi Kenshin,

there was an interesting test of various drives and media in the german computer magazine c’t, if you are interested, I will send you some details by mail. They used professional test equipment from Audidev to test various media, and even MCC was not the best with LG drives.

I understand your point about cheap media, but what really annoys me is that the results with TY vary so much. Up to now, Ibelieve it’s due to temperature issues, but I will keep on examining this issue. However, completely unreadable results should never happen, at least with quality media. Maybe devices which utilize technologies like Walking-Opc will do a better job with a wider range of media?

cu,

Jackie

#15

Hi Jackie78,

so what media works best with LG according to your experience and reviews?
i am thinking to get it very soon,
LG has its advantages on DVD-RAM capability, thats why i think i want it
i usually use RICOHJPNR01 and RITEKR03-001 mostly, doest it offers a good burn with LG? i can get TY here(Malaysia), CMC i still can get it but expensive

i am currently using Benq, i am very happy with it, especially on +R/+RW, but not -R/-RW

by the way, i am wondering does DVD Writer software do matter? cause i am using CopyToDVD, it is very nice

thanks in advance

mitodna

#16

The LG4120 drive burns RICOHJPNR01 media very well at 4X, also TYG01(TAIYO YUDEN) at 4X. It burns CMC MAGE01 (8X DVD+R) very well at 8X, and CMC MAGF01 DVD+R very well at 4X, hell it even burns Princo discs acceptably at 4X

It burns RICOHJPNR02 very well at 12X

In general it performs at a better level than some more popular DVD-Writers (notably Liteon 812 or 832)

Stick with quality media and you won’t be disappointed.

#17

I have had good results with my GSA-4120 and Ritek cheap media (AUD $35 for spindle of 25 DVD-R, with the shiny green labelling). I burned a few coasters initially, but that was because Nero was misbehaving and crashing the system. When I burned using DVDFab, everything was fine. I have I think now sorted out the Nero problem (I could burn using pre 6.3 versions with older API, but then I discovered that Windows XP had stepped down my hard drive from Ultra DMA to PIO mode somewhere along the line - when I uninstalled IDE driver and let XP reinstall, things seemed to improve and Nero 6.3+ has been working fine).

Just tonight I have burned my first dual-layer movie successfully, and it plays beautifully on my Sony DVD player. I could not ask for more. Mind you, I paid through the nose for the Verbatim DL disc (AUD $12) but it was worth it to see it come out successfully.

I personally am not perturbed by the fact that the LG may have a narrower range of media that it can work with. If it requires more “name” brands, then so be it - I am prepared to pay a bit more for media if I can be assured that in the long run I will get better reliability from my burning system and longevity of the discs. However, my experience with Ritek thus far has been good. I also had no trouble with a few Princo DVD-R discs with the printable surface…

#18

@bugsy_pal

See if you can pick a spindle of 50 Shintaro 8X DVD+R for about $86AUD, you should be able to get some very nice burns just like in my scan below.

Scan shows CMC MAGE01 burnt at 8X (full disc, burn time 8:07)

LG4120_CMCMAGE01_8X.PNG572x636 5.37 KB

#19

Does (GSA4120) burn 4x rated media at 8x?

@Kenshin: The media importers or the lack of them are responsible for the media brands and availability on a certain country, i agree with on that, but i think that it’s not good for us that the performance of a DVD-Recorder is so ‘dependent’ on the media it recomends. Taking for example the CD recorders that burn anything you throw at them with of course more or less quality, i would expect the DVD recorders to do the same.

I’m considering buying the 4120 because it’s features and price but i i fear that i will have some problems with media availability.
I think that there’s a store that has Platinum Ricohjpn002 8x but i’m not sure if it’s the case, these burn well at 12x, don’t they?

Cya

#20

Hi,

I have just another question, concernign RicohJPN02 media. According to LG, these discs should work flawlessly even with 12x, but the burning results at 12x in the c’t test I mentioned above are just a catastrophy. Is that media any good at 8x, what is your experience with that?

Btw, I haven’t found a list with detailed media recommendations from LG yet, nor have I found any list that states what the improvements in FW A102 (vs. A100 which was used for the review in c’t) exactly are.

Anybody have an idea where to get that information?

Thanks,

Jackie