LG 8480B Help Please?

Computer Hardware
#1

Hi Guys,
I just wondering if someone out there might be kind enough to explain and answer the following questions please?

1: I am kind of new to copying and burning CD’s. I understand the basic principals of this and I have a few programs as well. But what I would like to know is what is Mt. Rainier? If someone could please explain this to me in basic terms and not fancy lingo I would greatly appreciate it. After all I am only a girl :).

2: Also does anyone know what version of SD2 this drive can copy up to? Like will it do 2.8 or whatever the latest version is?

3: Will it also copy secure rom ( I think thats how you spell it) disks as well?

4: Also is there much difference in features other than speed over this drive and the 8400B or are both the drives exactly the same other than the speed differences?

I probably have more questions later on but if someone could please help me with these few I would greatly appreciate it.

Regards
Erica

#2

Hi Erica :wink:

1: Mt. Rainier is a new kind of format which uses CD-RW discs and its supposed to replace the floppy disks. A Mt. Rainier capable drive can format a CD-RW disc in background and it can be used just like a floppy disk.

2: Yes, it will make backups from SafeDisc 2.8 protected titles. All you have to use it’s the latest Alcohol 120% software.

3: You can use the new BlindWrite 4.2.1 suite to make backups of SecuROM 4.8x protected software. Or you can use Twinpeaks (thanx Blackcheck).

4: the 8480B drive is somewhat different as we can’t upgrade a 8400B to a 8480B drive. But I think the 8400B is alot better.

#3

Hi,

I’ve got both drives (a 8480B and a 8400B (originally 8320B)) in the same machine and can tell you the 8480B is MUCH better, in everything. Writes and reads faster, seeks faster, has much better media compatibility, uses real UDMA, is Mt Rainer compatible … and is real MPCIII compliant, so that software like
drive image DOES see it, unlike the 8400B.

Regards
FTC

#4

Hi vio_man,
Thanks for your reply :).

Originally posted by vio_man
[B]Hi Erica :wink:

1: Mt. Rainier is a new kind of format which uses CD-RW discs and its supposed to replace the floppy disks. A Mt. Rainier capable drive can format a CD-RW disc in background and it can be used just like a floppy disk.
[/B]

Oh I see thanks for that. So basically while I am doing other things in windows I can reformat a CD-RW disk is this correct?

Originally posted by vio_man

2: Yes, it will make backups from SafeDisc 2.8 protected titles. All you have to use it’s the latest Alcohol 120% software.

I see and can you please tell me where I can get this software from? Also is Alcohol 120% the name of the program?

Originally posted by vio_man
[B]

3: You can use the new BlindWrite 4.2.1 suite to make backups of SecuROM 4.8x protected software. Or you can use Twinpeaks (thanx Blackcheck).
[/B]

Thanks for that… Is Twinpeaks also another software program and if so do you know where I can get it from please?

Originally posted by vio_man

4: the 8480B drive is somewhat different as we can’t upgrade a 8400B to a 8480B drive. But I think the 8400B is alot better.

Ok thanks for your advice. I tried buying the earlier version the 8400B but was unable to get it anywhere. All of the places I looked at only had the new drive which is the 8480B so I ended up getting this drive hoping that I made the right decsion :)… As I could not find much info on this drive at the time. Not even the LG website had anything on it when I checked.

Well thanks for taking the time to reply to my questions!

Regards
Erica

#5

Originally posted by FTC
[B]Hi,

I’ve got both drives (a 8480B and a 8400B (originally 8320B)) in the same machine and can tell you the 8480B is MUCH better, in everything. Writes and reads faster, seeks faster, has much better media compatibility, uses real UDMA, is Mt Rainer compatible … and is real MPCIII compliant, so that software like
drive image DOES see it, unlike the 8400B.

Regards
FTC [/B]

Hi FTC,
Thanks for your reply. I was not able to buy the 8400B and so I had not choice but to get the 8480B. I hope that I made the right decsion in this drive as I hate having to spend money twice. But with your experience with both drives it looks like I did the right thing buying the 8480B. It can be difficult at times trying to source which hardware to buy and the only reason I really considered the LG Burner for was because I have the LG DVD drive and the LG Flatron 795FT 17 inch monitor and I am very happy with both of these products. But copying Safedisk 2 cd’s was a major concern when getting another burner as my Phillips PCRW804 was capable of copying a particular Safedisk 2 CD but it also packed it in on me last week. At first I thought my motherboard was kaput as the burner light came on and my hard drive light came on and then my machine locked up. Sometimes even the tray would eject on its own and did all kinds of other weird things. Anyway I brought a new motherboard a Gigabyte GA-7VAXP thinking this would solve the problem. But with the new board in after a couple of hours it locked up again! I could not believe this. Anyway to make a long story short I took the lid of the computer case and felt the burner and it was extremely hot! So hot in fact I could not touch it for long. Anyway I disconected this drive and when I did that my computer did not lock up anymore :)… So this is why I ended up with the LG burner for and I was curious to know more about it and to hope that I made the right choice in buying it…

Kind Regards
Erica

#6

Originally posted by FTC
[B]Hi,

I’ve got both drives (a 8480B and a 8400B (originally 8320B)) in the same machine and can tell you the 8480B is MUCH better, in everything. Writes and reads faster, seeks faster, has much better media compatibility, uses real UDMA, is Mt Rainer compatible … and is real MPCIII compliant, so that software like
drive image DOES see it, unlike the 8400B.

Regards
FTC [/B]

Hi FTC,
Sorry to trouble you again. But I am wondering if you can please help me with something. I downloaded the Nero Info Tool Kit today and I ran the program and I noticed when I selected the LG 8480B Burner and slected the Drive Tab it came up with a funny reading. It said that the burner has a Write Speed of 48X which is correct. But it said in the Read Speed section that it has a read speed of 40X. Now this is where I am confused as on the drive face plate it says 48X16X48 and on the box it says that this drive has a read speed of 48X but Nero Info Tool is displaying 40X so I am wondering if you could please do me a BIG favour and check your drive with Nero Info Tool and then let me know if your drive reports back the same read speed please. As I am totally confused over this and I do not understand it at all! I also tried an earlier version of Nero Info Tool and it reported back the same reading for the Read Speed. If you do not have Nero Info Tool you can download it from the following URL.

Nero Info Tool

Also the firmware version of my drive is 1.03, the buffer size is 2MB and the name listed at the top of the program for my drive is as follows:

[1:1] H:\ HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8480B

If you could please help me out with this query I would greatly appreciate it :)… As I want to make sure that my drive is not faulty as I only brought it at the weekend. Also I am located in Australia as well (not to sure if this makes a difference or not) and in the program itself it says that I have Mount Rainier support as well.

Well hoping you can please help me out :).

Kind Regards
Erica

#7

Cybagirl,

Right now I am not in front of my machine, but I remember :

  1. I’ve got firmware 1.02 (previous from yours)

  2. The first time I checked it, I could see the same effect as you. (tool reports 40x read),… but later on I’ve been able to see reads at 48x, so I don’t really care too much about what is reported, as long as the drive does read effectively at 48x. Note that the same effect has been observed in CDRLABS review of the 8480B… and at that time the firmware was the 1.10 (the USA one, without Mt. Rainier)

I will, however, verify what is current infotool’s reading tonight, since I’ve also upgraded Nero since last time I checked.

Now, I would like to ask something from you. Since you have firmware 1.03, could you please dump it with MKTFLASH and send me the file ? I would like to
experiment and try to flash mine to the last available level.

I am now appending here instuctions on how to use the utility :

MTKFLASH “x” R /B /M filename.bin

Where “x” is a number from 1 to 4:

1: Primary master
2: Primary slave
3: Secondary master
4: Secondary slave

R is for Read out the firmware
/B is to save the firmware as a binary file
/M is to Merge the whole firmware into one file.
filename.bin is just an example, name your file so
it will be easy to find back. I use the firmware version
as the name like firmware version XS0U will be xs0u.bin.
Don’t have the filename longer than 8 characters + bin extension.

The readout process will take a while depending on the flashrom size,
the flashrom is normally 128k, 256k or 512k. So just be patient.
Note that it’s counting from 0% to 100% several times!

… So, I think it’s a matter of just :

MKTFLASH x R /B    (use the appropriate x)

Please, send the resulting file to my e-mail : fertrius@worldonline.es

I will appreciate that !

:slight_smile:

Regards
FTC

#8

Cybagirl,

Right now I am not in front of my machine, but I remember :

  1. I’ve got firmware 1.02 (previous from yours)

  2. The first time I checked it, I could see the same effect as you. (tool reports 40x read),… but later on I’ve been able to see reads at 48x, so I don’t really care too much about what is reported, as long as the drive does read effectively at 48x. Note that the same effect has been observed in CDRLABS review of the 8480B… and at that time the firmware was the 1.10 (the USA one, without Mt. Rainier)

I will, however, verify what is current infotool’s reading tonight, since I’ve also upgraded Nero since last time I checked.

Now, I would like to ask something from you. Since you have firmware 1.03, could you please dump it with MKTFLASH and send me the file ? I would like to
experiment and try to flash mine to the last available level.

I am now appending here instuctions on how to use the utility :

MTKFLASH “x” R /B /M filename.bin

Where “x” is a number from 1 to 4:

1: Primary master
2: Primary slave
3: Secondary master
4: Secondary slave

R is for Read out the firmware
/B is to save the firmware as a binary file
/M is to Merge the whole firmware into one file.
filename.bin is just an example, name your file so
it will be easy to find back. I use the firmware version
as the name like firmware version XS0U will be xs0u.bin.
Don’t have the filename longer than 8 characters + bin extension.

The readout process will take a while depending on the flashrom size,
the flashrom is normally 128k, 256k or 512k. So just be patient.
Note that it’s counting from 0% to 100% several times!

… So, I think it’s a matter of just :

MKTFLASH x R /B    (use the appropriate x)

Please, send the resulting file to my e-mail : fertrius@worldonline.es

I will appreciate that !

:slight_smile:

Regards
FTC

#9

OOOPS,

Sorry to everyone for the previous double append… due to the net not working too good today in this part of the world, forcing me to hit the button twice… to make sure it went through.

Now, Cybagirl, I’m now at my machine, and can CONFIRM you that Nero Info Tool reports max. reading speed of 40x… but reads are done at 48 effectively. Whether this is a Nero error or a 8480 fw error, I don’t know, but for me it’s irrelevant now.

… Waiting anxiouxly for your firmware image.

:wink:

Regards
FTC

#10

CybaGirl,

Just played with MTKFLASH and verified the right syntax, so what I’d like is if you can :

  • From a MS-DOS (Real DOS) fullscreen type :

    MTKFLASH x R /M fileout.hex

Where x is set to indicate where is your drive (1=PM 2=PS, 3=SM, 4=SS)

This will generate a 1.1 Mb file : fileout.hex which is the contents of your firmware, 1.03. This is what I’d like to have and test.

Thanks again in advance
FTC

#11

Originally posted by FTC
[B]CybaGirl,

Just played with MTKFLASH and verified the right syntax, so what I’d like is if you can :

  • From a MS-DOS (Real DOS) fullscreen type :

    MTKFLASH x R /M fileout.hex

Where x is set to indicate where is your drive (1=PM 2=PS, 3=SM, 4=SS)

This will generate a 1.1 Mb file : fileout.hex which is the contents of your firmware, 1.03. This is what I’d like to have and test.

Thanks again in advance
FTC [/B]

Hi FTC,
Only too happy to help you :)… Thanks also for the info on your drive. I also posted a message on the CDRLabs board and a guy on there said it will only read CDR’s at 40X and said if I put a pressed CD into the drive it will come up and say 48X. So I did this and what would you know :). It said a read speed of 48X…

Anyway I have uploaded the firmware to my website and you can download it via the following URL.

Download V1.03 For The LG CD-RW 8480B Here

However the firmware is only 512k in file size. My burner is also located on the secondry IDE port as a slave drive as my DVD drive is the master on this port. I used the following to get the firmware for you.

MTKFLASH 4 R /B /M 8480B103.BIN

So I hope this is right. As you said it should be a 1.1MB file. If you have any problems please let me know. But I am sure that I have done it right and triple checked everything before downloading the firmware.

But I am sure you will back up your current firmware first though :).

Anyway hope this helps you and please let me know how you go!

Kind Regards
Erica

#12

CybaGirl,

You get a 512K file because you are using the /B switch, that dumps the file in binary mode. If you do not use the /B switch, you will get an hex (ASCII) format file, which is 1.1 Mb file. If it is not too costly, I’d like to have that also, because hex file format does also include the addresses for each data row, which I’d like to compare (I have also the intention to make this fw work in my 8400B and for this test, I’d like to compare addresses first)

Thanks for your file and in advance for the new requested one.

:slight_smile:

Best regards
FTC

#13

Hi,

Well, I succeeded flashing my GCE-8480B to firmware 1.03… and did some tests. Basically it behaves exactly the same as 1.02 with my collection of 20 different blank CDR brands, except for one : The samsung digitall 32x CDRs, which were written at CAV 48x with firmware 1.02 and now are written at PCAV 40x (fw 1.03). I suppose it’s because this brand/make has been added to the ‘database’ of CDRs the firmware knows. Since this firmware probably could have also other fixes, I’ll live with it (i.e not going back to 1.02).

I flashed the drive with MKTFLASH 1.55, command line :

mktflash 3 W /B /M 8480B103.BIN (3 because my cdrw is secondary master)

Note that having succeeded in this test (contrary to reports of mktflash not being able to flash this drives) opens two doors :

  1. It is mostly important for USA people, because their 8480Bs are flashed with 1.10 fw, a special version without mount Rainier support.

  2. Whenever we locate a GCE-8481B firmware, we now know how to try to flash ours and make this 48-16-48 become a 48-24-48 writer!!

… Anyone has a GCE-8481B and volunteers to get the firmware for us ? …

Thanks again for all CybaGirl.

Regards
FTC

#14

Originally posted by FTC
… Anyone has a GCE-8481B and volunteers to get the firmware for us ? …

IF someone actually had the drive wouldnt they be able to copy the f/w from the rom ?

#15

Originally posted by FTC
[B]CybaGirl,

You get a 512K file because you are using the /B switch, that dumps the file in binary mode. If you do not use the /B switch, you will get an hex (ASCII) format file, which is 1.1 Mb file. If it is not too costly, I’d like to have that also, because hex file format does also include the addresses for each data row, which I’d like to compare (I have also the intention to make this fw work in my 8400B and for this test, I’d like to compare addresses first)

Thanks for your file and in advance for the new requested one.

:slight_smile:

Best regards
FTC [/B]

Hi FTC,
Sorry I have not been able to do the HEX file for you sooner as I have been so busy. Anyway I have done it for you now and I have also done up a quick page for firmware’s on this drive and other LG drives if people care to send them to me :)… You can find the HEX file at the following URL.

My LG CD-RW Firmware Page

If you have any questions at all please dont hesitate in letting me know and most of all enjoy :)!!!

Regards
Erica

#16

Well, just saw and downloaded the 8481B firmware from The firmware page. Will try tonight to flash my 8480B with it and I’ll post my results here …

Regards
FTC

#17

I’m looking forward for the results of your test!
Please, tell us asap if you could 8480B->8481B !!!
THx

WS

PS the link they give on
http://forum.firmware-flash.com/dl_firmware.php?download_id=1344
is 404 compliant :frowning:

#18

Well, just tried again and the link I used is still OK. Link

Regards
FTC

#19

Thank you for the link, it finally worked for me!

So, is your 8480B is now 8481B? Can you effectively write CDRW with 24x? Any errors?

Tnx,

WS

#20

thanks for that link :slight_smile: