Replacement of dvd drive in dvd recorder woes

JonDC 2008-07-21 12:27:27 UTC #1

My Yamada 9300's dvd drive (drl-200) has failed and I have replaced it with an unused Pioneer DVR-112D drive. It seemed to be going well, connected up and played discs without any trouble. The problem is when I try and record to, or transfer material from, the hard drive to disc. The recording does take place, but it is corrupted. It's difficult to describe exactly but what is recorded on the disc appears for two seconds then for two seconds whatever had been on the disc before appears, and this continues for the duration of the recording (this is on dvd +rw discs).

Now, to me, it seems that there is some slight incompatabilty problem with the existing setup of the Yamada 9300 and the Pioneer DVR-112D. What I'm wondering is what is the best way to overcome this, preferably without wiping my hard drive in the process. I have found a firmware update for the Pioneer drive (Ver 1.24), but I'm worried that applying that would just wreck the whole machine by wiping out the hard-drive bios. But I don't know, I'm a Newbie guessing.

My other idea, which I don't like either, is to redo the firmware of the Yamada itself. The problem with that is losing everything on the HDD, but if there is a good chance of it bringing the machine into some sort of unity, then I'll have to bite the bullet ...

Any advice would much appreciated, and sorry for the length of this post :o

CDuncle 2008-07-21 12:40:53 UTC #2

If the firmware update is by manufacturer for you drive model, than update will not ruin your drive or BIOS.
It has nothing to do with BIOS, it will only update Eprom’s firmware of your burner.
The firmware update could help with your problem, especially if you write to RW disc.
Otherwise try different disc brand(manufacturer).

JonDC 2008-07-21 15:21:22 UTC #3

Thank you CDuncle. I think I will have to try that, as I’ve already tried 3 brands of disk without success …

Jimbo 2008-07-22 10:50:37 UTC #4

First thing, did you use 80 wire ide cable as the 112 requires 80 wire cable to work properly, Second it wouldn’t hurt to uninstall your IDE channel and reboot and then let windows reinstall it OR uninstall the burner and then reboot and let windows reinstall it

JonDC-take2 2008-07-22 17:46:50 UTC #5

Hi, this is still me, had to re-register after a problem trying to change my email address …

That’s interesting (and very useful) info, Jimbo. I’ve checked the ide cable in the Yamada recorder and it is only 40 wire. So that is certainly part of my problem. I’m now just wondering whether I can change the cable, or whether I’ll need to get a different burner, in which case any suggestions would be useful.

(I’m glad I didn’t jump the gun and wipe out the recordings on the hdd by redoing the firmware, which I was within an ace of earlier tonight )

CDuncle 2008-07-23 05:27:48 UTC #6

Just go to any computer or electronic store, get 80 wire IDE cable and exchange it with one you are using. Everything fits.
I still do not understand why would you erase HDD by updating firmware of your burner?

JonDC-take2 2008-07-23 08:12:22 UTC #7

If I update the firmware on the machine itself, I have to format the hard-drive for it to take effect.

My slight difficulty is that I only have a laptop these days, so I can’t connect the Pioneer dvd drive to it to upgrade its firmware. I’m scared that if I try putting the firmware on a cd and sticking it in the drive, it will just kill the whole hard-drive recorder, which obviously is not the desired effect …

Anyway, I will be attempting to buy an 80 wire cable in the next few days, and see if that fixes things. I say “attempt” because I live in a rustic part of France and it is a touch difficult getting exotica of this kind sometimes!

And thanks again, by the way

CDuncle 2008-07-23 08:37:39 UTC #8

I think we are talking about two different things.
Google say Yamada 9300 is a DVD player, where Pioneer DVR-112D is internal DVD burner.
Confirm what exactly we are talking about as cable and firmware is concerned.

Jimbo 2008-07-23 10:44:40 UTC #9

You can go to the pioneer web site and d/l the firmware update to update the burner and it won’t effect anything else on your laptop also there is an asus/pioneer burner forum on cd freaks also which you might find useful information concerning your problem

JonDC-take2 2008-07-23 10:52:32 UTC #10

CDuncle, you’re right, our wires are getting crossed, mea culpa.

The Yamada 9300 is a hard-drive recorder with a dvd recorder built in. The original dvd drive has died, which is why I’m replacing it with the Pioneer 112 unit. And it does work to an extent, even with a 40 wire IDE, but it can’t cope with recording to a dvd.

CDuncle 2008-07-23 11:55:51 UTC #11

I am getting a picture. I was little confused when you wanted to insert CD to update firmware.
Now, back to your problem.
The 80 wire cable is nothing special, it is just better IDE cable with more grounding wires.
It may help, but I do not think it will solve your problem, because these speciality units may use their own software for a recording and the drive you put in is not compatible with it.
Any way, try, hope it works, but I do not think I can help any more.

One more thing. If you can find something on manufacturer’s web site about compatible drive replacement, or necessary steps to do it. It would be a best bet.

JonDC-take2 2008-07-26 06:42:40 UTC #12

I think you are right in your diagnosis, and thanks again for your assistance. There seems to be an absolute dearth of help on the manufacturer’s website re. replacement parts, but that was expected, sadly.

Just to be clear - you are dealing with an idiot here I’m afraid - the one thing I should [U]not[/U] do is run the Pioneer firmware when the dvd drive is connected to the Yamada? [I](because that would surely override the Yamada’s firmware, correct?)[/I]

Chad_Bronson 2011-06-19 15:06:00 UTC #13

I’m sorry to hijack this thread that’s three years old but I have a similar question I would like to add.

I bought a Vistron DVD recorder last year (Produced in 2008 also) with the same unit drive. And whilst there has been no serious problems, I’m questioning how long good the burner actually is.

So, as a test, I disconnected the recorder burner and replaced it with an old Phillips burner from my PC. It seemed okay and installation was painless enough, if a little tight. So I switched it back on, the burner seemed to be okay but it wouldn’t get past the loading screen. So therefore, is the recorder only suited to THAT burner?

The reason why I ask this is because the drive is giving questionable results when it comes to burning my RitekF1 discs. They burn well initially, but producing error reports when verified on my BenQ burner in my computer. Confusingly, these discs verify okay in my mums laptop burner (by Sony).

They therefore can’t be crap discs if they verify okay on that burner. Why is it doing this?

Finally, does anyone have any word on this particular burner? It just seems like a cheap no name burner, how long are these drives (DRL-200) supposed to last? Thanks.