dbminter
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I started the MKM inkjet test. The ASUS writes slightly less efficiently to 8x DVD+R DL. The LG WH16NS60 writes them first at 4x for 2 and a half minutes, then at 8x for most of the rest of the time, the 4x for the last 2 minutes. The ASUS writes at 4x for the first 2 and a half minutes, then at 6x for another 2 and a half minutes, then at 8x for most of the rest of the time, then drops to 6x for some of the end time, before dropping to 4x for the last 2 minutes.
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Okay, both types of 8x DVD+RW from Ritek, RICOH and the Imation ones, still are good in 3.11. 3.11 doesn't destroy the discs anymore.
Onto 2x Memorex RITEK BD-RE and inkjet 8x MKM DVD+R DL.
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Unfortunately, the drive cannot be placed on its side, in either a PC case or in a USB enclosure. 2 of 3 burns resulted in discs on the floor.
I rearranged my real estate so the drive can be set flat, but it's not to my liking. My USB HDD now has to sit behind it so I have to move away from my desk in order to see the HDD activity and power indication light. But, it's doable and tolerable. Just not ideal for me.
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The drive does appear to have one problem. It ejects discs too forcibly. Meaning if the drive is on its side, and I HAVE to have my USB drives on their side to fit the desktop real estate I have, this is a big issue because the discs fall out onto the floor!
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Well, what do you know?! Firmware 3.11 fixed the MKM Verify failure at the Layer change! Still need to test inkjet MKM, though. Plus, 8x DVD+RW and 2x BD-RE next.
I am bit concerned over the write rate. The max was 8.1x but the average was 6.3x. I did not actually watch this burn. I let it go while I was doing something else. So, I don't know for how long 8x was actually written. I've seen some drives that get to 8x but only for like 2 minutes of the total burn. Need to watch another burn from beginning to end to be sure.
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Okay, I've received it and connected it up. ImgBurn DOES return that the firmware is 3.11!
I 15:31:17 -> Drive 5 - Info: ASUS BW-16D1HT 3.11 (D:) (USB 3.0)
So, ASUS was, as usual, just flat out wrong!
3.10 may have been the last firmware update PACKAGE released, but ASUS DID develop a 3.11 firmware that is ONLY available on models that ship from the factory.
So, I'm just now burning a Verbatim MKM branded 8x DVD+R DL. IF it passes Verify, that's a good sign and I can continue on with the other tests, starting with 8x Ritek DVD+RW and then 2x Memorex RITEK BD-RE.
I'll report back with the results. And, if all tests eventually pass, I'll update my original review of this drive to reflect this.
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It's out for delivery. Estimated time within the next 2 hours.
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5 minutes ago, cvmanjoo said:
Just Curious, there will be no hardware revisions for optical drives?
ASUS probably just meant for that discontinued model. IF ASUS makes a new model, I would be pretty sure they'd update the firmware for it, if necessary. The big question being if ASUS makes a new model.
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If it is encrypted firmware, that's why there's no update package for it. ASUS doesn't want it out in the wild for anyone to reverse engineer.
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Interesting. According to ASUS, there is NO 3.11 firmware!
"The firmware 3.10 is the latest for this unit theres no 3.11 made for this product unfortunately."
I can only think your 3.11 firmware is custom brew designed to workaround some copy protection features. Or ASUS could be wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.
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It's been shipped and should be delivered tomorrow.
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Well, the "best" is really the best of the worst. The one with no deal killers was the LG WH6NS60, but they stopped manufacturing of that. So, the next best bet is the WH16NS40, but last time I used that years ago, it failed to properly write to BD-R DL and BD-RE DL. However, firmware updates have been released since then which may have addressed the issue. Also, both the NS40 and NS60 only wrote to 12x BD-R even when it said it would write at 16x.
The Pioneer BDR-213 MIGHT have the potential to be the next go to drive IF they fix the current issues with the firmware and DON"T regress the 8x DVD+RW borking like they did 2 firmware revisions ago. 8x DVD+RW resumed writing okay, BUT after writing to one at 8x, all subsequent writes to the same disc were only at 6x. And 8x DVD+R DL only write at 2.4x. IF Pioneer can address these issues and DON'T regress the 8x DVD+RW firmware so it doesn't bork writing again, then the 213 has the potential to be my next BD go to drive. I'm waiting for the next firmware update. Pioneer generally releases the 213 updates every 6 months, and the last one was September 20th. So, if Pioneer updates the firmware, I'll get another 213, update the firmware, and put it through the usual battery of tests.
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ASUS didn't inform me of anything else beyond that single sentence I copied and pasted. So, I don't know if ASUS has a new BD model coming out, but I would doubt it, given how little demand there is for optical discs anymore.
I can't guarantee I'll get a 3.11 drive. The good thing about Amazon is they have very good return policies for drives where the firmware borks something. And, if I get a 3.10 drive, it does go back to Amazon, of course.
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I went ahead and ordered one. Amazon.com dropped from 20 left in stock 2 days ago, to 11 left yesterday, to 7 today. They said more were on the way, but if ASUS were to discontinue it, I may not get it. So, I decided to go ahead and carry over the charge on my credit card.
I'll report back my findings.
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I've got some bad news about that ASUS unit. I e-mailed ASUS about if 3.11 was available only as a from the factory application. They, naturally, didn't answer me directly. What they did say is worth noting, though: "This unit is end of life, which means there will be no future updates for this device bios or firmware."
Which means if 3.11 has any borks in it, they will never be fixed. Which also means that, soon, you can't get any more units.
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For about 20 years, I've been using ConvertXToDVD to make DVD's. I've always had the software create VIDEO_TS output and used ImgBurn to create DVD Video discs from the VIDEO_TS and burn the resulting image file it creates with it.
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Oh, sorry. I forgot about the BD-RE question.
I've used those before, but I am not certain as to their quality. When I used to use them, I'd write stuff that was a yearly backup to them. Then, I'd go in the next year to replace the contents and they'd fail to write after a year. Now, I don't know if that's down to the LG WH16NS60 or not. I know the NS40 used to fail 9 times out of 10 to write properly to BD-RE DL and BD-R DL. But, it's been some years since I last used that model and it has had firmware updates since I last had one that might have addressed these issues.
I really only ever used BD-RE DL for yearly backups. I abandoned BD-RE DL some years ago in favor of flash thumb drives and then replaced those with USB SSD's. They're much faster at writing and have much higher capacities available to them.
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Many manufacturers don't make their own media. They farm out to other optical disc manufacturers. For instance, many companies farm out to CMC. Even quality Verbatim DataLife Plus/AZO media is farmed out to Mitsubishi.
The only quality manufacturer of DVD+R DL is Verbatim DataLife Plus/AZO MKM media made by Mitsubishi. Everyone else is basically trash. I've never used any Moser Baer media as I believe that's mostly in countries outside of the US, where I live. But, they're generally known for being lesser quality media. Better than CMC, maybe, but still pretty low quality.
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It's not a File System issue. I used my default of UDF 2.06 and told ImgBurn not to alter the File System properties for DVD Video and left it at UDF 2.06. My LG Blu-Ray played the DVD upon insertion.
Now, this test is not an ideal. It's not an apples to apples comparison. My BD player may be programmed in such a way that it just checks for the proper disc contents as opposed to what type of disc is inserted, but I doubt that.
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It's automatic. If you add a VIDEO_TS folder to a burn job, ImgBurn asks you if you want it to automatically change all necessary settings for a DVD Video disc.
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Actually, give me until tomorrow and I can test the File Systems idea. I'll add a DVD Video compliant VIDEO_TS to a job and burn it, BUT I won't let ImgBurn change the defaults to DVD Video. I'll use my standard "data" disc structure of UDF 2.06. If my DVD player doesn't play it, that would explain it.
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Do you mean TS_VIDEO and TS_AUDIO or VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS? If you mean the former, then, that's why they're not working on a standalone DVD player, but wouldn't explain why they work in VLC.
Technically, a DVD Video disc is a "Data Disc." DVD's of all kinds are all data discs. There's no distinction between types of discs as there are with CD's. It's just the File Systems and other structural defaults must conform to the DVD Video standard.
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The only thing I can see that they might have overlooked is in the File System. That needs to be ISS9660+UDF with UDF revision 1.02. The Data Type needs to be MODE1/2048.
But, good luck getting those people to do anything. They're set in their ways that they're right and you're wrong. 95% of tech support operates that way. I've been telling Pioneer for over a DECADE they borked 8x DVD+RW writing in their firmware and they only addressed it last year... only to add it BACK in to the 2nd to the last firmware update they released!
Hey, a fellow Kentuckian!
I'm down in Owensboro! 
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No, those are CMC. Anything from Verbatim that says LifeSeries is CMC junk. All LifeSeries CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD+RW, and DVD+R DL are CMC media. Only DataLife Plus/AZO from Verbatim is MKM/MCC media.
Hm, it's interesting you can't get the MKM media in India. The MKM's are made in the UAE.
ASUS BW-16D1HT 3.11 - Rewritable Discs Issue.
in ImgBurn Support
Posted
I also need to perform playback tests on DVD Video for 8x DVD+R DL and the 2 8x DVD+RW. Then, after the CD-R and CD-RW write tests, I need to perform playback tests on CD Audio written to them.
The 2 8x DVD+R DL that were written will be playback tested next after the current disc I am watching is done, which will take about 2 hours. Then, I can watch those as I specifically chose discs I haven't watched yet so I can playback test those.