DFSchmidt

Hi all, As an update, I never was able to solve this problem with the LG drive - I ended up replacing it with a Pioneer BDR-2209 / -209UBK / -209M, updating the firmware to the latest revision and successfully burning a Verbatim BD-R TL with ImgBurn using AWS (~6x effective, consistent with the compatibility list on the Pioneer website for these discs). To bad about the LG unit, but very happy that the Pioneer is working, needless to say. -DS

First, thanks for writing! As to the issue of the firmware, indeed, normally I keep all of my drives fully up to date in this regard. I had not had any issues with this drive up to now (received it as a gift a year or two ago), and it's been a while since I thought about its firmware revision, but I was reminded of the problem when attempting to take your advice. Specifically, when I run the official LG firmware update utility, found here: http://www.lg.com/us/support-product/lg-WH16NS40#softwareFirmware ...I get the following error: CheckSum is mismatched Drive will go to BOOT mode Please retry again. Now that I think about it, I had the same experience when I first got the drive. I seem to recall speaking with LG support about this and being told not to worry about it / that I didn't need to update the firmware anyway. The drive seemed to work, so I didn't think anything more of it. While under some circumstances I might've interpreted this to indicate that I had a bad drive, I am not alone in my experiences - see here: http://club.myce.com/f91/wh14ns40-checksum-mismatched-340420/ http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-hardware/checksum-mismatched/48378d67-adce-4fd8-9191-7881a937e0a5 From research along these lines, this appears to be a hardware revision issue - they changed the internals without changing the model number, rendering the firmware they have online incompatible with the drive I own. This is mentioned here: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/150-blu-ray-software/2293498-uhd-blu-ray-disc-bdxl-drive-test-request-3.html ...and also here: http://club.myce.com/f91/lg-bh16ns50-bh16ns55-2nd-gen-bh14-wh14-bh16-wh16ns40-svc-code-ns50-2015-a-340457/ Not sure it'd solve my problem anyway, but, to sum up, that's why my firmware isn't up to date and why I'm not able to take your advice and update it, as much as I would agree that it's a logical step to take and something I would like to do. Given the comments concerning the nature of the hardware, I could try to cross-flash with firmware for the 2nd gen. BH16NS40 / BH16NS50 / BH16NS55, assuming it would accept such an update, but there are no official firmware releases for either drive - just the various files folks are tinkering around with in the thread my last link points to. As to the other ideas: * My understanding is that slower is always more reliable, so if 2x doesn't work, I don't see 4x working better; if you know otherwise, however, please let me know. * It's also my understanding that Verbatim media is the best there is - not that there are many choices as far as BD-R TL media is concerned - but if you have suggestions for other brands to try, I'd welcome them. * I am not against getting another drive if it turns out this thing is junk; in that case, I would welcome any recommendations you may have on that topic as well as far as drives capable of writing BD-R TL / XL media are concerned. Thanks again! -DS

Hi folks, Not sure what's going on here, but I have the latest ImgBurn, just got some BD-R TL discs (100GB apiece, not cheap), and already I have two coasters on my hands. The first I used AWS to burn - when it failed rather early in the process, I thought, OK, I'll burn as slow as possible - 2x was the lowest rated speed, so I did that, but once more, same issue - see log (below). Two points, since I suspect they will be made by someone: I am aware that there is newer firmware than 1.00; that said, 1.01 indicates that it provides "Improved DVD-R Readability", while 1.02 indicates that it provides "M DISC BD R support". I don't see any reason why either one of these should matter as far as burning BD-R TL discs is concerned. I am likewise aware of the warning concerning the SPTD driver; I know it can slow things down, but I have never had it cause write errors like this, nor is there any reason it should. Typically, this sort of thing happens when folks use cheap media; as that is not the case here, I'm at a bit of a loss to understand what's going on. Has anyone else had any experiences burning BD-R TL media, and if so, how has that worked for you? Any tips in general / with this drive (the LG WH16NS40) in particular? Thanks in advance, DS