TSSTcorp CDDVD SH-S202J SB03 won't read disc

[dbminter]

I refer to all slim models.  If there are any good slim model drives, it's news to me based on what I read on these forums.

[dr_ml422]

Well when the word"all" is ever used then the one using it has to at the very least used all of them, and logically that's improbable. The only thing that my LITEON lacks is the 24x speed, other than that it's great. It'll top at 8x with DL and I think a bit more with regular DVDs. 

Try not to ever go with something until you've thought it through. I just finished reading some post in another forum where the poster said something that just didn't make any logical sense. Especially with reviews one has to be especially discerning. My Mobo gets a lot of negative reviews regarding one thing or another, and it's working just fine with me.

Hardware is not what it used to be. The only thing we really need to be very careful with is software. Now that I can truly attest to. VSO replied. Looks like they finally copped to what is really happening. I'll let you know asap. I can't read both emails at the same time while responding here. The link I posted way back to the LITEON is the one I have. Maybe external slim BD drives. That very well could be.

[dbminter]

Ah, VSO intrigue!  Sounds interesting.  I did notice they put out a new beta for VSO Downloader.  So, they are doing something, but it was unknown to me if they were ever going to work on ConvertXToDVD/Video ever again.

[dbminter]

Well, that was unexpected.  I got my new enclosure and put the refurbished WH16NS60 in it for testing both.  I didn't notice it at first, but the model LG sent me has a firmware that ISN'T available for download!    The firmware revision on the refurbished model is 1.02; the newest you can get from LG's web site is 1.01 from December 2017.

 

I'm not entirely sure I like this turn of events.  Are they using me as an unpaid, unwitting beta tester?  What was changed?  Is this firmware going to make things worse?  1.01 was working fine as far as I could tell. 

 

Most likely, this firmware update is an innocuous one designed simply to plug some hole that allows copying of UHD BD's.  The last firmware update I installed for the WH16NS40 did that and only that as far as I could tell.

[dr_ml422]

Oh so even without decrypting software it was able to copy UHD? Wao!

Well I guess we both got shafted because the ending to Game of Thrones is pure garbage! I'm going to delete the whole entire saga from my computer! What a disappointment! Lord it's as if these writers just got tired and didn't want to make a storyline of finishing to this whole thing.

[dbminter]

As far as I know, you still needed decrypting software for UHD.  What it is is some drives are so called UHD friendly, meaning they can allow decrypting of UHD BD discs.  But, as time goes on and Hollywood applies pressure the manufacturers of these drives plug these holes.

 

I had read about the online petition to basically hire all new writers and redo the last season of GOT because it was so bad.

 

[dbminter]

Well, after testing the new VanTec enclosure I tried to see if it was just my last model, it isn't!  It took 6 days, but the fundamental flaws in this device showed themselves again.  It randomly dropped communication with the device!    Thankfully, it did it during a Verify, so I didn't lose a disc.  So, it just goes to prove I'm generally right!    I figured it was a fundamental flaw in this piece of junk, and it is.  Well, it goes back to Amazon.com!

 

Actually, it shows what I know!  It proved to me I should do my due duty before reaching a conclusion.  I tried Verifying again and it always dropped communication at roughly the same place.  So, I put the disc in my internal SATA LG and tried to Verify it that way.  At roughly the same place (53% on the VanTec versus 51% on the SATA.) it failed to Verify due to an unreadable sector.  Now, when there are failures of write or Verifies on the VanTec, it always did drop communication with the device.  A DIFFERENT fundamental flaw.    That's why I decided to test it in another drive.  So, it seems I had a bad disc or a bad burn.  I'll see if this happens again.  However, it could mean the refurbished LG is bad, too, as I don't know if I've written single layer DVD+R in it yet.  I know I have successfully made BD-R, DVD+RW, and DVD+R DL in it.

 

Could have just been a bad blank.  The 2nd attempt to burn it completed fully and successfully in the VanTec.  However, this could be indicative of a bad refurbished drive.  That it randomly fails to burn properly DVD+R.  Since I don't know if I successfully burned DVD+R before, I can't rule out either a bad blank or a bad drive. 

 

[dbminter]

dr_ml, I'm curious.  What did VSO eventually tell you?

[dr_ml422]

I'm sorry I was busy taking care of a couple of other things that I'm involved with. Vso as I said before admit it that they haven't done any upgrades whatsoever and that they were focusing on the vso downloader and believe it or not they might upgrade convert x to DVD as those two besides any other programs are there best sellers. I could see vso downloader being something quite popular because you actually get any movie file or whatever to your computer via the application and not just the regular containers that we deal with. convert x to DVD I fully understand but as I told them they really don't need to make any improvements to convert x to DVD unless it has to do with Windows 10 or anything like that. I told them there was a whole bunch of other applications that convert one file format to another and that they better get on the wagon and fix this one if in fact they want to keep it, if not just fix it to the point where it's working great and then just leave it alone. I mean it's very few and far between where we have to change from one format to another if you know what I mean. Most of the time we already convert to the format that we want and it's very seldom that we need to change it to another format. So the most important programs to me from them is their copy to DVD, and convert x to DVD. Convert x to video is okay when it works but I have too many other alternatives to to really Warren it as something that I really need even though I bought it.

They wouldn't admit to the royalties but believe me I think that has something to do with it because I find it very very interesting that when it comes to h .264 that things go haywire with that app.

Amazon is the way to go these days with anything! I'll get back to you in a few.

[dbminter]

There's one reason why I'd consider buying ConvertXToVideo: the ability to convert ALL BD Video title sets to DVD VIDEO_TS.  I could then import that VIDEO_TS into ConvertXToDVD to make a DVD like I like it.  And ConvertXToDVD could always be updated to import ALL BD Video titles from a disc instead of just the main movie, like it does with DVD Video.

[dr_ml422]

Like I said unless it's something that can be useful etc... 

My new build is a monster! I set ConvertXToDVD to encode 4 titles at once and man did it fly through that! I have several Series that need ConvertXToDVD so I set it up for DVD-DL and fit as many without diminished value. 

You're suggestion regarding DVD-DL is one of the best things I did, as I now just rip anything full disc and put it straight on a DVD-DL. Sometimes to not waste them quickly I'll encode with DVD-RB Pro and put it on a DVD-5. That also is being done in about 18 minutes flat.

I'm getting over 1200fps with DVDFab converter which I bought on sale. With their default settings and Cuda it puts out great looking files@1200fps. That's why I know VSO is not putting out what can and is being done via a GPU.

[dbminter]

I have to admit, I saw no appreciable difference in enabling hardware acceleration in ConvertXToDVD.  I leave it enabled, but, as I said, I don't see any real benefit to it.

[dr_ml422]

I have no idea why they have Hardware optimization with convert x to DVD! If you go on their site and read what they say about that you will see that it's never hardly used with convert x to DVD. So even though you have it enabled it's not using it! I had to look that up because I myself was wondering why it was taking so long for things to get done and that was the reason why I went with convert x to video and also with dvdfab. convert x to DVD and they will tell you straight out on the site will not use Hardware optimization so I have no idea why they had that option there. Now since you have a quad core CPU and I have a 6 core CPU we're still going to get great timing on that because of the CPU and cores. Take a brief look on the site and read up on the hardware optimization they have a whole page on that and more. I really don't understand why they even put that into that application cuz it's useless! You're very very correct it doesn't work!

There's also AVS Converter which will use Hardware Optimization with good results. DVDFab has some pretty good specials right now and that DVDFab Converter is the one I have. I can vouch for it. 

Speaking of holes, and I'm not sure 100% about this, though I think that Cinavia protection only works copying to DVD. I think if you rip a DVD with it straight to MP4 etc... it bypasses the Cinavia. This is a theory I have because I have a DVD with Cinavia and I ripped it with another app to MP4 and it came out lovely. That same app ripped it to full title as well. Now this app doesn't even mention Cinavia as DVDFab does, making a big fuss about it. 

Blu-ray can't be beat for quality, though now hardly any attention is being given to DVDs, and so the oldies but goodies do the best job for ripping! Better than DVDFab in that it's a clean rip with no footprints.

I hit Best Buy every now and then and pick up 4-5 DVDs and rest is history.

An update to ConvertXtoVideo is coming so be on the lookout. Supposedly the hardware optimization etc... is fixed. Let's see.

It's Any Video Converter not AVS, though there is an AVS Converter.

Edited May 31, 2019 by dr_ml422
Correction.

[dbminter]

Looks like that failed DVD+R was just a fluke.  All of my other DVD+R burned fine since that failed first attempt.

[dbminter]

Looks like the recent Windows 10 1903 KB update addressed the issue of Notifications not clearing themselves automatically like they used to.

 

Actually, it only fixed that for inserted new media. 

 

[dr_ml422]

So the refurbished drive is working okay now? As far as the windows notification thing what do you mean by new software ,or New Media you mean when putting in a video or downloading a video of something and getting notifications for that?

I got robbed online and how to put in a claim to my bank! Never again will I be messing around with any company that I don't know of or never did business with!

I don't think I have 1903 yet. I do think I have the latest 1809 though I'll have to check again. I didn't see anything as far as the notifications but they might still be hanging in there but they don't hang there for long. Sometimes they just go away after a little while. 

[dbminter]

Yeah, the refurbished drive is fine thus far.  I wouldn't be worried about it for another month, though, as the one it replaced lasted about 2 months before it needed replacing.

 

As for new media notification, I mean storage media.  On 1903's initial release, whenever you inserted a flash drive or attached a new external USB HDD, the new Notification box would stay lit up until you manually clicked on it to open the Notifications list.  This was the new behavior for all Notifications.  Now, after the last KB update, it doesn't do this for new media detection but STILL does it for all other Notifications!   In fact, this was the default behavior YEARS ago until Microsoft wised up and changed this behavior... then the dumbasses put it back in! 

 

I left the Notifications alone and they still were highlighted in the lower right hand corner to let me know I had Notifications.

 

You will definitely know if you're on 1903.  There's a new light theme that will change your Desktop to the new lighter blue Windows logo theme.  Plus, simply Run/search for something called WINVER.  It will tell you your current version of Windows.  If you're running 1903, it will say Version 1903 near the top.

[dr_ml422]

Yeah I wondered about Microsoft for many years with this kind of behavior! It's almost as if they're either bored or they just actually have some moron over there that doesn't know what the hell they're doing! I mean all those years with all that money and the best they could do was i e? Well he did always steal from others and just make it better. That was his style from the beginning. There was nothing too innovative about Windows except for when he started shipping them out of Japan before Apple. Even now just look what he's doing with Edge and implementing the Chromium architecture.

are you signing in with your Microsoft account to turn windows on or off? That's another thing that's been bugging me. It randomly sends you a notification saying that your account is in Jeopardy that something has changed cuz they want to see if it's you using the computer. I don't want to use my account to login. I don't need to do that. The only thing I use from Windows is Windows and that's it! Outlook.com mail is useless! I used to forward all emails there in case Gmail went South, though I stopped as Gmail isn't going anywhere.

They finally chucked Google plus. Great because I had problems with someone there that purposely reported me saying that I was posting inappropriate stuff on there and they sent me warnings and they almost shut down my email because of that. And I knew that sooner or later they would just Chuck the whole thing and I'm glad they did! That was just a group of good old boys Network that felt privileged if you want to ask my honest opinion.

Edited June 8, 2019 by dr_ml422
Misspelling

[dbminter]

I disabled my Microsoft account and just use a local account.  I don't want Microsoft with access to any of my stuff.  We all know what they'll do with/to it.  Plus, the so called benefits won't last.  For instance, cloud storage of your Windows settings.  Microsoft will just change the locations of those settings at some point in the future, requiring you to re-enter those configurations again at some later date.

 

Plus, if you store everything in the cloud, what happens when that server is down?

[dr_ml422]

Yes I know what you mean! I keep getting that annoying notification saying that something has changed with my Microsoft account that I need to review it or revise it. That's just them wanting me to use the Microsoft account all I do is I go in and I make sure that my account is just working or whatever and that's it. I also do not use it for anything on the PC because even from a longtime mentor of mine problems arise out of doing that.

I have a question regarding the input output settings on image burn page 1 regarding the interface. What is that all about if you can please explain it to me in layman's terms? There's a whole bunch of stuff there involving Elby software, VSO software, etc etc. Thanks.

I started ripping my brand new DVDs that I just purchased again and converting them to MKV HEVC with 5.1 audio AC3 pass-through, and the English subtitles burned in. Wow what a lot of space I'm saving with the new encoding software H.265! Big advantage using MKV is the ability to put 5.1 Dolby digital audio in there. I mean you can if you want to convert the AC3 5.1 448 kbps, or whatever, to 5.1 AAC, though there's not too many receivers or encoding software out there that will be able to decrypt that properly.

[dbminter]

I forget where it is, but there was a setting I always changed when installing and setting up a new PC that disabled Windows complaining you're not using your Microsoft account.  But, I forget what it was I disabled and where. 

 

Wait, you're not getting this are you?  https://superuser.com/questions/1123583/you-need-to-fix-your-microsoft-account-notification

 

As for your ImgBurn settings question, I currently have an operation going so I can't check right now.  When it's done, I'll update this reply to reflect what those settings are.  It sounds like, from memory, the Elby software setting has to do with how ImgBurn detects what optical devices are connected to your system.  Generally, you don't choose the Elby I/O option unless you have problems with the default setting with ImgBurn and your drives.

 

Exactly where you looking at these settings?  Help me help you.    Under what tab, etc.

 

Okay, I'm into the ImgBurn settings.  I guess you mean under the I/O tab, Page 1, Interface tab.  Anyway, if that's what you mean, yeah, that's what I thought it was.  That's how ImgBurn communicates with your devices.  Some people need different translation layers with their hardware to get ImgBurn to recognize their devices.  Or, if they're not behaving right, maybe changing the layer fixes things on some people's setups.  If you're not having any problems with ImgBurn communicating with your optical drives, leave its setting alone.

[dr_ml422]

Under tools settings in the io settings page, page one I think it is.

[dbminter]

Yeah, those are the communication layers I mentioned in one of my updates to my previous reply.

[dr_ml422]

Its funny. When I'm burning with ImgBurn, it's almost as if there's two separate things going on. There's the disk in the drive spinning, and then there's the burning going on with ImgBurn. Then what I've noticed with VSO's CopytoDVD is that it's almost as if the software has the physical copy in their grasp, and is for lack of a better word, integrating it with the software as it burns. In any case you're getting Superior burns from both places. It's just an observation that I have on my end.

 

Thanks.

[dbminter]

I don't understand what you mean.  The disc has to spin in order for it be burned.