LG WH16NS40 Firmware 1.03 dual layer fails

[mediaconfusion]

have a number of LG wh16ns40 and wh14ns40 in different locations
all are labeled as Mdisc enabled.
most images span into the second layer on the platter.
many years of successful burns, most are dual layers,most are 5-6 days each week

at one location began to have large number of verify failures which occur just after the switch to the second layer
had access to that site, changed the drive. site bought new media, verify failures continued. almost 100% fail.
replace drive again, failures continued

brief partial list of sites, where verified burns are almost always successful
media is verbatim dual layer, usually the inkjet style,
which is slighly more expensive than the branded surface
in the usa $68 for 25 inkjet, $66 for branded,most recent prices
about $2.70 per platter

HL-DT-ST BD-RE  wh16ns40 firmware 1.00      VERBAT-IMf-000

HL-DT-ST BD-RE  WH14NS40 firmware 1.01-A1   VERBAT-IMf-000

this site also has dual layer success, similar to the above
most recent successful burn was using different media
HL-DT-ST BD-RE  WH16NS40 1.00   RITEK-DR3-000

the site with consistent failures
WH16NS40 Firmware 1.03 VERBAT-IMf-000
last two drives were SVC code 50
media has been consistently verbatim

conclusion differences, firmware below 1.03 VERIFY dual layer burns
drives with firmware 1.03 do NOT VERIFY (usually)  dual layer burns

downloaded  1.02 and  1.01
attempts to downgrade, both produce checksum failures

first two burns this drive, successful dual layer verified

then 2 verify fails,  switch to new purchase media

now fails on initail write

snip from last failure

I 10:44:10 Writing Layer 0... (LBA: 0 - 12219391)
I 10:59:45 Writing Layer 1... (LBA: 12219392 - 15204191)
W 11:00:47 Failed to Write Sectors 12791488 - 12791519 - Reason: Write Error
W 11:00:47 Retrying (1 of 20)...
W 11:00:47 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write

...

W 11:00:47 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 12:32:36 Retrying (21)...
W 12:32:36 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Field in CDB
W 12:32:47 Retrying (22)...
W 12:32:47 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Field in CDB
E 12:32:49 Failed to Write Sectors 12791488 - 12791519 - Reason: Write Error
I 12:32:49 Synchronising Cache...
W 12:32:49 Synchronise Cache Failed! - Reason: Invalid Field in CDB
W 12:33:03 Synchronise Cache Failed! - Reason: Invalid Field in CDB
I 12:33:09 Closing Track...
W 12:33:09 Close Track Failed! - Reason: Invalid Field in CDB
E 12:33:14 Close Track Failed! - Reason: Invalid Field in CDB
I 12:33:14 Finalising Disc...
W 12:33:14 Finalise Disc Failed! - Reason: Invalid Field in CDB
E 12:33:18 Finalise Disc Failed! - Reason: Invalid Field in CDB
E 12:33:18 Failed to Write Image!
I 12:33:18 Exporting Graph Data...

graph file too big to upload

any recommendations ?

change drive brand, or media. or both ?

have one new drive, can return that and get different brand

btw, grateful user, have made contributions to imgburn.

thanks in advance

 

[dbminter]

Well, I can't explain why you got success before with the WH16NS40 and I can't say much about the WH14NS40, but the WH16NS40 absolutely does not properly write/Verify dual layer BD media.  Fails Verify 9 times out of 10.  I had multiple units of this drive and it did the same thing.  And this behavior was verified by someone else on the forum.  The only thing that seemed to work, and it wasn't always certain, was not to burn images with ImgBurn but to use the write on the fly method.

 

So, it may have been the 1.03 firmware the entire time.  Seems they borked that firmware like Pioneer is now constantly borking their firmware.  And here I thought the 1.03 firmware only introduced a plug to keep people from copying discs.  Looks like they screwed the performance of the firmware, too.

 

Since you don't mind trying new drives as a possible solution, I'd recommend trying LG's WH16NS60.  It doesn't have that problem that the WH16NS40 had and is now my go to BD drive.  However, it is a bit more expensive since it's an UltraHD drive.  And if you don't need that feature, you may not want to invest in it.  I don't need that feature, but I invest in the drive because, well, it works.

 

You're using Verbatim IMF BD media, which is the best out there, so I wouldn't change BD-R SL type.  I'd not use the Ritek media at all as I know Ritek has certain playback issues with their BD on the PS3.  Plus, Ritek has a higher failure and incompatibility rate than the Verbatim IMF media.