I'm having an ongoing issue with a brand-new NEC 3520A. About 1h20m into every movie I get the blocking and noise distortion familiar to many on these boards as being caused by Riplock. I flashed the BIOS to 3.05 using 3520_305bt.zip (Liggy) from the micheldeboer.nl web site, but the problem persists. Burning works fine on the machine going back the other way to my older 1100A (i.e. I was going from the 1100A to the 3520A when I had the problem; going from the 3520A to the 1100A works fine). The errors always occur in the same general area of a movie, which is why I don't think it's the media or the movies. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Try the Liggy & Dees 1.UE or their latest modified firmware 2.U2 which I use. Not sure how they differ from the modified 3.05 version you use. However the 1.UE and the 2.U2 do remove riplock and allow for bitsetting. I've never experienced any problems with either. I use a liteon 167T for my ripping. It is fast and it saves wear and tear on your burner. So I don't experience the problem you have. My suggestions: Try one of Liggy and Dees different firmware to see if that helps and second think about buying a DVD-ROM for your ripping.
Thanks, I'll try some of the earlier firmwares. I appreciate the suggestion. If you don't mind a couple of newbie questions: 1) It seems as if you're saying that not every hardware manufacturer uses the Riplock tech? (I.e. you're suggesting the Liteon.) Did I read that right? 2) I don't see that model at NewEgg but I do see the 1673S and the 1693S. I do have to buy one more burner for a server (not for ripping), so I can still swap my burners around to optimize for burning, if you want to make a suggestion here. Thanks again.
Tried the 2.U2 firmware and ran a quick copy on Cowboy Bebop (via DVDFab Platinum) and it showed the same problem. Same configuration and software produces no errors when ripping the other way (1100>3520). I wonder if it's possible the firmware is not properly updating.
@ Pangloss That is indeed puzzling. Couple of things come to mind after your reply. 1) it is possible you have a defective 3520A and/or 2) it may be something concerning your burning software. Have you tried any other burning software beside DVD FAB; e.g. Nero or DVD Decrypter? As far as your other questions, most DVD burners are riplocked as the NEC3520A is. However the modified firmware will remove the riplock. DVD-ROM drives are generally not riplocked. I am not familiar with the two Liteon models you listed. It is possible they are newer versions of the Liteon 167T. I bought mine at Wal-Mart and the last time I looked Walmart still carried them.
Is it possible that the 1100A is causing the problem? It's never made a bad burn for me, but then I've never gone FROM the 1100A TO the 1100A, I've always gone from a regular DVD player to the 1100A. If Riplock only affects the *outbound* data stream, then that would set me up for a failure, because I'm going from the 1100A to the 3520A, and I have not modified the 1100A's ROM. Just to chart that out: 1100A unmodded 3520A riplock removed Assuming Riplock only affects the outbound stream: DVD-ROM > 1100A = No problem 3520A > 1100A = No problem (because Riplock was removed from the *3520A*) 1100A > 3520A = Riplock-type errors (because Riplock was *not* removed from the *1100A*) Does that make sense? That would even make sense from the manufacturer's point of view (to have Riplock work that way), because most people are just going to burn content they copy right off the same drive (the burner). So Riplock only really *needs* to affect the outbound data stream. Thoughts?
Let's go back to the basics as I understand them. Riplock is the manufacturers way of slowing down a drive's (e.g.. a burner's) read speed. Instead of reading the data on a disk at 8X-16X, riplock generally slows down the drive to read at 2X-3X. In my limited knowledge, I fail to see how that would cause a problem; other than just take more time... Do this...rip a movie with your 3520A to your "hard drive" and then play it with your computers DVD player, e.g., Power DVD or MS Media player. Does it skip or hiss or have problems from being played off your computer. If so, then probably you have a problem with the encoding software or the ability of your drive to read the disk. If there is no problem playing the movie off your hard drive, then your problem exists with either your burning software or the media that you use. What burning software do you use and have available and what media are you using?
hi not heard of riploack causes a problem on burning before? so you used a hacked firmware yes? i would of plummed for media what is the dye info of the dvdr?
Ok, sounds like I leapt to conclusions about Riplock. Thanks. Well when I burn with the 1100A I don't have a problem, so I don't think a decoder/viewer is the issue. At the moment I'm leaning towards "bad drive", but it sure seems odd that the errors always crop up at about the same place (70-90 minutes into the movie). I've been running some more tests. A 3520-to-3520 burn via DVD Shrink at 12x produced the same error (I'd been using DVDFab). The same burn at a lower speed setting (8x) is running now.
I don't won't to knock something I've only used a few times, but I never had good success with DVD Fab Decrypter (Free Trial Version) and my 3520. The movie would pixelate a good bit and that was on my computer player so I knew not to make a coaster by burning to disk. Others have had good success with that program, however I don't know what burner they are using. If you can get your hands on another burning software program try it. If you still experience the same problem then I would suspect your burner. If it don't have any problems, I would say it is your DVD Fab software.....
Ok, it looks like it was a media problem. As soon as I backed the 3520 down to 8x it worked. I confirmed it with an 1100-to-3520 burn at 8x using DVDFab (the original configuration, at lower speed). I saw a couple of artifacts in the same general area of the movie, but it was much better (suggesting that 8x is borderline with this combo of drive and media). Maybe I'll take another look at some of the pro-Verbatim discussions here. I know a lot of people swear by using high quality discs, but I've been real happy with the cheap stuff until now (and it still works fine at 8x). Sounds like the combo of DVDFab and the 3520 is risky as well. I was using DVDFab Platinum, but they're pretty similar, and it's interesting that I didn't have any issue at 8x on the 3520 with DVD Shrink. Anyway, I should have assumed that this was mainly a media problem from the beginning. Sorry to bother you guys, but I really appreciate the feedback.
Glad you are getting back to better burns. it was a learning experience for us all...Happy burning!!! I have found that the TY and Verbs +Rs work really well in my 3520. The 8X are capable of 16X burns with the modified firmware but I generally stay at 8x....
hi i never burn above 4x, all good here... seen to many unhappy people at afterdawn as soon as they go over to 8x and above....
Good tip, thanks. I don't imagine it helps much to burn fast anyway, since most of the dupe time is spent on the decode/encode process.
