I just installed new Benq DW 1640 (OEM) it installed flawlessly and have already made DVD and CD backups. Used Decrypter to update firmware it said I have BSHB and the link says I have many choices to update (BSIB, BSJB, BSKB, so on)don't know which i should use because I can't find enough information on exactly what the update helps. Should I do one of them? All of them? None since I get good copies? Anyone whose gone through this, help is greatly appreciated.
Here's a site for the BSJB fw version. http://www.benq.co.uk/ServiceAndSupport/downloads/downloads.cfm?product=750&type=B The BSKB is newer,but not listed on that site. It is usually recommended to download the latest fw. I look at it as[bold] if it isn't broke,don't fix it.[/bold] I had no issues on my original benq 1620 with the B7-C9 firmware. It performed at over 99% success rate. Burning 16x on 8x sony plus format was no problem. Last week I did update it to the B7-V9 firmware and it still burns sweet.I've still got B7-L9 in my backup benq 1620 and it burns 100% successful.I'll leave it alone for a while. I'd let that fw update untouched since it sounds like it is performing great.There is a risk of wiping out your drive when you update incorrectly or have a power interuption. If you get a batch of media that won't burn or have playback issues,you then will have to update that firmware.
Saugman---Boy my impatience really pays off again. Roughly an hour before your post, after rechecking every possible search on AD and a few on Google, I went ahead and flashed to the latest version BSLB. Decrypter recognizes it, and the process installed "normally". Havent burnt anything yet though, just woke from a power nap ( I need a few of those tending to my week old child). Will post after I run a few Ty02's through it. Thanks for the reply.
Good luck on that 1640. I've been checking out the features on that burner and they are mouth watering! It's on top of my next burner list. Having 2 benq 1620s and getting harder to find them,definitely my next burner if one of my quality benqs will ever die, LOL
Well I copied an old movie of mine that i knew DVD shrink could handle alone and things went well, able to watch it fine with all the features on my pc. Then I burnt a totally different show that was stored on Hard Drive that I knew was dodgey with a particular standalone DVD player (DVD-R cause I have too many left to buy +R and booktype) and things worked well (caught up to itself and paused after fastforwarding a little) but still happy that it worked on crap player so I know it works perfect on the rest.
For my own viewing on my personal stand alones and other pc drives,I have no issues with the dash or the booktyped plus format from my benqs. I do have quite a few family and friends and some of them,about 20%, can't handle my dash backups. But the booktyped plus media,nearly 95% compatable on those same stand alones/p2s/and pc drives. 3 other dvd-rw drives I have,including one that booktyped,couldn't even come close to that stand alone compatability.That stand alone compatability is unbelievable off those 1620s. I've even thrown some backups to a couple of buddies who happen to have the NEC-2510 and said their stand alones couldn't play the plus format.My booktyped dvd-roms sure fooled them and their players. I haven't told 1 of them that I booktype, LOL The q in Benq stands for Quality! I look for benq questions on here and don't find a whole lot. Usually firmware updates or a bad drive every once in a while.
I know what you mean about the ratio of -R to + or booktype ROM dvd's. I found that DVD Decrypter ISO read-Iso write has worked on the bad player (DVD-5) while Decrypt -DVD shrink - Nero (DVD-9 with Burning ROM or recode since its already in the right folder) has had almost the success. Do know its the compression that gives the cheap player problems untill I learned to re-author vs. compress or still the extras. Thanks for the responses and you probably wont hear me whine till my next upgrade.
Just received my DW1640 (OEM) yesterday .. what a great writer .. It was made in 7/05 and came with firmware BSHB .. first thing that I did was update to BSLB .. I'm not sure what that accomplishes since I didn't use it with the old firmware ... It burns the +R Verbatim 8x and 16x discs that I'm infested with flawlessly One note: .. from what Information I gathered, I am under the assumption that this drive is not yet available in a retail box, only OEM
Newegg.com had two different choices when I bought mine, retail or OEM with retail costing a few bucks more (includes cable and or instruction manual? pretty picture on outside of box?). Anyway I ran a few with original firmware no problems, updated ones no problems and from what I understood from a different website I found Googling (CDfreaks maybe?) that updates are for a smoother buffer run region free and for writing speed unlocked (burn a 4x DVD at 16x speed) I don't personally use the speed overclock but nice to know its there. I can't say the buffer is much different quality wise because I see no difference to disc, but when you watch the burn process and see the bars flashing with times elapsed and buffer levels and so on the bars on screen have smoothed out a little where it used to be a pulse from high to low the entire process. Now I'm rambling...
The unit from NewEgg that is a few bucks more is NOT a retail unit (I know, I communicated with them by Email about it) It does have a manual and cables but that's the only difference (oh yes, and a white box) I didn't care about the cables since I'm infested with that stuff, and a manual can be gotten on-line ...
Catfreak---Ah well maybe I didn't read the fine print or investigate as well as you. Glad things still worked out for both of us. By the way, off the subject I have 2 cats, got married in July to a woman with 2 cats, we now have 4 and can't walk down stairs without being tripped, or walk near a door without someone yelling to be left out!!!
Has anyone tried burning dvd+rw with this drive and dvd decrypter? Decrypter will erase the whole disk before burning. I have a tdk and a another dvd burner that doesn't do this. Erasing the whole disk adds another 30 minutes to the burn and it isn't necessary. If I abort the erasing process by shutting down decrypter and then start it up again, it start burning right away. I'm using firmware bslb.
