Burner Max FAQ - All of your questions (hopefully) answered here!

We could probably do with one of these to stop people asking the same questions. If you can think of anything to add to this, then post it up and I'll add it in.

What is XGD3?

A new disc type for Xbox 360 games.

Why is it causing problems?

The capacity of DVD+R DL discs is 7.96 GiB. XGD3 ISOs are 8.13 GiB, so they won't fit on.

But the latest version of ImgBurn already burns the discs to 100% using the truncate option!

This is true, but it's not burning 100% of the ISO. There are 2 options in the current version of ImgBurn when you try and burn an XGD3 ISO: -

1. Overburn. This tells ImgBurn to try and fit 100% of the ISO on the disc, regardless of the fact that the disc is too small. Once the progress bar gets to about 97%, the disc runs out of usable burning space and ImgBurn can't continue, so you get an error. You can then finalise the disc and most XGD3 games will still work.

2. Truncate. This tells ImgBurn to fill the disc to its capacity and ignore the fact that what you're trying to burn may be too big to fit. When the progress bar gets to 100%, what that really means is that the disc is 100% full. It doesn't mean that you've burned 100% of the ISO, as you've still only burned 97% of it as that's all that will fit on.

Both of these methods give the exact same result, but if you choose the truncate option you don't have to click through several error screens.

Why can't we just burn all XGD3 games using the truncate method?

That method was working OK until Forza 4 came out, which features new LBA hash checks. As only 97% of the ISO is burned on the disc, the game fails these checks. More games will almost certainly use these checks as time goes on.

So what is Burner Max?

It's a firmware for particular Lite-On DVD burners created by c4eva that allows you to burn the full 8.13 GiB ISO on to standard DVD+R DL discs. That means that games such as Forza 4 no longer fail the LBA hash checks.

Which drives does it work with?

You need one of the following Lite-On SATA drives: -

Lite-On iHAS124B
Lite-On iHAS224B
Lite-On iHAS324B
Lite-On iHAS424B
Lite-On iHAS524B
Lite-On iHAS624B

The B at the end of the name denotes that the drive has the required MediaTek chipset so it can be flashed with Burner Max once it's released. There are also A and Y models. A is also MediaTek but is untested. Y models contain a NEC chipset and will definitely not work. All of these drives are essentially the same, but the higher up models have more features like LightScribe and Smart Erase. Unless you specifically want a burner with those features, you can just go for one of the cheaper low end models.

There are also other DVD burners out there that are rebranded Lite-Ons and you may already have one of the required drives without realising it. Google for info on that, cos I don't have a complete list of all drives that are rebranded versions of the above iHAS drives.

Which one of those drives should I get?

In terms of hardware, there's really only 2 types: -

Lite-On iHAS124B
Lite-On iHAS224B

The 124B has the same hardware as the 324B and 524B. Similarly, the 224B has the same hardware as the 424B and 624B.

You can convert a 124B to a 524B and you can also convert a 224B to a 624B, so there's very little reason to buy anything other than one of the 2 low end models. A guide to cross-flashing a drive to a higher model is HERE.

I've never fitted/replaced a burner in my PC before. Is it difficult?

Nope! Crack open your PC case and you'll see where your existing burner is. You may have a spare drive bay to add a second burner, or you may have to replace the existing one. The burners are held in place with a couple of screws that screw into the sides and the only cables you have to plug in are a power and SATA cable. It's a really easy job and anyone can do it in just a few minutes.

What do I do with the drive once I've fitted it?

You need to flash it with the Burner Max firmware. Here's the firmware for all 6 drives, the tools required to flash it, and a guide in PDF format: -

http://www.multiupload.com/D3IPJY7CIW

Will the drive still work for reading/burning CDs and DVDs when it's flashed with Burner Max?

Yes. The burner will still work as a regular reader/writer and retain all of its other functions.

Which brand of discs should I use?

If you're using the current truncate method that only burns 97% of the ISO to the disc, you can use whatever discs work for you. Verbatims are recommended due to the quality, but if TDK or Memorex or whatever have always worked fine for you, then you can carry on using them.

With the Burner Max method, it is recommended to only use Verbatim discs (either MKM-001-00 or MKM-003-00) as these are the only discs that burned and verified without errors in c4eva's tests, although he didn't say what discs he'd tested.

MKM-001-00 discs are rated at 2.4X and MKM-003-00 discs are rated at 8X, so that's how you can tell them apart in stores or when ordering online. Personally I've always used MKM-003 discs anyway as they allow for a faster burning speed and this is also true with Burner Max as you can burn them at 4X as well as 2.4X, while MKM-001 discs can only be burned at 2.4X with the Burner Max method.

Do I need to reburn all of my XGD3 games using the Burner Max method?

Nope, unless the game uses the new LBA hash checks (Forza 4, for example) and you've already burned it using the truncate method. If you do need to reburn, you will have to use the original ISO or re-rip your original game. You can't rip a backup that was burned using the truncate method and create an ISO with it because only 97% of the ISO was originally burned on it. That would defeat the object of using Burner Max and your burned disc would still fail the new checks.

Do I need to reflash my 360 with new firmware?

Nope. You need LT+ 2.0 or above (LT+ 3.0 is the recommended firmware), but if you have that already you're OK.

What's the new method for burning the discs?

Check the burning guide, HERE.

 

Good post.

 

Thanks for clearing all that up funk makes it all much clearer now

 

Excellent post. Answered all of my questions. Hopefully we can get this to be a sticky.

 

what about the layer break? should i still keep it set to optimal? or do i have to change it for the new XGD3 games.

 

The .DVD file sets the layerbreak and ImgBurn will only use the "calculate optimal" setting if no .DVD file is used, so I would leave it set on that. If you don't, then you would have to remember to change it every time you burned different ISO types (i.e. XGD2 or XGD3).

I can't say for certain what the burning process is though, because other than c4eva saying that you had to check the OPC setting in ImgBurn, nothing's been mentioned about it. I'm assuming you just check that OPC box and then burn the same way you've always burned, but that may not be the case. We'll find out for sure at the weekend and then I'll edit the first post and add in the required info.

 

Hey funk did you find this info somewhere? I don't see how it could be done via junfleflasher unless a version is released for it.

 

But but but.. will I be safe to play on LIVE?

 

I bet dosflash32 can do it. It already sees how many pc drives you have and identifies them before disabling them. Or Liteon has it's own firmware updating program called PLDS Smartpack utility. Maybe they can force this program into a local loop for the firmware instead of checking liteon servers.

Edit: Or better yet, here is the Liteon flash utility on this page that you sent me in a reply to a previous thread whompus!

http://codeguys.rpc1.org/utilities.html

 

Yeah dosflash could ltnflash could. I suspect it will be like other pc liteon drives firmware as self flashing exe. Right now it is all just guessing though. I just wondered if maybe c4eva mentioned jungleflasher somewhere. I think the 2 collaborate a lot.

 

i just use dosflash with a force dll. sometimes. some drive won't take some FW so you have to force it. but be carefull with it cause if the drive doesn't like the FW you just made yourself a paperweight.

 

Yeah man, the flashing method was being discussed on Xbox-Scene and someone said it was confirmed we'd use JF and they posted up a quote about it from c4eva.

If it turns out to be bad info, I'll change it. I don't see why you need anything more than a small stand-alone exe file personally, but maybe they're just going to add that functionality to JF instead.

 

I saw this tutorial on another forum on how it's going to work.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MJEMYNYR

 

Nice find man. That looks legit to me, so I'll add it into the first post.

 

That is a pretty good tutorial there. One more step in it and can go from any of the oem drives I been talking about to x24B

 

Another thing that's worth mentioning is that you only really need to buy one of these drives: -

Lite-On iHAS124B
Lite-On iHAS224B

The hardware in the 124B is the same as in the 524B and the hardware in the 224B is the same as in the 624B, so you can convert a 124B to a 524B or a 224B to a 624B and have all of the features of the high end models without having to pay more for the drive.

 

I'm about to order a couple of these drives from newegg, but when I put in any of these model numbers and go to the actual product page, the actual product page doesn't show a "B" at the end of the model. I just wanna be sure I'm ordering the right thing. In fact, when I google any of these models, all of the pages that come up simply show the model number without the "B". So I'm a little confused.

Anyone?

 

A revised version of the guide has been released, so I've updated the link in post 1. The only real change is that it mentions that the final version of the firmware will use the latest official firmwares, rather than a slightly older version implied in the first guide.

 

Joe and others... Just got my 124 from Newegg today and it was a B. Can't guarantee that they all are, but I'd say it's a pretty good chance.

 

From what I've read, all of these models are B models if they were manufactured in the last year or so, so unless you get old stock you should be fine. I can't confirm that 100%, but quite a few people on Xbox-Scene bought a drive without it specifically mentioning that it was a B model, but everyone seems to be receiving B models.