PHILIPS DVD+-RW DVD8631

@Lionwes........my philips 8631 has the lame Dell firmware and it burns everything I throw in it! Never a problem!!!! Never had a problem like other's are complaining about...... all I know is the firmware I updated to is the GD30 and it works fine. This firmware is the last firmware update for the philips 8631 and it does everything!~ ....... what's your firmware update??? check out this:
http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?download_id=1978

 

Lucky you Ihoe... I was going to send it back to Dell 'cause my Philips 8631 wasn't worth sh..t. Would not do error scan or freeze while scanning, would get 'write error' while burning at random, especially with -R media and was making 40% coasters of brand name media. After cross flashing to Benq 1620 and then flashing Benq latest g7v9 firmware for 'bulk drives' (!) it came back to life in full glory. I love it now, not a single coaster yet. Just recently I've got some generic -R media and now I get 93 quality score burning them, before it would not even recognize most of the 'no name disks'. Although there may be some good 100% spec 8631 hardware like yours, but as soon as the hardware is not at 100% factory specs, the Philips 8631 firmware is too limited to compensate for such deficiencies. AMAZINGLY Benq 1620 version does...

I've 6 dvd burners, Liteon 851 & 812, Pioneer 109, Sony 710A, NEC 3500A and now Benq 1620 - the 1620 is the best burner now! Although the 851 & 812 are the best for error scanning.

P.S. Thanks for the link however I live in US & there is no need for region free version here.

BTW- Philips does not make their own drives, Benq makes them! (using Philips processors therfore the bias towards +R media).

NOTE: If your drive works don't cross flash it, it is always risky to do so and you may kill it.

 

@lionwes..... Since I have no probs with my Philips...... and the fact that I have only ONE burner.... I wont' do any cross flashing, 1. I don't need it
2. my 8631 is just fine with the GD30 firmware
3. All my burns are great!
4. Don't fix what doesn't need fixing!

 

hi,

i have a dell dimension 3000. the philips dvd+rw 8631 has worked until i tried burning dvd's with it - they all stick/skip, whatever speed i burn at - it has to be the dvd writer, i use the same discs on a Sony and never a problem

i have emailed dell support and insisted they send me a NEC-3450A replacement for the Philips

:-|

thanks,

ric

 

@mega6...... were you burning DVD+Rs or DVD-Rs...... and what brand did you use? just curious. Also ..... when did you buy your Dell? I bought mine April 30th of this year and my philips never gave me a problem. I'm sooooooo lucky!

 

imation dvd-rw 4x

collected Dell around end of July 2005

Dell sent me the Gd30 zip which i installed. i then restarted, + re-recorded the movie clip at 2x. i played it back 3 times no worries; the forth time it stuck for about 1 second halfway through

gotta be the burner?

:-|

you are lucky indeed...

ric

 

played the last disc i burnt back on a Daytec stand-alone dvd - it went through five times without skipping. this means the fault isn't in the burn but in the play-back



:|

 

@Meg...... your Imation disk are not the best and I suggest you use Verbatim, Sony, Taiyo Yuden or Maxell disk..... these are top not and you won't have any skipping, pixilations, or freezes with these babies! Try it you'll like em!

 

Completely newbie here as I was searching far and wide to try to understand the nature of my problem with creating coasters.

I own a Dell with this Philips burner and use DVD Shrink / Nero. I don't burn DVDs often but I've always had perfect burns until recently and now all my burns are terrible. I reinstalled DVD Shrink and updated my Nero to the latest version but still have problems.

I am using Fuji DVD-R and Ridata DVD+R but again, I had used the Fuji's for some time without bad burns until now.

The problem is that there is a ton of skipping / bad pixels. I've even seen pictures of a previously burned movie on the new DVD burn. I don't think it is a problem with the encoding as I have watched a movie using Nero showtime and it's perfect watching it on the computer. It's a problem with the burn.

Any ideas on what I can do to fix my problem? Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

some Fuji and Ridata disks are NOT very good disks at all...... I know a lot of members say they are but....... http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm
check the media guide here and you'll see that the Ridata disks are second grade at best...... and depending on the Fuji disk... it can be CMC Mag crapola!!!! Some Fuji disk are RICHOJPN or even lower....I suggest you start using Taiyo Yuden, Verbatim, Maxell or Sony disks. When you have pixilations, skipping, freezing...... it's usually a media problem! Check my signature and you'll see that I have a DELL, too. I use only Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim only and they are great! No problems with any program! Change your disk and see if you have better success! good luck.

 

I was using DVD Shrink with Nero and so after reading up on DVD Decrypter, I copied 2 DVDs using the combo of DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter.

They both came out perfectly. I think I have a Nero problem and not a burner or media problem.

The media wouldn't explain why I was seeing a picture of a previously burned DVD since I am not using RWs.

Going forward though, I will try only to buy first rate medias as I have learned a lot reading through this site and the helpful comments.

Since we are on a post about the Philips Burner, what is the average number of burns this Burner or any Burner can last before it should be replaced?

 

@NonTech..... that's a good question...... I don't have that answer but if you ask it in a NEW THREAD I'm sure one of the members knows and will answer. So far I have burned over 700 in 7 months. Still going strong!

 

I recently tried to use my Phillips burner in my Dimension 3000. I could not even get the drawer to eject. Last week it started opening by itself, and now it won't even open. As I was on hold with Dell, I sumbled across this website. When the technician told me that they would send out a new Phillips burner, I told him that I wanted the NEC instead. He put me on hold for another 2 minutes, when he came back, he said that sending the NEC would'n be a problem. I should have it in a couple of days. Thanks for all the info, as I am new to this.

 

I recently stated that DVD Decrypter solve the problem instead of using Nero but on a recent burn, the DVD was a complete mess with pixels distorted everywhere.

I had Dell support try to help me with updating my firmware to GD30 but my system won't take it. "Command Fail". They told me to remove DVD Shrink and disable the IMAPI something or another but I still couldn't load up the GD30. I'll need to contact them again to work on this but I manage to burn the files that DVD Shrink had made on my harddrive using Nero and I manage a perfect DVD copy.

I am hit or miss on my DVD backups and this is annoying. Not convinced its the Philips drive though. It may be some driver or firmware issue. Will update if I get GD30 to load.

 

Hello mad4max,

For the 2nd time, I made a mental promise to never talk about that drive

I had this drive installed in a Dell Dimension 8400, bought in January 2005.

If you read the thread, some of my posts, all we can see, is there was a bad batch of drives from late 2004 to around March 2005.

I say this based on people purchasing Dell computers after March 2005, the Philips DVD8631 Manufacture date was March 2005 and their drive worked perfectly !

Now there's a few ideas:

Tell HP Crap Support to F*** O** as I almost did tell Dell Crap Support

I am lucky enought to have more than 1 PC in the house, and also had an older LG-4040B DVD burner.

I swapped the drives from both PC's and guess what ?

Had the same issues with the Philips DVD8631 in the other PC.
Now, on the Dell, I was 100% running with the LG-4040B.

So after screaming nicely after Dell Crap Support, I convinced them nothing would work, I tried all I know and that the drive was defective, one of many many many after reading the Dell Forums !

After 2 hours or being mad (But still being polite) they finaly agreed to send me a Dell OEM Nec-3450a. Been 100% happy ever since.

Option #2:

1- Power Down The PC
2- Remove Philips DVD8631 from PC
3- Open Window
4- Scream loud, WATCH OUT !
5- Swing the drive as far as you can
6- Breath In, breath out
7- Order yourself a decent drive (LG-4167B, Nec-3550A, BenQ, Plextor)
8- Live with the fact that HP and Dell sell you a CRAP burner.

Live happily ever after HAHAHAHA !!!!!

 

I've never had problems burning, but sometimes when i insert a disc (it doesn't matter if its blank or contains data) the computer will frezze and i have to reset, this then normally happens for the next hour or so.

Any one else having this problem? will changing the driver have any effect?

thanks

ps got it with a dell PC.

 

I also have this drive, but it is not responding at all. I can push the eject button, nothing. I manually opened the drive door, and pushed and pulled, but could not get the motor to activate.

I tried reflashing, and saw the light on the drive face light up, still no go.

Checked my system setting in Windows XP, and it says the drive is working ok.

Any thoughts?

Dell Dimension 9100, about 7 months old. No warranty from Dell either, just had the 90 days.

 

I'm so glad I'm not the only one. Except that I bought my Dimension 3000 at the end of April 2005. Until now I haven't bothered writing anything to the drive, only used it for software setup. But I bought a new camera so wanted to use the dvd-R function for saving photos and videos and both on Sonic [which came with the pc] and Nero6 which I got hold of, it gets so far seemingly writing OK and then the error message occurs. I've got through 10 dvd-R disks so far! Also going round in circles on the Dell UK support website as the final email page won't open up! So have written them a stroppy letter today as to what they are going to do about it, particularly in the light of the evident problems that the Philips drive seems to have. Will wait and see what happens. And I thought it was the Nero software! As a matter of interest, since I've been trying to do all these disks, yesterday Sonic wouldn't open up at all although the program appears to be there still. Would this be an offshoot of the Philips 8631 problem? I'm not totally IT illiterate but I'm no techie either.

 

Read here for how to make Dell give you the NEC drive.

Pretty much the same problem with the horrible Philips DVD+-RW DVD8631 (Shipped with my Dell Dimension 8400 in about April or May this year) everyone else has been having. When I try to burn DVDs with it, about 70% of the time the drive stops responding, I can't eject the media, have to restart the computer, and I wind up with a coaster. Upgrading to the latest firmware and drivers did nothing. Different burning software did nothing. Using the drive with another computer did nothing. The drive is crap. After reading all the messages in this forum and the Dell support forum, it became clear to me that having them replace it with another of the same would not be acceptable.

It took me 5 hours on the phone, and I even had one supervisor get pissed and hang up on me, but I convinced them to send me the NEC. First they will have you do a bunch of stupid tests that won't work. Don't even bother doing them, if you want you can pretend you are and just tell them them nothing worked, or you can just tell them straight up that you know what the problem is and you want the drive replaced with a NEC. If you are talking to hardware support technicians, they will tell you they can't give you a different brand and model than you already have. Argue with them, tell them you know they can, other people have had it done. If they still refuse, ask to speak to a supervisor.

Do not at any point let anyone transfer you to Customer Care. You want to be talking to hardware support only. Do not let them offer you a $35 cupon, they don't have any burners for less than $80. When you talk to the supervisor, tell them you do not want another Philips, you want the NEC. If they tell you they can't do that, tell them that is not acceptable and you are not satisfied. If they try saying something like "I'm sorry, there's nothing else I can do." Tell them you need to speak with someone who can authorise it. If they ask if the issue has been resolved, or if you are satisfied, tell them no, and keep repeating over and over that you will not take another Philips or a discount cupon, that you will only take a NEC replacement. If you keep this up, eventually they may just hang up. If they hang up on you, call back, tell the person you reach you need to speak to a supervisor, and tell them the last supervisor you spoke to hung up on you, and you are very frustrated with the quality of customer service, and insist that they give you the NEC, and nothing else.

You might really have to be an bumhole about it. Don't yell, don't insult them, but if they tell you they can't do it, insist that they can, because as most of the people here will tell you, they really can, they just have to get someone higher up to authorize it for you, and it's a pain in their asses, but it can be done. I had to call back four different times before they finally complied. Just keep calling, keep talking to different people, keep insisting that you do not want another philips, and eventually someone will give in. Good luck to you all.