KProbe2 v2.5.2 Available - Now Supports Blu-ray Testing!

[Ian]

At the request of the author, we've set up a KProbe mirror here at CDRLabs. You'll be able to get the latest versions of KProbe2 here.

http://www.cdrlabs.com/kprobe/index.php

4/29,2004 KProbe2 v2.1.0
--------------------------------------
1. initial start error for external drives
2. Support chart combination
3. Added "Thanks" form
4. fix bug : average and total count won't change when delete highest value

[dolphinius_rex]

Any word on the DVD+RW scanning bug?

[MediumRare]

That's great news, Ian. No more need to go to CDFreaks for this.

Do you know if the author will be looking at discussions here or should we try to reach him via e-mail ?

G

[Ian]

I'm fairly certain he'll be reading your comments.

[dhc014]

I'm fairly certain he'll be reading your comments.

Yes, he's always looking to improve his software. Any comments/suggestions anywhere are always appreciated

[rdgrimes]

Any word on the DVD+RW scanning bug?

That was fixed in 2.0.1

[dodecahedron]

cool.

thanks K

[Bhairav]

Any word on the DVD+RW scanning bug?

It was fixed in the second release. bichi2 and I had reported the error @ CDFreaks, and he changed it straight away. That's what I call service

[dolphinius_rex]

It's too bad that K-Probe only works with LiteON DVD Burners. If he could get ahold of the info that Nero CD Speed and DVD Info Pro did, maybe the Author could make it compatible with Nutech's 082 drive as well

[Wesociety]

...maybe the Author could make it compatible with Nutech's 082 drive as well

I don't think so since he works for LiteOn.
LiteOn wouldn't want to develop any enhancements for the competitor.

[dolphinius_rex]

...maybe the Author could make it compatible with Nutech's 082 drive as well

I don't think so since he works for LiteOn.
LiteOn wouldn't want to develop any enhancements for the competitor.

I wasn't sure if that was the case still.

[aviationwiz]

LiteOn wouldn't want to develop any enhancements for the competitor.

They don't even want to develop enhancements for thier own drives!

[MediumRare]

LiteOn wouldn't want to develop any enhancements for the competitor.

They don't even want to develop enhancements for thier own drives!

I'm sure they have no objections to the diagnostics (C1/C2, PI/PO) that are of paramount importance to me (and others). There were other aspects (which I won't repeat here) that caused the problems.

Incidentally, KProbe works (at least to a certain extent) with some BTC drives. I'd try it on any burner using a MediaTek chipset, although it's probably a long shot.

G

[MediumRare]

I'm posting this in the main KProbe2 thread. Ian- if you think it's inappropriate, feel free to move it.

I've been playing with KProbe2 a bit and want to pass on some positive surprises (in addition to "well known" new features) and a bug:

• the speed for scanning is saved per disk type, e.g. CD: max, DVD: 1x is remembered, independent of the drive
• the drive used for scanning is also remembered- this was an old wish on my part
• KProbe2, unlike KProbe(1), refuses to scan CDR's in my DVD drive (LTD 163). This is a Good Thing, because it avoids misunderstandings.
• KProbe2 and KProbe(1) coexist so well, that you can scan 2 discs simultaneously in 2 drives, one with each tool
• and I just tried 2 instances of KProbe2 simultaneously, one per drive, and that works too
• the new option to combine the 2 charts is really nice. To resize the combined chart to the size of one partial chart, just tweak any edge of the window- the size of the chart snaps into place

Many thanks Karr!!!

The bug is related to the combined charts (only for DVD's as far as I can tell, CD's combine fine). I scanned a dual layer pressed DVD (which KProbe couldn't handle) with my DVD-ROM drive because I don't have a DVD burner (yet). The bug also shows on a normal DVD+R.
Here is the scan with separate charts:


and here is the combined chart:



The PO values seem to be OK, but the PI Sum 8 values are compressed into the first 15% (roughly) of the combined chart. This can also be seen on the scale. The second labeled value 1ED017h is too large: it falls between the 6th and 7th values (19CE06h and 1FE1B0h). The labels should be increasing monotonically.

G

[Scour]

Hello!

Works this tool with other DVD-burners like BTC?

Ian tested thze Aopen Combo (BTC) and here it worked

[Halc]

I haven't been following kProbe/BTC testing.

Can anybody report if kProbe results look anywhere reliable on BTC drives?

Not having developed the software I don't know if just the chipset is enough to guarantee accuracy (relative, I know) of scans, so that's why I'm asking.

I'm eager to ditch my LiteOn (yes, even for BTC) :)

[dolphinius_rex]

here's an interesting comparison run between LiteON drives and a SA300 system:
http://www.cdrinfo.com/forum/tm.asp?m=6 ... ey=&#66785

it looks like perhaps testing is best done at max speed with a LiteON 811s?

[Halc]

Thanks dolphinius!

[code65536]

How did this slip under the Labs and Freaks radar?
http://www.cdrinfo.com/forum/tm.asp?m=70454

[dhc014]

Wow. Unexpected to say the least.

[dolphinius_rex]

How did this slip under the Labs and Freaks radar?
http://www.cdrinfo.com/forum/tm.asp?m=70454

Funny how CDRinfo has both K-Probe *AND* DVDInfoPro working very closely with them now... this even surprised me!

[code65536]

Funny how CDRinfo has both K-Probe *AND* DVDInfoPro working very closely with them now... this even surprised me!

Starting to sound a bit fishy. There are some questions as to whether or not Sobal even got it legitimately... well, we'll see in due time.

[dhc014]

KProbe is not working with CDRinfo. As you can see in the Info, KProbe is not associated with any organization. I don't really think that any site can claim to be an "official KProbe site". Karr is in touch with Sobal who started cdrlab.pl (nice name choice ) Whether or not this was supposed to be released is questionable since Sobal has also posted some other things that he probably should not have. Anything to get visitors, I guess. I don't see any way that it could've been obtained illegitimately though.

[Ian]

This sounds a little fishy to me as well. I know for a fact that Sobal has claimed to work for Lite-On's support in Poland and to be one of the programmers behind KProbe. Judging by this release, he obviously has access to the source code.

Gotta love how we now have "official" websites for software thats not affiliated with anyone. It's sad how some people will do anything to make a buck.

[Ian]

Just an FYI.. I talked to Karr tonite and it is an official release. Sobal asked for a new version a couple of days ago and Karr sent it to him. He hasn't had time to send it to us or CD Freaks.

We now have it available here:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/files/KP2Setup.exe