LG GCE-8400B Mt. Rainer or no?

[Will Rickards]

Regarding Mt. Rainer support for LG GCE-8400B (40x12x40),
I did a search on the forum and some posts say no way and others say yes if you get the 2MB cache version. Which is it?

I saw the hot deal for it of $60 after rebates at Best Buy and want to jump on it if it supports Mt. Rainer.

Will Rickards

[Ian]

The final word was that neither version will support it. If you want an LG with support for Mt. Rainier, wait for the 48x. They said that they MIGHT put out a 40x writer with support for it, but it will NOT be called the GCE-8400B.

[Will Rickards]

You should indicate the bad news in the review or at least take mention of possible support out of the review.

Is there a time frame for the 48x version?
I saw one post of at least one 48x drive out already but not LG.

Any idea what the 1.02 firmware updates? media compatibility?

aargh... knew deal was too good to have everything..
Deal still sounds tempting... Maybe you guys can advise me.

I will be using the drive for mostly backup of files.
I'll occasionally make a copy of an audio CD and/or software CD.
I'll be sticking with win2k for a good long while.
I use a 250MB zip drive normally for backups.
I've got no compelling reason to buy a CD-RW drive except this deal.

Will Rickards

[Ian]

Yeah, I have it updated on my laptop. I didn't have time to put the new page in the DB before I left.

[Raz0rX]

There is another version of the LG 40x, GCE-8401B.

http://www2.lge.co.kr/lge/catalog/Produ ... ction=jump

[Ian]

Thanks for finding that Raz0rX. I'll have to email LG this week and see if thats the one.

[Raz0rX]

Actually, I have seen this model two weeks ago but was too lazy to post it. But as far as Mt. Rainer goes, the specs page for the 8401 still doesn't say.

[Kennyshin]

There is another version of the LG 40x, GCE-8401B.

http://www2.lge.co.kr/lge/catalog/Produ ... ction=jump

It has been on the market for a while.

http://www.auction.co.kr/cooperative/de ... A000900690 (Auction.co.kr is the eBay company of South Korea.)

As far as I know, LG just invented another model name to prevent confusion regarding the size of buffer memory. I posted here about the problem. Since LG controlls two thirds of South Korean (retail) CD-RW drive market, the company wanted to resolve the problem quickly. Initially, ALL 8400B had 8MB buffer memory. Later, as LG gave up adding Mt. Rainier function to 8400B and wanted to save manufacturing cost by reducing 8MB to 2MB, some consumers found out their 8400B had only 2MB buffer instead of 8MB they had expected. Some 50,000 drives were recalled and then exchanged with 8MB drives. I'm sure it cost LG at least one million dollars. I don't know if there is any remaining 8400B in the South Korean market. I can't find one from any retailer. ALL new 40x LG CD writers are 8401B and no 8400B.

Therefore, I guess it's just a different model name for 2MB version, that is, to reduce consumer confusion in South Korean domestic market (. I don't know if there's 8401B in the overseas market.

Look at here: http://www2.lge.co.kr/lge/catalog/Produ ... ction=jump No mention of buffer memory size because it was once 8MB and later reduced to 2MB.

BTW, I don't expect any Mt. Rainier any time soon from LG. LG guys are just uninterested in the technology. Send lots of emails to LGE at various email accounts to convince them to add Mt. Rainier feature soon and they might either add it to 8400/8401 with firmware update or introduce 48/24/48 CD-RW sooner. They are just not good at reading what consumers want and not good at pioneering new technologies. The company's extremely bucreaucratic.

[EDIT] Found it: http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=4554

[Kennyshin]

LGE 32/40x Model name change



This is what the webmaster of CDRinfo.co.kr posted on June 12, 2002. He often contacts LG Electronics directly and the site often has an audience of over one million. (There are about 20 million web surfers with broadband internet connection in South Korea now.)

Translation (again, translating Korean into English is extremely awkward):

Hi. LG has released products with different model names for its 32x and 40x recorders that were affected by the buffer reduction happening. Right now, they are listed in LG Electronics homepage but it does not say what was changed. Time will tell whether it was a model name change due to the buffer memory size reduction or there was added feature.

http://cdrinfo.co.kr/community/list.asp?forum_id=board0

Lots of questions and answers regarding LG GCE-8401B since it IS the only LG 40x CD-R model in South Korea now. I cannot find anything different besides the reduced buffer memory size. No Mt. Rainier. As I explained above, it's apparent to me LG Electronics did it to pacify consumer dissatisfaction and reduce its domestic retail market confusion.

[Kennyshin]

Mt. Rainier National Park (near Redmond where Microsoft is based.)



Photo from National Park Service

[Rac]

Might be a good idea if someone would inform LG Canada that they won't be including Mt. Rainier in the 8400B.

http://www.lge.ca/product/computer/cdrw/gce8400b.asp

Take a look under Writing Method in the 8400B specifications.

Only time will tell if we get Mt. Rainier or not in a future firmware upgrade

[peleton]

I am looking to buy a CDRW drive and am a bit confused.

So... are you guys saying that none of the current LG drives (ie. pre 48x) have Mt.Rainer support? (and that the LG web sites are not to be trusted?)

Because I was looking at going for the GCE-8320B (and hoping to overclock to 40x)

I was impressed with its description I found on their website here in Australia:

http://www.lge.com.au/productsPOP.asp?subtype=computer&RecordID=109725&contenttype=product&productgroup=CDReWrite

..saying 8MB buffer and Mt.Rainer support.

If this is not true, then is it better to go for one of the LiteOn drives?

thanks

peleton.

[eliminator]

Welcome aussie !

Yup, you're better off with a Lite-On at this time !

[peleton]

Hmmm....
So this 8MB/Mt.Rainer spec is bogus?

Are the LiteOn's as good at DAE as the LG's?

I ask because I read this:

...Sony DDU1621 and LG GCE-8320B passed all tests. All others failed at least once .....
<snip>
....Plextor UltraPlex 40 is NOT a very accurate DAE ripper under scratched conditions, when compared to the current best out there (Sony DDU1621 or LG GCE-8320B)...

...from a practical point of view of rip speed and rip quality, those two drives LG and Sony are the only ones that produce consistently the same CRCS from one rip to another while others get different CRCS for even the same track on two different rips. ...The other drives tested (including LiteOn(LTD-163 DVD) and Plextor models) did NOT pass this test for accuracy (CRC, consistency, audible accuracy) or rip speed when it comes down to scratched discs.

from here:
http://www.digital-inn.de/showthread.php?threadid=9884

and this:

...Well, I'm sorry to say, but in terms of accuracy LiteOn does not shine. I wish it did, as it's a wickedly fast ripper.

from here:
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2024&perpage=25&pagenumber=2

It is hard searching through all these threads on all these forums.

thanks for any help

peleton.

[Kennyshin]

Hm...

peleton,

Don't trust those LGE web pages. Maybe some people there have been too lazy or careless.

Probably most LG 32x and 40x CD writers have only 2MB buffer and may never feature Mt. Rainier support.

Buy either LiteOn 48x or wait for LG 48x. Or even cheaper LiteOn 40x maybe.

Not sure about DAE quality.

[peleton]

I just found another place (again here in Oz) that quotes that LG info.
It is an online-store:
http://www.scorptec.com.au/index.php?prdid=00000563
Surely they wouldn't advertise the product on their site as having those features if it didn't?!? -Maybe the drives here are different?

So far from the information I have found, the comparison:

LiteOn LTR-40125S vs LG GC-8320B:
They can both be OC'ed (LiteOn 40->48; LG 32->40 )

Both (once OC'ed) use P-CAV writing.

LiteOn is has 2MB buffer and Mt.Rainier support
LG seems to have an 8MB buffer and (maybe) Mt.Rainier support:
I found another Australian store selling the LG listing those specs:
http://www.techbuy.com.au/prodredir.asp?prodId=21673

so even ignoring the Mt.Rainier issue, is the 8MB buffer of the LG an advantage over the LiteOn which has only 2MB. -I have seen all sorts of different comments about this. -Most reviews quote the LiteOn's Smart-X or something as making up the difference. true?

Also I have noticed on these sites that the LG 8400B is quoted as NOT having Mt.Rainier support! curious......
..-so I am thinking that even if the 8320B DOES support it, then when it is OC'ed (as it needs to be to get P-CAV writing and 40x) then it will lose support???

sorry if I am being difficult.
(I just need to rip a lot of audio (with no room fo error) and the audio cd's I make must also be perfect. -and not having enough cash to go for any of the more expensive drives I want to make sure I get the right one.)

thanks
peleton.

[eliminator]

I'll be plain simple :
Go Lite-On/forget LG (for now)...LG has no MtRainier & only 2 MB buffer, so...forgetaboutit !

[PeaNut]

...
So far from the information I have found, the comparison:

LiteOn LTR-40125S vs LG GC-8320B:
They can both be OC'ed (LiteOn 40->48; LG 32->40 )

Both (once OC'ed) use P-CAV writing.
...
peleton.

Hi!

I am considering buying a GCE-8400B (40/12/40) LG drive.
I would like to know where to find "walkthru"s for "upgrading"/OC the LG and/or other drives.
Can the 40x LG writer be OC'ed to 48/16/48 (GCE-8480B) ?
...and it may be a stupid question, but i've seen it at http://www.lgeus.com/Product/CD/GCE_8480b.asp
that the new LG drive supports UDMA-2.
Does the firmware tell the system (BIOS) what mode it uses?
I mean if it is possible to OC the 40x LG to 48x will it support UDMA-2?
(I don't really need Mt.Rainier support only more speed )

Thx 4 any replies!

[djmorgan]

Just to add my 0.02c worth

I got a LG 8400B 2 weeks ago as a replacement for my ageing TEAC x4 it came in a black face and had 8 meg of buffer, no docs or software as I picked it up as oem from compaq, thus the black face I guess.

I sure it does not have Mt Rainier not that that concerns me, it is also different in that it has only 1 led, no headphone socket or volume control.

But works fantastically

[Phoenix '97]

What's the slowest Lite-On drive that has Mt. Rainier support? (assuming no firmware flashing)

[casey]

All I can say on this subject, LOOK AT THE BUILD QUALITY the Liteon don't even come close. UDMA33 is no big issue as even with PIO4 this drive out performes any other 40x speed writer and is close to a lot of 48x writers. I mean, how many writers can write 701 meg in less than three minutes ? It's average DAE is 32x and the quality is good. And why is Mount Ranier suddenly such a big issue ?

[Hori_Porks]

Overclocked my LG GCE-8320B to GCE-8400B (Using IBM's Firmware) to Enable UDMA 33 & MT-Rainer Support.

In Brief, the steps on how i went about it below
(From Info gathered from the Forum @ CDFreaks.com)

LG, GCE HL-DT-ST 8320B > GCE HL-DT-ST 8400B UDMA33-MT-Rainer Support

Original: (Retail version: Purchased in New Zealand -Asia-Pacific)
GCE HL-DT-ST 8320B
32x 10x 40x
2MB Buffer
LG FW: 1.04
PIO Mode 4- Multi Word DMA - No MT-Rainer Support

Flashed to:
GCE HL-DT-ST 8400B
40x 12x 40x
2MB Buffer
LG FW: 1.04
PIO Mode 4 - Multi Word DMA - No MT-Rainer Support

Flashed to: with the "IBM FW: 1.12" Result Below:
GCE HL-DT-ST 8400B
40x 12x 40x
2MB Buffer
IBM FW: 1.12
UDMA 33 - MT-Rainer Support

Pro's:
- UDMA33
- Z-CAV --> P-CAV
- Mount Rainier support
Con:
- Read LED not work (when reading,write LED working instead)

Worked Fine for me.

IBM 1.12 Firmware Link:
ftp://ftp.pc.ibm.com/pub/pccbbs/int...ion/74p4782.exe

IBM 1.12 Firmware Readme.TXT:
ftp://ftp.pc.ibm.com/pub/pccbbs/int...ion/74p4782.txt

Information on the IBM Firmware was care of "Wiboon" @ CDFreaks.com.

Links for more info:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php ... genumber=9

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php ... enumber=10

Hori_Porks
New Zealand

[eliminator]

IBM links don't work !

[Hori_Porks]

My Apologies for the Broken IBM Links. Here they are again

IBM 1.12 Firmware Link:
ftp://ftp.pc.ibm.com/pub/pccbbs/intelli ... 4p4782.exe

IBM 1.12 Firmware Readme.TXT:
ftp://ftp.pc.ibm.com/pub/pccbbs/intelli ... 4p4782.txt

or you can use the link below:
Scroll Down to Firmware Updates for the: HLDS GCE-8400B Firmware Package
http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.ws ... MIGR-44494

Hori_Porks
New Zealand

[gravyflex]

I have got the LG- 8400B 2MB 40x 12x 40x burner.

I've seen where a few persons have had reasonable success with getting the GCE HL-DT-ST 8320B to support Mt. Rainer.

My question is has anyone had any success with LG 8400B 2MB 40x 12x 40x and Mt. Rainer support and if yes what Firmware did they use.