New Firmware for LG GSA4040B !

[gyula]

Take a look at this:

http://www.cdr.cz/dvd_rekordery/lge/gma_4040b.html

However it is only the Korean version, but perhaps it is what we need (it started with
the A300 the same way).

[Canuck]

Can't find any info from the official LG website

Can someone confirm this?

[Ian]

It's legit.

http://www.lge.co.kr/open_data/GSA-4040BA301(kw).zip

Don't ask for a change log. I can't read Korean.

[gyula]

The new Firmware allows you to burn 4x on Princo and SKC DVD-R media. Additionally it enables Princo and Imation DVD-RW.
I could test Princo and it really works. Unfortunately TDK and Ritek G04 produce the same error message as earlier firmware versions.

[lgmayka]

So is it safe for an American 4040B owner to install this new firmware?

[Ian]

So is it safe for an American 4040B owner to install this new firmware?

It should be. The hardware is the same. LG USA takes a little while longer to release the update because they do their own testing. They also have to provide additional instructions (in English).

[OC-Freak]

It works fine here.

No problems noticed and it works with more media types.

[drdim]

gyula: What error do you get with Ritek G04? Works perfect for me with A300. Princo is a crappy media if you don't get the tdkversion.

[lgmayka]

I am an American, living in America, and purchased my RITEKG04 blanks from an American company, allmediaoutlet.com. These are the ugly-orange ones that boldly say 4x on them. I was able to burn some of them successfully at 4x, but then about halfway through the 25-disk spindle:

All attempts to burn at 4x simply hang after lead-in. If I tell Nero 6.0.0.19 to simulate, I get the error "No seek complete." Similarly, Easy CD Creator 5.3.5 either hangs (trying to record) or gives an error (in test mode). Burning at 2x works just fine.

[lgmayka]

I burned my drive with the A301 firmware. At 4x speed, RITEKG04 still hangs the computer, such that I have to power down the computer by holding down the power button.

[gyula]

@drdim

I have the same error as lgmayka. The LG support said me they are working on a solution and the problems only occure with DVD-R 4x media for the european market.
Since the new firmware brought no improvements regarding TDK and Ritek media I'll again contact them. I'm staring to loose my patience.

[Kennyshin]

Another free link: http://www.storageinfo.co.kr/~kenny/fir ... b_a301.zip

(I renamed the file.)

The new firmware A301 mainly adds 4x write for Princo 4x DVD-R and 2x write for Princo 2x DVD-RW. This was done mainly on my request. I sent them 60 discs for free weeks ago. It also adds 4x write for SKC 4x DVD-R.

The LG guy called me 30 minutes ago. He explained that GSA-4040B with A301 still had errors when trying to erase some of the given 2x Princo DVD-RW media. We discussed it for a little over 10 minutes and then I told him how to contact Princo.

I don't have any GSA-4040B anyway. Sell those Ritek and TDK media to me and I will try to help them make GSA-4040B better firmware as soon as possible.

[myckee]

Wow, thanks a lot for your efforts Kennyshin! It is very much appreciated!

[gyula]

I also can only thank Kennyshin for his offer. But before sending the media (I have some fear, because I had a lot of trouble with the Hungarian post lately) I want to contact the LG support here. I'm just curious what will they say now. I read some reports on a German forum from people who had the same problems like me before the A301 firmware. They say the new firmware allows to burn the TDK and PrimeDisc media at 4x speed now. I 'll wait some days for more reports and then contact the LG support again. Perhaps my burner is faulty.

[lgmayka]

The other day I received a new spindle of RITEKG04 DVD-R blanks, this time from meritline.com and with no ugly-orange logo. These appear to burn just fine at 4x.

I now believe that it is the ugly-orange Ritek media

http://www.allmediaoutlet.net/P-DVD-R-4XRitek-LOGO.html

that are at fault. As I have said previously, roughly half the spindle burned fine at 4x, but the other half of the blanks would only burn correctly at 2x--at 4x they would cause the drive to hang (requiring a computer reboot to regain control of the drive).

I have to suspect that these ugly-orange Riteks are either a mixture of American-targeted and European-targeted media, or simply counterfeits not actually made by Ritek.

[gyula]

It seems the LG support was possibly right. There are really two different types of Ritek G04.
As I reported earlier I had similar problems as lgmayka with Ritek G04 media. Finally I could buy exactly the same type of media (PrimeDisc with the same packaging) from an other source. Suprisingly they can be burnt at 4x speed without problems.
I still had some of the older ones and tried them again. They produced the same error as earlier.
I will take a closer look at the media, perhaps I will be able to find a difference between the two batches.

[Dartman]

My Sony 500a wont write that orange stuff at 4x either. So far I don't have any minus that writes at 4 but I have a variety pack coming from Meritline so I can try 4 different brands and see if anything works.
If all these other makers are trying to make better firmware to write these crappy disks why hasn't Sony done a better job. Maybe somebody needs to crack the firmware and add support for us like they've done with the NEC 1300 and the Pioneer 06, coud do the same for the LG if they can't figure it out.