My TDK 440N hated 4x princos

by **shah** on Wed Jul 30, 2003 3:37 am

Okay I just got my tdk drive , thanks to some of you who gave suggestions. Now I am able to burn 4x riteks at 4x (which my sony 500a would only burn at 2x). However the drive won't even burn 4x princo dvd-r . It comes out with "illegal disc/incompatible disc" messages in nero and dvd decrypter. At least sony burns em at 2x. Has anyone else experienced this?

by **jase** on Wed Jul 30, 2003 5:27 am

Standard NEC1300A problem (which your TDK is a clone of).

The NEC doesn't like Princo media. Understand that this is a +R drive with -R support (as opposed to LG/Pioneer etc drives which are -R drives with +R support), and it is therefore recommended that +R media is used with this drive.

However, I am aware of hacked firmware for the NEC which will allow Princo writing apparently, although I haven't tried it out myself.

by **Bhairav** on Wed Jul 30, 2003 6:57 am

You can download the fixed firmware from:

http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?t=16249

Or you can go to Herrie's site (The guy who created this hacked FQ):

http://herrie.rpc1.org

by **tazdevl** on Wed Jul 30, 2003 10:19 am

Also, Princos quality is pretty spotty. Not entirely a drive issue.

by **jase** on Wed Jul 30, 2003 10:36 am

tazdevl wrote:Also, Princos quality is pretty spotty. Not entirely a drive issue.

That's true, but it is my understanding that the NEC will not even attempt to write them with standard firmware -- it appears there is a block for some reason. Therefore in this case, it is a drive issue.

I prefer not to use Princo media as the QA is so patchy (although as I have said before, a lot of the problem is down to unscrupulous distributors -- rarely have I had any issues with Princo media that is branded Princo). But I prefer not to be told what I can do with a writer by the manufacturers -- it is cause enough for me to boycott their writer.

by **Ian** on Wed Jul 30, 2003 11:25 am

Have you tried the new 1.07 firmware?

by **shah** on Wed Jul 30, 2003 1:08 pm

I see. Hmm... Ian, where can I download 1.07? There is no indication of firmware update on tdk.com support pages.

by **Ian** on Wed Jul 30, 2003 2:20 pm

http://www.tdk-europe.com/dvd/firmware/ ... 4N_107.exe

by **shah** on Wed Jul 30, 2003 5:36 pm

1.07 works like magic!

Now my life is complete (well almost hehe).
Thanks to Ian and all!

by **cmge** on Thu Jul 31, 2003 2:39 pm

where cna i find details about the new firmware for tdk?..

by **shah** on Sat Aug 02, 2003 1:20 am

TDK Firmware Update page is kinda mysterious, go to:

http://www.tdk-europe.com/dvd/uk/suppor ... _format_4x

by **dhc014** on Sat Aug 02, 2003 1:26 am

TDK Singapore likes to post in a forum that they sponsor. They posted some well detailed changes here.

TDK_Singapore wrote:Fixes and Improvements :

1. Improved write performance for DVD-R
2. Improved media compatibility
3. Added support for Princo DVD-R (2x) & (4x) respectively
4. Added support for Melody DVD-R (2x)
5. Added support for Melody DVD-R (4x)
6. Added support for Inter Media DVD-R (4x)
7. Added support for Lead Data DVD-R (4x)
8. Added support for Inter Media DVD-R (2x)
9. Added support for BeALL DVD-R (2x)
10. Added support for AMC DVD-R (2x)
11. Added support for Euro Digital DVD-R (2x)
12. Added support for CMC DVD-R (2x)
13. Added support for Nanya DVD-R (2x)
14. Added support for Optodisc DVD-R (2x)

Added support for DVD+R Media Compatibility

1. Added support for Taiyo Yuden DVD+R (4x)
2. Added support for CMC DVD+R (4x)
3. Added support for BeALL DVD+R (4x)
4. Added support for Prodisc DVD+4 (4x)

My TDK 440N hated 4x princos

My TDK 440N hated 4x princos

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