Club CDFreaks - Knowledge is Power - View Single Post

Marco BTC · 12-11-2003

Jilber,

Thanks for your intelligent, well balanced, well researched opinion about our DRW1004 ("after all as we can conclude this drive is a real crap... sooner or later its dvd functionality is gonna fail... so")

If this were true, BTC would be out of business in a couple of months, since we sold a couple of hundred thousands of these units. For your information, BTC was in this business since the heydays of the 4X CD-ROM drives, and we don't intend to stop anytime soon. So excuse me for not agreeing with you..... ; )

And besides, everybody who buys the drive has warranty, so if your drive is really defect, you can always return it. But at least give us the chance to help you with your problems.

To all of you who are reading this post I have to repeat what I've written on many posts before:

1. Media incompatibility problems exist;
Let's face it, these problems are real, and we're working on it to keep the problems as small as possible. Note that these problems are real not only for BTC, but for all brands DVDRW rewriters ! That is why you can find a media compatibility list on every DVD writer manufacturer's website, even Plextor, Pioneer, NEC, etc. So try to stick to these lists as much as possible. If you decide to deviate from this list, then the risk is all yours. It might be that we'll provide support for your media at a later date (later firmware), or maybe never. So whenever you venture out of the media compatibility list, you run the risk of getting problems. We still encourage you to let us know which MID codes you use and give you problems, because if a certain media is very popular, it will have a higher priority when tuning new media.

BTC website media compatibility list:
http://www.btceurope.nl/english/3-2-1MediaSupport.htm

2. MID codes, MID codes, MID codes
Time and time again people post messages about their Verbatim, Fuji, TDK, DataWrite, PrimeOn, etc. media having problems on their drive. The problem is that the brandname is not important when defining compatibility. That is because these brands often use more than one manufacturer for their media. You might find Fuji discs manufactured by Ricoh or Fuji discs manufactured by CMC Magnetics, etc. The only identification that is relevant, therefore, is the socalled MID code (Manufacturer ID) which can be read by using a special utility, such as DVDInfo Pro, etc. So, please, people, when posting problems, mention the MID code.

3. Failures do happen, even with good MID codes;
Media failures happen every now and then, so to be sure that your drive has problems with a certain media, try at least 2 or 3 discs before reporting the problem.

4. Keep firmware and software updated;
Always make sure to use the latest firmware that is posted on the website. It's no use reporting problems with an old firmware, because the new firmware might have a different impact on your particular media. We only move forward in firmwares, so the latest one should be the greatest one. We will not investigate problems if they are related to an old firmware.
Because some problems might be caused by your Nero or other burning software, please also make sure to use the latest version/update.

BTC website DRW1004 firmware updates:
http://www.btceurope.nl/english/3-1-...d_dvd_dual.htm

(V0045 is now available !)

5. Only one laser pickup
There is only 1 laser inside the drive, so there is no different laser for the CD part and for the DVD part.

Marco
BTC Europe Support

12-11-2003	#9 (permalink)
Marco BTC BTC Support Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 212	Update firrmware, stick with compatibility list, post MID codes.... Jilber, Thanks for your intelligent, well balanced, well researched opinion about our DRW1004 ("after all as we can conclude this drive is a real crap... sooner or later its dvd functionality is gonna fail... so") If this were true, BTC would be out of business in a couple of months, since we sold a couple of hundred thousands of these units. For your information, BTC was in this business since the heydays of the 4X CD-ROM drives, and we don't intend to stop anytime soon. So excuse me for not agreeing with you..... ; ) And besides, everybody who buys the drive has warranty, so if your drive is really defect, you can always return it. But at least give us the chance to help you with your problems. To all of you who are reading this post I have to repeat what I've written on many posts before: 1. Media incompatibility problems exist; Let's face it, these problems are real, and we're working on it to keep the problems as small as possible. Note that these problems are real not only for BTC, but for all brands DVDRW rewriters ! That is why you can find a media compatibility list on every DVD writer manufacturer's website, even Plextor, Pioneer, NEC, etc. So try to stick to these lists as much as possible. If you decide to deviate from this list, then the risk is all yours. It might be that we'll provide support for your media at a later date (later firmware), or maybe never. So whenever you venture out of the media compatibility list, you run the risk of getting problems. We still encourage you to let us know which MID codes you use and give you problems, because if a certain media is very popular, it will have a higher priority when tuning new media. BTC website media compatibility list: http://www.btceurope.nl/english/3-2-1MediaSupport.htm 2. MID codes, MID codes, MID codes Time and time again people post messages about their Verbatim, Fuji, TDK, DataWrite, PrimeOn, etc. media having problems on their drive. The problem is that the brandname is not important when defining compatibility. That is because these brands often use more than one manufacturer for their media. You might find Fuji discs manufactured by Ricoh or Fuji discs manufactured by CMC Magnetics, etc. The only identification that is relevant, therefore, is the socalled MID code (Manufacturer ID) which can be read by using a special utility, such as DVDInfo Pro, etc. So, please, people, when posting problems, mention the MID code. 3. Failures do happen, even with good MID codes; Media failures happen every now and then, so to be sure that your drive has problems with a certain media, try at least 2 or 3 discs before reporting the problem. 4. Keep firmware and software updated; Always make sure to use the latest firmware that is posted on the website. It's no use reporting problems with an old firmware, because the new firmware might have a different impact on your particular media. We only move forward in firmwares, so the latest one should be the greatest one. We will not investigate problems if they are related to an old firmware. Because some problems might be caused by your Nero or other burning software, please also make sure to use the latest version/update. BTC website DRW1004 firmware updates: http://www.btceurope.nl/english/3-1-...d_dvd_dual.htm (V0045 is now available !) 5. Only one laser pickup There is only 1 laser inside the drive, so there is no different laser for the CD part and for the DVD part. Marco BTC Europe Support