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05-10-2004
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| CDFreaks Resident  Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: .us
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| F.A.Q. for LiteOn Optical Drives (revised on 28 April 2007) F.A.Q. for LiteOn Optical Drives This F.A.Q. aims to address some of the commonly asked questions about LiteOn drives. Please read the F.A.Q. before posting in the forum. If you would like to send feedback or contribute to this F.A.Q., please feel free to send a private message to one of the moderators of the LiteOn forum. Information is meant to be free, so you may copy this F.A.Q., adapt it, and do whatever you wish with it, as long as you follow the terms stated here. Before You Begin... If you have questions about LiteOn CD-RW drives, please read this F.A.Q. by OC-Freak! If you have questions about a LiteOn DVD-writer, please read the F.A.Q. for PC DVD-Writers to see if your question has already been addressed there. If you are troubleshooting a drive, please read this troubleshooting guide to see if it helps. Table of Contents
General Questions Q: What is an OEM rebadge? What are some of the known OEM rebadges of LiteOn drives? A: An OEM rebadge is when a brand-name customer purchases drives from LiteOn to sell under their own brand name. For example, the Sony DRU-700A is an OEM rebadge of the LiteOn SOHW-832S. It is designed and manufactured by LiteOn and its hardware is identical to that of the SOHW-832S, but it has a Sony sticker label, a Sony faceplate, a Sony name and logo, and a (usually heftier) Sony price tag. For a list of rebadged LiteOn drives in general, go to this page. It is not a complete/comprehensive list, but it is close.  For a list of rebadged LiteOn DVD-writers, go to this page. This list should (hopefully ) be the complete list (if you have anything to add, please let us know!).Q: [DVD-Writers] Can I get an overview of the different LiteOn DVD-writers? A: Please take a look at this page. Q: Where can I find reviews of LiteOn drives? A: DVD±RW Drives Q: Are LiteOn burners good for backing up copy-protected discs? A: Yes! LiteOn drives excel at backing up copy-protected CDs because they support the correct EFM encoding of regular bit patterns. All LiteOn burners qualify as 2 or 3 sheep burners. Q: [DVD-ROMs] Where are LiteOn's official DVD-ROM support pages? A: For the SOHD-167T and newer drives, firmware updates are located on LiteOn's DVD-ROM firmware page. For older DVD-ROM drives, (i.e., the LiteOn LTD-166S / JLMS XJ-HD166S or older), please visit the JLMS website. For the really old LTD-122, there is no official support page, but digi maintains an unofficial support page for it. Troubleshooting If you are having problems with a DVD-writer, it may be a good idea to read this troubleshooting guide first. Q: I misflashed my drive. Is it dead? A: One advantage of drives (such as LiteOn drives) based on a MediaTek chipset is the ability to recover from a misflash using MtkFlash in DOS. Please read this guide for more information. (Need help with booting to DOS? The Firmware Flashing Bootdisk might be useful.) Q: [DVD-Writers] My drive does not do anything. It just gives off an orange (or green) blink all the time. A: There are two common causes of this problem: Did you try to make your drive region-free using RPCDE2 (or RPCDE or liteonutil)? Unless you have an older drive (i.e., the LiteOn LTD-163D / JLMS XJ-HD163D or older), you should not use RPCDE2 (use LtnRPC instead) because RPCDE2 can corrupt a drive's EEPROM, which can cause this blinking light problem. Fortunately, this can be fixed using the EEPROM Utility. Did you try to convert/crossflash your drive (e.g., flashing a SOHW-812S into a SOHW-832S)? If so, did you remember to patch the firmware for crossflashing? If you did not, your drive will not work and you will get this blinking light. Patch the firmware using OmniPatcher and re-do the flash. Q: Why is my drive burning and/or reading so slow and poorly? A: Please download and run KProbe2, and under the "Info" menu, select "Drive." Query the drive and notice the burst rate of the drive. If the burst rate of your drive is less than 20 MB/s, then you have a problem with how your system is interfacing with the drive. Almost always, this translates to DMA not being enabled for your drive in your system configuration, which leads to slower reading and writing speeds and poor write quality. To learn more about DMA and how to turn it on, please refer to this guide. Q: [DVD-Writers] My x51S@832S (or x51S@812S) does not recognize any blank media! A: Make sure that you have applied the crossflashing patch using OmniPatcher version 1.3.14 (or newer). Q: [DVD-Writers] My SOHW-1633S/1653S has difficulties with CD media. A: There seems to be a batch of LiteOn drives with defective optical pickup units that have difficulties with CD media. Send your drive in for a replacement. Q: [DVD-Writers] My drive has problems with burning double-layer media. A: First, make sure that your media is supported by your drive's firmware. Find out what your disc's media code is and see if this media code is supported by your current firmware. If it is not, you should upgrade to the latest available firmware. If your firmware supports this media type, and you still have problems, check the disc for any physical defects. Because the manufacturing process for double-layer media is complex and difficult (Mitsubishi reported in the summer of 2004 that they have a yield of only 50%; half of their production did not pass quality control), there is a fair chance that a defective disc may have not been caught by quality control. Although this does not happen very frequently, it does happen more often than with single-layer media. Finally, if you are using RiTEK DVD+R DL (RiDATA, TraxData, etc.), please use something better and more reliable. Q: [DVD-Writers] I get a "communication error" when burning with my 16x DVD burner. A: If you are using a 40-conductor IDE cable, switching to an 80-conductor cable might help. Search Google for 80-conductor cable Q: The LiteOn utilities (SMART-BURN, BookType, KProbe, etc.) do not work. A: This is often caused by ASPI problems. If you are using ASPI, make sure that you are using version 4.6 and not 4.7. Resources: ForceASPI, Search this forum for ASPI problems In the case of ASPI problems with the LiteOn BookType Utility, some users have reported better luck with using DVD Decrypter's bitsetting feature instead. Media Q: [DVD-Writers] Where can I get a DVD media support list for my LiteOn drive? A: The list of supported media varies between firmware versions. The best way to get a media support list is to backup your drive's firmware to a file using LtnFW and then use OmniPatcher to extract the list of supported DVD media codes and their burn speeds. Q: [DVD-Writers] What DVD media should I use with my LiteOn DVD burner? A: Please refer to this thread: http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=103664 Q: [DVD-Writers] How do I use bitsetting (change the booktype) with LiteOn drives? A: With a few exceptions (e.g., the SOHW-802S and the SOHW-822S), bitsetting on LiteOn drives and rebadged LiteOn drives work like this:
Q: What ultra-speed CD-RW media should I use with my burner? A: There are not many makers of CD-RW media, especially ultra-speed CD-RW media. The general consensus is that the (pricey) Verbatim CD-RW media is the best. Memorex's 24x CD-RW media should be avoided! While the Memorex brand can generally be trusted, Memorex rebrands Infodisc's 24x CD-RW, and Infodisc's CD-RWs are some of the worst out there (when neither LiteOn nor Plextor can write to them reliably, you know that it is bad). Firmware Q: Where can I get LiteOn firmwares? A: Official DownloadsFor official downloads of OEM rebadged firmwares, please visit the official website of the brand. Q: How do I flash my firmware? A: There are basically three ways to do this. The first is to use the Windows firmware flasher built into the firmware package (this is the most common way). If your firmware exists in a raw form (i.e., a .BIN file) without a firmware flasher, you can use either LtnFW (Windows, easy-to-use, models prior to the 5S model, without a serial flash) or MtkFlash (DOS, harder-to-use, but can be used for dead drive recovery, models prior to the 5S model, without a serial flash) or for drives with a serial flash (5S, 6S, etc.) XSF (DOS, harder-to-use, but can be used for dead drive recovery) to flash. Q: Should I check "update bootcode" when flashing with LtnFW in Windows? A: Yes but LtnFW only flashes drives prior to the 5S model. Later models use a serial flash which is not supported by LtnFW. Q: Are there any differences between external and internal firmwares? A: No. For example, the firmware for a LDW-851S and a LDW-851SX are 100% identical. Q: [DVD-Writers] How is the SOHW-1633S with the enhanced firmware from LiteOn IT USA any different from a SOHW-1653S? A: There is no difference. The SOHW-1633S and SOHW-1653S are identical in terms of hardware. For the international market, LiteOn decided to release the 12x -R upgrade as a separate drive, the SOHW-1653S. For the American market, LiteOn decided to not release it as a separate drive, but instead, as a firmware upgrade, available from the LiteOn IT USA website. This "enhanced" SOHW-1633S firmware is actually just a SOHW-1653S firmware with the drive name changed, and as such, the BS4x "enhanced" firmwares behave and perform like the SOHW-1653S CSxx firmwares (complete with the quirks of the SOHW-1653S firmwares such as the intermittent -R leadin bug) and not like the SOHW-1633S BSxx firmwares. Please refer to this thread for more information. Advanced Topics: Modding, Overclocking, etc. Q: How do I make my drive region-free (RPC-1)? A: There are two tools that can perform the region-freeing task. The first is LtnRPC. Alternatively, you can use KProbe2, which has a built-in tool for region-freedom that works just like LtnRPC. Please note that removing a drive's region protection is only the first step in making your system region-free (more info). For more information about DVD regions, RPC-1, and RPC-2, please read this guide. Q: Do LiteOn drives have riplocks? How do I read DVDs faster? A: First, LiteOn drives do not have video riplocks. Instead, LiteOn drives have a feature called SMART-X, which is designed to automatically slow down the reading speed if data is requested at a slow rate. This way, the drive will slow down when playing a movie (as the movie player does not require data to be delivered at a very fast rate) and will read at the maximum speed when it is ripping (as ripping software will request data as fast as it can). Normally, this works quite well, but it is not perfect, and there have been cases where a drive read at a locked rate when ripping and there have been cases where a drive did not slow down when playing back a movie. Because SMART-X works well most of the time, there are no modified firmwares with feature disabled. However, LiteOn drives do have very conservative media-based read-speed limits (LiteOn seems to prefer to err on the side of caution). In many LiteOn drives, the reading speed for recordable/rewritable DVD media is limited to 8x even though the drive is perfectly capable of reading the media at a faster speed. And as with all other drives, the reading speed for dual-layer media (pressed and recordable) is also limited. These media-based speed limits can be overridden through the use of hacked firmwares. For the relaxing of media-based DVD read-speed limits... - For LiteOn DVD-ROM drives: http://codeguys.rpc1.org/firmwares.html#cat_dvdrom - For LiteOn DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo drives: http://codeguys.rpc1.org/firmwares.html#cat_combo - For LiteOn DVD-Writer drives: use the OmniPatcher Q: What is crossflashing (overclocking)? A: LiteOn models that share the same hardware could interchange firmwares. For a number of LiteOn drives, the feature set is not determined by the hardware, but instead, by the firmware, allowing you to convert between models by changing the firmware. Q: [CD-Writers] Can I crossflash my drive? If so, how? A: For the crossflashing/overclocking of CD-RW drives, please refer to the original LiteOn F.A.Q. and dhc014's firmware page for more information. Q: [DVD-Writers] What models can be crossflashed? How exactly do I crossflash? A: First, you should read this overview of LiteOn drive families and generations (pay special attention to the text at the top, before the list!) to get a good idea of what you can and cannot do. Once you have done that, you can check out the crossflashing how-to guide. Q: [DVD-Writers] My drive does not support burning double-layer media. How can I add this support? A: If there is a drive model in your drive's drive family (see the above questions) that supports double-layer burning, flashing to it would give you the ability to burn double-layer media. For example, if you have a 2S drive (such as the LDW-451S or a SOHW-812S), you should crossflash it to a SOHW-832S, and if you have a SOHW-1213S or a SOHW-1613S, a SOHW-1633S or SOHW-1653S firmware would do the trick. See the above question for instructions. Q: [DVD-Writers] Is it really true that my LDW-451S/851S can be crossflashed to a SOHW-832S? A: Yes. As this list indicates, the LDW-451S and LDW-851S are in the same family as the SOHW-832S, so it is possible. But unlike the other crossflashes, there are some special things to make note of about this crossflash (which is why this is getting a F.A.Q. entry of its own ). For more information, please refer to the first four posts of this thread.(And no, this is not possible with the LDW-401S/411S/811S.) Q: What is FlashFixing? How is it different from crossflashing and crossflash patching? A: There are two different levels of protection against crossflashing. The first is at the firmware flashing level. The official LiteOn firmware flashers will not allow you to flash a firmware onto a drive that does not identify itself as the correct model (e.g., it will refuse to let you flash a SOHW-832S firmware onto a SOHW-812S drive). The official flashers will also not allow you to downgrade your firmware (e.g., it will not let you flash the VS0B firmware onto a drive with VS0E). This protection is implemented in the flashing software and works by simply checking the drive name and firmware version. There are two ways to get around this problem. One way to do this is to FlashFix the firmware flasher so that it will not perform the drive name and firmware version checks. Most of the flashers found on the codeguys firmware page have already been FlashFixed! Another way to get around this problem is simply to flash using another piece of software, such as LtnFW or MtkFlash. The second level of protection (which is present only in DVD-writers) is an internal drive identification (usually in the form of a unique checksum) stored in the EEPROM, which is unaffected by firmware flashes. This level of protection is not carried out by software, but by the firmware, which checks this identification to make sure that the drive is not crossflashed. The OmniPatcher can be used to patch the firmware so that it does not perform this check. Because this internal drive identification in the EEPROM is not altered by firmware flashes, it is necessary to make sure that any non-native firmware that you load (i.e., a SOHW-1653S firmware being loaded onto a SOHW-1633S drive) has this check removed, even if the drive has been previously crossflashed. Q: [DVD-Writers] Can I burn DVD±R discs faster than their rated speed (overspeeding)? A: Yes, you can do this by patching the firmware with OmniPatcher. Please keep in mind, however, that burning media above its rated speed may sometimes produce undesirable results. Overspeeding is not for all media types (it works best with quality media), and you should check your results to make sure that the quality is acceptable. Additionally, it is highly recommended that you overspeed media through the use of write strategy changes, as that generally produces better results than just ticking the high-speed boxes. For 5S and 6S series drives, Lite-On now has added a OverSpeed function to their Smart-Burn tool. For more information please see the HyperTuning and OverSpeed section of this F.A.Q Q: What is the EEPROM? How is it different from the firmware? A: The EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) is a small amount (only 1 Bib in size) of non-volatile memory (i.e., it retains its data even when the drive is powered down). The EEPROM for each drive is unique because it contains factory-set laser calibration data for that specific unit. As a result, it is not a good idea to exchange EEPROMs. In addition to laser calibration data, the EEPROM also stores other data, including learned laser calibration data, DVD region settings, booktype settings (only for certain drives/firmwares), and drive identification data. More information about the EEPROM on LiteOn drives can be found here. Q: What is an unscrambled firmware? Why would I want to use it? A: Starting in mid-2004, LiteOn started to scramble all of the firmwares that they officially release. This scrambling prevents the extraction of a firmware from the official firmware flasher and also prevents a firmware from being patched (as patching tools only work on unscrambled firmwares). Once flashed to your drive, a scrambled firmware is identical to an unscrambled one. This is because LiteOn's official scrambled firmware flasher automatically unscrambles the firmware during the flashing process. So the end result of flashing using an official scrambled firmware flasher and flashing using an unscrambled firmware flasher is the exact same. So why would you ever want to use an unscrambled firmware? If you want to patch the firmware for crossflashing or media hacking, you must use an unscrambled firmware. Q: How do I add support for an unsupported media type to my firmware? A: Firmwares for older drives sometimes lack support for some of the latest media types (this is especially true for the old LDW-401S/411S/811S drives). If a firmware update that contains support for a certain media type is not available, you can add support for this unsupported media type yourself. (n.b.: A media code is "unsupported" if it does not appear in the firmware's media table; a media code that exists in the table but that burns poorly is just poorly supported, but not "unsupported".) Note: This only works for 3S and older models as OmniPatcher does not support drives after this. 1/ Make sure that you are using OmniPatcher version 2.3.0 or newer. Hyper Tuning (HT), Over Speed (OS) and Online Hyper Tuning (OHT) Q: What is Over Speed (OS)? A: OS can let you burn a disc one level above its rated speed (4x-->6x, 6x-->8x, 8x-->12x, 12x-->16x or 16x-->18x) . So if you have a 8x certified disc, then you will probably be able to burn the disc at 12x speed when OS is enabled. Q: Will OS let me write every 16x rated media at 20x? A: No, Lite-On enabled 20x writing only for some dedicated high quality media. For a complete list of 20x supported media please look at the Lite-On website here. If you don't mind you can also use an "Enhanced Overspeed" pachted firmware. More information can be found here. Q: What is Hyper Tuning (HT) and why do I need it?? A: HyperTuning is a so called "auto strategy" technology for DVD+/-R and DVD+/-R DL media. Its technology enables the drive to learn a write strategy for unsupported media or for media where you are not satisfied with the quality of the burn when the regular strategy was used. Further, it can give you better results when you use lower quality media with a stronger variation of the disc quality itself. Because the OPC didn't know how to write a disc at higher speed, it is also required when you want to write a disc using OverSpeed. Q: Will my drive store strategies or replace existing strategies with these "learned" strategies? A: No, HT will "learn" from the beginning every time when a new burn is started. You may know that the quality often varies from disc to disc. This, every time new learning should guarantee best results for each burn, so it isn't useful to store or replace strategies. Q: What is Online Hyper Tuning (OHT) A: Online Hyper Tuning (OHT) is a so called autostrategy mechanism for Lite-On optical drives. It measures the writing quality while burning a disc and modifies it when necessary. With this method you can achieve better writing quality on lower quality media or when you write media above their rated speed. By using this function the total writing time may rise a bit. Q: At this moment the following drives support HT/OS/OHT: A: The latest HT/OS supporting test firmware for your drive can be found in this thread. Q: How can I enable HT/OS/OHT? A: You can download the latest version of SmartBurn on the LiteOn website here. Once downloaded you just need to unzip the file, run SmartBurn.exe and enable HyperTuning and OverSpeed at the HyperTuning tab. After you have enabled the options in SmartBurn you will need to open and close the tray to activate the functions. The same goes for disabling the functions. The possibility to enable and disable HT has also been added to the latest version of the LiteOn testing tool KProbe2. Q: How do I enable OHT, I can't find the option to enable it in SmartBurn A: The option to enable OHT isn't available in the last offical SmartBurn version (3.1.16). To enable the OHT you must use the inoffical SmartBurn version 3.1.16t. You can find it here. Q: OHT is not working when burning at 20x speed, is something wrong with my drive? A: No, your drive is working correctly, Lite-On has just disabled this function for 20x speed. Q: I have enabled HT/OS using the SmartBurn Tool. How can I check if the drive burns in HT/OS mode? A: This can easily be checked by observing the LED, as it flashes differently compared to normal mode when HT/OS is enabled. Q: Will my drive remember these settings after I reboot my PC? A: At this moment, the drive only saves the HT/OS settings if you burn a disc (after reset the settings revert to the last burns settings). exception: SHM-165P6S - This drive only saves the settings when the installed firmware is newer than MS0M. Auto-formatted by FAQFormat65536 v1.1.3. 
__________________ "You don't have to be a supporter of freedom of speech to protest when your own ox is being gored. You do have to be a supporter of freedom of speech to protest when the government tries to censor the speech of those who are goring your ox." -Alan M. Dershowitz LiteOn Stuff: LiteOn F.A.Q. | OmniPatcher | DVD-Writer Overview | Changing Write Strategies | Crossflashing | XFlash Utility General Stuff: DVD-Writer F.A.Q. | Rules of the Optical Drive Forums | Attaching Scans | The rpc1.org Firmware Database Code Guys: http://codeguys.rpc1.org/ | send us e-mail I Use: Firefox + ClassicFox | Google Talk (Jabber) using Gaim for Windows | Winamp | EAC | Google Earth C64K: My Travel Photos | In Retirement... Last edited by H3rB3i; 28-04-2007 at 17:34. |
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