hello guys



please read my thread at http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=172662

so confused!! crossflashing my drive when i just need to update a driver??

im really not technical so please use basic terms lol



more details of my drive are in the pic below..

can someone please give me the name+direct link to an updated driver for my drive?

whats the difference between GWA and GSA and why was crossflashing suggested? (don't know what that is!)


hopefully that will solve the problem of burning sony 4xDVD+RW at 4x speed!

thanx and many
huggz

Hi,
The problem, as stated in the other thread, is, that your drive is an OEM drive, that is specially made for computer manufacturers like Dell, HP, Sony and others. LG does not provide firmware updates for these OEM drives!
If your drive came as part of a computer, then you might check the support website of the computer's manufacturer in order to get a firmware update.
LG only provides updates for their retail products. And your drive isn't.
GWA series is intended to be sold only to computer manufacturers. GSA drives are sold to retail customers. Also there are technical differences, maybe in hardware, maybe in firmware only. If the latter is true, then you can turn your GWA into a GSA drive (that is called crossflashing), for wich you can get firmware updates directly from LG. But you would void your warranty doing so.
There is no guarantee, that these media will burn at full speed after flashing another firmware. But there is a chance, that you stick with a fried drive, if crossflashing does not work.
So, just use these media with reduced speed as long as they last, and after that, get other ones that are more compatible with your drive.

Michael

thank you so much for your detailed response

taking it all on board!

On the other hand if you don't crossflash and update you will never know what your drive can do and sooner or later media you can use reliably will get hard to find. Of course I like to take chances. JMO

Hi,

The problem is, that this is a notebook drive. You cannot flash with GSA-4082 firmware.

Michael

maria1984, please ignore this post - it's really meant for mciahel and will probably confuse you. More in the way of technical discussion and not likely to offer any useful help for your situation.

I'm not so sure about that. LG firmware for certain earlier models came as a separate flasher and binary file, rather than the all in one .exe file we get for newer LG writers now. Firmware of that sort occasionally worked on certain GWA models as well because those don't seem to have the stringent model checks the new firmware versions now have. There was a guy here who successfully flashed his GWA-4160B with GSA-4160B firmware. The drive model after flashing stayed as GWA-4160B, so it wasn't a case of cross-flashing.

The problem is that this will only work if the GWA version of the drive is identical to the GSA version hardware-wise. Not all GWA and GSA models are identical. GSA-4163B, for example, uses a Renesas chipset but the GWA-4163B uses a Panasonic chipset, as I understand it. I'm also unsure about notebook models. If the components are the same but just layed out differently to suit the smaller drive chassis, it might work.

The problem of course is nobody knows for sure until you try

maria1984, if that drive came with your notebook, it is probably best to look for an update for that drive from the notebook manufacturer's website, as mciahel suggested. For example, if that is a Dell notebook, you search Dell's website for a firmware update for the drive. That kind of firmware update would surely work and does not involve the invalidating of your drive's warranty.

If the drive was an add on you bought on your own for your notebook, you have only got the option of trying to use the firmware for the GSA-4082B model, with all the risks that come with doing that.

Hi karangguni,

I suspect, that all LG notebook drives are OEM, maybe even different versions for different manufacturers. So, if you find a FW update on Dell website, you might fry the "same" drive, if that is part of a toshiba notebook. Also, I haven't found information about their notebook drives on LG website.

The only safe way for those OEM drives is getting FW updates from the OEMs support site. Anything else is only for experienced users that take the risk killing their drive. But you stated that already, although your wording was slightly different ;-)

Michael

there is some confusion - perpetrated by LG's chaotic site design - about the
model palette of all their drives, but especially the notebook types.
i recently bought a GWA-4082N and am having a problem to switch the drive
from 'slave' to 'master' (these drives are jumperless).
here is a comparison chart >>http://www.lge.com/prodcompareprint....dels=GWA-4040N
from their global site>>http://www.lge.com/proddivergent.do?...ategory_level=

the specs are incomplete and misformed. also, there's not a single notebook drive
listed on their "manuals//software" links on any country site i tried.

hello and thank you to everybody who took the time to write..

sorry for the delayed response, last minute trip away..

some of the stuff went way over my head.. lol
but thanks to your advice i will definitely be in touch with the manufacturer of my laptop, hopefully they are providing updates, otherwise like karangguni mentioned, sooner or later media i can use reliably will get hard to find..

well i have definitely picked up alot so grateful to all those for their time

respect to the knowledgeable lol

thank you so much guys and much appreciated

hugggzz
maria

all,
maria wrote in a private message : "............
i originally asked a question because the dvd drive i got in my laptop (the same as your one i believe- HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4082N) would only let me burn my sony dvd+rw 4x speed disk (sony s11Manufacturer Code: 10DPW120AS2 made in taiwan) at 2.4 speed. the problem apperently was the firmware was not upto date and i couldnt get the updated firmware because LG only supports the retail version of the drive (how rubbish is that?!).. which dvd dsks would you recommend for this drive? perhaps you have an updated firmware which would be very useful?
DISCinfo says firmware version for my drive is- CL02
............."
since i'm not much into burning, i cannot asses marias performance specs ;
i use the above drive for DVD-reading and RW-backups - and it IS slow, but
i must stress that my configuration allows NO UDMA. since the drive is
"illegally" sitting as slave on the second ATA controller channel, windows lets
it use only Multi-word-mode2 access.

maria,
when you start 3 threads, you tend to lose overview. in short :
1. notebooks were not meant as mainstream appliences, but rather for people
to work in the field - thus their devices cannot be compared with those of
desktops.
2. i think you never answered the question if the drive came with your
notebook - please do so. if it did, then your only SAFE source is the
notebook manufacturer. if it didnot, then you MAY be having the same
problem as i am - namely that of BIOS recognition for the drive.
can you BOOT from the drive ?? - if you can, then your drive is correctly
connected to the system.
3. GWA-4082 is a recent model and i don't think you'll NOW get a newer
firmware than both you and i already have : CL02. no matter which media
you use, expect half the speed of a desktop-drive for the same media.
LG recommends (and i use) for most of its drives - here simplified :
DVD+R/RW = verbatim, DVD-R = maxell, DVD-RW = JVC .
*please note that i'm not an expert at this,- for my usage it suffices.
for best compatibility with players/other drives, use '-R' (=maxell) ;
if you need 'RW', use '+RW' (=verbatim).

I have the same drive, and my firmware is is CG03
seem different version than you guy

This is normal, as any notebook manufacturer has its own firmware for the same drive hardware. And crossflashing normally does not work here.

Michael