Hello all,

I see Code64K is a moderator for this forum. I am in complete awe of the work you and C0deKing did with OmniPatcher and the other LiteOn tools.

Would you, by any chance, be working on or know of any similar tools for the BenQ firmware files? I have noticed my new 1620 with B7P9 doesn't do RICOHJPN01 @ 8x anywhere near as well as my OP'ed 812s (in fact, it is absolute c#@p). It would be really nice to play around with write strategies and media "overclocking" on my own.

I am well aware of the implied warranty issues but I don't mind. What's $70 + some media? No big deal. I can't return the drive anyway so...

Such tools have been requested, and TDB have sent C0deKing and I information regarding the BenQ firmwares, including a disassembly, but to be honest, I need to refamiliarize myself with MIPS (only got a small dose of it in a class that I took years ago) and I haven't gotten around to looking at it yet, though C0deKing ( ) has looked through the stuff and from what he has told me, it sounds like it would be messy.

We're not ruling out possibly doing stuff for the BenQ, though. Time will tell.

From what I have read (and been told), I believe that most firmware development these days is done in a higher level language (most often 'c'). It's a real shame we can't lay our hands on the original source code.

I remember when IBM published the source code listings for the IBM PC BIOS, complete with comments. Hell, I learned X86 assembly language from studying those listings. Do you thing there's any chance we could get Benq to publish their source code? (Tongue planted firmly in cheek.)

Back about 15 years ago, I worked extensively with Sourcer (anyone remember that program?). Damned hard work, and I was being paid for it. My hats off to anyone who does this without pay.

In regards to: RICOHJPN01 @ 8x
I have come to believe that the drive is built for speed and that they're slowly dropping support of 4x medias. For marketability and sales, it's all about the "bling" factor of new media types rather than any backwards compatibility.
That's why I've got to wait until I've burned through some 200 Ricoh discs at 4x before upgrading the firmware. *somewhat irritated* I wish I could fine a vendor for that Philips c16 that works so beautifully at 12x. I guess that I would have to agree that newer media types are very important, but I sure would like the ability to control the overspeed settings. For instance, I cannot reliably use Norton Ghost with discs that are overspeeded. That's a real pain in the tail! I've got to use CDR to back up my computer now. The data quality of any DVD disc I put in this is burned at maximum speed is so highly questionable. We sure do need the option of shutting off that overspeed or changing write strategies.

Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Not unless someone infiltrates their HQ and steals the source code, but that ain't exactly legal. Companies are soooooo tight-fisted about this kind of stuff. If most DVD-writer companies are taking steps to scramble/encrypt their binary firmwares in hopes of thwarting disassembly attempts, you can bet that they would never release the source.

Isn't it possible to force your burning program to burn at, say, 8x speed and thereby turning off overspeed? Nero has this possibility, or do you think it doesn't work properly?

By the way, I noticed also that I got better results at 12x than at 2.4x. However, QScan recommended 2.4x and not 12x. Strange, isn't it? (Media are 12x certified MCC 003)