The 1620 OEM I got today came with the G7Z9 firmware. I called BenQ and talked w/3 different Tech reps and none were aware of the Z firmware that I was referring to, but they said it was possible the drive was flashed w/something new before it left the factory.

In any case, which firmware should I be using with my drive? Why are some people cross-flashing to the B firmware? Are there any non-official firmware's that people are using and why?

Thanks

Bdog

Has anyone tried again the G7T9 firmware (is it still available only from shuttle?) with Disc Quality Scanning, i.e. is PIE/PIF/POF reporting working with it? In a thread below, someone states in G7T9 it does not, while in B7T9 is does.

I am still not inclined to cross-flashing as my BenQ works fine so far with G7P9, but it is not even 2 days old and I want to stay with OEM fw at least for the first 90 days to be sure not to void warranty should the drive be one of those dying quickly.

I also just got a 1620 (actually I/O site says it's a 1620A) and have the G7Z9 firmware. Wouldn't that be newer than the G7T9 (thinking that since Z comes after T)? Thanks.

"Z" is very very OLD...
Ask around...
The experts will tell you that...

The difference between both P versions was just a few bytes, but between the T versions there are real code changes.

I just got a replacement drive today for the one that I RMA'd. The drive that I returned was a retail drive and had B7P9 on it, but the one that they sent me appears to be OEM (which I'm not that happy about since I sent the box, software, and manuals back) because it has G7Z9 on it. I burned one disk and it actually burned very well, but I'm considering cross-flashing anyway.

My question is this - since my original drive was retail, I should be able to "cross-flash" without voiding the warranty correct?

Well I would say, no - as you cannot crossflash with BenQs own updater (besides the DW1620 bulk - DW1600 retail - DW 1620 retail trick). You have to use WinDWFlash or so and I feel using a 3rd party flash tool would be something like "unauthorized servicing" or so.

If you send in Retail and got back OEM, they cheated you - but you are still not allowed to simply crossflash! Ask why you got Bulk when you sent in Retail.

In the meantime, I would flash from G7Z9 to G7L9 and then to G7P9, to have the latest firmware mostly identical to the retail firmware.

Thanks, BeachHobo, I appreciate it. Now I wonder from doing a bit of reading if I'm better off to make it a "B" instead of "G"?

I just this week received a new 1620 from Newegg, my 2nd 1620, and very cheap too. It came with the G7Z9 firmware, and I immediately flashed it to B7T9 using tools from the unofficial Benq firmware page here:

http://dvdpro.club.st/firmware/BENQ_FW.htm

What you want is the B7T9.CVT file and the WinDWFlash.exe windows flashing tool. Works like a champ, and I see absolutely no reason why this should influence your warranty status -- after all, this is an official Benq firmware, not modified in any way.

The only reason to stay with "G" is for warranty purposes...

Thanks, Henry. Any special instructions I need to know about?

An email regarding this was only very vaguely answered, but what I read from it and the legal agreement you accept regarding warranty (from the BenQ site) was:

- using a third party flasher is considered unauthorized maintenance by BenQ
- you have no "license" to use BenQ firmware on your bulk drive

Whether this would void warranty they refused to tell me. I would think they wont find out if you did it. But legally, everything but using a program BenQ releases via their website for your specific drive is unauthorized servicing. Only official patches/updates are considered legal user servicing. Now guess why the B firmware upgraders do not upgrade your G fw drive?

Some people told about DW1620 bulk -> DW1600 -> DW1620 retail. I am not sure about this, but as your drive is no DW1600, the first step would be ... unauthorized servicing again, probably.

I think this sucks ... but common sense or logical conclusions are not necessarily consistent with legal matters.

If someone were able to get a real answer from BenQ regarding this it would be great if he could post it here. The German/European BenQ service is a POS only and the people sitting there dont know sh!t from chocolade. Sorry to have to say that.

Regards.

I currently have a I/O Magic (1620). I assume it's an older unit because it came with G7C9 firmware. Anyway I flashed it to G7M9 firmware and then to G7Z9. It worked like a charm, burning 8x Velocity (MCC 003) at 12x with no trouble (takes about 6:30 for a full disk). When I went to flash to the supposedly newer G7T9, the utility told me it was older than what I already had. Is this true? Or is the "T" firmware really newer?

yes G7T9 is much newer then Z9 no one is sure why.

Thanks. I guess I could flash it again, but I really don't see where I need to at this point. It burns the media I use (MCC 003 and R03) so I'm happy with the drive right now.

hope you enjoy the drive...and welcum to purple...

I got I/O magic a couple of days ago from Circuit City. It was made in August, when BenQ drives were better quality. It was no brainer for me to flash to BenQ right away. You always get better firmware support from OEM then from resellers. I remember buying Cendyne drives year or two ago and imediately flashing them to OEM, normally Lite ONs. Where is Cendyne now? I would wait forever for firmware upgrades from them.

Hey Greese please forgive this post as it is not your fault. This is not directed at you. But,

Looks like everyone one is infected with this nonsense.

agree....ngry: