Well,

Got a Dimension 4700 from Dell with the drive in question, and after a quick Google search, I am amazed at how many people have had problems with it.

I am on Dell chat right now trying to get them to send me a replacement drive, namely the NEC 3530A. They are telling me they can only do like-for like. I keep trying to explain to them that Dell puts various burners in their computers, and that it doesn't matter. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.

And... what is wrong with your Philips DVD8631 ?

Three coasters, +R, -R. One successful burn won't read in my 642P standalone. (and that reads EVERYTHING). Sucker's going back.

I have no probs w/ my 8631 flashed to a BenQ1620. It rips and burns really well and my DVP642 has never had a problem reading a disc burnt by it.

Cheers,

Jie

P.S.

What are your PC specs?
What media have you used?

I too was pissed when I got one in my Dell 8400. Then I started doing some reading about converting it over to a BenQ 1620. After The switch I'm very happy. Although I must say I don't use it to burn any movies, I just use it as Ripper. With Ala's MCSE speedpatch the thing is a ripping monster.... Dual layer pressed movies in about 10Min....I love it

My Dell DVD8631 sucked with the stock firmware it shipped with. I got more coasters than successful burns.
Now with DW1620 firmware I've burned a couple hundred disks with no coasters

yep you got to cross over to the B/side

I downloaded BenQ 1620's firmware but it keeps saying that it cannot flash my Dell's Phillips DVD8631. Can anyone provides some helps? Thx.

Hi.

You have to cross-flash it first. EG:

Step 1: Go here: http://dvdpro.club.st/firmware/BENQ_FW.htm

1. DL the B7T9 .cvt file
2. DL the WinDWFlasher
3. Flash your drive and reboot

Step #2:
Go here: http://ala42.cdfreaks.com/MCSE

1. DL the newest version of MCSE
2. DL official BenQ firmware (EG: B7T9)
3. Unzip and open MCSE. Load FW into MCSE.
4. Click the “increased read speed” checkbox. Hit Save.
5. Double-click the patched FW (it’ll say something like B7T9_speedpatched) and let it flash.
6. Reboot.

Cheers,

Jie

P.S. Guys, we badly need an FAQ.

Yep I was just thinking that you should copy that to MS Word and offer it to C0deking as he stated in another thread that he was working on an FAQ and you explained it well.

Success!!! I just got off the line with Dell and they are gonna swap my Philips drive for an NEC one. Wonder which one I'll get ND3520 or ND3530?

Its worth a 20min phone call to me. =P

Tks for the info. if i'm happy with my firmware can i just do read speed only?
and if it don't work correctly how do i un do it? My concern is that my firmware B7S9 is not shown on MCSE and the unit before this one i flash to B7VP and lost all over speed burning and since i couldn't find S firmware at that time ret unit to store and i got a new one, my 30 days are up on 6/3/05 so you can see i'm a little nervous about touching anything

You can apply the read speed patch only, if you want to, also on B7S9. There is also no problem with flashing back to the original firmware.

ala42 sorry to bother you but what is the read gain? right now using fab express i rip movie only 11to15 mins, and complete disc 15 to 24 mins depending on size and isn't riplock there so you can get quality read for a quality burn at high speed.
Once again thank you

The gain is half the rip time, single layer in less that 5, double layer in less than 10 minutes. Details are here.

the file that was produced on the save for read increase B7S9_speedpatched how do i excute that file?.

You should just double click it. That should do the trick.

Cheers,

Jie

I dont know if anyone still reads this thread but i too have a dvd8631 phillips drive...THe only reason that i want to flash is to be able to burn at 1x, and also maybe to get better read speed...Normaly I would just bite the bullet and follow the instructions but i want to make sure nothing has changed...
So basicly I would like to know what the most current BEST SOLUTION for this drive is...

1. Right now i have gd30.exe and can flash just fine.
But is this my anwser
2. Should i really cross flash...?
Basically I want to know what to do now...12/16/05
should i just follow this


"Hi.

You have to cross-flash it first. EG:

Step 1: Go here: http://dvdpro.club.st/firmware/BENQ_FW.htm

1. DL the B7T9 .cvt file
2. DL the WinDWFlasher
3. Flash your drive and reboot

Step #2:
Go here: http://ala42.cdfreaks.com/MCSE

1. DL the newest version of MCSE
2. DL official BenQ firmware (EG: B7T9)
3. Unzip and open MCSE. Load FW into MCSE.
4. Click the “increased read speed” checkbox. Hit Save.
5. Double-click the patched FW (it’ll say something like B7T9_speedpatched) and let it flash.
6. Reboot."

If those are the most current directions then cool but if thier needs to be a firmware change that isnt thier or if those firmwares have also been updated please let me know...

P.S. I have winDWflash.exe but am having trouble finding .cvt files thanks for the help everyone

You will never burn at 1X, and I don't know why anyone will want to burn at 1X, even if you plan to backup your PS games!!!!
Today's drives are designed to give the best result when burning at media rated speeds!!!

ok all is fine but I will still need to know what the newest firmware is....
Actually I would like to know with the updates of firmwares what the best firmware is for a dvd8631 wether it be benq or phillips...I just want the best drive for the money i paid for it.....But that speed increase does sound nice

ITs just hard for me to belive that thier have been no updates to better firmware since this thread died down.

also if anyone does reply i will need them to email the cvt files as all the links above are down.

With BQflasher you do not need CVT files!

ok with that being said what is the BEST firmware for the dvd8631


:EDIT: when i run benqflasher.exe it says loadlibraryaspi32.dll but i downloaded it...

:EDIT: NOw that i have that file it says error initializing aspi, then host adapter inquiry failed


then the program loads should i still run it.

Well I think the firmware i should use is b7v9 but as this may ruin my drive I just want that extra..."Yeah thats a good firmware" I have benqflasher but it still gives errors so i am afraid to use it...Please any assistance would be great.

You need to put the aspi driver in the same folder as BQflasher and the FW.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=149980

whatever FW is the latest for the 1620/pro is the one to use.