Battleangel

PARTIAL success!

Or so it seems. I must however admit that I’ve only done a limited number of discs so far (Ritek G04 DVD-R at 4x). And I haven’t bothered with a post-burn analysis of the discs either (like KProbe). I’m just happy that I could get it to work and that I don’t have to return the unit and get a Nec or something. This was a very elegant yet unexpected way to wriggle out out of this problematic situation. It’s not often this happens in Real Life.

Once again, if you own a 401S and feel like giving this a spin then by all means stop by the new LDW-401S@411S Tweak Page. Updated with new eeproms and media results.

EDIT: After having actually done KPROBE tests and tried to read from the discs I am less optimistic. The results are overall very bad. NONE of the Ritek G04 discs that I have tried are working 100%. All of them have intolerable error levels, some of which make the discs just as good as coasters. Please note however that just since the error levels are high doesn’t mean that the hack is useless. It might be just a media incompatibility. It is the first firmware for the 411S after all and it’s likely that there are some issues with various media.

I should try another media type / manufacturer before I throw in the towel but this sure doesn’t look good. Also I will update Nero to 6.0.0.19 and do a 2x burn to see if it changes anything. No it didn’t. The problem is still that time is running out. I have only a couple of days to decide if I want to try and send the unit back for a refund (obviously I’ve taken every precaution so that it will be virtually impossible to tell that the drive has been unpacked and used).