LG ( Hitachi?) GSA-4040B DVD Writer

[icvideo]

Yesterday I purchased the LG DVD DVD-RW / CD-RW DRIVE (Made by Hitachi?) GSA-4040B. From the spec’s I thought this would be a excellent player because it not only does what most newer player Multi-Format Writing players do: DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R, CD-RW but it also does DVD-RAM (3x) and at a cheaper price! My two consideration for a DVD writer was the Sony DRU-510A and the Pioneer DVR-A06U, but hey at this player was about 100 bucks cheaper. Reviews for this player were hard to find so I thought I would give you my thoughts about this DVD writer.

Installing the player was simple and the software that came with it was I thought was not worth installing (IMHO). My first project to test the drive and back up my MP3’s and some video’s.

To my big disappointment, the player took almost 45 mins to record a movie (4.3 G’s) onto a Memorex DVD+R 4X disc and used almost 90% of my CPU using Nero 6 on a AMD Athlon 1.4GHz system. After several disc’s and a few hours of frustration, I went looking for a firmware update. My current firmware was A104 and I flashed after reading the flashing instructions (do this at your own risk) it to A300 firmware that I found here:http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?download_id=1628 . I burned the same movie to a DVD+R 4X disc in under 14mins with only 10 to 15% CPU usage! Now I think this drive is great and so far, I am not having problems with it!

Spec’s are here: http://www.lgeus.com/Product/CD/GSA_4040B.asp

Enjoy!

[styles]

i also bought this drive a few days ago and i did not regret this.
but i would recommend to use DVD-R (minus) discs because the recorder handles them better than + discs. the record-quality is much better.

[icvideo]

Since I updated the firmware, I have not had problems with this drive and I think it is a very good burner. It works will all standard very well.

[MiniM3]

I also have the LG 4040B writer, I do have one question. I bought the e3Works DVD-R 4x media from Future Shop yesterday and i went to do some backups using Nero 6 Ultra and I could only write at 2x, when I am at the burn window, the drop-down only allows me to burn at 2x and no other speed is listed.

I have done the firmware update for the drive. Can anyone help me with this. Oh, btw, I can only get 2x speed using the software that came with the LG drive also. I'm confused, this is a 4x drive using 4x media and I'm only getting 2x writing speed.

thx.

M

[icvideo]

MiniM3,

" I can only get 2x speed using the software that came with the LG drive also. I'm confused, this is a 4x drive using 4x media and I'm only getting 2x writing speed. "

I have had this problem too. I purchased DVD-R 4x (Princo) and I am only getting 2x speed recording. I assume that LG needs to update their firmware? I purchased DVD+R 4x (Memorex) from Future Shop and it worked just fine. It burned a DVD in under 13 mins. I think that there must be a media compatability issue?

[MiniM3]

icvideo,

I've done the firmware update to the newest, still the same. so you're saying it writes to a dvd+r at 4x no problem just not the dvd-r right?

M

[icvideo]

MiniM3,

Yes it writes to a dvd+r at 4x no problem using DVD+R 4x (Memorex) from Future Shop but I can not get it to write 4x DVD-R using no Name type 4x DVD-R 's. I have heard that those same no Name type 4x DVD-R 's work fine in a Pioneer drive. :(
Hope LG fixes this!

[MiniM3]

icvideo, that is weird...

so what dvd-r media "does" work with 4x buring in the LG drives, that I would like to know.

M

[icvideo]

"so what dvd-r media "does" work with 4x buring in the LG drives, that I would like to know."

Yes, so would I. Contact LG and let them know about this problem.

[MiniM3]

I went out and bought memorex +r 4x media and it burns those at 4x no problem...you would think that LG would have seen this considering this is a more popular format.....doh.

M

[styles]

thats a common problem with all dvd burners. you just have to buy high quality recordables like memorex, verbatim, maxell, tdk ... and you will be able to burn them 4X if they are specified for this speed. if you buy cheap crap like princo dont wonder if you only can burn them 2X.

[icvideo]

"if you buy cheap crap like princo dont wonder if you only can burn them 2X."

I agree with your comment to a certain degree. Pioneer and Sony however both burned the same DVD-R 4x (Princo) that was a problem in the LG with no problems. Also, memorex, verbatim, and maxell DVD-R 4x are hard to find or very expensive.

[MiniM3]

well gentlemen, I pretty much gave up on the LG, after tons of wasted time and expensive coasters I took my LG back and got the Pioneer A06. Right off the bat, the pioneer picked up "all" my media as 4x as they should be. However, burning time has not improved. It's taking almost 45 minutes to burn a full dvd -r at 4x speed and I know it should be faster.

I will be spending some time playing around with this "speed" issue tonight. Anyone have any suggestions, please let me know.

my specs:

P3 866 CPU
512MB RAM
80 GB 7200 RPM HD
GeForce 4 64 mb video
pioneer A06 dvd-/+RW

thx.

M

[styles]

seems your decision was a mistake.
45min = 1x speed....
only because showing 4x speed doesn't mean automatically that the burning speed is really at 4x.
almost everyone has broblems with princos.
you should consider to buy better recordables. of course it is more expensive but you can be sure that your data will be readeable for years and you can burn at fast speeds.

[MiniM3]

styles,

read the threads carefully before you comment.

for one thing, I did not make a mistake in my decision, right off the bat, the media are recognized by my Pioneer as 4x writeable media and the LG did not.

Also, I am not only using princos but others as well, I have tested Princos, Memorex, Legacy (Ritech) and e3Works media on both Pioneer and LG DVD writers, and LG did not recognized any of them as 4x writeables and Pioneer did.

Plus, I found the problem as to why it was writing a 4x media at 45 minutes, my IDE properties in my windows 2k was set to PIO mode and not DMA, stupid little thing I overlooked. Once I changed that and rebooted, every worked great, I tested burning a 4x "CHEAP MEDIA" as you put it and it burned a full dvd in approx. 18 minutes...

You are correct on one thing, showing 4x speed doesn't necessary means it burns at 4x. But wouldn't you want your burning software to at least show it??? at least that way your software will burn it AT that speed instead of burning it AT 2x... so your statement is kind of redundant.

I prefer to use cheap dvd r's, from my experience with cheap cdrs I've really had no problems with "inexpensive" media for everyday stuff. When you are backing up as much as me, using $3.00 (cdn) media is just not economical. Of course, if i need to burn good quality video/audio, I will resort to the "higher" end media, but realistically, there isn't "that" much difference.

M

[icvideo]

Could someone who has the LG 4040B writer verify it can write DVD-R at 4x speed using Memorex, verbatim, Maxell or tdk? I know the writer works with DVD=R at 4x using Memorex discs but wondering if this player is having problems writing to DVD-R 4x?

[icvideo]

Could someone who has the LG 4040B writer verify it can write DVD-R at 4x speed using Memorex, verbatim, Maxell or tdk? I know the writer works with DVD+R at 4x using Memorex discs but wondering if this player is having problems writing to DVD-R 4x?

[Eldoodarino]

Another thing to consider in regards to cheap vs quality media is the longivity of it. 90% of my Princo CDR's from three years ago are unreadable, yet my Sony's from then are working 100% with no increase in errors.

I am not sure about how quickly the dye fades on DVD's, but it's worth the extra investment if you're burning archives or important files/movies/porn :)

I myself just bought the LG GSA-4040B today after messing around with my IDE cables for a bit to get it to work (gotta love having 6 devices on a RAID...not!) it has so far burned two movies flawlessly. I am using Maxell 2x media & CloneDVD. I have heard that this drive has problems with Memorex media but if you have a different story I would like to hear it. I dont want to waste $13 (5pack) to find out it is as I've heard. So far for $200CDN I am quite pleased...though I'm sure this drive will be $100 in a year from now.

[icvideo]

I bought sime Fuji DVD-R 4X and the drive works great.

[Eldoodarino]

I just bought some Verbatims that were unmarked (no designated speed) & they're burning at about 2x or so (25-30 mins), not bad for $2 each.

I'm leary to try Princo's but they seem to be the cheapest around (Vancouver BC, $1.60 for 4x).

[jisbister]

I'm hopeful somebody here can help me! I bought the LG GSA-4040b. Haven't tried burning any DVDs yet, because the unit won't even play DVDs properly. I uninstalled the PowerDVD and Roxio that came pre-installed on my machine from Dell, installed ALL software that came with the 4040b, installed the internal drive, XP computer recognized the driver. Problem is, any DVD I try to play skips and there is a crackle underlying all sound. (I am not using a special sound card so I don't expect fabulous sound, but the DVD player that came with my computer plays all same DVDs with no crackle). Anybody have any suggestions? I'm ready to return the burner and forget DVD burning....

[Eldoodarino]

How about returning it for a second unit? Might just be a defect.

Mine has a habit of making a loud click when I shut the drawer without a disc in the tray. It sounds silent if there's a disc in it though. Anyone else have this? Is it normal?

On a side note, I just got my first coaster. Was with a Pine 2x using CloneDVD. The second Pine worked fine. I am in the middle of the third one right now, here's to hoping it works.

[styles]

Originally posted by Eldoodarino

Mine has a habit of making a loud click when I shut the drawer without a disc in the tray. It sounds silent if there's a disc in it though. Anyone else have this? Is it normal?


that's normal. i have it too :)

[Eldoodarino]

Sweet, the first few times i thought it as a misalignment in the drive...but as ong as it's normal, I can deal with a click now and again (I'll just have to try to keep her perpetually working i guess)

[jisbister]

Sorry, I should have added that this IS a second drive! Went back to Future Shop yesterday for a replacement and the replacement has all the same problems.

[Eldoodarino]

I would be rethinking it too. Actually I am quite choked right now, Out of my last 5 burns, I've had two coasters (Pine Media), two succesful burns & one that is totally garbled at the end (Memorex). This could get quite expensive if things keep going this way.

[cameronf]

I purchased the LG GSA-4040B burner 2 weeks ago. I have had several problems including incompatability with my other DVD Rom and the inability to burn to DVD+R Disks. I have tried noth Memorex and Maxell disks.
I even went back to Future Shop and got another drive because I thought it was defective - same results!!

I have emaile dLG to see if they know the issue or if If I need some "firmware" update etc.. To be quite honest, I dont know what firmware is and I don't want to ruin my drive until I find out what it is and does.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[chuckster]

I have the GSA-4040B that came installed in my new Gateway. It's my first DVD writer. I'd like to know how to check my version of firmware and how to safely update it if need be.
Thanks,
Chuckster

[Storka]

i hate this drive, i bought it about a week ago and would like to burn something on it, but it is extremely picky. the media i have tried so far doesnt work, even good old trusty imation which always produce top notch media that has worked in every burning device i have purchased in the past. the latest media i have tried is the imation dvd-rw and once it is in the drive lag reads for like 10 minutes and eventually get no where with it. the suggested brands are so expensive, anyone found some good cheap media for this drive?

[Eldoodarino]

I have found that all media I've tried from blankmedia.ca has worked without a hitch. I bought a sample pack of DVD-R Ritek, Princo & unbranded Maxells...all burned flawlessly. I have also been using Maxell & Verbatim DVD-R without a hitch.

All in all the only media that I've had problems with is Pine & Memorex.

[Storka]

I got a TDK dvd+rw and it burnt fine... until i tried to format it or rewrite over. pos piece of crap gets data field error or something.
Edit:
This is the error log i get when ever i try burning on the dvd.


12:20:34 PM DVD-Video files reallocation started

12:20:40 PM Caching of files started

12:20:40 PM Caching of files completed

12:20:40 PM Burn process started at 2.4x (3,312 KB/s)

12:20:40 PM Start formatting disc before burning

12:20:40 PM Formatting disc failed

12:20:40 PM Invalid field in parameter

12:20:40 PM Could not perform start of Disc-at-once

12:20:40 PM Burn process failed at 2.4x (3,312 KB/s)

Dunno if a full copy of the log will help, lemme know

[stan]

to Storka
I had the same problem with Verbatim and Memorex and Nero60011. But when I upgraded to 60019 it seems to work fine now. By the way even before upgrading when I workd with DVD Authoring tools the drive worked fine with erasing and burning to DVD_RW. Hope this helps

[Storka]

yeah i managed to work it out after painful and costly trial and error, bloody nero, but oh well havent had any probs for the past 2 weeks so im happy

[adnan512]

I also bought LG GSA 4040B DVD writer and e3works 25pack DVD-R 4x media from Futureshop last month and it only wirtes at 2x. It takes me 20minutes to burn the dvd at 2x speed. I have upgraded the firmware to A301 still writes at 2x.

I have not tried any other media in this drive yet. Can anyone tell me what DVD-R 4x media is compatible with this writer? I did not have good experience with memorex in the past so I dont want to use memorex.

Has anyone used the DVD-R 4x (generic media) with plain white label on it.. It is usually sold in the Flea market. How is that media in LG writer...?


Thanks all in advanced.

[Eldoodarino]

If the white labelling isn't on the surface but sandwiched between the layers then it's Princo brand DVD-R. I am currently going through a 50 pack of this 4x media & have yet to have a problem. Note that my drive also does not burn faster than 2x on any media I've tried (Ritek/ Verbatim/ Memorex / Maxell / Princo). I am using firmware A300.

[daq]

I am not as lucky as most of you guys.

This burner only works with Maxell TDK that I bought from FutureShop.

I bought Princo 1x white and GOld 4x the drive could NEVER read the disc INFO, indicated that 'no disc'.

Today I bought 25pcs Mitsumi DVD-R 4x from FutureShop, it also tells 'no disk' when I put it in.

FW=A301

BTW, I flashed back to A300 and A301 either way I am still not 'seeing' these discs.

Help!

[adnan512]

daq,

I have only used DVD-R so far. Below is my experience with LG GSA 4040B I hope it is helps.

I bought my LG GSA 4040B from futureshop 2 months ago and still waiting for my $100 rebate. Initially, I had bought e3works 25 spindle from futureshop which gave me only 2x. I was kind of upset for quite a few days because I paid so much money and I was not getting 4x write speed. I finally went on LG website and updated the firmware to A301.

Anyways, the media I have found to be compatible with LG GSA 4040b so far is....

5 pack Maxell DVD-R 2x from walmart/future shop. Walmart has it cheaper than futuereshop. I like the media...

e3works from futuer shop only gives 2x. I dont like the media...

I bought a spindle of 25 Princo DVD-R 4x from Computer fest and it writes at 4x. I like the media..

I also bought a 25 spindle of Riteck DVD-R 4x from Computer fest and it only gives me 2x. I dont like the media

Star Media 4x DVD-R only gives me 2x. I dont like the media....

Maxell just came out with 5pack DVD-R 4x, I bought it at waltmart and it gives me 4x. I like the media..

I have also tried sony holiday 6 pack DVD-R 4x, it does give me 4X. very good media..

Finally, I have found Maxell and Sony brand to be speed compatible and because of high quality they work great with no errors or pauses on my DVD-Rs when playing in a DVD player.
I think I would spend a few extra bucks and buy Maxell or Sony.

[daq]

Thanks Dude.
Futureshop has this Mistumi 25pcs spindle for 39.99 and it averaged 1.60 each. I am really pissed that my burner does not see these disc. (mine is OEM). I doubt this might be a faulty one because it is OEM. However, I used maxell both dvd-+rw and -r with exactly speed they rated. And it burnt CD-r rw at great speeds too.
Let me know if anybody here have Mistumi works. I notice it has EXACT same packing label as 'Pine' brand named.

[adnan512]

DVD pauses when playing in DVD player!

Some people are having DVD pause problem when playing burned DVDs in their home DVD players. I was having same problem so I went on the Internet to find the solution but everyone had different opinion. One user forum said use Instant Copy and your worries will be gone…I still had the pause problem. Other user forum said make an image file and then burn it on DVD and that did not solve the problem.

Finally, through my personal experience and info from different user forum I have been able to play my burned DVDs without any pauses on home DVD player.

1. If you are using cheap DVD media like PRINCO, RITECK, STAR MEDIA, E3WORKS etc, compress DVD video and bring it down to around 3.5GB or so. If the original DVD size is around 3.5GB reduce it to 2.99GB. This has something to do with the outer edges of the DVD Media. You don’t want to write data all the way to outer edges of DVD. It is better to use DVD +-RW before your final burn. Then again if you are using Maxell DVD+-RW you wont have any problem with outer edges. I use DVD Shrink 2.x, which works great for me. Plus, you wont really notice the difference in quality with 5%, 10%, 15% compression. This should pretty much solve the DVD pause problem.

2. If you are using Maxell/Sony DVD media then you don’t even have to worry about too much compression. Just compress the DVD files enough to fit on the DVD media and burn it. I have not had any pause problem with Maxell or Sony media.

Hope this helps everyone who is having pause problem.
Feel free to share you opinion and add to this……

Thanks for reading my post..

[petee_c]

Originally posted by jisbister
I'm hopeful somebody here can help me! I bought the LG GSA-4040b. Haven't tried burning any DVDs yet, because the unit won't even play DVDs properly. I uninstalled the PowerDVD and Roxio that came pre-installed on my machine from Dell, installed ALL software that came with the 4040b, installed the internal drive, XP computer recognized the driver. Problem is, any DVD I try to play skips and there is a crackle underlying all sound. (I am not using a special sound card so I don't expect fabulous sound, but the DVD player that came with my computer plays all same DVDs with no crackle). Anybody have any suggestions? I'm ready to return the burner and forget DVD burning....

Make sure that your BIOS is set to detect (at least AUTO) the 'new'drive. It may not be configured properly at the BIOS level. Make sure the Master/Slave settings are correct.

P

[Paladine]

I have read this thread through, and find some of what is said kind of interesting and disturbing.

I too have a LG-4040B drive. And well it burns all media as stated on the media box (2X or 2.5X or 4X). No problems, just installed the drive with no firmware patches. And no issues.

I have done 15 backups to Memorex and SONY DVD+R media. No issues at all. Used Nero 6 to do the Burning and DVD Shrink 1.3 to 3.1 to Capture.

The issues with this drive seem to be about luck of the draw, system setup and expectations. I mean really, if I have ripping a DVD and Burning it, I am really not going to be doing anything else on my system. So CPU Usage is not a concern. And 2 to 4X difference...big deal. Time for me to watch some of the copies I have made. Just my take on things.

Now, not being an optics expert, but is their not suttle differences in the formulation of DVD-R and DVD+R which can affect the burn times? Example: Sony DVD-R I can only burn at 2X and Sony DVD+R I can burn at 4x. Just a thought.

And unless you a ripping and burning like a mad man, would not a better quality media be preferred for such a "precious" backup/copy??

Oh in regards to time, even on my lowly p3 933 with 768MB RAM I can rip, reauthor, and burn in under an hour!

Again, just my take on things.

[Storka]

Well I guess it's just the thought of paying for the 4X and not getting it that annoys people the most, I got a 25 pack of Laser 4X media and they only write at 2X but I guess i'll keep looking.

[Scortadict]

i got the same burner and i tried 3 brand of dvd. the first one i tried was the attera media, they are scrap only burn at 2x and the end of the movie block on the burner and on my panasoic dvd player. the second one i tried is the mitsumi dvd-r and they work ok(small glitch at the end with my dvd player) and they only burn a 2x with firmware A302. i tried the memorex dvd+r yesterday and it burned at 4x with firmware A302 but i didnt try the movie in the dvd player.

here some information i found on the firmware A302

New firmware Ver A302 for only GSA-4040B(4X DVD-Writer)

Improvement Point:Enhanced recording Speed of some DVD-R media

¡Ø Media Brand & Manufacturer ID
MEMOREX 4x CMCMAG.AF1
PRINCO 4x PRINCO
VERBATIM 4X MCC01 RG20
ULTRON 4x RITEKG04
SPEER 4x RITEKG04
FRODYE PRINCO
ULTRON RITEKG03
TRAXDATA RITEKG04
OCTRON - RITEKG03

[laser]

im interested in this dvdrom recording lg gsa-4040B

Work fine with al brands cd?

Works fine with shrink and nero?



The new firmware work ? o destroy the dvdrom?

COns:

Its rpc2 , but i dont know this unit work with region free program?
o the new firmware is multiregion unit?
Sorry my englis is poor

Help!

Thanks!:)

[Aquila]

It sounds like your burner(s) aren't getting the data streams fast enough. Keep an eye on your buffer level and see if it's dropping constantly. Have you checked your IDE settings (ie master/slave jumpers) and updated your motherboard's BIOS lately?

My 4040b works fine on the A302 firmware, but can still be choosy on what media it uses.

[Sneezy]

I've had my 4040B since early January. I've used Maxell, TDK, Memorex, Pine, and no-name, all with mostly good results (although for a name brand, I've had pretty bad luck with Memorex).

A few weeks ago, I had purchased a spindle of 4X Memorex DVD-R's. The first few burned fine, but then inexplicably the maximum speed for DVD's dropped to 2X. CD speed also dropped from 24X to 12X (despite using 32X rated media...again the first few CD's of the spindle burned at 24X).

I've tried Nero, I've tried Alcohol 120% for the CD's. I've tried rebooting, I've tried leaving the computer off for 12 hours just because. I'm using Windows XP Pro on an Athlon 1400 system with 512 Mb DDR Ram.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm thinking I may need to RMA the drive.

[tczack]

After hours of fiddling, I found a very low-tech solution to my problem with the LG (Hitachi) GSA-4040B not being able to burn DVD's that my DVD player on my TV could read. I upgraded the firmware on the drive, I tried 3 different burning programs (Nero, DVD XCopy, and CloneDVD, and by the way I like Nero the best), etc.

MEDIA....

I was using two different brands of DVD+R media, one from SOHOT, the other from SKY, and neither would even begin to play on my home system. I finally got tired of burning coasters, and tried an Imation DVD+RW that came with the drive, and voila, all is working fine. I need to go buy some better DVD+R and make sure, but this seems to be the culprit.