I went one step further and compared FW1.04 with FE1.03:
Firmware Firmware
Version 1.03 Version 1.04
DEFAULT TBL DEFAULT TBL
RICOHJPNR00 RICOHJPNR00
MCC 001 MCC 001
CMC MAG R01 CMC MAG R01
RITEK R01 RITEK R01
PRODISC R01 PRODISC R01
LD 001 LD 001
BEALL P0001 BEALL P0001
DAXON AZ0 DAXON AZ0
OPTODISCOP1 OPTODISCOP1
DDDessauV10 DDDessauV10
MPOMEDIA001 MPOMEDIA001
DEFAULT TBL DEFAULT TBL
YUDEN000T01 YUDEN000T01
YUDEN000T01 YUDEN000T01
RICOHJPNR00 RICOHJPNR00
RICOHJPNR01 RICOHJPNR01
MCC 002 MCC 002
MAXELL 001 MAXELL 001
TDK 001 TDK 001
SONY D01 SONY D01
CMC MAG F01 CMC MAG F01
RITEK R02 RITEK R02
PRODISC R02 PRODISC R02
LD A02 LD A02
INFODISCR10 INFODISCR10
BeAll000P40 BeAll000P40
DAXON AZ1 DAXON AZ1
OPTODISCOR4 OPTODISCOR4
NANYA RJB NANYA RJB
GSC502 002 GSC502 002
MBIPG101R03 MBIPG101R03
IMC JPN R00 IMC JPN R00
DDDessauV20 DDDessauV20
MPOMEDIA040 MPOMEDIA040
POMSA0010R POMSA0010R
DT-D02 02 DT-D02 02
001 001
MEDIA ID001 MEDIA ID001
POMSC001002 POMSC001002
AML 001 AML 001
RITEK M02 RITEK M02
NANYA DR NANYA DR
LONGTEN 002 LONGTEN 002
DDT 01 001 DDT 01 001
DEFAULT TBL DEFAULT TBL
YUDEN000T02 YUDEN000T02
RICOHJPNR02 RICOHJPNR02
MCC 003 MCC 003
MAXELL 002 MAXELL 002
TDK 002 TDK 002
SONY D11 SONY D11
EMDP 000 EMDP 000
Philips 081 Philips 081
CMC MAG E01 CMC MAG E01
RITEK R03 RITEK R03
PRODISC R03 PRODISC R03
BeAll000P80 BeAll000P80
NANYA CHX NANYA CHX
DAXON AZ2 DAXON AZ2
OPTODISCOR8 OPTODISCOR8
IMC JPN R01 IMC JPN R01
PHILIPS C08 PHILIPS C08
MPOMEDIA080 MPOMEDIA080
MBIPG101R04 MBIPG101R04
INFODISCR20 INFODISCR20
INFOME R20 INFOME R20
MCC 003 MCC 003
LD S03 LD S03
DT-D03 004 DT-D03 004
SKYMEDIAR03 SKYMEDIAR03
MJC 003 MJC 003
GSC503 H01 GSC503 H01
LONGTEN 002 LONGTEN 002
NANYA CLX NANYA CLX
AML 002 AML 002
Plasmon1C01 Plasmon1C01
VDSPMSAB002 VDSPMSAB002
DDT 01 002 DDT 01 002
POS R01 POS R01
DDDessauV30 DDDessauV30
RITEK R03 RITEK R03
TAIYOYUDEN TAIYOYUDEN
MXL RG01 MXL RG01
TDKG02000000 TDKG02000000
MCC 00RG200 MCC 00RG200
FUJIFILM FUJIFILM
SONY
PVC001001 PVC001001
MCIG01 MCIG01
MEI0V001 MEI 00V001
PRINCO PRINCO
PRINCO PRINCO
RITEKG01 RITEKG01
RITEKG02 RITEKG02
RITEKG03 RITEKG03
CMC00RG200 CMC00RG200
CMC MAG. CMC MAG.
LD LD
Lead Data Lead Data
LEADDATA LEADDATA
OPTODISCK001 OPTODISCK001
NANYA P1861 NANYA P1861
MBI MBI
UTJG01001 UTJG01001
BeAll G00001 BeAll G00001
TAROKO-X2 TAROKO-X2
FORNEX001 FORNEX001
GSC001 GSC001
GSC001 GSC001
PRODISCG02 PRODISCG02
KIC 00RG200 KIC 00RG200
DDD DVDR DDD DVDR
4M SYS 202C1 SYS 202C1
TYG01 TYG01
MXL RG02 MXL RG02
TTG01 TTG01
MCC 01RG20 MCC 01RG20
FUJIFILM02 FUJIFILM02
SONY04D1 SONY04D1
PVCR001002 PVCR001002
MCI4XG01 MCI4XG01
RITEKG04 RITEKG04
RITEKM02 RITEKM02
PRINCO PRINCO
GSC001 GSC001
GSC001 GSC001
GSC002 GSC002
BeAll G40001 BeAll G40001
CMC MAG. AF1 CMC MAG. AF1
SKC Co.,Ltd. SKC Co.,Ltd.
LEADDATA01 LEADDATA01
LEADDATAA01 LEADDATAA01
NANYA-JC001 NANYA-JC001
TAROKO-MX4 TAROKO-MX4
OPTODISCK001 OPTODISCK001
OPTODISCR004 OPTODISCR004
DAXON004 DAXON004
KIC01RG20 KIC01RG20
LONGTEN 001 LONGTEN 001
FORNEX101 FORNEX101
MAM4XG01 MAM4XG01
POSG04 POSG04
ProdiscS03 ProdiscS03
LGE04 LGE04
Dvsn Dvsn
MBI 01RG20 MBI 01RG20
ME 153 ME 153
INFODISC-R01 INFODISC-R01
UTJR001001 UTJR001001
DATA TRACK DATA TRACK
DKM_01 DKM_01
VDSPMSAB 01 VDSPMSAB 01
AN31 AN31
Plasmon1A Plasmon1A
4M SYS 202C1 4M SYS 202C1
EDM 01 EDM 01
DDT01 DDT01
MAM4XG02
TYG02 TYG02
MXL RG03 MXL RG03
TTG02 TTG02
MCC 02RG20 MCC 02RG20
FUJIFILM03 FUJIFILM03
SONY08D1 SONY08D1
RITEKG05 RITEKG05
CMC MAG. AE1 CMC MAG. AE1
ProdiscS04 ProdiscS04
NAN YA A01 NAN YA A01
BeAll G80001 BeAll G80001
LGE08 LGE08
TTH01 TTH01
OPTODISCR008 OPTODISCR008
Dvsn-80
INFODISC-R20 INFODISC-R20
DKMZ01 DKMZ01
RITEKG06 RITEKG06
GSC003 GSC003
MBI 03RG30 MBI 03RG30
ProdiscF01 ProdiscF01
UME01 UME01
DAXON008 DAXON008
ENGAG5 01 ENGAG5 01
POMS3A POMS3A
GSC004 GSC004
KIC01RG080 KIC01RG080
DAXON008S DAXON008S
POMSI002
LEADDATA S03
IMC JPN R01
POSG06
MJC ME
MCC 00RW11N9 MCC 00RW11N9
PVCW000002A9 PVCW000002A9
TDK501saku]3 TDK501saku]3
JVC/VictorT7 JVC/VictorT7
SONY000000U9 SONY000000U9
RITEK000V11A RITEK000V11A
OPTODISCK001 OPTODISCK001
PRINCO PRINCO
ProdiscDVDRW ProdiscDVDRW
PVCW000001Q9 PVCW000001Q9
RITEK004V11 RITEK004V11
MCC 01RW11n9 MCC 01RW11n9
PVCW00D002K9 PVCW00D002K9
TDK502sakuM3 TDK502sakuM3
JVC_VictorW7 JVC_VictorW7
RITEKW01 RITEKW01
PRINCO PRINCO
OPTODISCK001 OPTODISCK001
TDK502sakuM3 TDK502sakuM3
JVC_VictorW7 JVC_VictorW7
CMCW02 CMCW02
Prodisc DW04
PVCW00V00245 PVCW00V00245
DAXON_RW2X01 DAXON_RW2X01
RITEKW01 RITEKW01
MCC 01RW4X MCC 01RW4X
TDK601saku TDK601saku
JVC0VictorD7 JVC0VictorD7
RITEKW04 RITEKW04
SONY000000U9 CMCW03 --> different
OPTODISCW004 OPTODISCW004
PRINCORW0004 PRINCORW0004
Prodisc DW06
MCC A01 MCC A01
RICOHJPNW01 RICOHJPNW01
PRODISC W01 PRODISC W01
RITEK 001 RITEK 001
CMC MAG W01 CMC MAG W01
INFODISCA01 INFODISCA01
OPTODISCOP1 OPTODISCOP1
SENTINELW01 SENTINELW01
NANYASC DRW NANYASC DRW
PHILIPS 010 PHILIPS 010
MBIPG101W03 MBIPG101W03
MKM A02 MKM A02
RICOHJPNW11 RICOHJPNW11
SONY S11 SONY S11
CMC MAG W02 CMC MAG W02
RITEK 004 RITEK 004
INFODISCA10 INFODISCA10
PHILIPS 041 PHILIPS 041
DAXON D42 DAXON D42
PRODISC W02 PRODISC W02
TDKplusWt12 TDKplusWt12
NANYA DRW NANYA DRW
OPTODISCOP4 OPTODISCOP4
SENTINELW02 SENTINELW02
MBIPG101W04 MBIPG101W04
MCC MCC
RICOHJPN RICOHJPN
PRODISC PRODISC
RITEK RITEK
CMC MAG CMC MAG
INFODISC INFODISC
OPTODISC OPTODISC
SENTINEL SENTINEL
NANYASC NANYASC
PHILIPS PHILIPS
MBIPG101 MBIPG101
MKM MKM
RICOHJPN RICOHJPN
SONY SONY
CMC MAG CMC MAG
RITEK RITEK
INFODISC INFODISC
PHILIPS PHILIPS
DAXON DAXON
PRODISC PRODISC
TDKplus TDKplus
WNANYA WNANYA
OPTODISC OPTODISC
SENTINEL SENTINEL
MBIPG101 MBIPG101
I've kept the same order as they appear in the FW, just in case this might be telling us something.
There appear to be 3 entities called DEFAULT TBL (look up tables ???), and they are identical for both FW.
Question1: What are they, and why are they identical for both FWs?
After that, there is the main section which has few differences which should be easily visible. I guess this section is where the writing strategies are defined???
Now I have a problem. I've tried to write three TRAXDATA 8x DVD-R discs (RITEKG05) on my Plextor 712A and all ended up in coasters with NERO giving an error message just after finishing the lead in.
I've asked Plextor if there's something wrong with my media, and they said that this happens because FW1.03 does not include a writing strategy for RITEKG05 - this will be fixed in the next FW they said! Now looking at the mid section it seems that RITEKG05 is there in both FWs.
Question2: Could it be that the presence of a code in this mid section does not mean that the writing strategy for that disc is actually included in the FW??? Plextor's answer would lead to this conclusion. Or maybe some of the media codes which are not yet supported by a certain FW, have default, generic strategies which are not yet optimised?
I haven't tried yet to write a Traxdata disc with FW1.04.
Question3: Did any of you had similar experiences with Traxdata media or other RITEKG05 discs?
The last section of the FW, contains some manufacturer's names and is also identical for both FWs.
Question4: Any idea what this section might be for?
I would very much appreciate if some of you who have experience in CD/DVD FWs can shed some light on these issues ...
PS. I've posted this yesterday and after few hours my post dissapeared???