WE DON'T HOST ANY FILES, WE ONLY TEST THE BURNING RESULTS. IF YOU USE THIS FIRMWARE MAY DAMAGE YOUR DRIVE AND VOIDS YOUR WARRANTY. USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK

- Introduction
Not so long time ago, a patched firmware released allowing users to "upgrade" the existing SOHW-812S->DRU700A adding the so called "Double Layer" burning feature. For various reasons the firmwares are not online anymore, but firmware for the 812S->832S "upgrade" is available! Both DRU700A and 832S are the exact same drives, so the testing was done anyway

WE DON'T HOST ANY FILES, WE ONLY TEST THE BURNING RESULTS. IF YOU USE THIS FIRMWARE MAY DAMAGE YOUR DRIVE AND VOIDS YOUR WARRANTY. USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK

- Used/Transformed drive
LiteOn SOHW-812S -> SONY DRU-700A

- Comparing boards between 812S (left) and 832S (right) (external link)

- Used Double Layer media
DVD+R DL Mitsubishi Chemicals

- Used Burning Software
CopyToDVD from VSO Software v3.0.16

- Used material
Gladiator - Special Edition Disc 1 (6.86GB)

- Pictures

* Nero Info Tool



* DVDInfoPro

- Burning Process

The burning process had 2 mysterious "delays"...

1)



As we can see the drive tries to become ready at 32:35, we press the continue button at 32:42, the drive continues not to be ready but finally at 32:46 recognizes the media

2)



At 32:48 the writing speed was requested however, the writing started at 33:28, 40 seconds later. During those 40 secs, the green led was blinking, we thought the drive halted when tried burning at the DL media however started burning...

3) The burning started



4) The burning finished with a total time of 38:39mins, higher compared with other DL recorders, probably due to the above mentioned delays

(in reply to emperor)

- Checking readability of the burned disc

a) Nero CD-DVD Speed v3.00 with the same drive (LiteOn SOHW-812S->DRU700A)



Perfect reading curve!

b) Nero CD-DVD Speed v3.00 Scan



The Scan results are not very good at Layer 1, but we believe the reported PI error rates are not realistic cause:

a) CDSpeed cannot set a low reading speed (1X/2X/4X), causing the drive to report high error rate
b) KProbe v2.1.0 can set for example 2.4X CLV but stucks at 50% at all times

(in reply to emperor)

Very good tests, is there somewhere i can get the Lite On 832 firmware to try on my 700a, having probs with 2x writing on all DVD-R media....

(in reply to emperor)

Hi, look at the bottom on this page.

(in reply to DaMacFunkin)

Nice work

(in reply to dragonA)

Hi all!!

I just baught this drive, do you think its worth it to flash it for the DL media? I've only burned one cd so far 4.5gigs at 8x with 4x media seemed flawless to me. I still need to learn what media is good for what, this site is an great place for info!!! I think i will learn alot for you all!!

Thx...

(in reply to Jason Caldera)

[Deleted by Admins]

(in reply to slugworth)

I would suggest to wait a while until more tests are done about the DL firmware...

(in reply to Deleted User)

Very much agreed! There is not enough testing right now to want to flash the drive, other than we know that it can be flashed!

Best to stick with what is working now, than to risk trashing a drive.

As stated above by our destinguised members, Minos and Emperor, when this media becomes available, you will NOT want to purchase it, as it will be exteremely overpriced.. be patient and wait a bit..... 2.4x DL is a SLOW writing method... Let's say... wait and see what develops!

(in reply to emperor)

It won't (and it can't) trash your drive or damage it in any way. The only way to harm a LiteOn is to deal physical damage to it. Unlike a number of other drive types, a even a horribly misflashed LiteOn can always be recovered.

All that can be said is that in the absense of DL media, none of the DL hacking that's been going on with NEC or LiteOn is really worth anything more than just a proof-of-concept (and a cute novelty :) )

(in reply to MP3Mogul)

Thank's for all your info on this!! I will stick to what i've got now and learn from all you Pro's here..

(in reply to code65536)

Better wait until safe assumptions been made from our team

(in reply to slugworth)

[Deleted by Admins]

(in reply to emperor)

Hah, awesome, just saved myself 100$ with this. :D

More feedback! My drive and the firmware are waiting for confirmation :)

(in reply to Deleted User)

(in reply to Nebuchadnezzar)