Verbatim 52x24x52 CDRW (Lite-On) $19.99 AR @ Best Buy

[DaveR]

Yup...been in Hardware for TOO many years now. Now work with the Biggest servers...used to be main frames and storage!

That is my tagline at work along with..."If it is not on fire, it is a software problem"!

Originally posted by: codeyf
ROFL!!! So true for us h/w geeks.....

Originally posted by: DaveR
Yes, you must be!

Remember, "If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is"!

Originally posted by: codeyf
lol, everyone is worried about flashing their drives just so it shows up as a Lite-on....I still haven't gotten around to flashing my LO 40x12x48 to a 48x burn. I'm such a lazy bum!

 

[ZippyDan]

i picked up a verbatim. unfortunately, i cant seem to get to the firmware... when i use mktflash, it says Firmware version: type unknown or something like that and when trying either reading or writing, it just freezes at 00%.

any suggestions?

~Zippy!

 

[Harvey]

ZippyDan -- Are you sure the drive you got is a Lite-On? A Lite-On looks like the drive pictured on the Verbatim box. It has one button at the right end shaped like a cold capsule with long, parallel top and bottom edges and semicircular ends. Reading on the left end, left to right, you should see a round jack, the horizonal knob, the LED (same shape as push button, but smaller).

If the drive you got doesn't look like that, it is from another maker, and mtkflash won't work.

 

[ZippyDan]

im not sure i have a lite-on, but i have a lite-on 40x cdrw in the computer right next to it, and they are physically identical in every aspect, except for the sticker on the top of the drive which says verbatim. and both drives correspond to your description exactly

plus, serial number was 12 digits, all numbers, and are both similar

~Zippy!

 

[ZippyDan]

a helpful anadtech member here tipped me off to the /c option of mtkflash, which unlocks something, and which allowed the program to succcesfully read, write, and otherwise recognize the firmware on my verbatim. unfortunately, after writing the lite-on firmware to the drive, i got this experience

"Be careful, *someone* I know burned up a Verbatim trying to flash it...not sure what went wrong, all the on-screen prompts said "OK" during flash, but after reboot the PC wouldn't recognize there was even a drive attached to the system, and the tray would not open, green light stayed lit at all times. Drive was toast."

and

"That's the way the instructions read, but I tried to do that and my drive hosed on me. I assumed my Verbatim drive was a Lite-On based on the serial number being all digits, but it did not like that 6S0A firmware flash at all. I couldn't even flash back to the original Verbatim firmware I just just successfully read from the drive."

and

"Dude, I tried. First thing I did was use mtkflash to back up the Verbatim firmware that was already on the drive. I went ahead and flashed the LiteOn FW thinking that I can always go back to the Verbatim...well mtkflash reported no errors, said OK at every step, I rebooted and nada...no drives detected. Tried to flash back to the Verbatim FW, again mtkflash gave no errors, said OK at each step...rebooted and nada, still no drive detected. The drive was secondary slave, no other drives attached, and mtkflash was 1.62 I believe. I assumed I could go back to the Verbatim FW, and I couldn't...be warned. "

an exact description of my experience. except i had to use /c, and i did use /m on the read (m doesnt apply to write as far as i can see), so my file sizes were 512kb for both the backup verbatim firmware and the new liteon firmware. neither works on my drive!! light just stays on, bios wont detect that a drive is attached, i cant open the tray, going back to old firmware does nothing...! help?

~Zippy!

 

[hasu]

Will MTKFlash work with all kinds of drives and firmware?
I read somewhere that it works with only with a particular type of EEPROM or something. I dont have a link, though.

 

[unclebud]

here

 

[adsouthpaw]

Not sure if it may help some, but a few months ago, I purchased a TDK drive from BB that was a rebadged Lite-On. I had trouble with the latest version of mtkflash working with my drive for some reason. I was eventually able to download an older version which worked great the first time I tried. If you are having problems and are certain you have a Lite-On you may want to try another version of mtkflash.

 

[ZippyDan]

woo thanks! based on your advice and desperate to try anything, i downloaded and tried version 1.55 which worked great! i didnt even have to use the /c switch. the second the update was complete, the drive started working, didnt even have to restart. thanks a lot! newer version isnt always the best it seems i now have a Lite-on

~Zippy!

 

[sprint113]

Originally posted by: Slowpc
I grabbed this deal this morning (with the 80gig hd at staples and the 100pack cdr's)
I did not get a Lite-on , but i got the Asus 5224a , and that is still a nice drive.
Was a good replacement for my LIteon 12x .

I also went for this drive to put in a comp I was building after seeing that it appeared to be a Lite-on OEM. But the drive looked completely different from the one on the box, and the serial showed that it was an ASUS. Meh, still 52x24x52x as advertised and ASUS is a good company. Just funny that some ppl got Lite-ons and we got ASUS... strange ... really strange

 

[Ranger X]

Originally posted by: sprint113

Originally posted by: Slowpc
I grabbed this deal this morning (with the 80gig hd at staples and the 100pack cdr's)
I did not get a Lite-on , but i got the Asus 5224a , and that is still a nice drive.
Was a good replacement for my LIteon 12x .

I also went for this drive to put in a comp I was building after seeing that it appeared to be a Lite-on OEM. But the drive looked completely different from the one on the box, and the serial showed that it was an ASUS. Meh, still 52x24x52x as advertised and ASUS is a good company. Just funny that some ppl got Lite-ons and we got ASUS... strange ... really strange

Yup, not all drives sold were Lite-Ons. ASUS, in comparison to Lite-On (when benchmarked), was inferior. It is still a nice drive but for the same price and packaging, it is definitely better to get the Lite-On.

ZippyDan, are you able to burn without errors now that you've flashed your Verbatim to a Lite-On? People have reported that they weren't able to burn correctly after a successful firmware update.