Need a cheap one to run on a fairly old PC (Gateway 500Mhz) with win2k.
Any suggestions? Seen one at Insight for 30 quid + VAT but I don't want to pay that much if I can help it. And yes, I am a tight git :D

Ta muchly
Mark

I've got a 4x cd burner somewhere you an have for £10 (plus £5 P&P)

Sh!t you don't want much do you!!!!

here http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...rice&order=ASC they start at £22.40 + Vat.

here http://www.refreshcomputers.com/acat...ml&CatalogBody you can get the highly acclaimed Liteon 52x for £33 (retail boxed including one CDRW & one CDR)

When they are only £25 upwards your kidding youself not to buy one. Most new drives will have Burnproof or Buffer Under Run technology which as you are using a slow PC I would say is a must.

Stu...

Think I'd better explain the short arms, deep pockets bit.

Trying to do a mate a favour. His PC, the Gateway, has got a CDRW that has given up the ghost. Win2k sometimes 'saw' it as a CDRW and sometimes as a removable device. The PC's BIOS then failed to recognise the drive at all. Bu66ered drive me thinks (unless anyone knows different).
Anyhoo, this chap's a bit strapped for cash...

So, cheers guys, I'll check those links out :D

Mark

OK so his burner will be worth more than his PC, but hey he'll make some nice CD's!!

On a serious note, have you tried flashing the firmware on his drive?? My 40x liteon went not unlike you describe, I flashed the firmware and all was well, even took the opportunity to flash it up to a 48x!! All after I had spent my £33 on a shiny new 52x of course!!!

Hmm...not thought of flashing the firmware. I'll check it out

Stu_WRX: What do you mean, flash it up to 48x? I have the LTR-40125S (40X 12X 48X) drive - are you saying it's physically capable of 48x writing? How did you find that one out? Lite-on's site has a number of firmware downloads for that drive which incorporate support for additional media types, but nothing that mentions a speed increase.

Ta
Andy.

Seem to have a fundamental problem flashing the CDRW. BIOS will not detect the piece of junk on either channel, master or slave.
Patience has expired. Time to fix it with a new 'un and damn the expense :D

Mark

AndyC_772 - Yep. I have the same drive as you and it is possible to flash the drive with bios from the 48/12/48 drive. I downloaded the required tools, but decided that an extra couple of seconds really wasn't worth risking the drive for.

If you want the info to do it, drop me a mail as I have the link at home.

DJ Dunk is right, I've mailed you the stuff you need.

Stu...

Cool, thanks :D

Edited to add that it works fine and burns with no errors on 48X media :D

[Edited by AndyC_772 - 8/19/2003 9:01:09 PM]

Mark: the drive not being recognised by the BIOS could just be a dodgy IDE cable. Try replacing that before you junk the drive.

Gladyou cracked it mate - it is easy isn't it.

Stu..

Andy

Don't think it's the cable. The PC I tried the CDRW in (not the Gateway) already has a CDROM that works just fine. I swapped the drives, made the CDRW the master etc, no joy. I also tried the CDRW as slave on the primary IDE, nope. More bizarre was later when I tried the CDRW on cable select with the CDROM as master. The CDRW suddenly appeared in win2k. I tried flashing the firmware as previously advised but that repeatedly failed even when I had loaded the necessary ASPI drivers. Anyway, after several reboots the CDRW vanished.

Frustrating ain't the word

Mark

Mark: OK, not the cable then. It's always worth checking, though, IDC type connectors aren't especially reliable. I'm a professional electronic engineer, and I hate them.

Stu: Thanks for the tip, I always thought the drives looked suspiciously similar, but flashing firmware from the wrong drive is usually a way to end up with a boat anchor. Interesting to see in this case that it works; the 48X firmware seems to work quite differently to the 40X, in that it keeps the disc spinning at constant speed (CAV) and writes at a continuously increasing speed, rather than zone-CLV which it used to do.

Andy

Yes there was lots of discussion about it on the net and in fact there is a forum dedicated to it. It's not just 40 - 48 there are upgrades for many liteon and rebranded liteon drives. The firmware isn't wholly a 48x drive firmware it's a modified file.

Stu..