Lite-on 411S Bad Firmware Release

[LeeJend]

On christmas eve lite-on posted a bad FS0G firmware update. They took it down several days latter after numerous trouble reports. They never mentioned that it was bad and have not posted any way to remove it. The lite-on firmware installers are designed so you can not roll back to an ealier firmware.

The worst symptom is pretty much total loss of RW capability. Most DVD RW blanks do not work with the FS0G firmware. Data read reliability has also been reported as affected on +/-R DVD blanks.

After scouring www.CDFreaks.com I found the tools needed to replace the defective firmware now or you can wait for lite-on to issue a working update to the FS0G. Since it's been 11 days already I got tired of waiting.

MTKflash (version 1801) and an earlier binary format firmware file (FS02, FS0F) should be loaded on your C: drive or a blank floppy.

Set your DVD as master on your secondary ide channel. Disconnect any other optical drives from the secondary ide channel. Mtkflash could inadvertently write to them also.

Boot from the old DOS boot disk. Select option 2 (without CDROM support).
Insert the floppy with the firmware file on it or change drives to C:
Type mtkflash 3 W FS02.bin at the dos prompt and hit enter
Reboot

You can now use the FS0F installer from lite-on to restore the latest working firmware from Windows. I showed flashing the FS02.bin and setting the drive to the secondary master (3 in the command) because I know this procedure works. You can find more info on mtkflash at cdfreaks and the other links posted.

MtkFlash is here (use the 1801 version):
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=83441

Firmware is here (FS02.bin):
http://dhc014.rpc1.org/mtkflash.htm

Win 95/98/ME DOS Bootdisk maker is here:
http://dhc014.rpc1.org/indexOEM.htm

Lite-on tools can be found here (note several did not work for me):
http://dhc014.rpc1.org/indexOEM.htm

 

[dreamliner77]

It's not too often you hear of Lite-On messing up firmware. They're usually really good at constant updates.

 

[LeeJend]

Update:

Lite-on finally came out with a legal release (FS0H) to update their bad release (FS0G). The new release is still no good burning +RW 4x media so I got pissed and returned the burner.

I'll buy another burner when the DVD Burner companies stop false advertising on their capability. Most burners will not handle +RW media (especially 4x) other than RICOH which is very hard to find in the USA. Saying they are +RW compatible is really stretching the truth.

If all you're interested in is ripping commercial DVD's onto -R media then the current DVDs are fine. If you plan on doing data backup hold up a while. DVD writeable media quality is still unreliable. I've seen many posts about one spindle working and the next not being able to read after a burn.