Multiple discs with read errors

[JT5298]

BTW, does this forum have the ability to PM?

[Rich86]

yes - click on the name to go to the user's info & message from there - or just click on the symbol to the right of the name.in the forum.

do you recall any changes made in your system between when the drive was working ok with DVDFab and when problems started?
new program installs? op system changes?

[JT5298]

I have not been backing up many discs lately. The last one before these 2 was Top Gun Maverick. This was in November 2022. It had read errors too. but burned successfully and only had one hick-up when I played it back.
I can't think of any new changes to my computer. I did change from Norton antivirus to Windows defender, but that was quite a while ago. What kind of change would effect this?

[Mona]

I have not been backing up many discs lately. The last one before these 2 was Top Gun Maverick. This was in November 2022. It had read errors too. but burned successfully and only had one hick-up when I played it back.
I can't think of any new changes to my computer. I did change from Norton antivirus to Windows defender, but that was quite a while ago. What kind of change would effect this?

Maybe you can try to uninstall the drive and then reconnect using a different USB port to see the result.

[JT5298]

Maybe you can try to uninstall the drive and then reconnect using a different USB port to see the result.

It's an internal drive. Tried uninstalling and reinstalled. Still same result. Did not unplug the cables though.

[october262]

It's an internal drive. Tried uninstalling and reinstalled. Still same result. Did not unplug the cables though.

try going into common settings - general settings - click the factory default settings button in the
lower left corner of the general settings area, restart dvdfab and retry your discs again and see if there's any change.
this will reset dvdfab back to default settings.

[JT5298]

try going into common settings - general settings - click the factory default settings button in the
lower left corner of the general settings area, restart dvdfab and retry your discs again and see if there's any change.
this will reset dvdfab back to default settings.

I can see if this works. At this point I will give anything a try.

[Rich86]

I realize I am pushing this back to beginning questions and steps, but here goes.
I believe I read that your drive is a LG WH16NS40. Does it have SVC NS50 printed on the label on the top of the drive? It must be SVC NS50 to be HD/UHD "friendly".
Did I also read that it has firmware 1.03 installed? Isn't firmware 1.03 & higher incapable of handling 4k media in this drive? I believe it needs to be on firmware 1.02 or lower to handle 4k discs.
Is your firmware 1.03 LG issued firmware? If not, where did it come from?

[JT5298]

I realize I am pushing this back to beginning questions and steps, but here goes.
I believe I read that your drive is a LG WH16NS40. Does it have SVC NS50 printed on the label on the top of the drive? It must be SVC NS50 to be HD/UHD "friendly".
Did I also read that it has firmware 1.03 installed? Isn't firmware 1.03 & higher incapable of handling 4k media in this drive? I believe it needs to be on firmware 1.02 or lower to handle 4k discs.
Is your firmware 1.03 LG issued firmware? If not, where did it come from?

Yes my drive is a LG WH16NS40 SVC NS50 with 1.03 firmware when purchased. I explained what I did with makemkv in my pm I sent you. I believe the best way for me to get things back to normal is to flash the drive back to 1.03 using the LG website firmware. Then I can use the UHD drive tool from dvdfab to downgrade to 1.02.

[Rich86]

Yes my drive is a LG WH16NS40 SVC NS50 with 1.03 firmware when purchased. I explained what I did with makemkv in my pm I sent you. I believe the best way for me to get things back to normal is to flash the drive back to 1.03 using the LG website firmware. Then I can use the UHD drive tool from dvdfab to downgrade to 1.02.

You might try launching the UHD drive tool and see if it is willing to install DVDFab's 1.02 firmware directly over the makemkv 1.03 firmware you have in the drive. If that doesn't work, then maybe follow the steps you outlined above. I believe LG firmware version 1.03 and higher are encrypted. But if you have firmware 1.03 from makemkv installed, it is probably not encrypted. I expect the UHD drive tool will inform you what it can or cannot do and require you to tell it to proceed before it actually does anything (at least that is how it has worked for me).

[JT5298]

You might try launching the UHD drive tool and see if it is willing to install DVDFab's 1.02 firmware directly over the makemkv 1.03 firmware you have in the drive. If that doesn't work, then maybe follow the steps you outlined above. I believe LG firmware version 1.03 and higher are encrypted. But if you have firmware 1.03 from makemkv installed, it is probably not encrypted. I expect the UHD drive tool will inform you what it can or cannot do and require you to tell it to proceed before it actually does anything (at least that is how it has worked for me).

Not sure if you read my pm or not. When I used makemkv to flash my drive from 1.03 it told me explicitly I needed to flash it to LG WH16NS60 not 40 1.02 firmware. Which is what I have on it now. When dvdfab looks at my drive (not using the drive tool) which I have not purchased yet, it tells me I have a LG WH16NS60 drive not a 40 drive.

I guess I did not think about the firmware from LG being encrypted. That may not be the route to go then. I am not wanting to spend the money on the drive tool to downgrade my drive if it still won't work properly.

[Rich86]

Yes - I did read your messages.
So, to clarify, your WH16NS40 SVC NS50 drive thinks it is a WH16NS60 & it is running firmware 1.02.

I have a real WH16NS60 drive and it is actually SVC NS60 & came with firmware 1.03 in it. The UHD Drive Tool installed firmware 1.00 in it to permit copying/ripping from 4kUHD media. The drive works fine.

I also have a WH16NS40 SVC NS50 that came with firmware 1.05 installed from the factory. The Drive tool installed firmware 1.02 in this drive to enable 4kUHD media handling. It also works fine. I expect this is where you would want to end up for your drive.

If you launch the drive tool from inside DVDFab, will it look at your drive and state what it can or cannot do? Or does it just say you need to buy it?

Can whatever tool you used to install the makemkv firmware in your drive also permit putting the drive back where it was originally? However, messing around with cross-flashing firmware versions can be dangerous, so proceed carefully so you don't brick your drive.

[JT5298]

Yes my WH16NS40 SVC NS50 thinks it's a 60 with 1.02 firmware.

The drive tool will not look at my drive and do anything until purchased unfortunately. I asked the forum at makemkv if this is possible to flash back to 1.03 firmware. The response was yes, but need to know if they have a 1.03 firmware that is not encrypted, or can I use LG website's firmware. I know 1.05 is encrypted, but not sure about 1.03.

Just got a response from makemkv and it was said that the 1.03 firmware from LG will work.

I guess either way I would like to have a drive that can read and write UHD discs eventually. I just want to be able to back up Blu-ray discs right now with no read errors.

I guess I will try and flash my drive back to 1.03, then I will be back where I started. I can try what october262 recommended about resetting dvdfab and see what happens.

[Rich86]

I wonder if tracking down a WH16NS40 firmware 1.02 for your drive and installing that wouldn't solve all this is.

[JT5298]

Flashed the drive from LG website to 1.03 firmware. Restarted the computer. I then uninstalled the drive, unplugged the cables then restarted the computer again. I did what october262 recommended and reset dvdfab. Tried Paranorman, Puss and Boots, and A Man Called Otto. Every disc gives me read errors.

The only thing that makes any sense to me is that when dvdfab is analyzing the disc, from the cloud server is where the problem lies. The discs play fine on the computer and a standalone player. There has to be some setting, probably a simple button click that will solve this problem.

Short of purchasing a new computer, new burner, and reinstalling dvdfab, I have no idea what to do next. This is the most frustrating thing I have ever had to deal with.