Repairing a Liteon LVW 5001

[Toxie]

Hello,
after a bad experience with a LITEON LVW5001 i purchased a beautiful PIONER 520H and i'm really satisfied.
Now i would like to work on my old LITEON to fix it.
The main problem is that during a recordin i get a "record canceled" error message and i obviously get a unfiinalized and "empty" disc.
Does someone know the cause ? Overheating? Firmware bug ? Faulty internal drive unit ?
Is it possible to replace the internal drive ? Which model do you suggest ?
Thanks a lot for your kind answers!

[redwudz]

I'm not sure about your 'record canceled' problem, but you may be able to change the drive. I would imagine it would use a standard DVD burner. The problem might be the firmware may only work with the original burner model.

Pull off the case and take a look. If it has the standard 40 pin connector and 4 pin Molex power plug, maybe. Undoubtedly a 'Lite-On' burner, but I don't know how it would work with a different model burner and the one in it may be obsolete. It would cost you the price of a burner to find out, though.

[otpw1]

Does it do this all the time?
My ilo dvdr4 used to react to false macrovision on some of my older tapes. results: record cancelled!
The hacked firmware solved this.
Look up Guitarman, his site has the firmware that stops this.

[Toxie]

today i got a "write fail" message and recording was stopped
this time recording was readable

now i'm testing the latest firmware hacked with the guitarman prog
i'll tell you the results! thanks!


PS:
the hacked firmware i'm testing is
LNEB.2180.ds1.0101.024x

[RowMan]

What brand media are you using? When I got my first 5001, I got the same type of errors while using the cheapo CompUSA DVDs from where I purchased the recorder. I even had this trouble when I used the blank DVD that came with the unit! Since then, I switched to quality name brand media (Fuji, TDK, Ritek, etc.) and recording errors have been few and far between.

[Toxie]

i use Philips DVD+RW
today i got another "write fail" error after upgrading with hacked firmware
the liteon case was closed
i'll try to make cooling modifications..
then i'll try to replace the internal drive

[RowMan]

If that's the only media you have tried in it, I'd try a different brand or different type disc (+R instead of +RW) first before trying to physically modify the player. Some drives just don't like certain brands of discs.

If you've already tried different discs and/ or brands, I solved the cooling problem on my 5001 without having to install a fan. I just drilled a row of small ventilation holes on each side near the top of the case. Of course, remove the case first as to not get metal shavings inside the unit. I have two 5001s and, although the discs still do get a little warm, they don't come out HOT like they used to. They have been in use weekly since the beginning of the year with only the occasional write error.

[Toxie]

I solved the cooling problem on my 5001 without having to install a fan.

Did you get the "write fail" or "record canceled" errors ?
Unfortunately, for me they are not accasional.
Anyway i'm going to work on the cooling..
i hope i'll be lucky.

[RowMan]

I only got those errors using bad and/ or incompatible media. I don't feel this was in any way related to the heat issue, but since my discs were coming out hot to the touch, I knew there had to be something done about it in order to preserve the lifespan of the recorder in general.

[lordsmurf]

I gave up on my 5001. Mine is the very first production model. It has issues. Makes for a great SP recorder off cable, or a player. That's about it.

Latter ones were better than mine.

[ClondikeCat]

Hi there,

i now have an LVW 5001B with firmware 1176.

I brought the disc tray mechanism back to live by cleaning the wheels and the belt and changing the mounting of the motor to bring a bit more tension to the belt.

Now i want to apply LP hack but can't override existing 1176 (LNEB2176.DSU.upd.once.rar) with hacked 1176. Liteon website does not give me any LVW 500x firmware.

Will anyone please supply me with LNEB.2180.ds1.0101.024x ?

Thanks in advance and

greetz

... Cat ...

[MJA]

kitty kitty .some one is gonna chew your A$$ for resurrecting an old thread

[ClondikeCat]

Maybe,

but since i brought that unit back to life and Liteonsupport won't supply firm anymore it's very actual to me!

Google brought me here, so blame them then.

greetz

... Cat ...

[bevills1]

Did you try links from http://www.digitalfaq.com/dvdguides/buyerguides/dvdrecorders/liteontips.htm?

[ClondikeCat]

Yes bevills1,

i did. But there isn't anything to find for units sold in Germany, Netherlands, -> LNEB. UK Pal units take Firmware LNEBE.
So, even if there was a way to downgrade from 1176 there is no suitable fileset. Since 1176 is not downgradable the only help is LNEB 2180 or higher, but i think LNEB 2180 (FW 1180) is the highest version for LVW 5001B Motherboard REV.4 But even if a Hacked 098 would run, since there are only R1 NTSC (LNF..) and R2 UK (LNEBE) that all leads to north.

greetz

... Cat ...

[bevills1]

Note firmware sought by ClondikeCat is version 0101, and versions past 098 aren't hackable. Has the hack from http://www.ncc2315.com/ilo/ been tried on the 1176 firmware you have since it should work on all 098 and earlier firmwares? If that doesn't work, you might try search and/or post inquiry in the LiteOn recorder forum at http://club.cdfreaks.com/f102/.