SOT: BD-RE reads as BD-ROM

Kimberly wrote on 1/6/2013, 3:58 PM
Yesterday I bought an LG-CP40 Slim Portable Blu-ray Mutli Drive ($99 on-line and at Best Buy). Using DVD-A 6.0, I successfully burned a DVD-RW. Cool!

Then I tried burning a Blu-ray using a Sony BD-RE (made in Japan) but it reads as a BD-ROM. The problem isn't with DVD-A. Windows 7 also reads it as a BD-ROM.

I did some searching on the Internet and learned this is not uncommon. I was hoping there is a driver update but nothing that I found. There was also discussion about how BD is still in its infancy so there is still much inconsistency among media brands.

The only suggestion was to try another brand of BD-RE. Made in Japan products are suggested, particularly Verbatim and Sony (which I'm using).

Any ideas?

Regards,

Kimberly


Comments

john_dennis wrote on 1/6/2013, 4:19 PM
I have BD-RE disks from Sony and TDK and they both work in two different LG Blu-ray drives. Make an .iso from Vegas and/or DVDA and try ImgBurn to see if it will recognize the media as rewritable.

Select Mode / Discovery then Tools / Drive and there will be lots of options to deal with the drive and disks, not the least is an easy locator for firmware updates.
Kimberly wrote on 1/6/2013, 5:30 PM
Thanks for the reminder about ImgBurn. I'd forgotten about that.

Two questions:

1. I tried the link to firmware updates. It took me to a page with 197 choices. How do I know which is the right one?

2. ImgBurn sees my disk as a BD-ROM for the current profile, but it recognizes that it is a BD-RE (see below).

HL-DT-ST BDDVDRW CP40NG10 1.00 (USB)
Current Profile: BD-ROM

Disc Information:
Status: Complete
State of Last Session: Complete
Erasable: Yes
Sessions: 1
MID: SONY-ES1-002
Supported Write Speeds: 0x

TOC Information:
Session 1... (LBA: 0)
-> Track 01 (Mode 1, LBA: 0 - -1)
-> LeadOut (LBA: 0)

BD Disc Information:
Disc ID: SONY-ES1-002
Disc Type: BD-RE
Disc Size: 120mm
Disc Class: 0
Disc Version: 2
Number of Layers: 1
Layer Type: Rewritable
DVD Layer Present: No
CD Layer Present: No
Channel Bit Length: 74.50nm (25GB Per Layer)
BCA Present: Yes
Maximum Transfer Rate: Not Specified
First PAA of Data Zone: 131,072
Last PAA of Data Zone: 1,658,494

I'm nearly there but a piece missing.

Regards,

Kimberly
john_dennis wrote on 1/6/2013, 5:58 PM
ImgBurn told me my drive model number and firmware level and went right to a place where I could download the next higher level.

Have you tried erasing the disk? Try Quick first.
Kimberly wrote on 1/6/2013, 6:26 PM
Have you tried erasing the disk? Try Quick first.

Yep, tried that. It fails and gives the "Oh nooooooo" error : (

I will have a closer look at the ImgBurn update. I probably missed something obvious. Thanks for your help!
videoITguy wrote on 1/6/2013, 8:09 PM
Reading a BD-RE by a certain app or os as a BD-ROM is not necessarily a bad thing. This is actually an interchangeable desigination (yes, I know it should not be).

What is more important is does the firmware of your writer recognize blank media for what it is. If it is a blank, will the writer write to it.
This is based on a handshake between the firmware and the manufacturer code of the media. Sometimes it is necessary to update firmware, but it not necessarily a guarantee things will go right, sometimes they will go SOUTH!
Kimberly wrote on 1/6/2013, 9:26 PM
BD-ROM = no burn because it says the disk is full and I cannot erase.
Former user wrote on 1/6/2013, 9:59 PM
Kimberly,

IF this is the drive that you have, that is a BD-ROM drive, not a Bluray burner.

http://www.cdrlabs.com/Optical-Drives/LG-CP40NG10-Super-Multi-Blue-Slim-Portable-BD-Combo-Drive.html

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/LG+-+8x+External+USB+2.0+3D+Blu-ray+Disc+Double-Layer+DVD%26%23177%3BRW/CD-RW+Drive/3794001.p;jsessionid=A2C63F0CD9C4253412925CF0608E8013.bbolsp-app03-64?id=1218432163829&skuId=3794001&st=LG-CP40&cp=1&lp=1#tab=overview

Yep, read only for Bluray

Dave T2
Kimberly wrote on 1/6/2013, 10:35 PM
IF this is the drive that you have, that is a BD-ROM drive, not a Bluray burner.

Yeah I'm just now figuring that out myself. Oh crap! Okay now looking for suggestions on an external BD burner, preferably without a plug-in-the-wall power cord. I thought I'd found that . . . how embarassing! And I read the box very carefully with my Dollar Store readers.

I found a plug-in-the-wall LaCie on NewEgg. I've always liked LaCie, but I'm open to other suggestions.

On a side note, any idea whether my LG will plug-n-play in an older Apple Mac computer? A friend overseas wants me to bring him an external DVD burner next week . . . that would save my having to return it to Worst Buy!

Thanks everyone for your help and for not laughing too loudly while I'm still in range to hear you : )

Regards,

Kimberly
Former user wrote on 1/6/2013, 10:39 PM
Hate it when that happens. ;)


All of the listings I saw mentioned it would work on Pc or Mac. I guess it depends on how old the mac is and whether it is USB 2 or 1.


Dave T2
john_dennis wrote on 1/7/2013, 6:20 PM
For about 20% more you can get a Blu-ray writer that might actually work.