Help with writing to DVD-RAM

ianonline

UPDATE:

I've been doing some research (thanks to the cdfreaks forum, which looks to be a useful source of information - actually a bit TOO much !!).

I found this post which seems to sum up things rather nicely:

"Windows XP can read UDF, but not write. In other words, if you have a DVD-RAM disc loaded in your drive that was formatted and written to with UDF, it will be able to be read without any driver whatsoever. However, it will be read as "read only" with no drag-n-drop copy/paste/save write access available to it at all ('cause Windows can't write to it and treats it just like any CD/DVD with read-only privileges)

*A driver is only needed to format and/or write (in UDF format) to DVD-RAM discs. Formatting discs to FAT is not recommended on DVD-RAM discs (see wikipedia for discussions of UDF and linked article going into detail about UDF/FAT and its suitability/non-suitability to different mediums).

The UDF write driver is (quite rightly) supplied with Panasonic drives because Matsu!!!!a (Panasonic's parent company) make it, but quite often not with other manufacturers (eg. LG) causing poor users to hunt down hacked Panasonic drivers to format their DVD-RAM with UDF."


So it appears that there is no official UDF write driver for LG drives and the only option is to use a hacked version of the Panasonic driver. Does anyone have any experience of this and does it actually work ?

scotty

The LG drives are sold as either OEM or retail. OEM is cheaper but you do not receive discs with all the software. You need to get hold of a small program (driver) to format the discs. I found them here http://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=185624

ianonline

Thanks scotty. Unfortunately, those were old posts and the download links are dead, but there are probably more up-to-date drivers available now anyway. Presumably you had no problem with the driver you downloaded.

I think the drivers that are around at present are all "unofficial hacks" and not available or endorsed by LG. As I understand it, LG rely on third-party software for their more recent RAM drives (ie Nero InCD) which they ship with their retail units, although they do provide drivers for older drives (prior to model GSA-4120B).

This is a quote from another post I found on cdfreaks:

"Here's what LG has to say on the matter:

The drag-and-drop DVD-RAM drivers that come with LG drives are licensed from other companies and can't be posted on this site, but they are located on the CD that came with the unit.

Starting with the model GSA-4120B, Nero InCD is included with the unit as a DVD-RAM driver. InCD version 4.1 (and newer) has built-in support for DVD-RAM.

For older models, the DVD-RAM drivers can be found on the disc under a folder named 'Driver' or 'RAMDrv'. Or, you can use Nero InCD version 4.1 or newer. Nero InCD is part of Nero's CD/DVD software suite, a trial version can be downloaded from Nero. "


As I see it - it's a choice between using InCD or "risking" one of the unofficial drivers that are available. :think:

scotty

It was a couple of years ago and was for model 4040 with WinME OS. Files I have are unlikely to be of use for you.

Do you have Nero? If not, SVP have it for £1.94 (+P&P).
http://svp.co.uk/products-list.php?cid=139&PHPSESSID=cd572dd870d9c60076304985a432b494

ianonline

Yep, I've got Nero but I've managed to find an up-to-date RAM driver which I've downloaded and installed and it SEEMS to be working OK (... fingers crossed !).

Can't understand though why LG have stopped providing their own official RAM drivers for newer drives