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Matshita DVD-RAM UJ870A Drive falls asleep...

Started by Sigurd, 2009.03.13, 08:20:56

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Sigurd

Hi,

inside my Lenovo SL300 there is a Matshita DVD RAMUJ870A Drive. This drive always works only for a few minutes, suddenly it "falls asleep" and the installation process of ECS 2.0 or any other OS/2 version stops. To avoid this I used an external USB DVD Drive to get ECS 2.0 installed.

But the same behavior when now using ECS. As long as i do not try to use the internal DVD everything works fine, but if i use it ones the WPS stops after a few minutes and I have to reboot. Pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del is not enough here.

I think it might be a problem with a powerstate or something like this, I already read the readme coming with the DANIS driver but found now solution. Tried the !BM switch without any result.

I appreciate any help.

Thanks

Sigurd


warpcafe

Hi Sigurd,

(hier auf Englisch, damit die anderen auch was davon haben ;) wenn Du damit Probleme hast, sag' Bescheid und wir schnacken offline...)

At first sight, I tend to agree: Most likely Lenovo wants to maximize battery life and so "shuts down" the drive when it's not needed, perhaps decreasing spin-down time too. But there is also a chance of a defect throughout a special hardware revision serie (further below). But first, let's assume it is a power-related incompatibilty. In this case it could be eCS's power management (ACPI) or the drives firmware.

Question - only to collect more information:
If you for example copy a complete DVD to harddisk and do this over and over in a loop... (say, for one hour)will the drive still fail after a couple of minutes or does it work OK as long as the drive is busy?

Next question:
How is the drive behaving in Windows (if you have that at hand)? No problems, same problems or different problems (like: "Sometimes when I start windows there is no DVD drive found") ?


Okay, and here are my suggestions:

First, I would suggest to check for a firmware update for the drive (Matshita/Matsushita/Panasonic). Perhaps the problem is known and they have a fix? Since I was unable to find information at Panasonic, yet the drive also comes in Sony Vaio models, here's a link that might help:
http://support.vaio.sony.de/downloads/info/info.asp?site=voe_de_DE_cons&url=Downloads/MT/F/OPD/MTFOPD-01596200-UN.exe&ip=MTFOPD-01596200-UN.htm
Note however that I googled around and found that the firmwares seem to be "locked" and quite varying in features/functions. Anyway...

The following is from http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=43775:

Quote
Hello,
Both drives really exist, UJ-870 and UJ-850 are based on Panasonic MN103S D2GSC Chipset, with different firmware.
There is also OEM version of UJ-850S (with firmware 1.20) & UJ-870 (with firmware 1.40) by default.
For instance Toshiba and Sony uses UJ-850 in their lappies, but with different firmwares specific to laptop vendor: Toshiba (UJ-850S),
Sony (UJ-850U, some models with S)

Main difference between these drives (and firmwares) is supported +- DL disc burning speed:
UJ-870 = 6x
UJ-850 = 4x

Any converting is basically possible,
but pay attention so different laptop vendors uses different firmwares cose of their own hardware or drive setting...

Since MatSHITa firmware update utility is "secured" & doesn't allow you flash your drive with improper firmware (vendor) version,
anyway - you can try it at your own risk:
• to UJ-870 v1.01
• to UJ-850U & S v1.61

Cheers
Note: original post (link above) contains links to the firmware files...

Also it can be worth checking at Lenovo if you have the latest firmwares for the SL300 as well?

Finally, it might also be the case that your drive is simply defective. Interestingly, I found the following on the internet (at http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=SL_ThinkPads&thread.id=978, bottom...)
Quote
Here is a little update on my situation. I called to the Lenovo support and they send me a new DVD drive. The drive I received and changed is the same Mat**bleep**a UJ870-model as my previous DVD drive. Only the revision (number) is slightly older. After a brief googling I found out that several users have had problems with this type of DVD drive.
In any case, it seems that the new - older revision - drive is now working perfectly.

Oh yes - and (if it is power-settings related) it could be worth checking ACPI switches from the eCS ACPI team at netlabs... perhaps there are ways to tweak power settings for a single device?

Hope this helps...
Thomas
"It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority.
By definition, there are already enough people to do that"
- G.H. Hardy

Sigurd

#2
Hallo Thomas,

let me say it in German:


VIELEN HERZLICHEN DANK!


Regarding Windows: I wiped out the preinstalled Vita Business (created DVD media from it before) and installed Windows XP Professional fresh from the recovery DVDs that are included with this Laptop as well (that was one of the reasons to buy this Lenovo Thinkpad: Vista Business AND Windows XP Pro). As always I use the OS/2 Bootmanager to switch between Windows and ECS 2.0RC6a.
But, as (for me) usual Windows XP has got no problem with this (as far as I can see now).


I will spend time at the weekend to follow all your tips and report any progress!


Ein schönes Wochenende!


Sigurd


warpcafe

Hi Sigurd,

okay - from your message I understand that the drive works without problems in Windows.
Then, most probably, it is some "Unverträglichkeit" (intolerance) with the power state stuff from eCS/ACPI that (perhaps) can be cured with either ACPI "parameters" or a more tolerant firmware...

Keeping fingers crossed for you!
(At least trying to give back a little support in exchange for all the great work you did for us! :) )

Regards,
schönes Wochenende,

Thomas
"It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority.
By definition, there are already enough people to do that"
- G.H. Hardy