Optical Disc Drive Compatibility: CD
From Redump Wiki
A list of Optical disc drives compatible with the Compact Disc format (CD-ROM, CD-Audio, etc) which includes many retro console discs.
See also: Optical Disc Drive Compatibility and Optical Disc Drives: CD Incompatible
Contents |
Plextor brand Drives
Proper CD dumping requires optical disc drives to support a range of features. Certain models of Plextor brand drives in particular are most compatible and reliable.
Best Plextor Models: Easiest & Recommended
Your drive should have the final firmware installed. The final firmware is linked below on archive.org for most models.
| Model | IDE | SATA | SCSI | USB | USB/Firewire | Notes | Multisession¹ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premium | Premium | Premium-U | The Premium is sometimes referred to as the PX-W5232TA. | Yes | |||
| Premium2 | Premium2 | Premium2U | ? | ||||
| PX-708 | PX-708A | PX-708UF | The PX-704A is seemingly a cut-down PX-708A, only sold in China and rebadged in Japan (Buffalo DVM-H44FB, Kuroutoshikou DVDRWX4244PX). The PX-704A is not yet tested, buy with caution. | ? | |||
| PX-712 | PX-712A | PX-712SA | PX-712UF | The PX-708A2 / PX-708UF2 is seemingly a cut-down PX-712A / PX-712UF2. The PX-708A2 / PX-708UF2 is not yet tested, buy with caution. | ? | ||
| PX-716 | PX-716A Buffalo DVM-DM16FBS PX-716AL | PX-716SA | Buffalo DVM-DM16U2 | PX-716UF PX-716UFL | Buffalo DVM-DM16FBS / DVM-DM16U2 are rebadges of the PX-716A. The China-only PX-714A is seemingly a cut-down PX-716A. The PX-714A is not yet tested, buy with caution. | Yes | |
| PX-755 | PX-755A | PX-755SA | PX-755UF | Yes | |||
| PX-760 | PX-760A | PX-760SA | PX-760AUF | Yes | |||
| PX-W4012 | PX-W4012A PX-W4012TA | PX-W4012S PX-W4012TS | PX-W4012U PX-W4012TU | Yes | |||
| PX-W5224 | PX-W5224A PX-W5224TA | PX-W5224TU | Yes |
Plextor Drives with Known Limitations
Exercise caution, read notes before buying.
| Model | IDE | SATA | SCSI | USB | USB/Firewire | Notes | Multisession¹ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PX-W4824 | PX-W4824A PX-W4824TA | PX-W4824U PX-W4824TU | Not recommended to buy for dumping many Audio CDs / Enhanced CDs: 1. Unable to read full lead-in (only 1 second of pregap is available) 2. Illegal TOC discs may need dumping with --force-qtoc (Redumper) or /fulltoc (DIC) 3. Some reports of issues with CD-Text on Multisession CDs Otherwise, PX-W4824 dumps are still acceptable for most Audio CDs. | Partial |
Plextor Drives with Severe Limitations
DO NOT BUY! Some of these may be technically supported and capable of dumping certain types of CDs, but have various limitations or potential issues so are not recommended.
| Model | IDE | SATA | SCSI | USB | USB/Firewire | Notes | Multisession¹ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PX-40 | PX-40TS | Scrambled mode is slow, no 0xBE opcode support (0xD8 only) | ? | ||||
| PX-W1210 | PX-W1210TS | Model may have firmware bugs that affect offset, needs to be looked into. | ? | ||||
| PX-W4220T | PX-W4220T | Model may have firmware bugs that affect offset, needs to be looked into. | ? |
¹ Multisession support is regarded as compatible and accepted through the Redumper dumping tool.
Notes regarding specific drives and capabilities
- IDE models can be used on laptops or desktops using a USB Adapter. UGREEN / Kingwin brands are often recommended but anything using the Innostor IS611 chipset
- Additionally, IDE models can be used on a Desktop tower with a cheap card, or with a 5.25" IDE USB enclosure (can be found on eBay or similar, but supply might be scarce).
- SATA drives can be hard to find or expensive, it may be easier to buy an IDE model + IDE->USB adapter. Note that most IDE adapters also support SATA drives also.
- SCSI models can only be used with a Desktop tower with a cheap card (no laptops).
Suggested eBay search terms
To search ebay quickly, you can use the following searches. Only use one at a time, as otherwise the search text will be too long and it'll give an error.
-
(PX-760AUF, PX-755UF, PX-716UF, PX-716UFL, PX-712UF, PX-708UF, PX-708UF2, Plextor Premium2U, Plextor Premium-U, PX-W5224TU, PX-W4012TU, PX-760SA, PX-716SA, PX-712SA, PX-760A, PX-755A, PX-716A) -
(DVM-DM16FBS, PX-716AL, PX-712A, PX-708A, PX-704A, DVM-H44FB, Plextor Premium2, Plextor Premium, PX-W5224A, PX-W5224TA, PX-W4012A, PX-W4012TA, PX-W4012U, PX-W4012S, PX-W4012TS)
LG & ASUS Drives
Plextors are preferable, as more testing is needed for these
- Dumps from the following drives (with good firmware) will be accepted under the following circumstances:
- They are new discs or verifications of CDs consisting only of a single data track
- They are verifications of Data CDs that also have audio tracks
- For pure Audio CDs, we are presently only accepting dumps made with Redumper and drives from the list of Recommended Plextors above.
Background
LG and ASUS branded blu-ray drives manufactured by Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS) using the MT1959 chipset are capable of scrambled reading and have C2 error reporting, making them potential candidates for redump compatible drives.
To determine if a drive is redump compatible, it is not sufficient to know the model name, you must also read the sticker's manufacturing date and the PCB date code to know what your drive is internally.
There are at least four "platforms" made by HLDS that use the MT1959 chipset: JB9, JB8, JB7, JBC5. The drives based on the newer JB8 platform are what redump recommends if you are looking to make a purchase.
Compatible Models
CD-ROMs with some write offsets are not acceptable for new disc redump submission (i.e. if Redumper has "LG/ASUS: searching lead-out in cache" in the log).
Redump verifications are acceptable for all CD-ROMs when using JB9, JB8 (only firmware versions listed below), JB7, and JBC5 drives, regardless of write-offset.
Only drives with the JB8 platform can be cross-flashed to the recommended JB8 custom firmware that makes all CD-ROM dumps acceptable for new discs.
The below table outlines only retail model numbers that are known to have at least some drives released on the JB8 platform.
The 'Compatible Firmware' column lists the firmware version for JB8 drives that are acceptable for verifications no matter the write offset.
If you are not using the custom JB8 firmware, only certain firmware versions will work out-of-the-box with Redumper (use custom flags).
| Model | Compatible Official JB8 Firmware | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Asus BC-12D2HT ✱ | 3.00 | BD Reader only (cannot burn Blu-rays). Older models are JBC5. |
| Asus BW-16D1HT ✱ | Up to 3.02 | "BW-16D1HT PRO" model is identical. Older models are JB7. Note: The "BW-16D1HT a" (a suffix, found on Aliexpress) is not JB8. |
| LG UH12NS40 | 1.00 | BD Reader only (cannot burn Blu-rays). CH12NS40 is untested. |
| LG WH14NS40 ✱ | Up to 1.02 | Only newer models (SVC code NS50) are JB8. |
| LG BH14NS40 ✱ | Up to 1.01 | Only newer models (SVC code NS50) are JB8. |
| LG BH16NS40 ✱ | Up to 1.03 | Only newer models (SVC code NS51) are JB8. |
| LG WH16NS40 ✱ | Up to 1.02 | Only newer models (SVC code NS51) are JB8. |
| LG BH16NS50 ✱ | 1.00 | Korea-only model? Older models (2015, v0495) untested, may be JB7?. |
| LG BH16NS55 | Up to 1.02 | |
| LG BH14NS58 | 1.00 only | Japan-only model? |
| LG BH16NS58 | 1.00 only | Japan-only model? |
| LG WH16NS58 | 1.00 | VER:"1.V1" untested. |
| LG BH16NS60 | 1.00 | JB9-based drive. Can be cross-flashed to JB8 custom firmware. |
| LG WH16NS60 | 1.00 | JB9-based drive. Can be cross-flashed to JB8 custom firmware. |
✱ Older (approx 2015 and earlier) productions of these drives (PCB code JB7 2011.11.17 or JBC5 2012.05.02) are not cross-flashable to the recommended JB8 custom firmware and may brick your drive if you attempt to flash it.
Other MT1959-based drives with firmware that supports scrambled reading and C2 error reporting may be acceptable in the future given further testing, however they should be purchased only by those willing to invest their time and money in testing and on the understanding that they may eventually prove to be incompatible for use by Redump.
Technical Note: In theory, the MT1959-based drives can produce good dumps for mixed-mode CDs when there is a negative combined offset (disc write offset of less than -6, as MT1959 has a read offset of +6). DIC and Redumper are able to dump CDs with greater than -6 write offset by reading the drive's cache, however it is not always reliable and as such is not acceptable for new disc submissions in redump. The recommended custom JB8 firmware avoids having to read from the cache to dump CDs with any write offset (as well as enables unlimited lead-out reading), therefore a JB8 drive with the custom firmware should in theory produce good dumps for any mixed-mode CD. The only technical limitation for audio CDs is the inability to read the first 15 of the 150 sectors in the pregap. This is not a problematic limitation however as the majority of audio CDs do not have audio data that far into the pregap, and Redumper can alert the user for CDs where this occurs. Despite all this, all discs should always be dumped twice to ensure matching hashes, and Redump is not currently accepting new submissions for mixed-mode or audio CDs using JB8 drives until further testing is done to obtain the same level of confidence as Plextor dumps. For more info, see the detailed research notes at Compatible LG/ASUS Optical Drives
