haroldf Posted May 3, 2002 Report Share Posted May 3, 2002 Melissa, Anything new on the Samsung 308B drive problem? It's been over a month that I haven't been able to back up now. Harold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoocat Posted May 3, 2002 Report Share Posted May 3, 2002 I to am very interested in this. I just purchased Retro. Desktop and have a newer Dell with the Samsung 308B. And I'm just a bit miffed, as I did check before I purchased to see if the drive was supported. Any help would be greatly appriciated!!! Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldf Posted May 5, 2002 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2002 I guess we'll have to wait and see what the Dantz folks say. Do you know that your drive does NOT work with Retropsect? What firmware level do you have on the drive? You can tell by right-clicking on the My Computer icon on the desktop, and then clicking on Properties, then the Device Manager tab, then double-clicking on Cd-Rom, then double-clicking on Samsug, then clicking on the Settings tab and checking out the value for Firmware Revision. I have T100; my theory is that this is very old, and that is causing the problem. But I don't know this -- it's just my theory. Harold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoocat Posted May 6, 2002 Report Share Posted May 6, 2002 Hi, My symptoms are that Retrospect reports error #-105 and stops. But I'm afraid I don't know what version of firmware I have. And I don't have access to the system for a few days. So I'll look into that when I can. But as an aside note, I did check the Dell website and they do have an update for the 308B. It brings the drive up to version U005. But the reference text does not indicate it fixes any CD-R / CD+RW creation problems. So I would not be optimistic. I may install it later this week if I have time (which is in short supply right now) and see if that helps. But I'm also inclined to find out what the folks from Dantz have to say. The website for the download is: http://support.dell.com/us/en/filelib/download/index.asp?fileid=r40425 If you try it out and have success, l'm all ears! Thanks, Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldf Posted May 7, 2002 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2002 I have the same symptom. I am resisting updating my firmware before hearing from the Dantz folks since my drive works with everything else and I don't see a way on the Dell site to get back to the firmware version I am running if something goes awry. I'm real curious what your firmware level is when you get back to your machine. And if you are willing to experiment with firmware upgrades, I am even more curious if it solves this problem. Which version of Windows are you running? I am running ME. In my case, my drive failed and Dell shipped me a new drive with what I *think* is an old firmware level. Retrospect Express worked perfectly with my old drive/firmware level. Harold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoocat Posted May 15, 2002 Report Share Posted May 15, 2002 I finally had a chance to check things out. And I also have T100. So I decided to go for it and try the update. But, unfortunately, the firmware upgrade program would not update the drive. It identified the drive, and version, but instead of updating, it just said "SKIP". It's not an interactive program, and there's no real documentation. So perhaps either there is a jumper that needs to be toggled, or some other process to follow before updating. Sigh... Some news from Dantz would be helpful. Otherwise I'm going to have to figure out how to get a refund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldf Posted May 15, 2002 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2002 I am sort-of glad to hear that you have T100 firmware... it sounds to me like that may really be the problem here. OTOH, it specifically says in the Dantz materials that T100 is supposed to work. I see on the Dell web site that there are a number of firmware updates for the Samsung 308B drive. The latest one seems to be dated 4/9/02 and says << Firmware update for "Samsung SM-308B HH 8X CDRW/DVD Combo " Dell P/N 0J304 & 8H749 The update will create a bootable diskette that must be used under DOS (not under Windowed DOS box). This flash will update the drive's firmware to T104. The user will need to remove the floppy disc and then reboot the system before using the drive. If the firmware reflash fails ( e.g., system hangs, etc. ), reboot the system and try again at least twice. >> The last sentence does seem a bit weird, doesn't it? So does the comment about it needing a DOS system and NOT a windowed DOS box... depending on what operating system you are running, a native DOS system is not so easy to get nowadays! On Windows/Me, which is what I am running, you'd need to boot off what ME calls an "emergency diskette"! Dell ALSO has three other older firmware updates for this drive on their site, updating to firmware levels M002, M003, and XP01. Which firmware install did you try that failed to install? I THINK (but am not sure) that my old 308B drive was running firmware M002. Here is something that I thought was interesting about what Dell had to say on the documentation for the firmware upgrade to M002: << Dell engineering recommends to re-flash the drive to the M002 firmware before attempting to flash the drive to the M003 firmware (D4C03201.exe) to resolve any issues that are not specifically described in the M003 "Additional Information" description. >> I DO wish that Dantz figures out what is required to make this drive work with Retrospect Backup. I have not done a backup in over two months, and although I DO try to have stuff backed up by copying to CD-RW's, I really WOULD like a full system backup! Harold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyJ Posted May 16, 2002 Report Share Posted May 16, 2002 Dantz is actively investigating this issue. The majority of customers using this drive are not experiencing this issue, however, it is important to us to make sure that qualified drives work properly for everyone. We will post information as it becomes available. Because of the nature of drive testing, we cannot provide a time frame as to when information will be available. Testing is dependent of many factors. If we encouter a problem in the testing process that requires us to rewrite a driver, that can increase the time it takes to fix an issue. If we run into a problem and we need to work with the vendor of the drive to help them implement standard packet-writing commands better and/or to write and release drivers or firmware, that can increase the time it takes to fix an issue. Yes, it is frustrating, but we are working hard towards resolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoocat Posted May 20, 2002 Report Share Posted May 20, 2002 Hi Harold, Just another FYI. I did update to T104. I didn't help. I also examined an article from Microsoft (Q308591) regarding CD creation problems with Samsung drives. I tried the registry patch, but it too did not help in Retrospect. I am glad that I am still able to create CDs with Roxio's Easy CD Creator. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldf Posted May 20, 2002 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2002 Well, the fact that you upgraded to T104 and it didn't work presumably explains the delay with Dantz quickly dealing with this issue. I KNOW my drive worked with the Dantz software under the M002 firmware. But I also know that my drive lasted only about a year, and that Dell was hit with a HUGE amount of returns for this drive at the time my drive failed. I realize that this may be at least mildly paranoid, but perhaps firmware level M002 was doing something that it shouldn't have been doing? It does seem funny that they sent replacement drives with firmware level T100, which is presumably an older firmware level. OTOH, Dantz said that Retrospect Express would work with T100, and it clearly doesn't. Perhaps the current T100 firmware is different than an older T100? OTOH, my drive works with all other software except for the Dantz software. I really want this to be story that ends happily ever after. Either Dantz issues a new fix for this drive, or Dell posts a firmware update. BTW, the registry entries you posted about seem to be XP-related. I am still running ME, and a search of the Microsoft Knowledge Base for Samsung drives indicated that they sort-of recommended an upgrade to firmware level T104. Harold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldf Posted May 20, 2002 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2002 Amy, Thanks! I am just hoping it gets resolved quickly! Harold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoocat Posted June 3, 2002 Report Share Posted June 3, 2002 For anyone following this post, a status update on June 3rd from Melissa in a different thread... "The 308b drive - error 105 - We hope this to be fixed soon....We are working on this currently." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haroldf Posted June 3, 2002 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2002 Bob, Thanks for cross-posting this. Like you, I am patiently waiting (backup-less) for the fix. Harold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lv2ski Posted June 3, 2002 Report Share Posted June 3, 2002 Thanks for catching that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddcurry Posted June 3, 2002 Report Share Posted June 3, 2002 Gang, I reported problems with Samsung 303B in January in another thread -- I've got Firmware 103, which is the IBM version of the firmware. Now getting consistent "Media Failure" messages when I try brand-new TDK CD-RWs in the drive. No amount of futzing resolves the problem However, it is a different problem than the -105 errors of before, so perhaps that is a good sign? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lv2ski Posted June 3, 2002 Report Share Posted June 3, 2002 Both problems we believe to be related. We are working on an over all fix for this drive. We have not pulled support for this drive as some people are having "no" problems at all while using it. Although some are. Again, we hope to have fix out ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lv2ski Posted June 12, 2002 Report Share Posted June 12, 2002 You contacted us regarding problems with backing up to the Samsung 308B drive. We are pleased to announce that this has been fixed with the release of the Retrospect Driver Update (RDU) 3.0. This free RDU, for use with Retrospect and Retrospect Express 5.6 for Windows only, may be downloaded at: http://www.dantz.com/index.php3?SCREEN=updates_win Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyJ Posted July 24, 2002 Report Share Posted July 24, 2002 Some users have reported problems with backing up to the Samsung 308b drive. During backup, Retrospect would report an error 105 (unexpected end of data). Previously, we released the Retrospect Driver Update (3.0) to address this problem. For certain users, however, the RDU did not prevent this error. We are pleased to announce the release of RDU 3.1, which fixes the error 105 during backup for the remainder of our Samsung customers. Retrospect 6.0 and later users should not experience this problem. Newly supported devices in RDU 3.1 for WINDOWS Retrospect 5.6 Castlewood 5.7 Gb IDE Orb Drive Iomega ZipCD 16x10x40 Mitsumi CR-48XATE Mitsumi CR-48X9TE Mitsumi CR-48XCTE Seagate Travan 40 Seagate USB 2.0 Travan 40 (TR-7) Seagate USB 2.0 Travan (TR-5) Sony LIB-152E Sony LIB-302 Sony CRXP-90-MU Support for WORM media added for Sony SDX-500C (firmware update required) Download: ftp://ftp.dantz.com/pub/updates/rdu31.exe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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