What is driver Firmware, and why do I need it?
A2. DVD burners optimize their ability to write to different brands of DVDs by internal “write strategies” that control the laser power and pulse settings to maximize its accuracy with each different dye formula, reflector density and plastic doping chemistry for each brand of blank DVD disc. When a disc is inserted, the drive reads the factory media ID off the disc and queries its internal list of known disc brands and write strategies. If the disc is listed, then it uses the write strategy for that disc. If a write strategy for a particular disc brand is not present in the drive’s firmware, it tries to estimate how best to write to the disc by writing to the small re-writable “power calibration” area on each unknown disc type to see which power setting might produce best results for the unknown disc brand. In some cases, the firmware is unable to produce reliable burning with a particular disc brand, and rejects the disc as having a “power calibration error” or “illegal disc” or a si
