Is my WH16NS60 just plain junk?

[AlloAllo]

When covid hit, lots of intermediate manufacturers worldwide, but especially in china, reduced output and or closed, or became more expensive. This was part and parcel of what happened with the semi conductor shortages.
There is a good chance that they used the same specs but either sourced intermediate parts from a different manufacturer or they startdd using a different site/company for assembly. Whatever the cause, it does sound like they must have modfiied their manufacturing process.

[asmcom]

When covid hit, lots of intermediate manufacturers worldwide, but especially in china, reduced output and or closed, or became more expensive. This was part and parcel of what happened with the semi conductor shortages.
There is a good chance that they used the same specs but either sourced intermediate parts from a different manufacturer or they startdd using a different site/company for assembly. Whatever the cause, it does sound like they must have modfiied their manufacturing process.

Yes, very good point and I think you could be right in what you say.

Asmcom

[thirdgen89gta]

I may look into a Pioneer drive. Before you posted I had already bought a new WH16NS60, this time with a 4yr Asurion plan for when it will eventually go out.

But new drive has arrived, so far, I've ripped 2 of many unrippable discs that would fail catastrophically before. So this WH16NS60 appears to be working fine. Working on disk#3 now, "300" 4k.

I might keep this old WH16NS60 around for blu-rays, but maybe I'll toss it and replace it with a Pioneer.

[thirdgen89gta]

So here I am, not even a year later, and I've started having several 4K discs fail to read on my WH16NS60 drive. Just plain fails to mount them in the OS and the drive shows empty. I'm so done with this crap.

Picked up The Last Starfighter 4K Remaster, and it wouldn't read the disc at all. Replaced disc from Amazon, new disc same behavior. Both discs immaculate with not a single imperfection visible, perfect mirror finish. I've also had a few others not read or start reporting errors while ripping after mounting.

I think it's time to give either the BU40N or the Pioneer drive a try. Gonna have to start reading up on them so see which direction to go.

[Billycar11]

Pioneer got them in stock

[Coopervid]

So here I am, not even a year later, and I've started having several 4K discs fail to read on my WH16NS60 drive. Just plain fails to mount them in the OS and the drive shows empty. I'm so done with this crap.

Picked up The Last Starfighter 4K Remaster, and it wouldn't read the disc at all. Replaced disc from Amazon, new disc same behavior. Both discs immaculate with not a single imperfection visible, perfect mirror finish. I've also had a few others not read or start reporting errors while ripping after mounting.

I think it's time to give either the BU40N or the Pioneer drive a try. Gonna have to start reading up on them so see which direction to go.

Always clean UHD discs with liquid soap and warm water. Then dry with a microfiber cloth as used to clean glasses. This applies also to brand new discs out-of-the-box.

[TheCrazyCanuck]

I have killed quite a few LG and ASUS BD drives over the years so it's not just you. Lasers wearing down is pretty common in optical media, ask anyone that owned the original Playstation I switched to the Pioneer BDR-212UBK that I managed to buy a bunch off of Amazon around August last year. It sounds like that Pioneer model might be hard to find now but if you can get your hands on one I have nothing bad to say about them and liked that I could use it as is without having to flash it.

[thirdgen89gta]

Always clean UHD discs with liquid soap and warm water. Then dry with a microfiber cloth as used to clean glasses. This applies also to brand new discs out-of-the-box.

Tired of that answer, as its just plain lazy posting, don't bother posting, been there done that, cleaned discs, same BS problems.

Disc can't be read, OS barely can't see it as a readable disc half the time. Clean said disc. Still can't read disc.

Return disc to vendor, buy a replacement disc, same issues.

Drive is clean as can be, no dust, dirt, crap on the lens, reads normal blurays just fine.

The fact that some of you continue to push the 'clean the disc' despite the disc having perfect optical clarity is pointless considering the unreliability of the 4K drive market.

[Billycar11]

Always clean UHD discs with liquid soap and warm water. Then dry with a microfiber cloth as used to clean glasses. This applies also to brand new discs out-of-the-box.

Tired of that answer, as its just plain lazy posting, don't bother posting, been there done that, cleaned discs, same BS problems.

Disc can't be read, OS barely can't see it as a readable disc half the time. Clean said disc. Still can't read disc.

Return disc to vendor, buy a replacement disc, same issues.

Drive is clean as can be, no dust, dirt, crap on the lens, reads normal blurays just fine.

The fact that some of you continue to push the 'clean the disc' despite the disc having perfect optical clarity is pointless considering the unreliability of the 4K drive market.

it pioneer time man i can tell you they have a less than 1% fail rate compared the the 25% plus of those desktop lg/asus have and even better than the BU40N at like 8% fail rate these are my numbers though and im quick to exchange a drive that acts funny in my testing.
i got pioneers ready to go now.

but dont criticize us for telling you to clean the disc it does actually helps alot of people some people dont realize you cant get finger prints on a disc and have it work reliably.
fyi most pioneers you buy new will need to be flashed and some cant be flashed at all so best to buy a pioneer though a seller for now.

[asmcom]

Always clean UHD discs with liquid soap and warm water. Then dry with a microfiber cloth as used to clean glasses. This applies also to brand new discs out-of-the-box.

Tired of that answer, as its just plain lazy posting, don't bother posting, been there done that, cleaned discs, same BS problems.

Disc can't be read, OS barely can't see it as a readable disc half the time. Clean said disc. Still can't read disc.

Return disc to vendor, buy a replacement disc, same issues.

Drive is clean as can be, no dust, dirt, crap on the lens, reads normal blurays just fine.

The fact that some of you continue to push the 'clean the disc' despite the disc having perfect optical clarity is pointless considering the unreliability of the 4K drive market.

it pioneer time man i can tell you they have a less than 1% fail rate compared the the 25% plus of those desktop lg/asus have and even better than the BU40N at like 8% fail rate these are my numbers though and im quick to exchange a drive that acts funny in my testing.
i got pioneers ready to go now.

but dont criticize us for telling you to clean the disc it does actually helps alot of people some people dont realize you cant get finger prints on a disc and have it work reliably.
fyi most pioneers you buy new will need to be flashed and some cant be flashed at all so best to buy a pioneer though a seller for now.

Pioneer is the we way to go. Well said Billy.

Asmcom