Re: DVD burner help...
I would not recommend a firmware update, unless it is provided by Matsu*a or the Laptop manufacturer. Matsua burners are tricky and picky. You have to experiment with media to find the brand that it "likes". When recording using DVD Shrink or Nero, the drive will only run at 1 x speed. To the best of my understanding the drive is "rip locked" at 1x speed, to prevent (or greatly inconvenience) pirating. This is a great shame, a bit like owning a sports car but with 2, 3, 4 and 5 gears blanked off at the gear stick. So, not being a big expert, I suppose we might need some form of “hack” to disable the “rip lock”. For the reason above, I can't see Matsu***a being too keen on providing one. I get the impression that this is a fairly new drive and the market for a “hack” is not out there yet, but this may change with time.
Hint: Try using either Verbatim DVD+R 8X Certified or TDK DVD-R (8x)