Vaio VPC-Z128GG & Blu-ray Drive UJ-242 result.

That drive will work but the eject button on the keyboard won't.

 

I e-mailed the seller and he claims it says HW and SW ver1.

Is it that HW ver1 that prevents ejecting?

What HW and SW versions do the ones that eject from the keyboard have?

 

The Dell UJ242 drive is an OEM drive with another bezel and the Dell bay mounting slides. On the OEM drive (drive recognized as BD-RE UJ242, Firmware 1.00, I dont know another firmware version) is a different firmware than on the Sony&Lenovo drives (drive recognized as BD-MLT UJ242 Firmware version TB01). This particular firmware won't be recognized by the Z's EFI/BIOS so the eject button will not work.

EXCEPT someone writes a patch or modifies the Z's BIOS.

 

I have installed a UJ-242(B) [bought on ebay] into my Z1390 and it works fine except for the keyboard eject button (so obviously not a Sony/Lenovo OEM version). I have hunted high and low to try and find a copy of the TB01 firmware but to no avail (was hoping Sony may have had a firmware update for this drive). Would it be possible for someone with an OEM UJ-242A/B that has the keyboard eject button working to use the MataaWinDump app to extract a copy of the TB01 firmware and then post it somewhere so that we can look at patching the OEM firmware? MataWinDump can be sourced from the following link:
The Firmware Page • View topic - Making Matshita DVD-writers region free running Windows

 

I tried that and I doubt that it works. At least the UJ-2xx drives are currently unsupported by MataDump, so I think there is no chance to copy firmwares.

In addition to that, even if you were able to copy over the firmware, the drives Sony/Lenovo vs OEM Panasonic seem to have different hardware, too (8MB cache vs 2MB cache).
So I think you might brick your drive when attempting this.

I had all available drives in my Z already - just not the newest Lenovo branded drive yet. If I have that one (shipping atm) I will sum up which drives work, capabilities etc (the older lenovo drive is not able to handle DVD+R DL's)

For now, you can just open the drive via software or stick a needle into the rescue hole.

 

Thanks for that. I did try the MataWinDump and it didn't recognize the hardware for a firmware dump :-( I did however hunt down a DiscInfo dump someone posted on "The Firmware Page" requesting for their UJ242 to be made region free which is the Lenovo OEM version BD-MLT-UJ242. Looking at the buffer sizes with the BD-RE-UJ242 they are identical (2048KB). The only difference I see is the MAX CDR READ and write speeds..

Nonetheless, to have the keyboard eject working one must ensure they buy the Lenovo OEM version... I can obviously use windows explorer or nero to eject the drive through software or use a paper clip as the eject mechanism hole is in line with the original Z series UJ892 face plate.

Here is my DiscInfo:
DISCINFO VERSION : 1.7.0 BETA.12
VENDOR : MATA
MODEL : BD-RE UJ242 <<<<*****
REVISION : 1.00 <<<*****
VENDOR SPECIFIC : 09121800 <<<*****
LOADING MECHANISM : Tray
SERIAL NUMBER : xxxx
NUMBER VOL. LEVELS : 256
BUFFER SIZE : 2048KB
INTERFACE : ATAPI
RPC2 SCHEME : YES
STATUS : Not Set
USER CHANGES : 5
VENDOR CHANGES : 4
CURRENT REGION : Not Set
ANALOG AUDIO PLAY : YES
COMPOSITE OUTPUT : NO
DIGITAL PORT-PORT1 : NO
DIGITAL PORT-PORT2 : NO
READ UPC CODE : YES
MULTISESSION READ : YES
MODE 2 FORM 1 : YES
MODE 2 FORM 2 : YES
READ ISRC CODE : YES
READ BAR CODE : YES
BUFFER UNDER-RUN : YES
MT. RAINIER : NO
CAN READ CDR : YES
CAN READ CDRW : YES
CAN READ CDRM2 : YES
CAN WRITE CDR : YES
CAN WRITE CDRW : YES
CAN TEST WRITE : YES
CAN READ DVD-ROM : YES
CAN READ DVD-R : YES
CAN READ DVD-RW : YES
CAN READ DVD-RAM : YES
CAN READ DVD+R : YES
CAN READ DVD+RW : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-R : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-RW : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-RAM : YES
CAN WRITE DVD+R : YES
CAN WRITE DVD+RW : YES
MAX CDR READ SPEED : 8 <<<<<<<
MAX CDR WRITE SPEED: 8 <<<<<<<

Here is the BD-MLT UJ242:
DISCINFO VERSION : 1.7.0 BETA.12
VENDOR : MATA
MODEL : BD-MLT UJ242 <<<*****
REVISION : TB01 <<<*****
VENDOR SPECIFIC : 09102900 <<<*****
LOADING MECHANISM : Tray
NUMBER VOL. LEVELS : 256
BUFFER SIZE : 2048KB
INTERFACE : ATAPI
RPC2 SCHEME : YES
STATUS : Set
USER CHANGES : 3
VENDOR CHANGES : 4
CURRENT REGION : 1
ANALOG AUDIO PLAY : YES
COMPOSITE OUTPUT : NO
DIGITAL PORT-PORT1 : NO
DIGITAL PORT-PORT2 : NO
READ UPC CODE : YES
MULTISESSION READ : YES
MODE 2 FORM 1 : YES
MODE 2 FORM 2 : YES
READ ISRC CODE : YES
READ BAR CODE : YES
BUFFER UNDER-RUN : YES
MT. RAINIER : NO
CAN READ CDR : YES
CAN READ CDRW : YES
CAN READ CDRM2 : YES
CAN WRITE CDR : YES
CAN WRITE CDRW : YES
CAN TEST WRITE : YES
CAN READ DVD-ROM : YES
CAN READ DVD-R : YES
CAN READ DVD-RW : YES
CAN READ DVD-RAM : YES
CAN READ DVD+R : YES
CAN READ DVD+RW : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-R : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-RW : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-RAM : YES
CAN WRITE DVD+R : YES
CAN WRITE DVD+RW : YES
MAX CDR READ SPEED : 24
MAX CDR WRITE SPEED: 16

 

Hey all,

anyone know a fairly cheap site to pick up this drive nowadays? Got my z13 coming in soon and would like to swap out the dvd asap! thnaks!

 

Hi guys,
I'm just trying to clarify things a bit for upgrading my DVD to BR for my VPCZ13. Am I right to conclude that the UJ-242A is the appropriate BR, which ALSO supports the VAIO Z eject button functionality?
Searching for ebay or other links to buy the UJ-242, it seems that they now have disappeared. Anyone can recommend any links for buying appropriate BR drives?
@Pyr0: Hey Pyr0, have you proceeded to changing your BR, as you intended to? Any luck with it? EJECT button working?
Thanks.

 

Did you end up finding a fix to this? I'm looking at getting the Z1390 as well.

 

read through some of this thread and in summary:

1. get the lenovo uj242a if you want the eject button to work
2. the lenovo drive is almost a perfect fit for the sony z

question though: how much disassembly is required to replace the drive? any good tutorials on doing that?

 

Hey folks,

finally I had the opportunity to test out all of the 3 compatible BD readers/writers with my Z. In this post I want to sum up the experience made in this thread for future reference and to support future upgraders. See table below.

In addition to that, at the end of the post, you will find a few pictures of a holding latch I made in order to improve the drive stiffness by using another screw.



Recommendations for

VGN-Z users: Buy the original Lenovo UJ232A drive since this is the only BD drive which fits to your laptop's faceplate.

VPC-Z users: If you want to use the eject button next to the VAIO button on your keyboard, you need to take the lenovo (or original sony) branded drive since those are the only ones called BD-MLT. The OEM drives ( BD-RE) come with a different firmware and don't accept the eject command sent from the laptop's button. You can get the OEM drives cheaper than the Lenovo drive and if you don't care that the eject button does not work, you can also eject the drive in the windows explorer or by using the VAIO button and my Custom S-Button Launcher tool.

As far as I could test, all drives above provide following BD max read/write speeds:

Read: 2x (9 MB/s)

Write BD-R SL (25 GB): 2x (9 MB/s)
Write BD-R DL (50 GB): not tested yet

Write BD-RE SL (25 GB): 2x (9 MB/s)
Write BD-RE DL (50 GB): not tested yet

Note: burning of DVD+-R DL media is not supported by UJ232A
Additional read/write speed information can be found in the Lenovo, Sony and Dell tech sheets:
ThinkPad Blu-ray Burner Ultrabay Slim 9.5mm Drive (SATA)
ThinkPad Blu-ray Burner Ultrabay Slim 9.5mm Drive II (SATA)

VPCZ11FHX/XQ Spec Sheet (Page 2, section "Optical Drive")

Panasonic UJ232A Slim BD-RE Drive User's Guide
Panasonic UJ242 Slim BD-RE Drive User's Guide

Lenovo and Dell claim different BD-R(E) DL write speeds (1x and 2x), I could not test that yet due to lack of DL media but I guess it is rather 1x.

Important note: Shops and ebay sellers often claim that the UJ242/UJ242A drive supports 4x read/write on SL media - this is false advertising. With all drives I tested, I was not able to get 4x speed, constant 2x speed was the maximum read/write speed on all UJ2x2 drives. (Please answer me back if you get 4x speeds with your drive!)

________________________________________________


Finally, here is my way of improving the stiffness of the drive mount with an additional home-made mounting latch. I dislike to use adhesive tape or glue to fix the drive in the bay that's why I did this latch. The drive sits perfectly stiff with that, no problems or rattling when pushing the tray in. The drive itself can move max 0.5mm when pulling the open tray up and down.

Required tools: Dremel with drills, small rasp, tweezers and small pliers.

I used an old HDD carrier sheet metal to get the piece of sheet metal which is needed:



Bend the piece so it fits snugly on the edge of the drive (there is no space we can waste in our Z):



Drill the two holes for the screws (drive and motherboard screws) and bend the latch like at the original mounting plate. It is important to accurately bend it because even a 1mm offset may result in gaps beween faceplate and laptop body.



Mount the latch to the drive:



Put the drive in your precious laptop, align the faceplate with the body and check the hole alignment. If everything is fine, mount both screws and your drive sits super-tight.



Have fun watching Bluray's! Next project: 120Hz DLP / NVidia 3D BD playback with the Z.

Comments and suggestions are appreciated.

 

Awesome guide! Thanks!

 

Great guide, but does anyone know where to get the original blu-ray drive for VPCZ1's? I couldn't find any in the Sony parts store. I found this on eBay: ThinkPad T400 T410 Slim 4X Blu-Ray Burner UJ-242 UJ242A - eBay (item 250776682297 end time Mar-22-11 01:48:00 PDT) which looks like it should work, but I'd rather not go through the trouble of trying to make fit right. The original Sony UJ-242 should be good to go right? All I would need to do is put the brackets on from my DVD drive?

 

You're better off going the eBay route for the UJ242 drive.

The main reason why people in this thread do that is because Sony Spare Parts department charges $1,000+ for that same part if you buy directly from them. That is why if your VAIO Z notebook did not originally come with a Blu-ray drive, it is better for you to obtain that particular drive from eBay.

Good luck.

 

wow $1000 is insane...I was thinking I would be paying like $100-$150 more than the eBay prices, but this is like 5 times the price. Oh well I think I'll just go with an external..all this drilling stuff looks too complicated/time consuming for me lol. What would happen if I just put it in as it is and only replaced the outside cover, and not include the extra sheet metal? Would it sit very loosely inside the notebook? And you say you did this because you don't like using adhesive, but using adhesive/tape could still work right?

 

I swapped mine without changing the whole case of the drive.
Just improvise and stick something somewhere that would wedge the drive so it doesn't move.

 

You can buy that drive, remove the top of its housing and replace your caddy with it. You can use one screw out of the original 3 that hold the drive in place. Find your own solution to hold the drive in place vertically or when pushing the tray in, your drive will move a little bit up and down. More than a screw is not absolutely necessary - if you push the tray near the VGA port, you will be fine anyways. Since I am very picky about that kind of stuff, I made this holding latch. Btw, the faceplate can be swapped easily.

Please read the entire thread, there is much information about that.

 

okay cool thanks, 1 more question. You say that the Lenovo and Sony ones are the only ones that will work with the eject button because they're BD-MLT, but I found this UJ242A，UJ-242A, buy original Lenovo ThinkPad T400 T410 W500 W700 9.5mm Blu-Ray Burner DVD RW Drive UJ242A UJ-242A UJ-242 - $239.00 and it looks to be BD-RE? Will the eject button work? Looking closely at the pic, it looks like the firmware is TBA2

 

If they actually sell you what is on the picture, the keyboard button will work. The Lenovo UJ242A drives show up as BD-MLT (alphanumeric Firmware Version e.g. TBA2), the OEM Matshi ta (Panasonic) UJ242 drives are BD-RE (Firmware Version e.g. 1.00) and won't work with the keyboard button.

Make sure they don't sell the oder UJ232A drive - I got some reports they sometimes do so.

 

Has anyone looked at or tried the Sony Blu-Ray drive BD-5730S?

BD-5730S - Sony Optiarc America

Do you think it would fit properly and work with the eject button?

 

This drive is a 12.7mm tray drive so this would never fit in a Z. You can use it as an external drive though.

 

Anyone know if the UJ-232/UJ-232A works in the VPC-Z. I just want to be able to do Blu-ray playback since the UJ-242/UJ-242A's are ~$250 while the UJ-232/UJ-232A's are $150... and I won't be using blu-ray as the disks themselves are expensive. (or is there any other blu-ray drive that works in the VPC-Z?)

 

Yes uj232/a will work but the vpc-z faceplate won't fit. Read my post linked in my sig for further reference.

 

Ahh okay, thanks a lot Pyr0!

 

OK, so I got a UJ-242 off ebay. It shows up, ejects with the top button, but will not mount any DVD or Blu Ray I've put in it. Sounds like it sort of spins up, but not a steady high pitched sound as I'd expect. It then errors, complains about insert a valid disk etc.

It looks like a pre-production version or something. The markings are not encouraging:

Code:

FRU P/N:TBD
ASM P/N:TBD
REV:DVT
UJ242 DVT SAMPLE No.076
H/W Version:0.91
F/W Version:TBA3
2009/09/30

Has anyone else got a TBA3 firmware (and/or pre 1.0 hardware) version working?? Putting the DVD drive back in all is fine. I'd like to try the drive on my desktop PC, but would need a converter for the SATA power plug (data plug too?) Perhaps if I could flash a newer fw, but don't see any way to do that, plus wouldn't know if it would work with the old v0.91 hardware. I'd really like to avoid shipping this back to china!! But fear that's my only option.

 

What the he--?! I cannot find a way to stop "T" "B" "D" from being expressed as "To be discussed" Even putting it in quotes or code mode it still changes it! Only separating the letters does it. Infuriating!

 

I have tested exactly such a drive and it works perfect for 5 months now. (DVT Sample, H/W 0.91 F/W TBA3)
Flashing a newer firmware is not possible, since matsh_ita does not offer literally ANY support. I am afraid you seem to have received a DOA drive and you should return/exchange it.

 

Excellent info Pyro. That is not what I wanted to hear, but I'll take any definitive information at this point, even if it's not good news. It does act like a bad drive.

I'm going to see about a return. Sadly it's got to go back to Hong Kong. They claim to have tested it, but I doubt they did, or at least doubt they tested reading media.

 

Hi to All! I am thinking to replace DVD with Bluray drive. That you can say about this item Wholesale Matsushita Think Pad W500 W700 T400 T410 T420 9.5mm Slim 4X Blu Ray Burner SATA Drive UJ 242 UJ 242A Burner
Is it fully compatible with VPCZ11? Thanks

 

Hey Folks.. I ordered a UJ-242 for mine Vaio VPCSB through aliexpress. Thge pic showed as the lenovo model, but what i received was the oem model. the drive works fine, but then the eject button on keyboard refuses to work. has anyone found out till date a way to update the firmware from 1.00 to that of the lenovo model...

__________________
Vaio VPCSB17GG/B Core i5-2520M, AMD 6470M, 500 GB HDD(7200rpm), 8GB RAM, UJ-242 BD-RE

 

No that does not work. RMA it or use a S-Button for ejecting the drive, see the Link in my sig.

 

sob sob... Then the only option that remains is to keep the existing bezel which came with the drive... Oh... My lappie's gonna look bad...

__________________
Vaio VPCSB17GG/B Core i5-2520M, AMD 6470M, 500 GB HDD(7200rpm), 8GB RAM, UJ-242 BD-RE

 

Why? You can just take off the bezels from both drives. The UJ-242 has the same drive tray that the UJ-242A (Lenovo) has. The bezel should snap right on. Perhaps you mean you cant use it because the keyboard button does not work. Use software tools for ejecting the drive (e.g. right-click the drive in explorer and choose eject).

 

Well the bezels are the same, but you r rite, the keyboard button doesn't work and while workin in windows, i can assign a button or a shortcut to it.. But then what if i need to use system restore discs or some other bootable discs, the only option remains is to use a paper clip to eject and don't wanna use that in the long run... who knows doing that frequently might even damage the drive... now whr on earth can i find the firmware or a bios update to make the keyboard eject button work....

__________________
Vaio VPCSB17GG/B Core i5-2520M, AMD Mobility Radeon 6470M / Intel HD3000 (HYBRID), 500 GB HDD(7200rpm), 8GB DDR3(1333) RAM , UJ-242 BD-RE, Windows 7(x64) Professional

HP Pavilion dv2-1003AX AMD Athlon Neo MV-40, 320GB HDD, 2GB DDR2 RAM, ATi Mobility Radeon 3410M, Windows 7 Home Premium

 

^And last I checked using the pinhole doesn't properly notify the O/S of media change. So if you ever use disks to recover, once it asks for disk 2...you're in trouble.

Could just pick up a USB DVD drive for that occasion.

 

GOSH... now i guess i've to keep handy the external dvd-rw which came with my HP Pavilion

On the other hand, i'm still searching frantically for some solutions...

__________________
Vaio VPCSB17GG/B Core i5-2520M, AMD Radeon™ HD 6470M (SPEED MODE) / Intel® HD Graphics 3000 (STAMINA MODE), 500 GB HDD(7200rpm), 8GB DDR3(1333) RAM , UJ-242 BD-RE, Windows 7(x64) Professional

HP Pavilion dv2-1003AX AMD Athlon Neo MV-40, 320GB HDD, 2GB DDR2 RAM, ATi Mobility Radeon 3410M, Windows 7 Home Premium

 

Doesn't the tray pop out automatically when it asks for another disc?

 

Well... I never actually noticed it.... Gonna chk d next time i do something...

__________________
Vaio VPCSB17GG/B Core i5-2520M, AMD Radeon™ HD 6470M (SPEED MODE) / Intel® HD Graphics 3000 (STAMINA MODE), 500 GB HDD(7200rpm), 8GB DDR3(1333) RAM , UJ-242 BD-RE, Windows 7(x64) Professional

HP Pavilion dv2-1003AX AMD Athlon Neo MV-40, 320GB HDD, 2GB DDR2 RAM, ATi Mobility Radeon 3410M, Windows 7 Home Premium

 

Fitted a brand new LENOVO UJ242 to a Z12V9E/X last week, works perfectly... paid 100$

 

Awesome! Where did you find it so cheap?

 

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this fantastic post.
I am, like few other posters, proud owner of couple of Z VAIOs. The one I'm looking into upgrading is exactly the VPCZ1390S. I was told that the 0S at the end of the model number means it is CTO. Having mentioned that, it was mentioned by a poster on page 4 in this long, useful and interesting post that there is a difference between the CTO and the none CTO in regards to difference in mounting / fastening down the UJ242. I did not quite understand which one was better mounted.
Did someone actual came across that scenario, mounting this drive inside the CTO version?

While we're in this topic, with regards to the eject button on the keyboard and replacing the faceplate by taking out from the DVD drive and mounting it onto the UJ242, would either branded Dell, or Lenovo work, as long as it's not the Panasonic OEM which is none branded?

Thanks in advance for your insights and your inputs folks.

 

Would this be the same and was it tried - Lenovo genuine ThinkPad Blu-Ray Burner 45N7459 : Lenovo Genuine ThinkPad Blu Ray Burner 45N7459 45N7458 for T400 T500 X200 NIB | eBay
Listed for $200. I offered $100 and was accepted.

 

I bought a Bluray Drive from a Sony Vaio VPC-SA3Z9E. It is a UJ-252. The devicemanager shows "MATS HITA BD-MLT UJ252".
-> Installed the drive in my VPC-Z13V9E... -> Eject Button works perfectly.
But it is neccessary to change the brackets from DVD to Bluray Drive and maybe to cut one side of the Bluray Drives housing. The VPC-SA3 drive have standard case. I will investigate that next week to find the best solution.

regards
Matthias
- Germany -