After spending some time with Google, I decided my best bet was to try growisofs from the dvd+rw-tools package. Unfortunately, this quit with a "Not an MMC unit" error...which baffled me since my DVR-A04 is among the drives listed as MMC compliant on the dvd+rw-tools homepage.Please keep in mind that most of information appearing on dvd+rw-tools page regarding particular model support is based on user feedback. DVR-A04 was reported by somebody as working [after DVR-A05 actually].Is that the same unit as the Vendor: PIONEER Model: DVD-RW DVR-104 Rev: 1.40 if memory serves.
DVR-A04 is just an "emballage" description for DVR-104. The question is spinning rather around "Rev: 1.40" part, than letter or digit following "DVR-." A.