Flashing a dvd burner with another firmware

[lambchop]

While I was waiting for that Pioneer burner to become available on newegg, I read a couple threads about flashing your dvd drive with another firmware.

Does anybody know exactually how that works and is it very compatible at all?

 

[lang]

The process itself is very easy, it's usually just an .exe file that you run and it does the rest for you. It takes up to a couple minutes and then you will usually be prompted to reboot, that's it. I'm sure you have some sort of burner in your system now, go to that manufacturer's website and look up the model number and they will have firmware upgrades that you can download there.

The firmware has to be compatible with the specific drive though, you can't just grab any old firmware and attempt to flash it to your drive. For example if you have an HP dvd740 drive you need firmware designed for the HP dvd740. There are also 3rd party firmware files floating around...meaning they would be designed for the HP dvd740 but not released by HP themselves. These usually enable or enhance features beyond what the manufacturer's firmware allow but are also more risky since they don't come from the manufacturer.

 

[lambchop]

Hmm, well I will have to do a bit of looking around then. I got a decent one that came with our new dell (dec 06). Any place that makes figuring if it can handle DL or not easy?

 

[lang]

Go to support.dell.com and sign in with your PC's Service Tag which you can find either on the front by the USB ports or on the back of the case. It will show you your PC's configuration as it was when it was shipped to you and that's also the page where you would download firmware updates.

As far as the Pioneer on newegg, you can get the 112D since the 111D is out of stock. It's the same burner, it just has faster maximum speeds.

 

[lambchop]

I will look into my dell burner tonight when I get home from school. In the meantime, if that 112d is a good alternative, why has it never been mentioned before? I'm glad you did say it, but I am just wondering. It's only got like 2 reviews on newegg, so I just thought I would ask.

One reviewer said: Cons: Newegg reports this as a DVR-112 with DVD-RAM writing capabilities. However I received a DVR-112D which does NOT write to DVD-RAM

That really has no factor in burning DL correct? Although it may seem as I am very computer illiterate, I consider myself an advanced user most of the time. I just have a habit of asking a question about everything when I don't have time to actually try the suggestion given.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827129007

Thanks!

 

[lang]

I assume it hasn't been mentioned much here because until now the 111D has always been available on newegg. But a friend of mine got the 112D last week so I can verify that it works for burning 360 backups with no problems whatsoever. He'd probably done about 5-6 games last time I was over there and they all worked fine.

(Don't worry about DVD-RAM, it's just another re-writeable format like DVD+RW, it has nothing to do with DL burning.)

 

[lambchop]

Think I will go with the 112D as it is in stock and I really prefer buying from Newegg. Hopefully everthing ends up burning fine.

 

[hmelo]

Yes, it is the same as the 111D with minor revisions. Should work just as well.

Caster.

 

[lambchop]

bigd23: There is what came out of the service tag search. From what it looks like there are obviously 2 dvd drives but I'm still trying to dercern if one of them could possibly be flashed if it is already a dl burner (so I wouldn't have to buy the 112d afterall ).

1 NR952 ASSEMBLY, COMPACT DISK READ WRITE/DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE COMBO, 48, TOSHIBA SAMSUNG STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, Serial ATA, BLACK

1 DT488 ASSEMBLY, DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE, 16X, Serial ATA, HALF HEIGHT, HITACHI LG DATA STORAGE, BLACK

Here's the whole setup.


1 CC299 DISPLAY, FLAT PANEL DISPLAY, 19, 1907FPC, BLACK, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION
1 CJ339 MOUSE, UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS, 2BTN, WHEEL, LEAD FREE, OPTICAL, BLACK
0 UP819 KIT, SOFTWARE, TREND MICRO, 14, ENGLAND/ENGLISH
1 UJ973 CARD (CIRCUIT), GRAPHICS, 256, X1300, MRMGA+2
2 PJ410 DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE, 512, 533M, 64X64, 8, 240, 1RX8
1 T1613 KIT, SOFTWARE, OFCBSC-2K3, ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MFGR., ENGLAND/ENGLISH
1 UT879 KIT, SOFTWARE, OVERPACK, WXPPSP2, COMPACT DISKETTE W/DOCUMENTATION, ENGLAND/ENGLISH
1 NR952 ASSEMBLY, COMPACT DISK READ WRITE/DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE COMBO, 48, TOSHIBA SAMSUNG STORAGE TECHNOLOGY, Serial ATA, BLACK
1 DC094 ASSEMBLY, CABLE, Serial ATA, OPTICAL, MATRIX,SMITH,MINI TOWER
1 RH659 KEYBOARD, 104, UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS, UNITED STATES, BLACK, DARFON ELECTRONICS, CORP
1 U8468 HARD DRIVE, 250GB, S2, 7.2K, 8M, LEAD FREE, SGT-T
0 149DF INFORMATION, PREPARATION MATERIAL, DEVIATION, PRECISION WORKSTATION, INCREASE, #2
1 DT488 ASSEMBLY, DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE, 16X, Serial ATA, HALF HEIGHT, HITACHI LG DATA STORAGE, BLACK
1 TH760 KIT, SPEAKER, 120V, A525, LEAD FREE, BLACK, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION
0 4X388 INSTRUCTION, PREP-MTL, DEVIATION, DIMENSION, INCREASE, NUMBER
1 TF811 PROCESSOR, 820, 2.8, 2MB, PENTIUM D SMITHFIELD FOR DESKTOPS, B0