Help Please/ Win2k firmware update procedure

[Dude]

Hi all,
Can anyone Please tell me how to update my DVD firware under DOS in Windows 2000 Pro, i cant seem to get the firmware patch to work even using a 98 startup floppy Disc. Sorry for the Newb question but i have no idea how to get it to work in WIN2K Pro as it needs to be installed under DOS and i dont know the procedure for that so any help would be appreciated, Thanks.

[joegib]

You need to create a minimal "Real DOS" boot disk. Download "winme_plain_boot_disk.exe" (NOT the Winme Startup disk) from here:

http://www.putergeek.com/downloads/#winme_plain

Put a good quality floppy in your drive and run the the EXE file under Win2K. It will write a boot image to the floppy. Copy the firmware file and flash utility to this floppy. Check the floppy with Win2K file tools and or Norton Utilities if you have it. Reboot your machine, setting the BIOS to boot from floppy if necessary. Then run the flash utility from the command line using the appropriate commands.

[Dude]

Thanks Joe, i downloaded the file you suggested but i still cant flash the firmware, i dont know many command's in DOS so its probably not working because of that. Here are my details and a rough idea of what i'm doing;
I have an Aopen 1648 DVD ROM Drive showing R12 Firmware, i was trying to update it to R13 but i havent had any luck with that as yet. I want to make it region free i downloaded the patch utility Ao1648 from the firware page but i cant see any instructions in the readme txt explaining the install procedure.
Can anyone please tell me the procedure and commands that need to be typed in DOS or in Plain Old WIN2K Pro that will update my firmware from R12 to R13 if it needs to be updated and the procedure for patching it so it becomes region free.
I have been trying these firmware updates/patches without the Cyberlink Power DVD ver3 Software being installed, does it have to be installed for the firmware update/patches to work?

For the firmware update from R12 to R13 i typed under DOS
F110f R13.bin that brought up an auto selection program describing my drives ie; IDE 2 AOPEN 1648 DVD AMH R12
IDE 3 RICOH MP7120A 1.30
A:/>
When it goes back to the A: command line i dont have a clue what to type....Sorry once again for the lame newB questions but i hope someone can offer me some help anyway, Thanks.

[joegib]

By my reading of the Readme, there's nothing wrong with the command you used. From the messages you get it appears that your drives are on the Secondary IDE bus with the1648 is set as Master and the Ricoh as Slave (or is it Primary Slave and Secondary Master respectively?). The command given runs the utility in "Auto Mode" which identifies the drives but then exits.

I suspect that where there is more than one drive present, the flash utility wants another parameter telling it which one to flash. Normally this is a number -- such as "2" in your case -- which should be given as part of the command. Unfortunately, the Readme doesn't give the syntax (the exact form of the command)to use in this case. Using the usual switches -- "/?" and "/help" -- I've not been able to get the utility to output the syntax info normally provided in these things.

I suggest you work a flanker by temporarily disconnecting the Ricoh and running the same command. If that doesn't work, come back and I'll look into it further.

PS -- Don't ever run a DOS flash utility from a Win95/98/ME/Win2K/XP window or command line. Either it simply won't work or your device will die.

[Dude]

Thanks for your Help Joe!
Your idea worked, i disconnected the ricoh and ran the firmware update again and this time it was successful, firmware is now R13 :-). I just have to get the patch to work so i can enjoy Region Free DVD, i still cant see how to apply the patch ao1648, can you advise me on that please Joe. I cant see any instructions in the readme txt that comes with it. By the way should i have the Cyberlink Power DVD v3 software installed whilst trying to apply the patch, or do i leave it till after the patch is successful?, i think i read that after applying the patch the software would more than likely need to be reinstalled anyway... i could be wrong though, i am a newB after all...lol.
I only have 1 region change left on my DVD drive so i'm to scared to use it till i get the patch working, will DVDGenie or Region Killer work with the PowerDVD software or can you recommend a better solution, or will the region settings in the software be overridden by the firmware patch?.
Thanks again Joe for your Help, i appreciate it.

[picoferoz]

Please, dude, can you send the ao1648 patch to me (picoferoz@yahoo.com). I tried the d/l page but I can't link to it.
Thanks
picoferoz

[picoferoz]

Hey dude!

Thanks for the ao1648.exe!!

I unpacked the ao1648.exe and got the rcc16.exe program.

When I ran it from the DOS boot diskette (not under any windows) it worked, but.... said it cannot upgrade version 13... only works for version 12 and lower.

So I could not patch my firmware... (now you should be asking yourself why did you upgrade to version 13 :smashead:

Can you try to move back to version 12 and test the patch?

Let me know what happen pls.

picoferoz

[Dude]

Hi picoferoz,
I went back to r12 with no prob's, how did you run the rcc16.exe program under DOS ie; what did you type to execute the patch? I didnt get the rcc16.exe to do anything, can you tell me step by step how you did it so i can do it Please, Thanks.
P.S when you go back to r12 type f110f r12_half.bin it will work no prob's, as it did for me.
Please get back to me on the rcc16.exe install procedure i need to patch this dvd soon. Thank's picoferoz, later, :-)
Dude.

[Dude]

Well that was interesting, lol.
I ran rcc16.exe from the dos boot disk and it made some weird noises, you know the kind, the kind were your expecting something to go horribly wrong....well i'm glad to say that it didnt end up going horribly wrong....whew!. Anyway i'm on my second attempt at making my dvd drive region free the patch hasnt worked for me as yet, i will keep trying, it will probably work eventually, i'm probably doing something a little wrong who know's, anyway i'll keep ya's posted.
Later all,
Dude. :bglaugh2:

[joegib]

I've no experience of this drive or the "utility" so I can't give direct help. There's a lengthy thread discussing the problem here:

http://winkin.phpwebhosting.com/~firmflash/forum/viewthread.php?tid=230

Maybe there's something there that will give you a clue. And having the player software installed while flashing won't affect the matter one way or the other (don't forget that you also need to overcome region protection in the software player using programs such as DVD Genie or Region Killer). Finally, with Win2K and XP Driveinfo can give misleading results about the region status of the drive. So use CDVDinfo making sure that the winaspi file that comes with the download is installed.

[Dude]

Hi all,
And Thank's to Joe again!
Well in the end the a01648 utility did kind of work, the amount of chances for changing the region code stays at 4 no matter how many times i change regions, it'll do for now :-).
Thanks again for your Help.
Later,
Dude.

[Dude]

Hi again,
ao1648 does work, i can change region codes as much as i like although it didnt like region killer running in the background, once i exited that it worked fine.
I do have a problem when i connect my Ricoh MP7120A as a secondry slave, my DVD drive no longer recognises DVD's at all.
Also i found that as soon as i connected the Ricoh drive to the same IDE channel as the DVD Rom drive the cmos settings changed ie; the aopen drive changed from UDMA 2 and became UDMA 4, previously i could never get the drive to run at UDMA 4 although the drive states on the box that it is capable of UDMA 4, the Ricoh stays at the default setting of PIO 4. Funny thing is as soon as i disconnect the Ricoh drive the settings magically change back to UDMA 2 by itself. Now i'm wondering if i have to connect it to a different IDE channel problem is that i run my HDD's at UDMA 5 and i'm not sure that they will still want to run at that setting if i connect a drive that runs only at PIO 4, has anyone else run into similar problem's when using region utilities if so can you post some advice on how and if you solved the problem Please, Thank's.
Thanks again Joe i checked out the thread you recommended and it did help. Maybe its just the ao1648 utility, when i installed it i had to disconnect the Ricoh drive to get it to work, maybe you could advise me on this one please Joe as you were right about having to disconnect the Ricoh to get the utility to install, hopefully you will know whats going on.....well i'll keep my fingers crossed anyway lol. Well if you can find the time i would appreciate the effort, Thanks,
Later,
Dude. :D

[joegib]

This thread suggests uninstalling the Secondary IDE bus, rebooting and letting Windows re-detect the drives might help:

http://forum.firmware-flash.com/viewthread.php?tid=2351

[Dude]

Thanks for the advice Joe,
I managed to get the drives working properly but the DVD rom drive's settings in Device Manager occasionally have the region drive information and settings missing so if they cause me anymore trouble i will uninstall the secondry IDE Channel and let windows reinstall it and as you said windows should reinstall the drivers again.
Well other than that all is working well now.
Thanks for the Help,
Later,
Dude. :D