NEC 3550A oem questions

[Dr Klovernutz]

I am going to purchase a NEC 3550A OEM from newegg (cannot find retail version)


I have seen talk of updating the firmware to:
1Y6 RPC1

where can I find this and what does it addd to the drive?

does the region code reset with this?

-Dr K

PS any other firmware stuff i should know, such as a difernent type etc....?

[Gary D]

Here is the link you want to Liggy and Dee's site:

http://liggydee.cdfreaks.com/page/

RPC1 / RPC2

The Region Protection Scheme (RPC) was implemented to control the region code on DVD. In the beginning there was a choice between RPC1 and RPC2 drives. RPC1 drives do not check for a valid region code and leave this task up to the DVD playback software. Several ways were found to circumvent this restriction, so manufacturers were limited to producing RPC2 only drives since October 2001. In RPC2 the drives control the region code. A user is allowed to change it 5 times until a drive gets locked. The vendor may reset this lock 4 times but only few manufacturers offer this service to their customers. There are a few tools however that allow issueing this vendor reset for some brands. Fortunately several modified RPC1 firmwares for many drives are available that do not care about region codes.

[Gary D]

I would also like to add that you can burn DVD+r discs as DVD-ROMs. This make the burnt discs very compatable with a lot of dvd players with the 1Y6 update.

[Dr Klovernutz]

I just realized that this is an OEM
Do i need anything other than this firmware to make it work once i hook it to my computer?

thanks for the link
what's the difference with all the different firmwares for the nec 3550?
which one is best and why?


is all i do is plug it in?

[Gary D]

what's the difference with all the different firmwares for the nec 3550?

The RPC1 version makes the burner region changes unlimited.

The different firmware versions has to with DVD blank disc manufacturers. Do not confuse manufactures with relabellers. For example, Verbatim use to make all their discs in Japan (very HIGH quality and consistencie) Now Verbatim has outsourced their production to firms in Taiwan(MIT) and India(MII) The same thing has happened to Sony but when you find the ones(DVD+Rs) made in Japan(MIJ), they are manufactured by Taiyo Yuden and are very, very, very desirable.

Now back to firmware, new write methods are needed to burn these new discs. By write methods, I mean what strength of laser is needed is needed at a certain speed to burn the image into the disc. By testing and trying new methods, the updates try to come up with the best method to write that disc at a particular speed. This in turn gives you a better end product. Generally newer is better!

[Dr Klovernutz]

so i should just pick the most current firmware.

what about hooking this thing up? just plug it in? (not worried about software , i have tons)

thanks

[Chewy]

Now if you're adding a dvd burner, we need to change some stuff,
with this setup I would suggest you pull your old optical drive and replace with
the dvd burner as master on the secondary mother board ide. If you keep the
other drive make sure the burner goes on top and is jumpered master and the
old drive is jumpered slave.

here's a picture(sort of)

xxxxxxxxxx dvd burner(master) on top
x
x
x
x
x
xxxxxxxxxxx other optical drive(slave)
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
xxxxxxxxxx Motherboard

[Dr Klovernutz]

Currently I have a DEll 4600

top drive is a :
HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8162B

the bottom Drive is:
_NEC DVD__RW ND-1300A

I am replacing the bottom drive.

So you are saying I should remove both drives,
put the new NEC 3550 in the top
place my old
HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8162B
in the bottom and hook the ribbon cable accordingly?

[Chewy]

try it with the new nec as slave if you want but the old drive's
a dog compared to the new one, I would just leave the nec 3550 hooked up all by itself as master, as it's going to do everything better.

[Dr Klovernutz]

I will put the New NEC as the top (master) drive
I will put the HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8162B in the bottom (slave) drive
(i don't want a blank opening in my tower, PLUS I have encountered scratched up DVDs/ CDs that this drive could read but other drives could not)

besides plugging in the cables do I need to do anything else (such as in the computers settings or BIOS, etc)

thanks

[Chewy]

there is one critical thing, set the jumpers on the back of the drives, that's what master, slave and CS cable select refers to, good call on the LG,
I heard it was slow as molasses.
m s cs
x x x
x x x

[Dr Klovernutz]

I don't understand what you mean.
please explain in more detail.

[Chewy]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=master+slave+jumpers&btnG=Google+Search

read several till it sinks in

[Dr Klovernutz]

good call on the LG,
I heard it was slow as molasses.
m s cs
x x x
x x x

What does this mean?

[Chewy]

slow ripper makes for accurate rips of bad disks
nec is fast as heck, won't do bad disks unless you slow the read down