Problem with samsung dvd rom sd612

[Axemaster]

hi all,

i am trying to find the correct RPC1 firmware for this dirve, but to no avail. I have tried flashing the sd612b 3.0, but it simply set the number of manufacturer changes to 0 and thats it.

Any and all help is appreciated.

[joegib]

As it happens I was writing a little "Howto" for this drive for another site when your post appeared so you get the whole lot!

The key thing in flashing the SD-612B is NOT to use the Samsung Windows flashing utilities. Using one of these gave me the only bad flash I've had with a drive and there have been plenty of reports in various forums of people suffering the same experience. So, I firmly recommend that you use the Samsung DOS utility SFDNDOS.EXE. This used to be included as standard with all the official firmware downloads or utility packages but it has disappeared from recent downloads and links on the Firmware Page only point to Windows utilities. SFDNDOS is however still available in a roundabout way.

The other important thing is to establish positively that you have an SD-612B. There have been reports of people believing that they had an SD-612B because "SD612" appears in the bootup string only to find that it is an SD-612S, a quite different drive with different electronics/firmware. So, establish what your current firmware version is using CDVDInfo and compare it with known SD-612B firmware versions on the Firmware Page. It doesn't hurt either to check the label on the drive. Once you're happy that you have an SD-612B proceed as follows:

(1) Obtain SFDNDOS — Download the package Sw-212B_P000.zip from here:

http://www.samsungelectronics.com/odd/support/downloads/20011128112733_SW-212B.html

This is for a different drive but that doesn't matter. Unzip the file and delete all files except SFDNDOS.EXE.

(2) Obtain Patched Firmware for the SD-612B — This is the file E0E0U.ZIP from Etna's site here:

http://wald.heim.at/sherwood/530742/dvd/samsung/index.html

You may note that there is a "health warning" in the relevant entry on that site. There's nothing wrong with the firmware — this is a reference to the problems people have had flashing under Windows as mentioned above.

(3) Create a DOS Boot Floppy — As stated in earlier posts you can do this in XP by formatting a floppy after setting the "Create an MS-DOS startup disk" checkbox in the Format dialog. Then delete all files except MSDOS.SYS, IO.SYS and COMMAND.COM. Use a good quality floppy.

(4) Checking the Floppy — Copy the flash utility SFDNDOS.EXE and firmware file E0E0U.BIN to the floppy. Check it using Windows tools and/or Norton Utilities if you have it. The Samsung utility should identify the location of the drive on your IDE bus automatically but it won't hurt to disconnect any other optical drives you have just in case.

(5) Executing the Flash — With the floppy in the drive, reboot your computer (after setting the BIOS to boot from floppy, if necessary). At the command prompt type:

SFDNDOS E0E0U.BIN [Return] — [Note that those are zeros in the firmware filename]

Let the utility do its work and don't get impatient. Don't fiddle with the keyboard and when a message reporting that the download is complete appears, switch off your computer, don't just reset it.

(6) After the Flash — Reboot and check that the drive is region-free with CDVDInfo. Use Region Killer to overcome region protection in your DVD software player. Sometimes after a flash odd problems appear — one symptom is that Windows now only recognises the drive as a CDROM. One cure for this under Win2K/XP is to go into Device Manager and, in the "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" section, uninstall the Primary or Secondary IDE Channel on which the drive is located. It doesn't hurt also to uninstall the DVD/CDROM device. Then reboot and let Windows re-detect the drive.

[flyboy]

sd612 and w2k

Good step-by-step info on sd612b but I don't understand how to boot my computer (w2k) with a floppy in dos.

My only option during boot is to hit F8 which puts me into a menu where I can select a safe mode with command prompt.

I follow through with this, I log into W2k and it dumps me into a command prompt . After trying the sfd... command as described it gives me a memory access error....

any suggestions greatly appreciated. I feel very close - btw I did verify I have a sd612b.

thx much.

[joegib]

The full procedure including how to create the boot floppy is here:

http://forum.firmware-flash.com/viewtopic.php?t=6792&highlight=