The Firmware Page

I've searched all over this site and the internet, and if I am posting in the wrong place...forgive me...I have read forum posting rules and to the best of my understanding, this is the place to post.

I have a 1 month old Lenovo Edge 14 with the HL-DT-ST dvd ram GT30N drive running LE09 firmware.
OS: Windows 7 64 Ultimate
All up to date
(DVDInfo below)
I'm overseas with my family and accidently ended up switching region codes too many times. I'm locked in on region 1 and I would like to be either region free or if that won't work, at least be locked into region 5 as this system will be staying overseas and not returning back to the US with me.
In my effort to fix my "problem" i've spent a lot of time going over this post and others like it:
http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=45978&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
I have tried to use the flasher program, but it will not dump the firmware off my drive...I get a "failed to find pattern" and then "failed to get firmware info"
I am guessing this is due to the drive being OEM.
I HAVE downloaded the Asus driver with its own flasher, but have been hesitant to use it and end up bricking my drive. I have also downloaded the MCSE software.
I would appreciate any help, or confirmation that the asus firmware (or the GT20N firmware i've seen on this site) would be compatible with this drive. I would really like to get this unlocked.
I appreciate your help!
-Greg

DiskInfo:
DISCINFO VERSION : 1.7.0 BETA.12
VENDOR : HL-DT-ST
MODEL : DVDRAM GT30N
REVISION : LE09
VENDOR SPECIFIC : 09/10/26 7U01
LOADING MECHANISM : Tray
SERIAL NUMBER :
NUMBER VOL. LEVELS : 255
BUFFER SIZE : 1024KB
INTERFACE : ATAPI
RPC2 SCHEME : YES
STATUS : Permanent
USER CHANGES : 0
VENDOR CHANGES : 4
CURRENT REGION : 1
ANALOG AUDIO PLAY : YES
COMPOSITE OUTPUT : NO
DIGITAL PORT-PORT1 : NO
DIGITAL PORT-PORT2 : NO
READ UPC CODE : YES
MULTISESSION READ : YES
MODE 2 FORM 1 : YES
MODE 2 FORM 2 : YES
READ ISRC CODE : YES
READ BAD CODE : NO
BUFFER UNDER-RUN : YES
MT. RAINIER : NO
CAN READ CDR : YES
CAN READ CDRW : YES
CAN READ CDRM2 : YES
CAN WRITE CDR : YES
CAN WRITE CDRW : YES
CAN TEST WRITE : YES
CAN READ DVD-ROM : YES
CAN READ DVD-R : YES
CAN READ DVD-RW : YES
CAN READ DVD-RAM : YES
CAN READ DVD+R : YES
CAN READ DVD+RW : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-R : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-RW : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-RAM : YES
CAN WRITE DVD+R : YES
CAN WRITE DVD+RW : YES
MAX CDR READ SPEED : 24
MAX CDR WRITE SPEED: 24

Drive is too new, I think.

I would use AnyDVD in the meantime.

GT30N (like GT10N drives) uses a Panasonic chipset not Renesas (in spite of using the LLNN firmware naming convenstion - where LL = letters, NN = numbers - which would suggest a Renesas-based drive), so I'm afraid the "flasher" utility won't work with it...

So far in the GTx0N series, only GT20N drives use a Renesas chipset.

The pattern seems to be:

x = odd number <--> Panasonic chipset
x = even number <--> Renesas chipset

So, that Asus driver will not work for me even though it looks like it's for the same drive model? I saw AnyDVD, just didn't want to pay the price for it.
Thanks for the replies!

On the Lenovo site I found a firmware update that is applicable for a GSA-T30N (Says it is for a numbe of different ThinkPads, though the edge was not listed among them...) Any chance that would work?
-Greg

Which firmware, which link?

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-70448.html

Here's the link, sorry about that....I found this on the second page of the "New LG Firmware" post in this section.

Firmware version is: FX07 and it says it's good on a GSA-T30N LG drive

But you need LE firmware, something like LE10 then.

Ask Lenovo please.

I see... I'll give it a try (asking Lenovo that is)
Thanks

Well, i sent an email to the only one available on the Lenovo site asking if there was an appropriate email address they could forward me for a tech question, but I don't have hi hopes. Where I am currently doesn't lend itself well for a phone call...Searching the Lenovo site again for LE firmware, but so far, no luck.

The Asus firmware (ASS2) would not work? Or could brick my drive?

I appreciate the feedback, thank you.

There is a 20% chance that another OEM firmware would work, but as yousee, the chance is slim, really slim.
The chance to brick the drive is much much higher....

GT30N and GSA-T30N are completely different drives.

Right, I was thinking those drives were different.
Nothing back from Lenovo so looks like i'm out of luck until such time as Lenovo issues an updated driver, or someone makes a flasher compatible with my chipset, correct?

Thanks again for the help.

Hey guys I just registered to let you guys know: Lenovo recently released a firmware update for this drive, maybe there is something more you can do now.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-70448

The release includes firmwares for a few other drives too, I personally own a GT30N with the LT firmware. To request a patched firmware for this drive, do I have to open a new topic or is it sufficient to ask for it here? It would be kind if someone could look into this or point to instructions for patching the firmware.

post and confirm your specs are the same as original poster. And that will be fine.

OK. Thanks in advance!

The laptop itself is different however, it's a Lenovo W510 to be precise. The difference in firmware is maybe because of the "hotswapping" possibility of the drive bay in this model.

This is the DISCInfo summary:

DISCINFO VERSION : 1.7.0 BETA.12
VENDOR : HL-DT-ST
MODEL : DVDRAM GT30N
REVISION : LT09
VENDOR SPECIFIC : 09/10/26 7U01
LOADING MECHANISM : Tray
NUMBER VOL. LEVELS : 255
BUFFER SIZE : 1024KB
INTERFACE : ATAPI
RPC2 SCHEME : YES
STATUS : Not Set
USER CHANGES : 5
VENDOR CHANGES : 4
CURRENT REGION : Not Set
ANALOG AUDIO PLAY : YES
COMPOSITE OUTPUT : NO
DIGITAL PORT-PORT1 : NO
DIGITAL PORT-PORT2 : NO
READ UPC CODE : YES
MULTISESSION READ : YES
MODE 2 FORM 1 : YES
MODE 2 FORM 2 : YES
READ ISRC CODE : YES
READ BAD CODE : NO
BUFFER UNDER-RUN : YES
MT. RAINIER : NO
CAN READ CDR : YES
CAN READ CDRW : YES
CAN READ CDRM2 : YES
CAN WRITE CDR : YES
CAN WRITE CDRW : YES
CAN TEST WRITE : YES
CAN READ DVD-ROM : YES
CAN READ DVD-R : YES
CAN READ DVD-RW : YES
CAN READ DVD-RAM : YES
CAN READ DVD+R : YES
CAN READ DVD+RW : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-R : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-RW : YES
CAN WRITE DVD-RAM : YES
CAN WRITE DVD+R : YES
CAN WRITE DVD+RW : YES
MAX CDR READ SPEED : 24
MAX CDR WRITE SPEED: 24

Thanks for the info. The package includes the GT30N firmware revisions LE10/LG10/LT10, which only differ in the firmware revision text and the checksums.
Could you post a cdspeed transfer rate test graph of a original DVD-VIDEO disk ?
If someone wants to test the GT30N RPC1 patch, send me a PM containing the firmware revision you have.

Attached is a cdspeed transfer rate graph, I hope it's the one you need.

EDIT: 8x was the maximum speed i could select

That doesnt look like a Video DVD disc what ala42 requested.

I also saw that the software says "Contents: data" so I tried a few other dvd's (movies, all with the DVD-video logo) but i don't see any difference apart from length and type (Double Layer etc)...


EDIT: Here's another one

Mh, this one is shown as "DVD-R DL", please try with a pressed (bought) Video DVD.

At least the two scans above show no signs of a riplock. Reading starts at ~3.4x and ends at ~8x for a full disk, which is the maximum read speed of laptop drives. This could be different with bought pressed CSS protected video disks, so we need to see these scans.

There must be something wrong with the program. I can ensure you that that was a pressed, region-coded, original DVD-Video disc.

EDIT: OK, on the Disc info tab, it tells the needed information

I don't have other original dvd-video discs available anymore at the moment. Until I get some other ones, maybe someone else can make a cdspeed test graph to check for a riplock on discs that appear as dvd-video in the program.