The Firmware Page

I am using Panther, 10.3.4 but I thought patch burn was only needed to make non-apple supported drives, supported, ie so that itunes and idvd etc use the drive? or does it do anything else?

what other version? umm.. gimme a mo, let me trawl back through the pages... umm.. posted (a link to by ) banfiz on page 6:

http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_file.php?site= ... Flash.sitx

I think this is the most recent version to fix the "can't set kernel mode errors people were getting.

dave

The fan speeds aren't effected at all by the drive's firmware. I suspect what you're hearing is the CD spinning at higher speeds (some vibrate at higher speeds). I have no idea why a firmware update might effect the speed the drive reads though.

Yes. PatchBurn is only needed for non-Apple supported drives. The DVR-106 wasn't supported in every version of Jaguar. Both DVR-106 and DVR-107 are fully supported now in 10.3.4.

BTW: Thanks for pointing out the working copy of DVRFlash. I really needed that!

but my drive bay fans are loud even when the dvd drive is empty. incidentally, the drives seem to start off quietish and slowly get louder. also I can't seem to sleep the computer anymore. when I do, it won't come back.

I set prefs not to put the drives to sleep (otherwise I lost use of my dvd drive completely). I seem to have caught all the side effects here.

perhaps i'll have a reinstall later and see if that clears anything up.

dave

A few things could be effecting the G5's fans. The drive running hotter would do it. I imagine a firmware update could cause that... The clear side panel being slightly out of kilter could do it too. Have you checked that? Do you know what version of firmware was in the drive prior to flashing?

That gyuy is clearly mistaking the fans for the disc rotation, which can produce a lot of noise when reading a DVD at 16x.
One of the effects of the patch is to remove rotation speed limitation during playout so that ripping is faster, which explains why the drive can seem a lot louder.

Las Vegas:

I'll check the side panel when I get home, but it's only the drive bay fans that are loud, the main system fans are normal. it could be temperatrure I suppose, but it's hard to imagine that a firmware upgrade increases the temp that much.

the original firmware was A606.

>nil:

no, I'm not confusing disc rotation with fan speed, as it's very loud even with no disc in the drive

dave

Checking Apple's Discussion board about this topic, it seems there is a fairly common problem that causes the fans to go into Jet Engine mode. One even mentioned the Sleep/No Wake problem. The consensus seems to be a warranty issue requiring either a processor replacement or fan calibration.

Have you run Apple's test utility to see if it reports a fan or sensor problem?

Also, if you haven't done so already, install Apple's Fan Firmware Update:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ ... pdate.html

What I'm saying is this problem may be unrelated to your flashing the drive, but simply a coincidence that it occurred after your flashing.

Hope this helps!

hmm.. you're right, thanks for that. I'll need to search the apple forums in a bit more depth to find more info and then I'll call the place I got it from and see what they will do for me.

I ran the AHT and it came up blank, no reported problems.

I just hope I don't need to fight with them over a) flashing the drive (hopefully they won't notice and b) moving the drive bay temp sensor (it's a known hw fault that the g5 drive bay sensor is badly placed).

lets see how this turns out I suppose

dave

I'm having difficulty trying to flash my DVR-107D on a Mac G4 under Panther. I cannot seem to set Kernal mode.

My drive is mounted in an external firewire case removed from a Sony CD burner. I've upgraded firmware in a couple of different CD and DVD drives in that enclosure, but all from WinXP. The last was a Sony DRU-500A.

I'm trying to do it now from my Mac. Tried using 2 different versions of DVRFlash. Currently using the one from Las Vegas' FlashIt Kit.

Here is my most recent attempt at forcing Kernal mode:


PowerMac-G4:~ rammjet$ drutil info | grep PIONEER
PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-107D 1.09
PowerMac-G4:~/Desktop/FlashIt_Kit rammjet$ ./DVRFlash -k PIONEER\ DVD-RW\ \ DVR-107D

DVRFlash v1.3 : Pioneer DVR firmware flasher
Coded by Agent Smith in the year 2003/4 with a little help from >NIL:

DISCLAIMER
[snip]
Do you understand and agree to the statement above (y/n)?
y

Commandline:
./DVRFlash -k PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-107D

Partial MacOS X port of PLScsi: v1.1 by xvi.

Drive Information:
Description - PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-107D
Firmware Rev. - 1.09
Firmware Date - 04/01/29
Manufacturer - PIONEER
Drive is in normal mode.

Switching drive to Kernel mode:
Could not set drive to Kernel mode!

Any suggestions for making this work on the Mac? Thanks!

please help
thank you so much to xv1 and Las Vegas.
On a G4 with Panther
I'm very new to this but thanks to you guys I think I'm getting close.

I created a folder and included files for my 107D from the French Site (ver 1.16) and put in the FlashIt files.

I ran FlashIt and:
"DVD info" now tells me I have a rpc-1 drive, region free - great!
"Region X" resets DVD player so I can play region 1 & 2 - great!
"Apple System Profiler" says I have firmware 1.16 but an unsupported drive - DrDeviceSupportLevelUnsupported.
Using DVDbackup set to region 1 and DVD2onex copying a region 2 Dvd, I still get a region 2 Dvd that my sony tv dvd player can not read.

What's wrong?.

It would help a great deal if you supplied the full report from ASP. Are you running OS X 10.3.4? Did you install both kernel and firmware files? Please go to the New Firmware section and download/install >NIL:'s 1.18 firmware.



After using DVDBAckup to remove Region Encoding, Set DVD2OneX to Region 0 (zero). This will make a region free disc.

You will still need a DVD Player/TV setup that will play NTSC as well as PAL. The only way to convert the original movie to PAL is to decode the VOB files into its parts, reconstruct it and convert it to PAL format. I've done this actually. The first time took me about 3 months of many retries. After that it only takes a couple of days...

you got me really thinking!

your last paragraph about NTSC and PAL threw me

So, I changed the region in my computer dvd player several times to different regions and I found that the burned DVD would always play - so, presumably it is burned region free correctly.
My Sony dvd/Tv seems to play only region 1?, not region free.

this was confirmed when inserting a region 1 dvd in my computer when DVD player was set to region 2 and I was informed by the apple dvd player to change player to region 2.

I'm using DVDbackup ver 1.3 and Dvd2oneX ver 1.3. DVDbackup when set to region 1 actually changes the region to "region free" when you hit the button "process files". With Dvd2oneX ver 1.3 I see nowhere to change the region.

Just so you know I take what you said seriously and with great respect here are the answers to your questions.


PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-107D:
Manufacturer: PIONEER
Model: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-107D
Revision: 1.16
Drive Type: CD-RW/DVD-RW
Disc Burning: DRDeviceSupportLevelUnsupported
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal


yes

I don't know. Here is the list of file name, which is which? I combined your FlashIt kit files with the download from the macetvideo.com and double clicked the flashit.command.
READ.ME.txt
R7100107.116
R7100007.116
PIONEER DVR-107D v1.16 - RPC-1 + 12xRip - this is a folder
PIONEER DVR-107 Updater.command
Picture 8.pdf
FlashIt.command
DVRFlash

Will this still help?

Las Vegas wrote:
After using DVDBAckup to remove Region Encoding, Set DVD2OneX to Region 0 (zero). This will make a region free disc.
I'm using ver 1.3 of DVDbackup and Dvd2oneX. Dvdbackup converts the setting region 1, north america to region free north america when you hit the process button. DVd2oneX doesn't seem to have a region option.

Is there anything besides DVDbackup that will do a better job of making a Region 1 dvd rather than "Region free".




I believe you are correct , I have a Sony DVP_NS415 Dvd player and a Wega KV-27FS100 tv.

I'd appreciate your comments.

You're right! My mistake. DVDBackup has to be set to RegionFree to remove region encoding. Otherwise, it removes the encoding and then reapplies the region encoding you requested.



Download and reinstall the 10.3.4 update. If this doesn't work, you may need to reinstall OS X. Actually, I could email you the corrent DiscRecording.Framework from 10.3.4. That should cure it.

READ.ME.txt
R7100107.116
R7100007.116
PIONEER DVR-107D v1.16 - RPC-1 + 12xRip - this is a folder
PIONEER DVR-107 Updater.command
Picture 8.pdf
FlashIt.command
DVRFlash

The green items above weren't necessary, but didn't hurt. You did install it properly and included the kernel file.



I don't know about the DVD Player, but it appears the TV (nice one btw!) only supports NTSC. This would cause a problem with most any Region 2 DVDs even with region encoding removed. I use my Mac PB's video out feature to play PAL movies on my NTSC only TV. Works great!

As instructed, you have to type "cd " (lowercase, not caps. and a space after it.) Then drag the folder to the terminal window. It will appear as:

Thanks again Las Vegas, perhaps your last option - mac video out to Tv is the best option.

Help from yourself and XV1 has certainly educated me and allowed me to have a mac setup that will play any region movie dvd!.

I am truly touched by your willingness to help.

Sorry to call up an issue from a while ago, but I have a 106D which I've flashed with Gradius' 1.08 firmware using LV's FlashIt kit. It worked fine at first then I started having the same media eject / drive freeze issues other people reported, which seems to have been solved by turning off hard disk spin-down in Energy Saver preferences.

Does anyone know if this is an issue with the firmware or with OS X 10.3.4? Have PC users had the same problem (which would mean it's the firmware I guess)?

Just interested to know what update I should be waiting for to fix it.

Thanks.

Im still getting the "Could not set Kernel mode" and i have a dvr-106D

NM

I have the same problem, did you fix it and what did you do?

Thanks

Did all this and it was right, but got this.....

Commandline:
./DVRFlash -f -f ./DVRFlash PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-106D

Can't open firmware file 'PIONEER DVD-RW '

Tell me exactly where you found this line in the instructions?

Please! Do not even attempt to flash your drive until you've read everything you can find (Not just this thread. Hint!) and you're confident you know exactly what you're doing. If you misflash an Apple OEM drive, you will render it unusable until you can pull it out of the Mac and flash it correctly with a PC.

Just take your time... Read every READ.ME file... Check out any other threads that have PIONEER in the title. Don't post anything else until you've done this. Most of your questions of the last few minutes have already been answered many times!

NM, i forgot to put the firmwares.

I ran the xvi kit and it kept getting "Could not set Kernel mode", so i wanted to try the manual imput way. Still getting Could not set Kernel mode both ways.

Im just trying to get my burner to work. One day all of a suden it will only read dvds. I didnt do any flash or anything, it just stoped being able to burn or even read anything but dvds. Now if i stick anything but a dvd in it just makes a little click and then turns, click and then turns, but reads and plays dvds with no problems.

Im just trying to fix it, and thought this might help.


Any Sugs.
Thanks

Your problem is not firmware related. If a drive is malfunctioning, updating the firmware will not fix it! While it likely wouldn't hurt if done correctly, it would only add a complication to the equation.

If you can't even read regular CDs, it might have a very dirty lens that would require removal of the top cover from the drive and very careful cleaning of the lens with only a lint free swab or lens tissue and pure isopropyl alcohol. These are available at electronics and quality camera dealers. Do not use regular cotton swaps because they're abrasive and don't use rubbing alcohol because it contains impurities that could dirty the lens worse and since the lens in plastic, rubbing alcohol could cloud it

any news for the flasher with dvr-103 support?

Updating to 1.08 (Gradius patch) solved my "rainbow wheel on ejecting" problem (Apple shipped DVR-106D on G5)