The Firmware Page

I have a few laptops and DVD- and CD-ROM drives that go with them, but I notice that it is extremely difficult to find out the manufacturer and model number of any particular drive that's repackaged and resold by a major brand. For instance, I have come across three IBM [ThinkPad] Ultraslimbay and Ultrabay 2000 drives. They all come from very different sources: a Toshiba 2x DVD, a Matsushita 6x DVD, a Sony 4x CD-RW, and a Hitachi 8x DVD. IBM identifies them by its own part numbering system. Now I am prepared to buy another DVD-ROM (or maybe combo) drive, but want to make sure it can be made region free. Short of actually buying one to find out, is there any other way? It would be great if there's an online OEM brand-manufacturer cross reference. If not, I think it's time for someone to start compiling a list...

I think the list from the main site tries to be as extensive as possible, but it's a huge work to find out which drives are disguised, especially for laptops. We'll think about this list though...

I suppose a good way to begin collecting this info is to have a section on the web site for people to submit info about their drives: the maker's name and model number, and the seller's name and model number or the machine/package that contains the drive. If there's anyway I can help, let me know... I just think that this could be incredibly useful information.

Good idea! Maybe you should mail farzeno (the admin of the firmware site) about that. I'll try to tell him about that as well.