The Firmware Page

I've been looking over and over the code in the firmware from NEC again and I found some interesting things 4 bytes indicating if a medium should work or not

50 00 = 2x not working
50 01 = 2x working
52 00 = 4x not working
52 01 = 4x working (when implemented in writing strategies)

(Not quite sure about above, but 01 seems to be working. Therefore I thought 50 means 2x and 52 means 4x)


Just patched the F/W and Nero started to burn my Princo 4x @ 2x! So no 'Illegal Medium Error' anymore.

I'm busy burning my first DVD-R now, so can't give any test results yet, but for the people willing to try:
[edit]
See page 7 for the newest version which adds a lot of new media support!

[update]
First Princo 4x @ 2x burned OK and plays back OK! Going to record a data-DVD now and do a CRC-check afterwards
[/update]

Koool!

Recorded a Data-DVD too, checked the data with MD5Summer and all files are OK!

It still doesn't make any sense to me why it only wants to write at 2x. Maybe there's only a 2x routine implemented for Princo media. I set the 2 bytes which indicate working/non-working and 2x/4x according to my view to 4x and working, but still Princo 4x is just recognised as 2x. But at least it BURNS without errors!

I'll look into adding support for That's Write 4x tonight! (Media Code LEADDATA)!

I knew it has to work....


Herrie, you are great!!

All different 4x DVD-R medias with Princo-ID I've tested so far only gave me a max of 2x as burnoption.
So, your thought about the non-implemented writestrategy for 4x Princomedia seems to be the key.


Best Regards!

You're a God... i've managed to write too my first Princo 4x at 2x today, and it reads perfectly after I just wish they worked at 4x.

It should be possible to replace some less well known media ID's in the firmware, but that work on 4x with the Princo ID in order to get them working @ 4x. This might work, but I need to check this. I should also be able to add some none-working media like Lead Data 4x

I will investigate further late at the evening! But at least we can use our 4x media now

Herrie, great work!


Herrie, I stronly awaiting the release of the new x06 from Pioneer, cause what I've seen and read so far this must be a NEC drive...

That would be very interesting, cause I dont think Pioneer will release a FW without 4x DVD-R (Princo-ID) media support at all.

So, hopefully the drive will be released soooooooon.

Wow! That's great news! Nice work, Herrie!
Wouldn't it be possible to change the firmware to write to all "blocked" discs at 2x? If you change every non-working media to 50 01 (2x working) we would have a "2x for all" firmware.
In combination with etna's regionfree hack it would be best firmware for the ND-1300A at the moment. 8)

2x4all isn't that easy, because media that don't appear in the FW can be added, but I'm not sure if the correct writing strategy is in the FW. I didn't locate the writing strategies yet, so I need to look deeper into it.

I already changed all available DVD-R(W?) media to 52 01, but it seems that there's some 'writing strategy' information located in the firmware also, which limits Princo to 2x for example. There isn't any Princo media in the firmware that can be written at 4x, only 1 type of Princo that works at 2x. So I made the other Princo's equal to that one, so they can be written at 2x now:)

I need to check with Etna to see if he can implement this in his region free firmwares. I should be able to do it by myself also. Need to find some time for it

Just be a little patient!

Nice work Herrie.

I was just thinking, there is a 2.4x writing mode as well, right? Or is that only for dvd+r? Would it be crazy to assume that 2.4x working could be 51 01?

Also, have you tried this on the hacked TDK 1.06 FW?

2,4x is only working for DVD+R. Also 4x should be available for DVD+R, but I didn't look into this yet. I just had a brief look and it seemed that there's another kind of identifier used.

I'll try to investigate further

Great news!

You probably think I'm dense, but just want to make sure I do everything right: How do I exactly Flash this firmware onto the drive?

-Make Bootdisk with the .exe and .bin file
-Boot into DOS
-Run the .exe file?

How safe is this? Can I later reflash it with original Firmware if I'd want too?

Thanks...

Do you still need a writing strategy when only using 50 01 (2x working) instead of 52 01? From your first posting i assumed you only need a writing strategy at 4x.

Keep up the good work!

Exactly that way, but backup the current FW before flashing the new one (IMO).
Flashing in general is risky, in any way. Anything can happen, with bad or (we all hope) with good results.

[/quote]

Exactly that way, but backup the current FW before flashing the new one (IMO).
Flashing in general is risky, in any way. Anything can happen, with bad or (we all hope) with good results. [/quote]

Thanks for that...How do I back up my current Firmware?

Great work Herrie!

I´ve tried your firmware and it seems to work perfect (not considering it only writes at 2x speed on 4x discs).

A new firmware is what I´ve been waiting for ever since I bought 50 Princo 4x discs not knowing that they didn´t work on the NEC-1300. Allthough I´ve been in contact with NEC several times I have yet to get an answer to my questions about a firmware upgrade. Shame on you NEC!

voelser: The .exe file needs some parameters to run.

- It needs to know if your burner is on the primary or secondary IDE
- It needs to know if it´s strapped to master or slave
- It´s optional to specify a backup copy of your current firmware
- It needs to know what file to flash with

e.g nec1300a -sec -mas -out old105rom.bin -flash 1300-105h.bin

There shouldn´t be a problem to go back to your previous firmware if you´d want to do that.

Big Thank You Herrie! Hope you solve the 2x - 4x puzzle!

/balrog

Thanks for your help...I'll give it a try...

awesome job

Is there any possibilty you could patch it for Intenso dvd-r too ?
Which tools did you use to dissamble the firmware ?
Is it possible with IDA ?
If yes which processor type I have to select ?

Is there any toturial for hacking firmware´s ?

thx for your help

I just used a simple hex-editor, no special tools

I use Hedit, but UltraEdit or HexWorkshop should do the trick also. It's a lot of puzzling, but it's possible, because it's not encrypted. Didn't try it with IDA yet.

Could you give me the complete Media Code (DVDInfo) from the Intenso?

Maybe I can implement it. I will try to implement 4x LEAD DATA tonight to see if it's possible. Still got a 50 pc spindle at home which refuses to burn ATM

You can find the media-codes of the non-working discs at the end of my list:
http://www.kastner-online.de/nd1300a.html

I don't know if it's possible to simply insert new media codes. I don't think so, but I could replace some "unknown" working ones by "well known" not-working ones to see if it's working. I should be able to burn Princo @ 4x then also

Will investigate late in the evening/night.

Does this hack also make DVD-rw discs to be burned @ > 1x speed ?

I have add the media code for my media "GSC001 2x"
Front i have " illegal media" now burn at 2x
Post the media code of your media (with ADVDInfo not DVDinfo) and i can modify the firmware for you.

Since Im a total newbie, Im going to ask something, prolly idiotic:

So will the hack work on "most" of the "illegal media"-DVD's, or just the Princo ones?

I've 150* Big Pocket's 4x Speed DVD-R (whitetop) & 50* Datawrites 4x Speed DVD-R (redtop) that I can't burn with NEC atm...

The hack would be perfect since I've waited for couple weeks for the official NEC FW-update.

This firmware it's modify to work with princo .
I will work with herrie to add other media but i have need media code of media who don't work on nec 1300a.

normally in a few week nec publishes a new firmware .
Download ADVDinfo and paste media code.