The Firmware Page

The following notice was largely plagiarized from XVI's Original DVRFlash Post

At last, DVRFlash 2.0 has been ported to MacOS X thanks to XVI.

With this tool, PIONEER DVR-103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108 & K12 can have their firmware updated. No need to plug the drive into a PC!
IDE/ATAPI, USB, USB2 and FireWire drives can be updated.

XVI ported DVRFlash 2.0 to OSX, all I did was make a couple of fixes and compile it.
Thanks go to: Agent Smith, >NIL:, Gradius and all the guys from rpc1.org for their invaluable help!

Before you use them, a few words:
* USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
* These firmwares are not endorsed by PIONEER.
* Modifying your drive's firmware will void its warranty.
* Proper burn of non approved media is not guaranteed!
* Only for PIONEER DVR-103,104,105,106,107,108,K12. NO OTHER DRIVES.
* Don't feed the animals.

Changes from previous release:
If run without parameters, auto-detects drives.
Supports 103 and 108 drives.
Supports paths to firmware

Currently you can download from here: DVRFlash 2.0
It should be available everywhere else soon!

______________________
LasVegas

Wooooooohoooooooooo! Thanks for all your work guys! This is great news.

Vegas, you are a GOD among mortal men.

At long last I can move into the 21st Century with my Pioneer 108.

Thanks Vegas.......and to Pioneer......massive spit is coming out of my mouth to you and your nonsupport of Macintosh computers!

Okay, I'm a complete tool.
What's the correct command-line usage? I'm totally out of it. Do I need to d/l the firmware? What's up?

TIA

hi,

does not work for mee i have an internal DVR-106D and a firewire DVR-108 the flashit script does not deteect my DVR-108. could someone give me the terminal command line to flash my DVR-108 drive. it is device B.

Thanks

Andy

Yeah, same here. Flashit fails to give me the script I need to flash the 108.

So, you're not a God as of yet, maybe just a disciple. To get into heaven you must give us the answer to the terminal command line.

Can you feel the Power you Have?

OK I'm a complete PUTZ!

The Flashit Command is the icon right next to the DVRFlash icon. Run that and all the script runs very smoothly.

You guys are great!

Gods all of you. I am truly not worthy.

Mac lover with NO PCs!!

Okay... To determine how DVRFlash see's your drives, enter

DVRFlash

It will list your drives with A:, B: etc preceeding the name.

If you have more than one Pioneer drive, note the Leter preceeding the drive you intend to flash.

Put the appropriate firmware into the same folder (easiest that way). If you're flashing an OEM (like APPLE) drive, I urge you to use FlashIt instead. If you want to do it the hard way, just make sure you have both Firmware and Kernel. You don't need the kernel file if your flashing a Pioneer drive with Pioneer firmware.

If you're only flashing the firmware enter:

DVRFlash PIONEER <Firmware name>

If more than 1 drive and you're flashing the A: drive then:

DVRFlash A:PIONEER <firmware name>

If you need to flash the kernel enter:

DVRFlash -f PIONEER <kernel name> <firmware name>

NOTE: It doesn't mater the order as long as they're both there.

Questions?

Thanks to a suggestion from RMartijnR, FlashIt now supports multiple drives. If you have multiple Pioneer drives, download the FlashIt Kit again from the same link above and try with the new script.

Thanks LasVagas that works great, now all we need is a offical Apple Firmware and make it RPC-1 so i can use "Put Drives to sleep".

What drive are you working with, Macster? I am currently running beta tests on some Apple firmwares. See this link.

OK, tried the FlashIt and got this Error Message:
____________________________
FlashIt, Version 2.0.1
************************************************************
* Confirm Choice *
************************************************************

Drive: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-103
Current Firmware: 1.90
Firmware To Be Installed: DVD-R103, Ver. 2.00

There is no Kernel present for this update.

WARNING! Your drive does NOT match this Firmware! Flashing this Firmware without the matching Kernel may result in a non-functional drive! You should install the Kernel as well. We do not recommend that you proceed!

Do you wish to proceed? [y/n]
____________________________________

The DVD-R103 drive is attached to my PowerMac G5 as a Firewire external drive. My G5 has a drive listed as

Vendor: HL-DT-ST
Model: DVD-RW GWA-4082B

My G5's drive does not appear as an updatable choice.
What/Where is the kernel?

Thanks

After searching around here in the forums, and around elsewhere... is it safe to assume that if you have a HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4082B that comes with the dual g5's then you are out of luck on on getting it to rpc1? It's not too big a problem for me 'cause i have an all-region player for my t.v., but it sort of defeats part of the purpose for having a DVD-R in the first place for me... It also looks like the firmware flashes for this drive over @ Dangerous Bros. are all dos/windows based.

-icy

I guess I did not speak clearly.

I want to Flash the PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-103 that is in the external Firewire enclosure not the G5's SuperDrive (a Hitachi/LG model HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4082B) in the G5. Will I have to remove it from the enclosure and instal it in the G5 in order to flash it? Why does DVDFlash request a "kernel".

Thanks.

Dear LasVegas and other readers,

If you were to read my post done yesterday at:

http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?p=140185#140185

and have a similar concern, I have some answers here.

I was able to find the kernal for a Pioneer DVR-103 (mine is Apple OEM) in the file:

UNIVERSAL OEM-Pioneer 103 FlashDisk.exe

that can be found in Flash's repository:

http://flashman.rpc1.org/Firmware/PIONE ... OOT_DISCS/

I had to do this part with my Dell at work and a floppy disk. The file's name is R3100001.180. I copied the file into a subfolder in my FlashIt 2.01 folder. That subfolder also contained the version 2.00 firmware file I wanted, R3100101.200. I renamed the kernal file to R3100001.200.

I then ran FlashIt and got the following Terminal session (My PowerMac Quicksilver G4/867 is running OSX 10.3.5):

FlashIt, Version 2.0.1
******************************************************************************
* Welcome *
******************************************************************************

"FlashIt" and "DVRFlash" were written for the sole purpose of flashing a
PIONEER DVD Burner using MacOS X. While they do this effectively, and every
precaution has been taken to avoid accidental mis-flashing, the risk is left
entirely with the user.

It is up to you, the user, to verify that you have acquired the appropriate
files for your particular drive. FlashIt will attempt to verify the files
are compatible with your specific drive. There can be no guaranty that all
files are properly supplied.

If the proper firmware file(s) have not been installed in this folder prior
to running this program, please quit now, locate and install those files.
If problems occur, please see the READ.ME file(s) included with firmware.

Do you wish to proceed? [y/n] y




FlashIt, Version 2.0.1
******************************************************************************
* Confirm Choice *
******************************************************************************

Drive: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-103
Current Firmware: 1.90
Firmware To Be Installed: DVR-103, Ver. 2.00


You will be installing both the Kernel and Firmware into this drive.

You will be changing Ownership of this drive from APPLE There is no
guaranty that your drive will continue to operate as intended in your system.
Please verify that this is what you intended to do.

Do you wish to proceed? [y/n] y







./DVRFlash -f "PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-103" "DVR-103/R3100001.200" "DVR-103/R3100101.200"

DVRFlash v2.0 : Pioneer DVR firmware flasher
by Agent Smith et al., July 2004

DISCLAIMER

THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE ABILITY OF THIS PROGRAM TO FLASH A
PIONEER OR COMPATIBLE DVR DRIVE IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE
PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY
SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.

THIS PROGRAM IS NOT ENDORSED BY PIONEER CORPORATION OR ANY
COMPANY RESELLING PIONEER EQUIPMENT AS THEIR OWN BRAND

IF YOU UNDERSTAND THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PROGRAM AND
DISCHARGE BOTH THE AUTHOR AND PIONEER CORPORATION FROM ANY
DAMAGE OCCURING AS THE RESULT OF ITS USE, PLEASE INDICATE SO
BY ANSWERING THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:

Do you understand and agree to the statement above (y/n)?
y

Commandline:
./DVRFlash -f PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-103 DVR-103/R3100001.200 DVR-103/R3100101.200


Drive Information:
Description - PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-103
Firmware Rev. - 1.90
Firmware Date - 02/06/05
Manufacturer - PIONEER
Drive is in normal mode.

Firmwares and Drive type mismatch
Continue because force option was specified
Are you sure you want to flash this drive (y/n)?
y

Switching drive to Kernel mode:
Please wait... OK.

Description - PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-103
Firmware Rev. - 0000
Firmware Date - 00/00/00
Manufacturer - PIONEER
Drive is now in Kernel mode

Now sending the Kernel part...
Now internal Kernel reflashing. Please wait... OK.

Now sending the Normal part:
0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
|============|============|============|============|
Now internal reflashing. Please wait... OK.

Updated Information:
Description - PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-103
Firmware Rev. - 2.00
Firmware Date - 02/12/12
Manufacturer - PIONEER
Flashing operation successful

logout
[Process completed]

Sorry for the long message, but there is a critical step:

Firmwares and Drive type mismatch
Continue because force option was specified
Are you sure you want to flash this drive (y/n)?

that is daunting. Given LasVegas' comment:

Then Re-enter the Flashing command. Note when Flashing from Kernel mode, you will be warned that the Firmware doesn't match. This is normal. Kernel Mode reports flash versions as all zeros. Be very sure in this case that you are installing the correct firmware for your drive!

at:

http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?p=123415#123415

I took the plunge and typed 'y'. As you can see, the flashing went OK.

Then I rebooted my computer and ran the System Profiler and got the following:

PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-103:

Manufacturer: PIONEER
Model: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-103
Revision: 2.00
Serial Number:
Drive Type: CD-RW/DVD-RW
Disc Burning: Apple Supported/Shipped
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal

which is what I wanted/hoped to see. Hopefully others can have the same positive experience I did. Thanks again to LasVegas, :NIL>, Flash, Gradius, and everyone else.

The messages you described are from DVRFlash and not from FlashIt. This is why all the warnings in the previous screens. Since everything was setup right, FlashIt allowed the command to go to DVRFlash. The warnings were meant to be daunting. If you're going to experiment, they wan't you to be darned sure of your actions.

It's great that you found the kernel for the official 103! Could you please email it to me? I'll PM you my email address.

I have the 107d drive and was able to successfully flash it (patched version 1.10) on a Windows XP box last spring before there were any Mac flashers. The drive is in a firewire enclosure (Sony Spressa - which used to hold a stock Sony cd-rw drive). XP could not flash the drive in the fw enclosure, so I had to put it in the XP box to flash it.

I just tried to flash it in the fw enclsoure on my fp iMac and when it got to 'switching to kernel mode' it would pause for several minutes then give me a 'could not set kernel' message. I've tried both the French flasher for Mac as well as FlashIt. Trying to flash the patched 1.16 and was hoping I could do it in the fw enclosure on my Mac. Also tried putting the two 1.16 files both in a folder in the FlashIt folder as well as not using a folder. Should I assume it can't be flashed in that particular fw enclosure? If I remember right, I got that same basic 'could not set kernel' message when I tried to flash it on the XP box in the fw enclosure, before finally taking it out of the enclosure and putting it into the XP machine.

Your problem is the Firewire/IDE bridge. It's not letting the SCSI commands through to the drive properly. I suggest that you determine what brand the bridge board is and search the net for a firmware update for it.

Good info. I'll see what I can find. Another dumb question: will I have to update the bridge firmware on a Windows machine or can I just put it into the FlashIt utility?

PKB2;

I followed your lead and was able to update my DVD-R103D (Apple SuperDrive) as an external firewire drive. Here is the info:
_________________________________
Firmware Storage Device:

Manufacturer: Triumph Technology Inc.
Model: Firmware Storage Device
Drive Type: CD-RW/DVD-RW
Disc Burning: Apple Supported/Shipped
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: Yes
Speed: 400 Mb/sec Speed
Unit Spec Id: 24734
Unit Software Version: 10483
Firmware Revision: 2.00
__________________________________

Thanks for the tip and thanks to Las Vegas and all who post here.

PS: If any one needs the patched kernel PM me.

You'll have to use a special updater prog. for your FireWire bridge. If it comes from Oxford, you certainly can do it on a Mac.

Mike

One more - will I have to put the original Sony cd-rw drive back into the firewire enclosure (removing the Pioneer 107) before flashing the drive or does it matter?

It doesn't matter what drive is in the enclosure to flash the bridge. They are separate devices.

Found the bridge flasher for the Sony fw enclosure. Plugged it into a WinXP box and the flasher [program] basically stated it couldn't detect the drive (even though it showed up in MyComputer and mounted disks). So, I took out the Pio 107 drive and replaced the original Sony drive back into the enclosure. Same message. Rebooted - same message. So, since I already had the Pio 107 out of the drive I just popped it into the WinXP box and flashed it. In thinking about the fw firmware updater, I have reason to believe the enclosure had the most recent firmware (which I downloaded from Sony's site). Put the 107 back into the fw enclosure and it is actually now much more quiet! I flashed it with patched 1.16 (read on this forum that 1.18 had some issues). Thanks again for all your help!

Hello everyone,

I am a complete newbie in these things.
I want to flash my Pioneer DVD-rw 107D.

I used the DVD info and it said the following:



Vendor: PIONEER
Model: DVD-RW DVR-107D
Firmware: 1.18
RPC-2 (region locked)
State is SET
4 vendor resets left
3 region changes left
Region 2


Can anyone explain to me or tell me step by step how to make my Pioneer region-free or how to rest the vendor when it's locked.

i would be very happy if someone would help.