[ltp] [not really Linux] Capabilities of the DVD drive on R40

[Ivarsson, Torbjorn (T)]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ivarsson, Torbjorn (T) [mailto:tivarsson@lucent.com]
> Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 8:15 AM
> 
> I just got a DVD-bruner for my desktop (Pioneer A07). When I 
> try my burned DVDs (regular data DVD) in my R40 (2722-3YU) 
> with the GCC-4240N (CD-RW/DVD) drive, the drive won't read 
> them (in Windows I get the "Insert disc" box). The DVD-part 
> of the drive works, because I can play regular DVD movies.
> 
> I am using TDK's DVD+R and Sony's DVD+RW. On my work-laptop, 
> a T23 with a GDR8081N drive (CD/DVD), I can read the discs. I 
> suspect that maybe my choice of media plays a role here. Has 
> anyone had success with home-made DVDs with the GCC-4042N 
> drive? If so, what media did you use?

I finally solved it. After a firmware-upgrade I can now read both DVD+R and DVD+RW. This is what I did:

1) From http://www-306.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-41020 I downloaded the correct file (after trial-and-error I found out that I needed fwdr1605.exe).
2) On my desktop running WinXP (and with a floppy), I created the bootable floppy.
3) Following Bart's steps (http://www.nu2.nu/bootcd) I created I bootable CD with the extracted IBM files. (AFAIK: Nero's bootable CD did not support extended memory - needed by the flash-program.)
4) I booted my R40 with the newly created CD (using the emm386-option).
5) I ran fw.exe, it said that my drive needed updated firmware (new version 0214), and it asked me to put the disk FWDR1605 into A:. The problem was that A: had the boot-image, and R: had my firmware files (as config'd by Bart).
6) Instead I ran the file 42upi214.exe, which I without too many braincells figured out was my correct firmware.
7) Three minute later, and after a fresh re-boot, I could read DVD+R and DVD+RW... :)

T.

Note: Always use common sense when upgrading firmware. You may ruin the drive.