Hack for CD-RW.

[jsbush]

I flashed my bios on my ricoh 7040a cd-rw to a 7060a. Now when I try to burn at 6x it says buffer underrun and it doesn't work. I know some people have sucessfulyy done this hack. If your one of them please let me know how you did it.

 

[jmorrell]

I have done the hack and have had no problems whatsoever. I am using Adaptec Easy CD Creator for my data CD burning, and Musicmatch Jukebox for my audio CD burning.

According to the web page I found (don't have the URL since I had to reformat lately due to an unrelated problem), there are two methods to doing the hack: one uses the regular Ricoh flash program and an executable to modify the actual BIOS bin file so the Ricoh flash program thinks it is the correct update file; the other uses its own program to flash the CDRW BIOS instead of the Ricoh flash program. I used the first method because it requires less manual intervention (the Ricoh program is fully automatic, requiring little or no user input once started), and I prefer to use the manufacturer's programs whenever possible for compatability issues.

I unfortunately didn't save the files I used since I have no intention of ever flashing the firmware again (if it works, leave it alone).

 

[jmorrell]

Just found the web page for modifying the firmware. It's at

http://cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_modifications_ricoh_7060.shtml

I used the RMORPH method instead of the ATAMMP3 method. I flashed to firmware revision 1.7.

 

[jsbush]

Hey thanks for the info but...

I get these two error messages

Cannot change Drive to Up Mode.

*** NG ** NG ** NG ***

Make sure Selected Target Drive.

and if I try to flash it again I get this error message.

Cannot change Drive to Up Mode.

*** NG ** NG ** NG ***

Make sure Selected Target Drive.

Could it be because I'm already running the MP7060 unmodifyed firmware?

 

[jsbush]

I got firmware version 7040a to flash it back and it still won't let me.

 

[jmorrell]

I don't have enough experience with this sort of thing to help you further. Maybe someone else can provide some suggestions. Good luck.

 

[Kato]

Does the drive still work? Does it write?

 

[jsbush]

It burns at 4x.

 

[Kato]

What are you trying to burn at 6x? Copying CD? Creating data or audio cd from individual files/tracks? Need some specifics as to what you are doing when you get buffer underruns.

 

[jsbush]

I was burning from the hard drive. It didn't scrap the cd it just said buffer under run and then it stopped.

 

[jsbush]

up

 

[Kato]

Which program are you using? Also have you tried different brand of CD-R?

 

[jsbush]

I'm using Easy CD Creator, and no I never tried a different kind of cd, I'm going to try it right now

 

[jsbush]

Well I just burned a cd at 6 x , it's wasn't 650megs though it was 350megs, and I used cursor 80min cd-rs.

 

[Kato]

Sometimes it takes a little experimantation to find a good combination of program/media when you are essentially 'pushing' a drive beyond its rated capability.