Is it hard to upgrade DVD burner Firmware

[darkstar974]

I never upgraded my Burner's firmware is it hard to do,not to kean on screwing my computer up

 

[jackschmittusa]

No, it is not.

Just follow the manufacturer's instructions.

 

[fatpat268]

usually it just involves clicking on an exe. Not hard at all

 

[secretanchitman]

yep, just run their installer/updater and you should be just fine.

what burner do you have?

 

[Rubycon]

It's similar to working with wood or metal where they say measure twice and cut once. See, the process of upgrading a drive firmware is very simple. However if you screw up, 99% of the time the drive is toast.

Think it through, read the guides word for word twice and you should be ok. Taking shortcuts often leads to problems.

 

[fatpat268]

Although, I don't condone the idea of being reckless, I'd just like to point out, that if you do screw up a dvd burner, it's one of the cheapest and easiest components to replace, so I wouldn't worry about it.

But yea, as long as the power doesn't go out while you're updating the firmware, you'll be fine.

 

[Oyeve]

My take is, if it aint broke, dont fix it! Do you NEED to update the firmware?

 

[darkstar974]

Well its a Lite on dvdrw shw160p6s they have a update for more media

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: darkstar974
Well its a Lite on dvdrw shw160p6s they have a update for more media

In Oyeve's vein - do you need to access more media? If not - then the gain may not be worth the risk.

 

[Ken90630]

Originally posted by: corkyg

Originally posted by: darkstar974
Well its a Lite on dvdrw shw160p6s they have a update for more media

In Oyeve's vein - do you need to access more media? If not - then the gain may not be worth the risk.

I agree. :thumbsup:

I'll just add that the only probs I ever have with such things is when the instructions on the Web site are written so poorly/vaguely that it's hard to make sense of what you're supposed to actually click on ("Ummm ... do I click on this .exe file or this other one?" This wording doesn't make sense." ). The writing on computer hardware sites is often wretched, and if you can't make heads or tails of something like instructions for a firmware update or mobo bios update, you're taking a big chance if you have to guess. But if the instructions are coherent and/or you can figure out the right .exe file to use, like the others have said it's pretty easy.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: darkstar974
I never upgraded my Burner's firmware is it hard to do,not to kean on screwing my computer up

Make sure you unplug all other devices from that IDE chain. Make sure that the DVD drive is the only thing connected to that RIBBON cable or you may screw it up. My best advice is to read any associated directions and heed to all warnings, cautions, and make sure you do not turn the power off during the process. If you have a UPS battery backup, I suggest that you make sure your PC is connected to it while you are performing the update or else your DVD drive will become a nice paperweight.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Oyeve
My take is, if it aint broke, dont fix it! Do you NEED to update the firmware?

Yes, some media types may be incompatible with the existing version. Also it may add extra performance to the drive.

 

[Boyo]

It's worth the upgrade. I have a Lite-On and when I upgraded my firmware, it was just an .exe and all I had to do was point and click. It also helped make my drive faster.

 

[SickBeast]

You can also get hacked firmware that will allow you to 'overclock' your burner to allow higher burn speeds on some media, not that I would reccomend it.

My Pioneer burner was very easy to update, and I've updated the BIOS probably 10 times at this point. It's just a one-click process, takes about 10 seconds. The only thing that could go wrong is a power failure.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
You can also get hacked firmware that will allow you to 'overclock' your burner to allow higher burn speeds on some media, not that I would reccomend it.

My Pioneer burner was very easy to update, and I've updated the BIOS probably 10 times at this point. It's just a one-click process, takes about 10 seconds. The only thing that could go wrong is a power failure.

For more information on your drive and what other firmware it will support go over to this Forum