tdk velocd 12\10\32 won't flash to 1.07 firmware??!!

[K6 3]

I'm having trouble with this, guys. I downloaded the update from tdk website, executed the program, but it won't flash my drive. the program starts and appears to run, but I don't get any confirmation saying its been updated correctly. the program disapears from the screen, but when I ctrl+alt+del, its still running. also still shows rev.1.02 in device manager so I know it hasn't flashed. Any ideas?? Kinda weird. do I need to flash to 1.05 first or something? thanks in advance

 

[K6 3]

^^^^^

 

[JACKHAMMER]

which OS?

 

[slimjim]

I have the same problem. I updated to 105 with no problem, but 107 is a no-go.
I thought it was because the firmware is still in beta stage.

 

[CaptJohn]

I ran this firware upgrade last week without a hitch, Win98SE, TDK as master on IDE secondary. Also I left the DMA enabled. Checked DAE and did see some improvement. Nero reports as 1.07.

 

[K6 3]

I'm runnin win98 SE. So slimjim, you have the same problem? Weird. At least I'm not alone... by the way, I tried with dma enabled AND disabled, no go either way.

CaptJohn, nero also reports 1.02

Anyone else have any ideas????

 

[Ronstang]

I had this exact same problem with my TDK. It seems that some TDKs take the new firmware and some don't, or maybe it is just how the machine is configured. I toyed with mine for days until I finally got it to work.

Try this:

1. Make sure the TDK is the only CD drive in the system and that it is the only drive on it's IDE channel. You don't have to remove all your other drives, just unplug them.

2. Disable DMA in device manager. Mine worked with DMA enabled but might as well do it anyway.

3. Flash the firmware, it should work this time.

4. If it still doesn't work and you have the "reserved" jumper jumpered, remove the jumper and try again.

5. After a successful firmware flash plug your other drives back in and you a goiod to go.

The funny thing is that once the TDK has been flashed to 1.07 firmware you can flash it succesfully as many times as you want, no matter what you hardware or software configuration. Go figure

Good luck, hope this helps all who are having trouble.

 

[K6 3]

thanks Ronstang! I'll try your ideas as soon as I get a chance

 

[K6 3]

tried what you said ronstang, still no go . Why the heck won't this darn thing flash? Flashed to 1.05 just fine, but just refuses to do 1.07 . Any more ideas anybody?

 

[Ronstang]

K6 3

Did you disable the LS-120 drive? The TDK needs to be on a channel all by itself, with no other IDE devices in the system except for a hard drive. This is the only way mine would flash the 1.07 firmware.

 

[K6 3]

Ronstang:

Yeah I unplugged ALL ide devices except for my hard drive, and have the burner on its own channel.

 

[SendTrash]

Try flashing to an older firmware.. is there 1.04? and then go to 1.07.

 

[K6 3]

I used to have firmware 1.02, wouldn't flash from that either

 

[slimjim]

Hey K6 3,
I finally got it to flash!
It was a problem with the ASPI layer on my computer.
I tried a program called ForceASPI to upgrade then applied the 107 firmware update and it ran as smooth as the 105 update did.
I went back to the site today to get the link for you but it was removed at the request of Adaptec. http://flexion.org/aspi/

 

[K6 3]

Thanks slimjim! Glad to hear you found a way to flash. I've heard that the aspi layer could possibly cause the drive to not flash, you've just confirmed that for me. Thanks!

 

[Ronstang]

I remember now that also was having problems with my ASPI layer about the same time I was having problems updating my firmware. I never equated the two though. This might very well be your problem. If you can't find forceASPI send me your email and I will email you a copy.

 

[bacillus]

you can always check the status of your aspi layer here.

 

[K6 3]

thanks bacillus, I think I've used that utility before. This is not the first time I've had trouble with aspi.....I've had trouble when ripping mp3s before also. Anyways...anybody know how I can get past the aspi layer to flash? Is it possible to put the flash program and file on a bootable floppy and do it that way? anybody tried it that way?

 

[John C]

I was having the same exact problem trying to go from 1.05 to 1.07. I don't know why 1.05 would update and 1.07 wouldn't but after reading a bunch of posts here and trying what they said...

Here's what worked in my case:

First I downloaded aspichk.exe and found that my ASPI layer was not up to date.

Then I updated my ASPI files using a hack called ForceACPIv1.7 since I didn't have any Adaptec products installed on my machine (although I do own a sccsi card) (if you have one of their products you can use adaptec's updater instead "aspi32.exe" found on their site).

After running ForceASPI as instructed here, I rebooted and suddenly the firmware upgrade flashed perfectly!! Now I finally have 1.07.

Upon restarting a second time windows informs me that my ASPI is older than the version installed by windows98se and that I can go to setup to fix it. However, since the adaptec aspi's are actually newer versions I chose to ignore this. I have also heard that some burning software requires the newer aspi layer. So we'll see if this causes me problems or helps me later. P.S. I'm not sure if this is an illegal program or what but I think TDK or Microsoft owes us a similar fix.

 

[dalfollo]

John,

same problem here...i am running an ABIT KT7RAID with only one HD...should i worry that the Force will effect anything other than just fix the problem?? don't want to screww with my otherwise flawless system...it's good to see an ABIT KT7RAID brother in the same fix....

when i boot up my system with 1.05 the InCD window shows up an hangs there...i have to CTRL+ALT+DEL to turn it off to continue...is this related or a separate issue??

 

[John C]

dalfallo,

I haven't had any problems at all that I know of. My drive still burns very well and maybe better but I don't really know. As far as InCD, I had the same problem when I first got the drive so I uninstalled it and forgot about it. I have an idea of what InCD does, but have too many things clogging up my system tray (16) so I probably won't install it. I love my system too, but after about two days of computing I end up running out of memory and having to restart Win98 but I think thats about the norm.

 

[dalfollo]

john...YOU ARE THE MAN! and frankly you can really 'lay the smack down' on this sh.t...
thanks for the heads up..worked like a charm

you (others reading this) might have to do a search on yahoo for the file that the above website does not have any more (you'll find a zip copy on cnet.uk)

I got rid of the InCD boot problem, upgraded to 1.07 flawlessly, and immediately cranked out a couple CDs for my wife...this is how a rip and burn should go...big difference from my HP 2x that you had to quarrentine when burning...

john...get some memory! www.crucial.com/webpromo will get you 256 133 CA2 for 105.39 delivered in two days...

thanks again to al who contribute to anandtech!