Sony DRU500A firmeware update failure

[rbarbehenn]

Has anyone encountered this error when attempting to update the firmware on their Sony DRU500A DVD Recorder:

Write Header Mode6 Failure

Then the machine locks up. Any leads are appreciated!

RB

[WhoCares?]

I was able to upgrade my firmware without a problem. I did have a blank-dvdr in the recorder while I upgraded and I did notice that the drive was spinning during the upgrade.

Also, if you are running anti-virus software, it is recommended practice to turn off the anti-virus software while doing installs and upgrades.

When you ran the firmware update, did you make sure the drive selected was the sony dru-500a? I have two dvd drives in my computer and there was a drop-down box that selects the drive to update. It's possible you selected the wrong drive.

Good luck.

[ghoster]

ya my computer lock up to when i install the flimware.

[rbarbehenn]

I have an update. I moved the drive to my other PC and I was able to update the firmware. It appears not to like my Abit KR7A RAID motherboard or one of its drivers. On my other machine, an A7A266 board, it worked just fine. This could be a VIA chipset/driver issue. Anyone else out there with VIA have any troubles?

RB

[Alec]

thanks for the update rbarbehenn.
I have the same error when updating from my epox/VIA chipset.
Was gonna try it on a computer at work, but now that i know it works it doesn't seem so pressing anymore.

[rbarbehenn]

I have called Sony with this issue and they claim that I was the first(and only) person to call and complain about it. I urge anyone who has this problem or even thinks they have this problem to call Sony tech support. The number is:

1-800-588-3847

I give the number because it was a Herculean labor to find it in the first place. Please call soon before they change the number

RB

[[_chef_]]

Upgrading firmwares under w2k or w9x is recommended! Not xp!!

[donpedro]

]Upgrading firmwares under w2k or w9x is recommended! Not xp!!

What do you mean ? If I have XP I should not upgrade or I should upgrade on different machine and not one that runs XP ? I upgraded my on XP successfully.

[HoosierDaddy]

I was unaware that the firmware update was not suggested for XP. This update was supposed to make more blank DVD media compatible with the drive was it not?

I did run the upgrade before I read this, however, and it installed to 100% then froze my machine. I rebooted, retried it and same results. The drive's listing as 1.0d though in my burning software so I'm assuming the update was successful.

If XP users aren't supposed to upgrade the firmware, what do we do about making our drives more compatibile with different brands of media?


Also, if you hadn't seen, Sony lists a 1.0e update in the works (early December I think it was?) that will supposedly kick the DVD-R writing speed up to 4x. Will XP not be suggested for this as well? And why not? XP's obviously widely used.

[donpedro]

...then froze my machine. I rebooted, retried it and same results. The drive's listing as 1.0d though in my burning software so I'm assuming the update was successful....

Do you have InCD installed ? If Yes.... try uninstall it. It helped me.

[HoosierDaddy]

No InCD here.

Have Nero, GearPRO and Easy CD installed (working on uninstalling Easy without mangling my system).

[[_chef_]]

What I meant is:

I have just experienced problems every time I tried to upgrade/flash firmwares under xp. Not only me...
Tried the same stuff under w2k and no problems ever. That shows xp is the problem. 8)

[SARCASS]

i was successful in upgrading the firmware under XP pro. the machine does indeed hang at the end of the flash. but it did finish. under xp be sure you are logged on as administrator (its the only way i could get the update to go) make sure the updater has located the drive. and for every other firmware update ive done i make sure the drive is empty. if it hangs at the end let it sit . then do a hard restart. its what i ended up doing.


Sarcass

[DigiToast]

This is just a quick thought, but is everyone that is having XP+Firmware Update problems using XP without service pack 1? I noticed that Sony does recommend using XP with SP1 installed. I flashed my drive under Windows XP SP1 without a problem - no crashes, lockups, nothing.. perhaps there's some sort of connection between the problems and not using SP1?

[dun4cheap]

I just wanted to add my experience and make a correction to a statement from hoosiedaddy. I did the firmware update via xp it did take by like others I had to reset my computer. Next time I will try and run it in compatability mode.

Hoosierdaddy made mention about the advertised firmware update 1.0e to speed the sony up to do 4x DVD-r media. This is already available. the 1.0e is supposed to make the sony do 4x DVD+r media

DRU-500A and DRX-500UL. This new firmware will allow your Dual RW drive to record at 4X on 4X compatible DVD+R media as well as improve the DVD-ROM reading performance with DVD recordable/rewritable media.

Making this a kick butt deal for $248.00 can't wait to get some high speed media.

[SARCASS]

I agree DigiToast, it is recomended and makes sense . i havent upgraded to SP1 for fear it would hose some program i cant update. i will probably bite the bullet and do the service pack when the next firmware is released..


Sarcass

[[_chef_]]

I think that is known to everyone here that you have to be logged in as Admin or run the program with the runas cmd!

But, to say it again, w2k is more stable than every xp and it doesnt have such amount of problems especially with newer drivers/software. That sounds a lil bit weird cause everyone will let us know that w2k and xp using the same engine. bah.
I have "study'd" the whole nt4/w2k sys and then I've explored the whole new xp sys. Short to say, sure, it has some minor changes, but only the GUI is really changed. What I've experienced when I run xp pro the first times was that it was impossible to run some games with different copyprotections (on cd)....
Anyway. Good Luck with flashing/burning! 8)

[flinchme]

this is what i found out when i tried again, you need to make sure the drive is by itself, as in it needs to sit alone with its own ide channel when u upgrade. hope this helps.

[donpedro]

I am not sure what need to be done, but I upgraded firmware successfully.

WinXP Home SP1, logged as Admin,Shuttle AK31A (Via KT266A) mobo, IDE1 (2HD), IDE2 (Master Sony, Slave LG DVD-ROM). No freezing, halting or any kind of issues.

Only problem that I had was with InCD. So maybe this is not realy WinXP issue and more some kind of software/driver combination.

[g00kster]

I updated my firmware 1.0d successfully with XP Home w/o the SP1.

I'm ripping dvds and burning cd-rs without a problem!!!

Good luck to you all!!!

[morac]

I have XP Pro SP1 and the program said it successfully flashed to 1.0d, but when it went to reboot the machine after flashing, my computer froze.

A simple hit of the reset button and I was back up again. A quick double check in the tool confirmed that I had 1.0d.

I've burned several DVDs since then.

[JasonK]

The exact same thing happened to me under Win2k. It didn't freeze immediately after flashing, the mouse was still moving around, but I wanted to be patient to see if it would prompt me again, and suddenly it locked. I did a cold boot, and everything is roses.

[donpedro]

I was thinking.... Not that it helps, but....

Everybody is writing here that they updated all the drivers for everything and Sony's byrner is failing. What I did is just recent fresh reinstall of WinXP Home Edition and then I went to MS web site to download all latest patchsets, service packs and drivers from them. I never updated any driver from anybody else (other then Sony's) and my burner works so far with no issues. Even media that is not suppose to work is working in my (Princo from meritline.com).

Could this be part of problem ??? All these "newest", "latest" drivers ?

Just a thought......

[morac]

I think one of the reasons Windows can hang is because once you flash the DRU-500A, Windows treats it as a different device. So basically Windows thinks you are removing the DRU-500A 1.0c device and adding a DRU-500A 1.0d device while the machine is still on. Windows may not like this so it hangs.

When I rebooted Win XP redetected and installed the DRU-500A 1.0d, but if you look at the hidden (removed) devices in Device Manager you can see the DRU-500A 1.0c still listed as well.