Tnx Lord Smurf; w/ur help I upgraded a Daytek DVR-P30

[Thomas Davie]

I followed the instructions on your site and got a success. First off, som info for people who *may* want to do this.

This was a Daytek DVR-P30 purchased in a a Winnipeg, Canada Future Shop store. The firmware version was 1141 out of the box. It was purchased on March 19/04, and it does have a cooling fan in the back. Out of the box, typing in 2 9 6 0 at the exit prompt of the setup screen allowed me to go region and macrovision free, so I wasn't all that tempted to upgrade. But, well.....I was bored and so tried it.

On the firmware download page at http://www.liteonit.com.tw/DC/english/download/index.asp?sn-style=NEW I entered 010143-1141-F2S8 corresponding to the serial number setup on the left hand side of the page, although my serial number was located at the top on my recorder.

1) I downloaded and installed the official lnea1163.ds1 file which was offered. It progrssed to 97%, and then stopped. I unplugged the machine and, after switching from an s-video to a composite cable could see that I had the first stage of an 1163 upgraded. The serial number had changed into the format on the right hand side of the page (xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx). I entered my number in there and was prompted to download a lnea1163.d11 file, which I did.

2) Installing this one went to 100% and the disc tray opened, and the on screen prompt said to power off.

3) I then installed the 'hacked' 1163 file from the digitalFAQ site referenced by Lord Smurf, and installing that was identical to #2 (progress to 100%, opening the tray and prompting to shut down).

After restarting, I quickly reset my region to 0, and then checked the recording options. Yep, 3 hour (LP) is there. I started to record off of digital ccable and checked the OTR, and it too works. Then to test the macrovision off, I recorded about 15 seconds of a Harry Potter DVD and 15 seconds of a Buffy DVD. Macrovision ignored.

It's quite odd; my case says Daytek, but when I turn the recorder on, it says Liteon

Thanks Lord Smurf!

Tom

[lordsmurf]

That's aweome!
I'll be sure to add Daytek DVR-P30 and Gateway (whatever it is) to the list. Those must be LITEON-OEM machines.

[Thomas Davie]

Another person on the Liteon boards tried upgrading his Daytek after reading my first post in this thread. It's safe to say this is not an isolated occurence. Maybe I should open it up and see what is inside the case.

Tom

[lordsmurf]

Another person on the Liteon boards tried upgrading his Daytek after reading my first post in this thread. It's safe to say this is not an isolated occurence. Maybe I should open it up and see what is inside the case.

Tom

Do it. There's no warranty sticker to break.

You should see a LiteON 401 drive, a 5001 mainboard, and a LSI video CPU. Does your unit have a fan? If so, is it ALWAYS on, or just when the machine is "on" (not just clock mode).

[Thomas Davie]

Do it. There's no warranty sticker to break.

You should see a LiteON 401 drive, a 5001 mainboard, and a LSI video CPU. Does your unit have a fan? If so, is it ALWAYS on, or just when the machine is "on" (not just clock mode).

I haven't opened my machine yet, but it does have a fan, and it only comes on intermittently. Kinda like my laptop; nothing, and then it will be on for 10-20 minutes.

Tom

[lordsmurf]

It may be temperature driven then!

[kzod]

So, what is the end result after all this hacking? Not sure I understand the benefit / extra features of turning it into a liteon. I see that it's region and macro free, but anything else? Will it now allow you to copy from another DVD with macrovision?

[lordsmurf]

You can have it ignore MV, let it play any disc, and then use a new 3-hour mode (awesome quality). There's not much else physically possible that can be done to this unit.

Well, maybe a change from CVBR to a higher max VBR would be nice, but that's up to LiteOn, probably not as easy as the other hacks found by the people that wrote the firmware HEX changes on the LiteOn forum. It may also be nice to make it accept -R/-RW, but I don't really care about that much, alter the 401 into a full 411 drive, again, up to LiteOn.

Adding custom heatsinks and fans REALLY helped my unit stay cool. I don't feel ANY heat. In fact, it's now cooler than the JVC and my old Apex units. Cooler than Sony, Pioneer and Cyberhome too. I just finished today. I'll be putting it in my shelf system tomorrow. All tests passed. It's cooler (temp) and is an all-new machine compared to the day I bought it.

[Thomas Davie]

So, what is the end result after all this hacking? Not sure I understand the benefit / extra features of turning it into a liteon. I see that it's region and macro free, but anything else? Will it now allow you to copy from another DVD with macrovision?

Yes, with macrovision disabled, you can copy another DVD. But here is a list of other enhancements with 1163

1. Provide Text/Thumbnail dual-mode DVD menu. (but wll need more time to stop recording/editing)
2. "Prompt Format" when loading blank CD/DVD-R/DVD-RW.
3. New AP "Channel Editor" when watching source Tuner.
4. DVD recorded but erase all titles should show the menu with a empty title.
5. Show disabled previous/next button in 1st and last DVD menu pages
6. Can display longer title name while in Text view menu
7. Auto-format only show "Preparing" on OSD, no percentage.
8. Reboot will stay in last view
9. Special effects when JPEG slide show
10. JPEG CD play next image after marked-stop
11. Show "Warning Message" when trayout un-finalized discs
12. Add "CloseTrack" method for DVD+R/-R to save 15 tracks after recording failure.
13. Available System Date upto 2099.12.31
14. More country/language support
15. Add warning message in Guider format disc page.
16. Insert chapter manually while recording by press 'EDIT' key.
17. OTR (One-Touch Recording) support. While recording, press 'RECORD' will activate the OTR function. Starting from 30 minutes to total available recording time with a 30-minute interval.

I'd say thats worth it. The 'hack' makes it even better.

Tom

[Sam Ontario]

[
2. "Prompt Format" when loading blank CD/DVD-R/DVD-RW.
Tom

Does that means you can use CD-R and CD-RW to record on this unit with the firmware upgrade?

[Thomas Davie]

No; this part refers only to the 5005. I was not judicious when I pasted the info from the Liteon forum


Tom


(but you pays your money and you takes your chances). I had no trouble upgrading, and am glad I did.)

[SyCo]

Thanks Thomas, just bought a Daytek DVR-P30 at futureshop (249$ cdn), it came with 1141 and Exit 2960 was working great .

But I wanted to correct some bugs and resume where I left on power on. I did Step 1 and 3. Now it says "Liteon"

3hr is working and other bugfixes. That`s great

[SyCo]

btw

do you think we can "upgrade" the 401S (+ media) internal drive to 411S (+/- media) and use dvd-rw ??

http://www.xs4all.nl/~wcprins/401at411.htm

thank you

[DragonSlayer]

The firmware upgrade doesn't work on my Daytek PVR-P30 purchased at Costco in Vancouver, Canada recently.

The unit came with 1140 firmware. But it just didn't didn't recognize the new firmware, from original 1143 to original 1163, even hacked 1163.

Is there anybody successfully hack the Daytek from Costco?

[Edit] Sorry that the firmware should be 1090. It's most likely 5002's firmware. Couldn't upgrade with 5005's hacked 1063 firmware.

[schematic2]

Hey DragonSlayer

Did you manage to hack that Costco unit yet?

[DragonSlayer]

No.

I don't think there is hacked firmware 1090 yet.