I just purchased a new Pioneer DVR-212D today. Thought I'd have to go the route of locating a DOS boot disc, hooking up my floppy, and so on, just to flash the firmware. I don't own a copy Windows, and don't want one either .

Found this utility for Pioneer drives. Works just fine on my SATA DVR-212D
There is also a utility for NEC drives.
http://dvrflash.rpc1.org/ (Newest 2.6.0 includes Linux binary)
http://binflash.cdfreaks.com/ (scoll to the download links for Linux binary)

Code:
bash-3.1$ ./DVRFlash -v /dev/sg0 S0813001.128               

DVRFlash v2.6.0: Pioneer DVR firmware flasher
by Agent Smith, et al.,  July 2008           

                       DISCLAIMER

THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,   
THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A   
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.                                           

THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE ABILITY OF THIS PROGRAM TO FLASH A
PIONEER OR COMPATIBLE DVR DRIVE IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE     
PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY
SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.                             

THIS PROGRAM IS NOT ENDORSED BY PIONEER CORPORATION OR ANY
COMPANY RESELLING PIONEER EQUIPMENT AS THEIR OWN BRAND    

IF YOU UNDERSTAND THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PROGRAM AND
DISCHARGE BOTH THE AUTHOR AND PIONEER CORPORATION FROM ANY  
DAMAGE OCCURING AS THE RESULT OF ITS USE, PLEASE INDICATE SO
BY ANSWERING THE FOLLOWING QUESTION:                        

Do you understand and agree to the statement above (y/n)?
y                                                        

Commandline:
  ./DVRFlash -v /dev/sg0 S0813001.128 

Reading firmware 'S0813001.128'...
  firmware is of Normal type (PIONEER DVD-RW  DVR-212D 1.28 ), size 1C0000

Drive Information:
   Description : PIONEER DVD-RW  DVR-212D
  Firmware Rev : 1.24                    
 Firmware Date : 07/08/08                
  Manufacturer : PIONEER                 
Drive is in normal mode.                 

Additional Drive Information:
 Serial Number : GGDP035244WL    
Interface type : SAT             
DVR generation : 0813            
   Kernel type : GENERAL         
   Normal type : GENERAL         
Kernel version : 0001            

        Status : RPC-2 (region locked)
        Region : none                 
       Changes : 5 region changes remaining
                 4 vendor resets remaining 
                 state is 'Region not set' 

Are you sure you want to flash this drive (y/n)?
y                                               

Switching drive to Kernel mode:
   Description : PIONEER DVD-RW  DVR-212                                                                                                     
 Firmware Rev. : 0000
 Firmware Date : 06/08/11
  Manufacturer : PIONEER
Drive is now in Kernel mode

Now sending the Normal part:
0%          25%          50%          75%         100%
|============|============|============|============|
Please hold your breath for about 30 seconds...

Now internal reflashing. Please wait... OK.

Updated Information:
   Description : PIONEER DVD-RW  DVR-212D
 Firmware Rev. : 1.28
 Firmware Date : 08/07/25
  Manufacturer : PIONEER

Flashing operation successful ;)
Rebooted, and rechecked just to make sure

Code:
bash-3.1$ ./DVRFlash 

DVRFlash v2.6.0: Pioneer DVR firmware flasher
by Agent Smith, et al.,  July 2008           

Commandline:
  ./DVRFlash 

Device parameter was not given, detecting all DVR drives:

        Device : /dev/sg0
        Vendor : PIONEER 
         Model : DVD-RW  DVR-212D
      Revision : 1.28            

        Status : RPC-2 (region locked)
        Region : none                 
       Changes : 5 region changes remaining
                 4 vendor resets remaining
                 state is 'Region not set'


        Device : /dev/scd0
        Vendor : PIONEER
         Model : DVD-RW  DVR-212D
      Revision : 1.28

        Status : RPC-2 (region locked)
        Region : none
       Changes : 5 region changes remaining
                 4 vendor resets remaining
                 state is 'Region not set'


Now run DVRFlash again, from the command prompt, using
one of the device(s) listed above as first parameter

Press the Return key to exit