Sony CRX320e... anyone past 40x? anyone flash with Lite-On?

[CHaynes112]

Greetings,

I just bought a Sony CRX320e (52x32x52x16x). Nero 6.3 sees it as a 52x, however it will NOT let me burn above 40x. I thought it may have been the media I was using, so I tried different brands. Still wouldn't go above 40x. I cannot find any firmware updates for it. I read that the drive was an OEM Lite-On SOHC-5232K. Supposedly you can flash the Sony with the Lite-On firmware update... has anyone actually done this? Will the drive then be seen as a Lite-On in BIOS/Windows? Is there anyway to revert back to a Sony firmware, if they ever do update it?

-Thanks

[Bhairav]

1)Probably Sony's Turbo-Boost at work. Apparently you have to hold the eject button down for a few seconds, your LED will blink and then 52X is enabled.

2)You can update it with Lite-On firmware. Just download the latest .exe FW for the 5232K from Lite-On's website, apply flashfix (google it) to the .exe and double-click. It WILL be identified as a Lite-On in Windows and BIOS, and you won't need to use the Speed-boost. 52X will be enabled by default.

3) You can revert to Sony's firmware at anytime in the future using the method mentioned above. However, Sony's firmware updates are few and far between.

[CHaynes112]

bhairavp,

Thanks for the info... I am gonna flash the firmware right now

[CHaynes112]

Okay, I did the firmware update... I can now burn at 52X without any annoying Turbo-Boost functions! Also, when I am burning a disc... the drive LED is orange instead of green! nice

I do have one question though...

Windows used to see the drive as 'Ultra DMA Mode 2', now it sees it as 'Ultra DMA Mode 3'?! The BIOS now sees the drive as 'UDMA 0', (it used to see it as 'ATA 33'. I checked the Lite-On website, the specs for the SOHC-5232K say 'Ultra DMA 2'... however other Lite-On drives DO have 'Ultra DMA Mode 3' listed in their specs. Perhaps the new firmware update adds UDMA3 support, and perhaps the only reason BIOS reports it as UDMA 0, is because UDMA3 (ATA 44) is not a common/recognized speed? Anyone have any ideas?? The drive seems to run flawlessly.

-Thanks

[Bhairav]

No idea *Shrug*. Let it be, as long as it's working satisfactorily.