CDRLabs.com

Thanks to a post on vcdhelp.com for the following info:

http://sony.storagesupport.com/legalagr ... RU500A.zip


INFO BELOW PASTED DIRECTLY FROM README.TXT INCLUDED,
SO DON'T BLAME ME FOR TYPOS (I NOTICED ONE IMMEDIATELY):

November 08, 2002

Firmware 1.0d will improve read and write speed on DRU-500A. It will also provides enhanced writing compatibility with DVD recordable/rewritable media.

Firmware will work only on the following operating systems;

Windows 98SE
Windows ME
Windows 2000
Windows XP


Instructions:
1. Download the file to Desktop on the computer.
2. Unzip file. For utility to unzip, please go to www.winzip.com.
3. Open file 500A510d.
4. Confirm that the drive is Sony DVD RW DRU-500A.
5. Click on the option "Start Update". The Firmware Updater might ask you to restart the system. Save and close all open applications and background programs before accepting the restart option.
6. When the computer has been restarted go back to file 500A510d and open it.
7. Click on the option "Start Update". It will take approximately 40 seconds. When the
firmware is updated, you will be prompted to restart the system again.


Note:

*If wimdows prompt you to activate auto insert notification, select "no."
*To check if the firmware has been update to 1.0d, please reopen the file 500A510d.


"Windows" is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation

First off thanks for the heads up Veff.

I went ahead and downloaded the new firmware, started up, did the reboot, and then did the firmware installation, after the 40 seconds were up I happened to notice that my system was totally frozen, i.e. no keyboard or mouse response and no ide lights going . I got panicky but decided to wait a few more minutes, still no response so I had to do a hard reboot. Once back into windows opened it up again, showed the firmware had been updated and just burned a dvd+rw succesfully. Man oh man, talk about being scared

That is pretty scary.

Has it made a noticeable improvement in the DVD read speeds?

I just upgraded a half hour ago.

I have successfully burned a Philips 2.4X DVD+R with 1.0d (first DVD+R media I have bought).

105 - 11/11/2002 8:46:58 PM |01| Job 1 Started <<<<<<< Data Job - 1 Disc(s) 1 Recorder(s) - Sony DVD RW DRU-500A 1.0d - 2x - Record >>>>>>>
115 - 11/11/2002 8:46:58 PM |01| Job 1 - RecType:2 Mode:1 FSType:3
106 - 11/11/2002 8:47:00 PM |01| Job 1 Round 1 Started - 1 Recorder(s)
124 - 11/11/2002 8:47:05 PM |01| Job 1 Scanning
107 - 11/11/2002 9:09:09 PM |01| Job 1 Round 1 Terminated - 1 Good Disc(s)
109 - 11/11/2002 9:09:09 PM |01| Job 1 Completed successfully <<<<<<< 1 Good Disc(s) >>>>>>>



It chose 2X (2.4X wasn't an option in RecordNow Max).
The burn took a little over 22 minutes for 4 gigs of home movie DVD video (data disc) including finalizing!!

I haven't tested reading (yet) Ian.
To be honest I bought (and have only used) the DRU-500A strictly for burning, already having 5 DVD-ROM and CD burners...

The only bad news that I got out of all this is that, while my Apex (used mainly for VCD playback) plays the DVD+R fine, my Toshiba (preferred DVD player) does not play the DVD+R It does play DVD-R fine.

Therefore I'll use the Philips discs for data or MP3 discs instead of video.



home DVD changer does NOT play DVD+R

IndieSnob wrote:First off thanks for the heads up Veff.

I went ahead and downloaded the new firmware, started up, did the reboot, and then did the firmware installation, after the 40 seconds were up I happened to notice that my system was totally frozen, i.e. no keyboard or mouse response and no ide lights going . I got panicky but decided to wait a few more minutes, still no response so I had to do a hard reboot. Once back into windows opened it up again, showed the firmware had been updated and just burned a dvd+rw succesfully. Man oh man, talk about being scared

Glad you got it through it in good shape! Or at least your burner did

I was a little more nervous than usual myself.
I have done it many times with CD burners and usually am pretty casual about it, but always a bit nervous of course.
However, I suppose because this DVD burner cost me a bit more, I was more apprehensive.
Ironically my previous Panasonic DVD burner cost me more than the DRU-500A and I was less nervous for some odd reason with that one

It is on a Maxtor/Promise ATA100 controller too!!!

I upgraded to 1.0d also. Good thing the firmware upgrade runs from windows instead
of dos. This way the upgrade worked via firewire no problem.

As for speed, I just ran nero cd speed, and dvd-r media still is capped out at the
disappointing 2X read speed. Makes verifying data dvd burns a problem.

Maybe they added some media types to their 2X and 4X support list. Sure wish
they would publish their list like pioneer did for the a05. It's rather lame that sony leaves
us guessing as to what the performance changes are.

I asked Sony for a list of compatible media and their answer was that it was all compatible except for the Mitsubision/Verbatim media they listed. Yeah right...

I did the update and it went just fine. have not tried reading or writing anything....

maybe I should do that soon

Ian wrote:I asked Sony for a list of compatible media and their answer was that it was all compatible except for the Mitsubision/Verbatim media they listed. Yeah right...

It seems that Mistubishi Chemicals = Verbatim = Pioneer = Apple = Mutsui (Mitsui Advanced Media, USA)

So the verbatim caveat affects many major name brands in the US. I notice that sony's web
page now has a disclaimer about pioneer media too.

Someone burned a DVDPro DVD-RW successfully with 1.0d, which is something he couldn't do with 1.0c (he got coasters).
That is already a good sign, since DVDPro isn't exactly a big name.......

I am getting 2 samples (Princo 1X and Prodisc 2X - the latter is no longer available after that though ) with my order of 30 Princo 2X DVD-R.
I bet the white top inkjet printable style (as opposed to silver) Prodisc 2X burns fine this time...

I have a feeling that almost all DVD-R media will work now (I know Ian is skeptical lol
I could be wrong; it is just an instinct - Sony wants this burner to compete with the A05, which will no doubt have excellent media compatibility...

We shall see soon, when more people start burning with the upgraded firmware...

well, just upgrade the firmware to 1.0d also. my computer did lock up toward the end and i have to do a hard reboot. Now it's up again. I have a stack of generic discs that didn't even get recognized by the sony at all. Guess what, they are still not being recognized. Well, i just ordered a stack of Accu discs. guess i will have to use them instead.

Ok, so I can't quite figure out how to quote so:

To Ian:

Sorry, nothing to report on DVD read speeds, like Veff I won't use that drive to read, only write.

To Veff:

Using the same media, so nothing new in the way of that, but it seems I've shaved a few seconds off my burn times in the way of the lead-in/lead-outs.[/quote]

I upgraded to the new firmware and system completely froze, after the reboot it worked fine, but still trying to figure out why i cant burn above 1x using stomp recordnow max.

btw using the media that was shipped with the drive.

that is the speed the shipped DVD+RW burns at, at least that's as fast as it does for me. I have burt 2X certified DVD-R @ 2X just fine.

Mike, which app are you using to burn? recordnow locked me at 1x

IndieSnob wrote:Ok, so I can't quite figure out how to quote so:

To Ian:

Sorry, nothing to report on DVD read speeds, like Veff I won't use that drive to read, only write.

To Veff:

Using the same media, so nothing new in the way of that, but it seems I've shaved a few seconds off my burn times in the way of the lead-in/lead-outs.

[/quote]

Cool IndieSnob!
I will report how well and how fast my new 2X DVD-R media (should receive it today or tomorrow at the latest) gets written with 1.0d.

I was impressed with the DVD+R write speed last night.

Hey Veff, I was wondering if you could help me on something. I'm looking to get a 50 pack spindle/cakebox of 2x -R and was wondering if you could point me in the direction of a company I can trust to order from that has a price that won't break the bank. I don't have much experience shopping for media so any help would be appreciated!

We just upgraded two DRU-500A's with no ill effects. Upgrade was easy and straightforward. (after we got up the nerve!) I have no way to evaluate the speed since I always read from an A06 but the other guy said he does not see much difference in using it with SmartRipper. I am hoping to not have as many compatability issues with it because of this. But I have not had any to date so that may also be hard to evealuate. I have been using the TDK 2X media. I guess the best thing I can say is that it is easy and did not break the drives!
Although I did burn a couple coasters the first day, but I think that was not the fault of the drive.

Thanks for the info on the upgrade........

IndieSnob wrote:Hey Veff, I was wondering if you could help me on something. I'm looking to get a 50 pack spindle/cakebox of 2x -R and was wondering if you could point me in the direction of a company I can trust to order from that has a price that won't break the bank. I don't have much experience shopping for media so any help would be appreciated!

www.shop4tech.com has the cheapest prices on dvd media i've seen anywhere. I just upgraded my firmware and my 50pack should be coming today, so i'll let you know how it goes...

www.shop4tech.com has the cheapest prices on dvd media i've seen anywhere. I just upgraded my firmware and my 50pack should be coming today, so i'll let you know how it goes...[/quote]

Thank ya much Kylan, appreciate any input ya have when ya get those!

IndieSnob wrote:Hey Veff, I was wondering if you could help me on something. I'm looking to get a 50 pack spindle/cakebox of 2x -R and was wondering if you could point me in the direction of a company I can trust to order from that has a price that won't break the bank. I don't have much experience shopping for media so any help would be appreciated!

Well, as far as online shopping goes, I personally have used the following three sites (also bought some in-store at CompUSA, Cirtcuit City (a single DVD-R disc which was free after rebate early this year!!) and the Apple Store etc.):

supermediastore.com/meritline.com - basically the same place (three or four times): Never any problems; reasonable prices and shipping.
Bought 140 - 165 blanks (split one of the spindles 2 to 1, so my brother
got 30).

I have also used www.genesysdtp.com the last time around; they were the only place with Prodisc 2X in smaller quantities for nice prices; plus they are nearby so the shipping take a day or two max.

Back in March I used newegg (they had Optodisc early this year for my Panasonic DVD-R drivej this media didn't work for DVD video strangely; the only brand that I ever had that with). They were great about the return. Unfortunately their media selection is weak.

I have also heard about a lot of other places (
like:
allmediaoutlet.com
yesbuy.net
rima.com (which my brother used) http://store.yahoo.com/cdrdvdrmedia/index.html
hypermicro.com
and shop4tech.com [who got bad writeups I believe]

You can check their ratings on resellerratings.com before ordering...

Hope this helps!

I no longer receive the Power Calibration Error with Disk-At-Once method ( cdr burning) after I used this firmware update. That's a good thing.

Shah.

VEFF wrote:and shop4tech.com [who got bad writeups I believe]

Well, my experience with shop4tech wasn't bad at all. I order a 50pack of the Ritek DVD-Rs and they were shipped out the next business day. They only took a day to get here since their shop/warehouse is only an hour from my house. I would have preferred to get the 50pack + 50cases of Leda DVD-Rs but a customer review said they didn't work on the DRU-500A . All in all, I am pleased with shop4tech's service and prices, but the only gripe I have is that these Ritek discs only burn @ 1X even with the new firmware.

So you all updated, but I don't see much info on how much it helps.

Tell us what brands of disks are working now that failed before!!!

I gave up and returned my dru500a for a refund (still out $40 for coasters). My new memorex drive ($199) is working great!!!

Well I have not made any coasters with the Sony drive but I have made a ton of them with the A05 drive! The only software that I have found that really supports the A05 is DVD Decryptor. (latest version) Of course with the Sony drive I received RcordNow which seems to work great.
On Shop4Tech I cannot agree Kylan. My experience, which I won't bore you with, was not good. I located another vendor.

SInce I did not use the Sony too much before the upgrade I cannot say if it helped or not. It's intent to help was all I needed to act. But I have to say that it has worked perfect since then. More then I can say for the A05.

........