updating superdrive firmware

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respower - 26 Nov 2004 14:46 GMT

I'm a little unclear on exactly what's involved with the process of
updating the firmware on the 107 superdrive that came with my G5, what
benefits I'll get out of it, and what risks I'm taking by doing it. Can
someone summarize?

I'm running 10.3.6 on a dual 1.8 G5 PowerMac. I regularly use iDVD,
Toast, cdrdao and Disk Utility to burn dvds and cds. I don't often
burn from the Finder or iTunes or iPhoto but of course I don't want to
lose the ability to do so.

I've already downloaded FlashIt Kit 2.0, Patchburn 3.0b6 and the
"official" Pioneer updates. One specific goal is to get 8x dvd burning
but I also just want to keep the firmware current, for the same reason
that I keep my ipod, airport express and G5 firmware current. Otoh I
don't see any need for third-party firmware patches (to use unofficial
speeds or remove the region limitation or whatever),

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Tim McNamara - 26 Nov 2004 15:43 GMT

> I'm a little unclear on exactly what's involved with the process of
> updating the firmware on the 107 superdrive that came with my G5,
> what benefits I'll get out of it, and what risks I'm taking by doing
> it. Can someone summarize?

Well, my advice FWIW is to NOT use any third-party firmware updates
but to wait for Apple to release their version. It's always possible
that some part of the firmware was modified by Apple in some way, that
that the new firmware might disable something useful. You could
always contact Apple directly and ask them, of course.

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respower - 26 Nov 2004 15:52 GMT

["Followup-To:" header set to comp.sys.mac.system.]

> Well, my advice FWIW is to NOT use any third-party firmware updates
> but to wait for Apple to release their version.

Of course Apple _is_ the third-party here. What I want to do is
install the manufacturer's own firmware for this device. You could be
right that it's a bad idea in this case, but if that's so I'd like to
hear more specific reasons.

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Kent Clarke - 28 Nov 2004 03:39 GMT

> I'm a little unclear on exactly what's involved with the process of
> updating the firmware on the 107 superdrive that came with my G5, what
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> don't see any need for third-party firmware patches (to use unofficial
> speeds or remove the region limitation or whatever),

I upgraded my 105 iMac Superdrive, from the following site:
http://www.macetvideo.com/flashpioneerosx/flashpioneerosx.html

Worked fine.

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respower - 28 Nov 2004 15:55 GMT

> I upgraded my 105 iMac Superdrive, from the following site:
> http://www.macetvideo.com/flashpioneerosx/flashpioneerosx.html

Thanks, this is helpful (and gives me an opportunity to dust off the
little bit of French I learned 30+ years ago :).

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Mac Forum / General / Hardware / November 2004

updating superdrive firmware