This will update the DRU-810A (not the external UL) firmware from the production 1.0a to 1.0d. Apparently you can expect writing performance and reliability improvements.

The firmware can be downloaded from this location:
http://sony.storagesupport.com/dvdrw/dru810adwn.htm

It arrives in a .zip file and the executable is contained within. Installation is painless but does require a system re-boot. I have not tried the drive since upgrading but will tomorrow and am really hoping that it resolves this drives general weakness as it currently converts 40-50% of the following DVD+DL media into coasters:

TraxData DVD+R DL - RichoJpn D00
RiData DVD+R DL - Ritek D01
Infiniti DVD+R DL - MAG D01

Yes I know Sony reccomend Verbatim, Sony & TDK media....but do they think we are made of money ;)

Yeah, do you know any drive that cannot burn good those media?
At last, Sony decided to release a firmware for this drive!
Do you guys know that this is a BenQ 1640 burner?

(in reply to smjohns)

Thank goodness I've found this!!!
I've had all sorts of problems with my drive not running properly and incomplete burns. Ran the update and everything seems to be ok now.

Thanks. :)

(in reply to Antonio)

No worries. Not sure if I had anything to do with the release although I have been complaining to Sony UK weekly since they released this drive because of it's poor write performance on everything I tried that was not verbatim. All they told me to do was buy expensive verbatim discs.........aye right. Anyway they released it just before I abandoned it completely and ordered something else.....phew.

(in reply to NutCracker)

Will this update cause any problem after upgrading from 1.0 to 1.0d  ???????
What are the are the bugs that have been fixed in this release ????????
Has anyone face any problem while upgrading and after upgrading ???

(in reply to smjohns)

Hi Andrew,

The upgrade was really easy. Just double click on the .exe and select the relevant drive. It upgrades your drive from the factory 1.0a to 1.0d and although there is no definitive list of fixes, Sony just confirms that it improves read/write performance. Having upgraded a few weeks ago I have since burnt about 100-150 discs all fully successful. Before I was experiencing 40-50% failure so this has certainly made the drive more reliable.

Si 

(in reply to andrew327)

Thanks smjohns for the reply
I'll update my writers firmware right away
i have not yet faced any disc burning failures but will do update it

Thank You

(in reply to smjohns)