You can try Liggy's And Dee's hacked F/W. You can find it here http://www.micheldeboer.nl/firmware/LD3520_1UA.zip

(in reply to Arthur Dailey)

Consult for the Riplock question e.g. the FAQs:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=120934#mod-riplock

Some information about hacked F/W for speed can also be found at the FAQs:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=120934#speed

Cheers.

(in reply to MHTSOS)

New here, please bear with me. I've got an NEC3520A that was purchased OEM and has lost functionality after installing Silent Hunter3 and the accompanying Starforce software. I'm thinking the firmware got corrupt and would like to try and restore it. I went here:http://www.micheldeboer.nl/firmware/3520.html and downloaded: the NEC 3520 DOS Firmware flasher and Binflash V1.15. I want to stay with 1.04 so I also downloaded from the same site file: 3520_104.zip. I also have a DOS 6.22 boot disc.

I haven't done this before so is there a "How to update NEC firmware for Dummies" kind of guide here?? What steps in what order do I take with the utilities and files listed above?

Should I use the NEC DOS firmware flasher utility or Binflash?

(in reply to Arthur Dailey)

quote:

ORIGINAL: boog

New here, please bear with me. I've got an NEC3520A that was purchased OEM and has lost functionality after installing Silent Hunter3 and the accompanying Starforce software. I'm thinking the firmware got corrupt and would like to try and restore it. I went here:http://www.micheldeboer.nl/firmware/3520.html and downloaded: the NEC 3520 DOS Firmware flasher and Binflash V1.15. I want to stay with 1.04 so I also downloaded from the same site file: 3520_104.zip. I also have a DOS 6.22 boot disc.

I haven't done this before so is there a "How to update NEC firmware for Dummies" kind of guide here?? What steps in what order do I take with the utilities and files listed above?

Should I use the NEC DOS firmware flasher utility or Binflash?

get BinflashGUI, its as simple as a couple of clicks.
-download the firmware revision of your choice
-open binflashGUI
-select dump and save to a location of your choice (this just backs up your current firmware)
-click on flash and navigate to the firmware you downloaded (exe/binary file)
-follow the steps and reboot when prompt.

(in reply to boog)

Thanks rahzel!

Not as complicated as I thought.

The flash succeeded but my son's 3520 is still dead. Won't read any disc put into it and makes "My Computer" stop responding in the applications window.

The drive is definately getting RMA'd.

thanks for taking the time to help a noob out.

'preciate it.

(in reply to rahzel)

quote:

ORIGINAL: chrissi

Consult for the Riplock question e.g. the FAQs:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=120934#mod-riplock

Some information about hacked F/W for speed can also be found at the FAQs:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=120934#speed

Cheers.

WICKED!!!

Thanks for them two links m8,
I think Anyone not shure what FW to use on these burners can get all the info they need there.

I did :)

Thanks again

(in reply to chrissi)

*Updated 12/04/2005
- Added 3.04 (supposed to support PI/PIF)

(in reply to Arthur Dailey)

*Updated 23/04/2005
- Added 3.04 (official released, supports PI/PIF and DVD-R DL burning)

(in reply to emperor)

Hi Emperor,

I was just going thru the forums trying to make some sense of things, I own a 3520A.
Using Nero InfoTool, it tells me that my firmware is 1.04. As I was browsing through the forums I read something about bit setting to make dvd backup copies compatible with dvd players. There was this link to a dude's site,

http://www.micheldeboer.nl/firmware/3520.html

So I was trying to find something which will enable bit setting (whatever that is), there's an awful lot of firmware on the site. Not sure which to use. There's NEC and IO-Data? What's IO Data? Is it official?

Anyway to cut things short, I'm wondering which firmware you would recommend for burning +/- R DVD5/9 DVD backups. I use my NEC 3520A primarily for burning and use a LiteOn for ripping. One more thing that's confusing me, why are there sudden gaps in firmware versions? e.g. IO Data 1.26 to 3.22??? Are they for different hardware manufactured in different parts of the world?

Any help will be greatly appreciated from anyone. Thank you.

(in reply to emperor)

quote:

ORIGINAL: emperor

*Updated 23/04/2005
- Added 3.04 (official released, supports PI/PIF and DVD-R DL burning)

What about Bitsetting, does it support bittsetting for DVD+R single layer?

(in reply to emperor)

Unfortunately Not

(in reply to souless)

@spudmessy, you can use any firmware found here and at Michel's website without any problem, for bitsetting 3.22 is the only way to go.

(in reply to Flash)

Just a quick questions about bit setting, is it an automatic feature which is automatically applied once the firmware is flashed or do I need a specific program to enable this feature?

Does it work for all kinds of media for the 3520A, I primarily use DVD5 +R. Would that be the best choice for DVD Backup?

(in reply to emperor)

quote:

ORIGINAL: spudmessy

Just a quick questions about bit setting, is it an automatic feature which is automatically applied once the firmware is flashed or do I need a specific program to enable this feature?

Does it work for all kinds of media for the 3520A, I primarily use DVD5 +R. Would that be the best choice for DVD Backup?

if the firmware revision has autobitsetting for all +R media (SL+R, +RW, DL+R) then it will automatically set it to -ROM with any DVD writing software you use.

as for the +R being the best for backing up DVD's, it is arguably better than -R's if thats what youre asking. Without bitsetting, DVD-R's have a slight advantage over +R's as far as DVD Player compatibility. But when +R's are changed to -ROM, some say that the compatibility will even be better than -R.

There is no difference between + and - DVD media other than compatibility and sometimes, +R media seems to write at faster speeds on some DVD writers. Aslong as your DVD player isnt ancient, both media standards should playback fine and it doesnt really matter whether you get + or - media. More importantly, you should decide what BRAND of DVD+-R's to get. I myself like to stick with Taiyo Yuden (the best), Maxell's own Made in Japan media (MXLGR02/03, equal to Taiyo Yuden quality).

another little note is that +R media isnt actually an official DVD media standard (it doenst carry the official DVD logo with the text "DVD" with a disc under it) whereas -R media is. This doesnt really mean anything though but i just thought youd like to know =].

(in reply to spudmessy)

What about writing performance was it improved or changed somehow in 3.04?

(in reply to rahzel)

quote:

ORIGINAL: rahzel

quote:

ORIGINAL: spudmessy

Just a quick questions about bit setting, is it an automatic feature which is automatically applied once the firmware is flashed or do I need a specific program to enable this feature?

Does it work for all kinds of media for the 3520A, I primarily use DVD5 +R. Would that be the best choice for DVD Backup?

if the firmware revision has autobitsetting for all +R media (SL+R, +RW, DL+R) then it will automatically set it to -ROM with any DVD writing software you use.

as for the +R being the best for backing up DVD's, it is arguably better than -R's if thats what youre asking. Without bitsetting, DVD-R's have a slight advantage over +R's as far as DVD Player compatibility. But when +R's are changed to -ROM, some say that the compatibility will even be better than -R.

There is no difference between + and - DVD media other than compatibility and sometimes, +R media seems to write at faster speeds on some DVD writers. Aslong as your DVD player isnt ancient, both media standards should playback fine and it doesnt really matter whether you get + or - media. More importantly, you should decide what BRAND of DVD+-R's to get. I myself like to stick with Taiyo Yuden (the best), Maxell's own Made in Japan media (MXLGR02/03, equal to Taiyo Yuden quality).

another little note is that +R media isnt actually an official DVD media standard (it doenst carry the official DVD logo with the text "DVD" with a disc under it) whereas -R media is. This doesnt really mean anything though but i just thought youd like to know =].

Rahzel thanks so much for your reply.

I've actually just started burning DVD weeks ago. Still pretty new to the thing. In fact it was only a few days back when I chanced upon this forum that I learn about bitsetting, I still have a long way more before I know about media types. For now I just use Ricoh, not sure what "model/type" though.

I have successfully flashed my firmware to 3.22 the unmodded version I believe. The thing is prior to flashing I was just using DVDInfo Pro to check out the "settings" of my drive so I can make a comparison after flashing. I was able to click on the "+RW" Icon at the top, I believe that shows the bitsetting options. If I can remember it was version 2 or something, or that's what it said.

My old firmware was 1.04. Now that I've flashed it to 3.22 I can't click on the +RW Icon anymore and when I click on that I get a msg saying that my drive has no bitsetting option. I'm alittle worried here, is that normal? Is the option removed because now it's "Automatic" therefore no need for me to do any setting? How do I check that bitsetting like you mentioned when changed to "ROM" is enabled within DVDInfo Pro?

Regards.

(in reply to rahzel)