Support for Matshita DVD-RAM UJ-822S - Firmware Updates

[wiesl]

Hello!

Is there a support site for the Matshita DVD-RAM UJ-822S - especially for Firmware updates?
(Current firmware is: 1.61)

Ciao,
Wiesl

[Nolonemo]

try cdfreaks.com. Not an official support site, but hosts a lot of firmware, some of it "official" and some of it hacked for various enhancements or de-crippling.

[MadeInJapan]

You might try Panasonic/Matshita's website and look for drivers, etc., but I hate to tell you that most likely it isn't very good news regarding your burner. Check this out:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php ... ght=UJ-822
Regards,
MIJ

[Inky]

Hello!

Is there a support site for the Matshita DVD-RAM UJ-822S - especially for Firmware updates?
(Current firmware is: 1.61)

Ciao,
Wiesl

Yes, but it was very hard to find.

I'll share my own experiences in this area.
Firstly, I have a DVD-RAM drive (the panasonic LF-521U) in my desktop system. Panasonic=matshita.

At first I had incompatability issues between DVD-RAM disks that were formatted or written to on my desktop system Vs. DVD-RAM disks formatted or written to on my T42's Multiburner (the matshita UJ-822).

Here's what I did to get everything working right:

STEP ONE
I made sure I had updated UDF (universal disk format) drivers for the DVD-RAM drive (LF-D521U) in my desktop system. For that I went to:
http://panasonic.jp/dvdram/english/softdl/index.html

STEP TWO
Then, on the ThinkPad I went to the control panel and selected the option to Uninstall Software, and UNINSTALLED the DLA (Drive Letter Access) software IBM provides for working with rewritable DVD's.

STEP THREE
Then, for the final step I went to this web site:
http://panasonic.co.jp/psec/support/dvd ... drvxp.html

I selected the first link which is for the UJ series on Windows XP. Clicking that link gets you this page:
http://panasonic.co.jp/psec/support/dvd ... drvxp.html

The page lists the UJ-825 but not the UJ-822. That's OK, I've found it is perfectly compatible with the UJ-822 (IBM's Multi-Burner) in my T42.

Now on both my desktop and ThinkPad I format DVD-RAM disks using UDF 2.0 (1.5 works too). I format them using the right click & format option, and the two systems read each other's disks with no problem. Formatting 4.7 Gb DVD-RAM disks is a slow, tedious process, but aside from that it works great. I can use Windows Explorer to drag & drop files and folders to the disks on either system, and they read each others disks fine.

Hope that helps.

-Inky

[wiesl]

Hello!

Is there a support site for the Matshita DVD-RAM UJ-822S - especially for Firmware updates?
(Current firmware is: 1.61)

Ciao,
Wiesl

Yes, but it was very hard to find.

I'll share my own experiences in this area.
Firstly, I have a DVD-RAM drive (the panasonic LF-521U) in my desktop system. Panasonic=matshita.

At first I had incompatability issues between DVD-RAM disks that were formatted or written to on my desktop system Vs. DVD-RAM disks formatted or written to on my T42's Multiburner (the matshita UJ-822).

Here's what I did to get everything working right:

STEP ONE
I made sure I had updated UDF (universal disk format) drivers for the DVD-RAM drive (LF-D521U) in my desktop system. For that I went to:
http://panasonic.jp/dvdram/english/softdl/index.html

STEP TWO
Then, on the ThinkPad I went to the control panel and selected the option to Uninstall Software, and UNINSTALLED the DLA (Drive Letter Access) software IBM provides for working with rewritable DVD's.

STEP THREE
Then, for the final step I went to this web site:
http://panasonic.co.jp/psec/support/dvd ... drvxp.html

I selected the first link which is for the UJ series on Windows XP. Clicking that link gets you this page:
http://panasonic.co.jp/psec/support/dvd ... drvxp.html

The page lists the UJ-825 but not the UJ-822. That's OK, I've found it is perfectly compatible with the UJ-822 (IBM's Multi-Burner) in my T42.

Now on both my desktop and ThinkPad I format DVD-RAM disks using UDF 2.0 (1.5 works too). I format them using the right click & format option, and the two systems read each other's disks with no problem. Formatting 4.7 Gb DVD-RAM disks is a slow, tedious process, but aside from that it works great. I can use Windows Explorer to drag & drop files and folders to the disks on either system, and they read each others disks fine.

Hope that helps.

-Inky

Ok, thanks for the driver links.

Anyone has firmware links, too?

BTW: Is there a support Email for driver updates from IBM/Lenovo available?

Ciao,
Wiesl

[Inky]

Ok, thanks for the driver links.
Anyone has firmware links, too?
Ciao,
Wiesl

Oh, I see. Glancing at your post I thought you were looking for drivers. But why firmware if I may ask. I assume you're talking about the microcode stored in the erasable programmable memory (EPROMs) that are part of the DVD drive circuitry.

Have you ever heard the expression "If it ain't broke don't fix it"? Never before have I seen so many people itching to fix things that ain't broke.

What sorts of problems are you having with your MultiBurner that require fixing through changes to the firmware? My own MultiBurner has worked flawlessly ever since I installed the proper drivers so I want the firmware on mine to stay just the way it is, but I am curious about your situation.

-Inky

[Scorpiontico]

Ok, thanks for the driver links.
Anyone has firmware links, too?
Ciao,
Wiesl

Oh, I see. Glancing at your post I thought you were looking for drivers. But why firmware if I may ask. I assume you're talking about the microcode stored in the erasable programmable memory (EPROMs) that are part of the DVD drive circuitry.

Have you ever heard the expression "If it ain't broke don't fix it"? Never before have I seen so many people itching to fix things that ain't broke.

What sorts of problems are you having with your MultiBurner that require fixing through changes to the firmware? My own MultiBurner has worked flawlessly ever since I installed the proper drivers so I want the firmware on mine to stay just the way it is, but I am curious about your situation.

-Inky

and which specific driver would that be, and proper drivers?.

[wiesl]

Ok, thanks for the driver links.
Anyone has firmware links, too?
Ciao,
Wiesl

Oh, I see. Glancing at your post I thought you were looking for drivers. But why firmware if I may ask. I assume you're talking about the microcode stored in the erasable programmable memory (EPROMs) that are part of the DVD drive circuitry.

Have you ever heard the expression "If it ain't broke don't fix it"? Never before have I seen so many people itching to fix things that ain't broke.

What sorts of problems are you having with your MultiBurner that require fixing through changes to the firmware? My own MultiBurner has worked flawlessly ever since I installed the proper drivers so I want the firmware on mine to stay just the way it is, but I am curious about your situation.

-Inky

It is always good to know that there are newer firmware versions available. Especially for DVD drives it is a "must have" because there are always new dvd manufacturer etc. available and the firmware must support them for optimal results.

Also it is good to know that the product (which I just bought) is "supported".

Ciao,
Wiesl

[Inky]

It is always good to know that there are newer firmware versions available. Especially for DVD drives it is a "must have" because there are always new dvd manufacturer etc. available and the firmware must support them for optimal results.

Also it is good to know that the product (which I just bought) is "supported".

Thanks for clarifying, but the benefits of messing with the firmware still seem questionable to me if the drive is working perfectly well.

It's true that there are always new DVD drives being manufactured, but I would think that when a particular DVD drive is shipped, it ships with the firmware needed to run that drive properly with the major operating systems.

So unless I were to physically alter my DVD drive, I'd want the firmware to stay as it is.

I do see one exception: If you change your operating system. Since the drives are designed for compatibility with current operating systems, if you were to upgrade to Windows Longhorn (excuse me, Vista) I see how that could necessitate flashing the eproms. But as long as the drive works perfectly, I don't see the benefit of messing with the firmware just to "have the latest" version.

-Inky

[MadeInJapan]

Um....I'm going to speak up here. Risky, Yes!...But... Having a firmware file can mean excitement for those who know about these BIN files and location of data in them. There are those for instance who hang out at CDfreaks who can take firmware files and reverse engineer them with a hex editor and make the strings within the files which limit Region Free setting for instance or Bit-setting burning for instance and open them up with less or no restrictions. Burning speed can also sometimes be increased with good results. The risk comes with the possibility fo "frying" your drive, so I usually let others do the "dirty" work first and when there is success, upgrade with the so-called "unofficial firmware" when it is available.

Unfortunately for the Matshita drives in the later TP's, there are 2 Eeproms...one to control such behavior (as mentioned above)...sort of a buffer to keep people from reading the firmware or doing a firmware "dump" in the first place. That's why I said that it is doubtful that new firmware exists for this drive. In the case that it does, it will most likely be "official" firmware made possible by Matshita themselves to fix a problem with the original firmware. These guys keep the company secret of accessing the Eeproms in their machines and guard it with their lives.

For most experienced Firmware technophiles, the Panasonic set-up is still a mystery and for awhile anyway, not likely to be hacked.