A04/104: succesful downgrade of firmware from 1.33 to 1.31

[DirtyAbdul]

i thought this link might be of great interest for you ppl who wanted to d/g your firmware from 1.33 to 1.31 without using the hardware-hack: http://216.127.93.172/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8405 (note: this URL is only a temporary link b/c the site is undergoing construction). "battousai" obviously successfully flashed back his firmware. once you have fw 1.31, you supposedly can flash back to any firmware -- including gradius' rpc-1 and 2x4all versions. ;)

DA

[DirtyAbdul]

preliminary report: flashing the firmware up and down works (with a little bit of tweaking). i will do some burning now. "battousai" will release the final prog when beta-testing is over.

new thread is here: http://216.127.93.172/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8463

DA

PS: PLEASE do not ask or PM me for the prog. battousai requested the program NOT to be disclosed, yet. i hope you ppl understand. ;)

[DirtyAbdul]

firmware downgrade utility is officially released here: http://firmwares.co.uk/

DA

[klona]

Great thanks for the info.

Some people had trouble to downgrade for a while. If you try this method, can you post your results here ?

Thx to share.

[DirtyAbdul]

last night, i was flashing up and down, left and right, forward and backward (well, you get what i mean ;). i have never flashed anything so often -- not even my motherboard bios. i just wanted to see if it actually worked -- and it DID WORK, although sometimes not absolutely smoothly! but my drive is still alive and kicking. i've posted a few results also in the above mentioned thread (here is it again: http://216.127.93.172/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8463).

quick summary of my results

1. v1.33 2x4all to v1.31 2x4all using "battflash" -> OK!
2. v1.31 2x4all to v1.33 (orig. pioneer) using "upgdvd" -> OK! (obviously)
3. v1.33 (orig. pioneer) to v1.20 2x4all using "battflash" -> OK! => BUT: DriveInfo 2.1 reports "This drive has region protection" :eek:
4. v1.20 2x4all to v1.31 2x4all using "battflash" -> NO GO!
5. v1.20 2x4all to v1.31 2x4all using "upgdvd" -> OK!
6. v1.31 2x4all to v1.33 special edition using "battflash" -> OK!

i did a few more tests, but i think those results are enough to show that the downgrade does work. also note that it might take quite some time until the flashing process is over. for more details, please refer to the link.

hope this helps :D.

DA

[Eldorado]

Works like a charm! Went from 1.33 official down to 1.31 2x4all

Burned a PrimeDisc (ritek g3) at 2x, no problems!

[dznutz1]

I am happy! I have a Pioneer A04, updated it to Firmware 1.33 a few weeks ago and have been burning fine. Purchased Ritek from shop4tech.com that supposed to burn @ 2X, but not w/ Firmare 1.33! After reading this great thread along with the Firmware board, etc, I have succesfully "downgraded" to 1.31 when I CAN burn the same media @ 2x! Below is where I downloaded the UPGDVD.EXE file, and the link to how to do it. Hope this helps others.


Get the file here or dvd-recordable.net:
http://firmwares.co.uk/



http://www.dvd-recordable.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewdownload&cid=1

Pioneer AO4 Downgrade from 1.33
Description: No more having to stick with v1.33 which often does not work with some brands of media, now you can go to any version you want, just download the version of firmware you want and replace the upgdvd.exe with the hacked version and then run the update as you would normally. WARNING: This has only been tested on a handful of drives, it has been confirmed to work, but you use it at your own risk. Also be advised that it can take several minutes to complete (20 minutes has been reported), so be patient.
Version: 1.33 Filesize: 240.42 Kb
:)

[rui]

Just want to report a sucess in downgrading from 1.33 official firmware also :)
But i had to made the process within windows. When i tried to do it in a pure DOS mode, it wouldn't work.

[dznutz1]

Hmm, maybe I spoke too early, I did it within Windows too, Nero showed 2x burning on Ritek after downgrading to 1.31 from 1.33, but 2 coasters so far...Maybe the media...

Just to be clear, this is the media I am trying to burn on @ 2x w/ Nero 5.5.8.0

http://www.shop4tech.com/user.htm?go=view_item&id=90&cata=1&s_cata=88

This sucks, I paid extra for this media and 2x doesn't work. Maybe upgrade Nero or burn on another software? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am stuck with 50 1X media that's supposed to be 2x's!

[rui]

Well, i have read in http://www.dvd-recordable.org/
that only the very latest Nero version (5.5.9.17) solves the problem that some "hacked" firmwares have when trying to burn at 1x or 2x
Some reported that the burner always burned at 2x, even when chosing 1x.
Hope it helps, isn't exactly related to your problem, but give it a try.

[dznutz1]

I went back to 1.32, 1.31 was burning @ 2x with coasters in Recordnow (which is really picky)...I went back to the tried and true way for me, burn w/ Nero 5580 or make an image with imgtools, then burn with DVD Decrypter @ 1x, works great, takes longer, but no coasters...Maybe my media, but @ .083/each, an hour is ok by me.

[padre]

dznutz1, it must be a A04/104 thing cause I'm burning the same media (Ritek from Shop4Tech) at 2x with my Pioneer A03/103 and they work perfectly. I've burned over 100 at 2x and played on all my players and a couple of friends.

I'm using the v1.90 2x4all hacked firmware. I create an image with IfoEdit (iso file) and burn with Prassi at Max (detects 2x). Works like a champ.

[dznutz1]

Hey Thanks alot padre...hmm I would love to burn @ 2x times! I didn't do the 2x4all hardware thing freeware, maybe that was the prob, but Recordnow DX showed the media @ 2x w/ freeware 1.31, just had coasters when I did it! Nero also showed it @ 2x's, but no luck!
Maybe I'm doing something wrong, you burned an ISO file w/ Prassi huh? Do you do that as a data disk? I never tried that, just the files w/out doing an image first in imgtools.
By the way, is 1.32 supposed to be ok? I know everyone doesn't like freeware 1.33. Is the 2x4all hacked firmware safe enough? Seems to be for you, but you have the AO3. I would appreciate anyone's insight.

[padre]

There's an image file option in Prassi, which will allow you to burn a ISO 9660 (I think) image, so it doesn't matter what's in the image (data, video, audio). I don't use imgtool, I use IfoEdit to create the image file.

As far as the 2x4all firmware, I'd do some checking on the firmware forum to see if users have reported any problems working with the A04. http://forum.firmware-flash.com/viewforum.php?f=2

[dznutz1]

Thanks again. I will try searching in the freeware forum, but their search option doesn't work. I never had any luck w/ creating an image in Infoedit, ever.

[orbit-r]

the hacked upgradetool worked for me fine too,now i have the 1.31 2x4 all,and im burning every media at 2x

nice!;)

[dznutz1]

Great! Will try that method tonight orbit. Now, if you don't mind telling me, what steps to you take in getting this 2x burn w/ this freeware? Do you do a image file and burn? If so, what programs do you use? That would be greatly appreciated.

[orbit-r]

@dznutz1,do you get the modified 1.31 ?or the original by pioneer?
the mofified is freeware too..
i don`t make images i simply use ulead s dvd workshop`s burn engine,
(for only burning a video_ts folder,you have to use 1.2(1.3)of it)

[dznutz1]

Happy to say again it worked this time. 2x burn, no prob in Recordnow DX as an "image" file made in imgtools after downloading the 1.31 2x4all freeware. Thanks!