FlashROM V1.0, 19.08.98 ======================= Introduction ------------ FlashROM is a tool to update the flash ROM of a SCSI or ATAPI drive. At the moment it only supports the Plextor PX-R412C, but support for other drives might be added later. Any SCSI or ATAPI device can be used as long as it is compliant to the Amiga SCSI direct standard. Disclaimer ---------- Neither the author of this tool nor the vendor of the drive shall be held responsible for any damages or losses, direct or consequential, resulting from the use, or inability to use the software. This applies even if the authors have been made aware of the possibility of losses or damage. FlashROM is copyright 1998 by Patrick Ohly. Copying and usage are allowed for free as long as no profit is made in doing so. Commercial distribution or distribution together with commercial products or commercial usage of FlashROM require the permission of the author. MakeCD + Availability of FlashROM --------------------------------- FlashROM was brought to you by the author who also wrote the SCSI, IO and GUI part of MakeCD, an "excellent" (Amiga Format #112) CD writing software for the Amiga. In contrast to one of our competitors I have decided not to restrict the usage of this tool to the users of our CD writing software. MakeCD does not need such an exclusive feature to be worth its money and I don't want anybody to buy it just to update his or her drive. Of course you are welcome to have a look at MakeCD in case that you should not know or use it already. An only slightly restricted demo of the current version is available at "http://makecd.core.de/". You will also find the current version of FlashROM there. I also believe that updating the firmware of drives is not one of the tasks a CD writing software should take care of. I regret that our competitor was not able to make their tool available to the Amiga community for free because of costs they had and still would have and because of their liability in case of a damage. I understand their objections and even though I decided to go a different way I share them, so once again in plain English: FLASHROM COMES WITH ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY OR SUPPORT! Usage ----- FlashROM has no graphical user interface. It is started from a Shell and takes the following arguments: DEVICE,ROMFILE,UNIT DEVICE - SCSI or ATAPI device name, e.g. scsi.device; if no device name is given FlashROM prints a list of the currently available Amiga Exec devices. ROMFILE - file containing the new contents of the ROM; the file has to be uncompressed. If it is not named FlashROM will only try to find a known drive or check the given unit. UNIT - unit number of the drive to be flashed; if no unit is specified FlashROM scans the SCSI bus for a drive it knows, so usually this argument doesn't have to specified. Step by step instructions for the Plextor PX-R412C -------------------------------------------------- 1. Get the firmware that you want to upgrade to. See below for addresses. 2. Set the flash switch on the drive as documented in the manual for your drive while the drive and the computer are turned off. It may be either a DIP switch or a jumper header, so consult the drive's manual for further info. CAUTION: Don't insert the Caddy during Flash mode. If you try to insert it or force it in, it will cause a malfunction! 3. Unpack the archive. FlashROM will check the ROM file before sending it to the drive, so no harm will be done if you forget to unpack it or use a wrong one. 4. Open a Shell window. If the FlashROM tool is not found by your shell, then "CD" to the directory where it is located or type in the complete path each time you want to start it. 5. Find out what the name of your SCSI or ATAPI device is. If you start FlashROM without any arguments you will get a list of the available devices and the correct one will probably have "scsi" in its name: | 4.Ram Disk:> FlashROM | Please start FlashROM with your SCSI device as argument (including | the ».device«). These devices are currently available: | 2nd.scsi.device | clipboard.device | console.device | input.device | keyboard.device | ramdrive.device | scsi.device | timer.device 6. Start FlashROM with the names of device and ROM file as arguments. FlashROM will check the file and search the bus for the Plextor PX-R412C: | 4.Ram Disk:> FlashROM device 2nd.scsi.device ROMFile Plextor412_104.bin | Checking drives at 2nd.scsi.device: | 0. »cannot open« | 1. »cannot open« | 2. QUANTUM FIREBALL1080S 1Q09 - not supported | 3. PLEXTOR *Program Mode1* 1.00 - ready | | | Everything is ready for flashing the new contents. | The ROM file has been loaded and checked. | | If you are not sure that your SCSI transfer is reliable and | no other system component will interfere with flashing, then | you can still safely abort now. | | Enter »yes« to proceed. Abort with »no« or CTRL-C + RETURN: If you have not set the flash switch correctly, then the Plextor will be listed as "PLEXTOR CD-R PX-R412C - supported, but not ready" and FlashROM will refuse to continue. 7. Usually you don't have to unmount filesystems or boot without startup sequence. You can still try it this way if flashing the new ROM failed, but if you have known problems with the reliability of data transfer to and from the drive then you should solve that first. Try if disabling reselection or synchronous transfer helps Consult the manual for your SCSI device to find out how to do this. So far no damage could have been done to the drive and everything is ready to do the flashing, so now enter "yes" to proceed. 8. FlashROM will now transfer the new ROM contents and check it afterwards. If everything goes well you will get the following message: | Enter »yes« to proceed. Abort with »no« or CTRL-C + RETURN: yes | | Flashing ROM now... | done. | | The flash ROM has been changed successfully. Otherwise you will get an error message reporting error codes that might help a technician to explain what went wrong, so write them down in case you want to ask for help. You will also be told if the flash ROM was damaged and what you might do next. 9. Return the flash switch or jumper header to the former setting according to the description in the drive's manual. After turning on the computer again you can check if the new firmware ist active. It is listed after the "PX-R412C". | 4.Ram Disk:> flashrom device 2nd.scsi.device | Checking drives at 2nd.scsi.device: | 0. »cannot open« | 1. »cannot open« | 2. QUANTUM FIREBALL1080S 1Q09 - not supported | 3. PLEXTOR CD-R PX-R412C 1.04 - supported, but flash mode not enabled | 4. QUANTUM LP240S GM240S01X 6.4 - not supported | 5. »cannot open« | 6. »cannot open« | 7. »cannot open« What to do in case of a failure? -------------------------------- If the firmware download goes wrong, you will be told so by FlashROM and/or the Plextor PX-R412C will light two LEDs: the outer most left (green) and the outer most right(orange). But it is still is possible to re-program the drive. Try to flash again. If it still fails, check your cabling, disable reselection and synchronous transfer. Boot without startup sequence and Workbench and try it once more. If it does not work with your computer you might ask a friend to do it with his. If you cannot access the drive at all any more, then you will have to sent it to the vendor for repair. Support ------- This software has been made available for free under the provision that the author won't have to answer questions regarding the usage, SCSI problems, or problems with any of the supported drives. Of course you are welcome to report bugs in FlashROM, but make sure it is FlashROM not working properly and not your system. FlashROM has been tested successfully with a .... For any questions regarding the Plextor PX-R412C or other Plextor drives visit http://www.plextor.be/. You find the current firmware version at http://www.plextor.be/english/technical/download.htm Credits ------- Thanks to - Rik Swusten/Plextor for lending us a Plextor PX-R24CS once and now a PX-R412C and providing the information about the flash ROM commands. Support for these drives in MakeCD would have been difficult without this support, and FlashROM would have been impossible without the information - Heinz Wrobel for testing FlashROM with an Amiga 4000T and the internal SCSI controller. - Adam Carrano for testing it with a A4000, CyberStormPPC 233Mhz + 060 SCSI controller (cybppc.device V44.57). His company is also selling MakeCD and the Plextor PX-R412C, so here's the full address ;-) APS 15 rue Louis Maurel 13006 Marseille France phone: 04.91.00.30.44 fax: 04.91.00.30.43 http://www.aps.fr/ Author ------ Patrick Ohly patrick.ohly@stud.uni-karlsruhe.de http://home.pages.de/~Ohly/ until end of September: KM104 7 Richmond Place Edinburgh EH8 9VE afterwards: Weechstr. 1 76131 Karlsruhe Plextor ------- Excelsiorlaan 1 1930 Zaventem Belgium phone: 32-2-725 55 22 fax: 32-2-725 94 57 BBS: 32-2-720 49 57 http://www.plextor.be/