AmigActive 6/AACD06.ISO/AACD/CDROM/Resources/FlashROM/FlashROM.doc

Text File | 1999-09-02 | 16KB | 440 lines

FlashROM V1.2, 02.09.99
=======================

Introduction
------------
FlashROM is a tool to update the flash ROM of a SCSI or
ATAPI drive. At the moment it supports Plextor and Yamaha
CD writers. A complete list is given below, together with
remarks about supporting other hardware. 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 1998-99 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,DRIVE/K,OPTIONS/K

   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.

The other arguments are usually not required:

   DRIVE   - FlashROM has a builtin list of known drives and chooses
             the update method based on the drive's vendor and product
             code (e.g. "PLEXTOR CD-R   PX-R412C").
             If your drive is not recognized but compatible with one
             of the known drives listed below, you can override the
             drives ID with DRIVE "<known drive>". Don't forget the
             quotes and choose the drive ID carefully. Spaces in the
             product code are relevant.
   OPTIONS - Some of the update methods may require additional
             arguments for drives that are new and not just clones of
             the known drives. See the description of known drives
             below.


Step by step instructions
-------------------------
1. Get the firmware that you want to upgrade to. See below
   for addresses.

2. Plextor PX-R412C only:
   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 tell you if it can check
   the ROM file before sending it to the drive. In this case
   no harm will be done if you forget to unpack it or use a
   wrong one, but sometimes this is not possible, so take care!

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 try to match the file with a known
   drive attached to the bus:

| 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 more than one supported drive you may have to
   select the desired one by also giving the UNIT argument
   on the command line explicitely.

   If the firmware check is not possible with your drive, the line
   "The ROM file has been loaded and checked" will be replaced
   by different texts warning you that the check was not possible
   and about the consequences of using a wrong or damaged firmware.
   Some drives recognize that themselves, but others have to be
   reflashed to get them working again in this case.

   Plextor PX-R412C only:
   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.

   *** Warning ***
   Some controllers or systems have problems with flashing a
   new firmware, probably because the drives' behaviour is
   unusual while they are changing the firmware. In this case
   FlashROM may hang and/or the system can be slowed down or
   even crash. The ROM is still flashed properly, but be
   prepared to reset the machine.

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.

   Yamaha and Plextor PX-R820:
   This check is not 100% reliable. FlashROM just waits for
   the drive to come up again, but cannot check if the desired
   firmware is really active and correct afterwards.

   If FlashROM is not proceeding for more than two minutes, then
   you will have to reset the machine.

9. Plextor PX-R412C only:
   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 (after step 9. for a Plextor
PX-R412C) or immediately (with the other drives) you can check if
the new firmware ist active. It is listed after the product code:

| 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?
--------------------------------
Failed ROM updates are indicated by the drives as described
below and perhaps by FlashROM itself after flashing.

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. Contact the vendor of the drive
for help with that.

Of course you are welcome to report bugs in FlashROM, but
make sure it is FlashROM not working properly and not your
system.

Plextor:
  Excelsiorlaan 1
  1930 Zaventem
  Belgium
  phone: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
    BBS: 32-2-720 49 57
  http://www.plextor.be/
  http://www.plextor.be/english/technical/download.htm

Yamaha (USA):
  YAMAHA SYSTEMS TECHN0L0GY, INC.
  100 Century Center Court, San Jose, CA 95112 U.S.A.
  phone: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
  http://www.yamahayst.com/
  http://www.yamahayst.com/techsup/download.htm

Author:
  Patrick Ohly
  [e-mail]
  http://home.pages.de/~Ohly/

  not longer than summer '99:
  Weechstr. 1, WG E4/5
  76131 Karlsruhe
  Germany


Credits
-------
Thanks to

- Rik Swusten/Plextor for lending us a Plextor PX-R24CS
  once and now even permanently 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.
- Craig Campbell/Yamaha for providing three drives and the
  required documentation. This is indeed a very generous
  and more than welcome help.
- Thanks to these guys for testing:
  Heinz Wrobel - A4000T internal SCSI + PX-R412C
  Massimo Mancini - A4000T internal SCSI + PX-R820T
  Giulio Guaglianone - Amiga IDE (IDEfix?) + CDR4001
  Peter Kulisic - DKB Spitfire Zorro II SCSI2 + CDR400
  Ben Matthew - Phase V 1230scsi.device 8.5 + CDR400
  Tore Bjoernsen - Plextor PX-40S
  Adam Carrano - A4000, CyberStormPPC SCSI controller
                 (cybppc.device V44.57) + PX-R412C
  Adam Carrano's 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: [phone]
    fax: [phone]
   http://www.aps.fr/


Known drives
------------

PLEXTOR CD-R   PX-R412C  (flash mode not enabled)
PLEXTOR *Program Mode1*  (a PX-R412C with flash mode enabled)

   The firmware is checked in advance. No command line options
   are required to update this drive.

   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.


PLEXTOR CD-R   PX-R820T
PLEXTOR CD-R   PX-W4220T
PLEXTOR CD-R   PX-W8220T
PLEXTOR CD-ROM PX-40TS
PLEXTOR CD-ROM PX-40TW

   FlashROM will only check for byte errors in the firmware file,
   but the firmware will also be checked by the drive itself and
   FlashROM will be told if it was suitable or not. No command
   line options are required to update these drives.

   Error codes:
   $9/$87/$0 - FIRMWARE DATA ERROR
               Your firmware file is damaged or not uncompressed.
               It might also get damaged unnoticedly during transfer.
   $9/$88/$0 - TRANSFER DATA ERROR
               The drive has detected a transfer error of the
               firmware data.
   If the firmware download goes wrong, orange and green LEDs
   will blink alternately and the tray load/eject will not work.
   But it is still is possible to re-program the drive.


YAMAHA CDR400c
YAMAHA CDR400t
YAMAHA CDR401t
YAMAHA CDR200c
YAMAHA CDR200t
YAMAHA CRW2260
YAMAHA CRW2260t
YAMAHA CRW4260
YAMAHA CRW4260t
YAMAHA CRW4261
YAMAHA CRW4001
YAMAHA CRW2216S
YAMAHA CRW2216E
YAMAHA CRW4416S
YAMAHA CRW4416E
YAMAHA CRW6416S
YAMAHA CRW6416E

   The exact type of the drive (caddy "c", tray "t", SCSI "S",
   IDE "E") is irrelevant for flashing the ROM.

   The firmware cannot be checked in advance and these drives
   will take over invalid data. This would lead to the situation
   described in the next paragraph:

   If the drives flash ROM became invalid somehow, it will show
   up on the SCSI bus with "CORE" attached to the product code.
   If DISC and Read/Write light are solid amber, it can still be
   re-programmes. A drive in this state should still be recognized
   by FlashROM. Otherwise use the DRIVE command line argument to
   specify the drive.

   DISC and Read/Write light blinking red indicate that the Servo
   information has been over written. According to Yamaha this
   should be impossible, but it has happend under yet unknown
   circumstances. A reflash will not resolve the issue.

   New Yamaha models are supported by overriding the drive ID
   and specifying the ROM offset in hex. This offset can be
   inquired from the Yamaha support. Here is how the CDR4416S
   could be flashed if it was not known already:

| 15.Ram Disk:> FlashROM dracoscsi.device 2 CDRW4416S_10e.bin DRIVE "YAMAHA CDR400c" OPTIONS 10800
| Checking unit 2 at dracoscsi.device:
|   2. YAMAHA CRW4416S 1.0e = YAMAHA CDR400c - supported

   Make sure you got the correct offset and specify it in hex
   _without_ a prefix like $ or 0x.


History
-------

V1.0 - initial release for Plextor PX-R412C
V1.1 - added support for Yamaha drives and Plextor PX-R820T
V1.2 - added recognition of Yamaha CRW6416S/E and support for
       Plextor CD-ROM 40TS/W,
       added simple file check for Plextor firmware files


Support for other drives
------------------------

Here are my preconditions for adding support of other drives:

1. The vendor supports the implementation by providing the
   documentation of the required commands.
2. I won't be held liable for any damage.
3. I get at least one free example of the hardware.
4. The hardware should be fairly well spreaded.

Item 1 and 2 are absolutely necessary - especially analyzing other
software to learn about the required commands is out of question. The
other items however are negotiable: if someone is willing to pay me,
such offers are welcome. I have to live on something in the end, and
eating hardware isn't very healthy ;-)