Advent PC DVD Firmware Problem

[Dudley52]

Right so heres what im trying to do... Burn movies that i have on my PC onto high speed DVD-R disks. I have 2 drives, a CD-RW drive and a DVD-R drive. I put the disk into the DVD-R drive and it cannot read the disk, so i found out that i need a "firmware update" to get it to read the disks. I then download the correct firmware update. I install it then at the end it says "available target not found". So.. i e-mail Pioneer customer relations saying:

"I am trying to get the firmware update my Pioneer DVR-107D DVD-R drive so it can burn to 4.7GB high speed disks. Can i do this with it? I have downloaded the firmware update DVR-107D but during installation it says available target is not found. What can i do?"

They e-mail back saying:

"Can you please confirm how you purchased your unit, was it part of your PC when you purchased it and if so who made the PC? If you purchased the unit as an after market unit then can you please confirm what 'CODE' on the top of the drive is?"

I e-mail back saying:

"My PC was purchased from PC World. The DVD-R drive was part of the PC when it was purchased. It is an Advent T9. Do i have to take the DVD-R drive out to find out the "CODE" because i cant see the top of it as it is encased in?"

They e-mail back saying:

"Thanks for your email.

If you have an Advent PC then you do not have a standard pioneer drive, you will not be able to use a Pioneer firmware update upon it, if you require an update then you must contact Advent for support of this customised drive."

I e-mail back saying:

"I do not understand. How can it not be a standard Pioneer drive? Advent can
still use a standard Pioneer drive in there computers can't they? You must have a firmware update for it as it is a Pioneer drive."

They e-mail back saying:

"Advent required that we supply drives with customised firmware, therefore they can not be updated with a standard firmware update, we can only recommend that you contact Advent for more information and support."


So.... i look for the advent website, but do they actually have one? Does anyone know what i should do next? I'm stuck.

Thanks in advance guys.

 

[Dweller]

Have you tried contacting PC-World ? If you bought the PC from them, they should have more details of either technical support if it is still under warranty, or how to contact the manufacturer.

 

[Will]

Advent is PC Worlds own brand, as far as I can tell. As Dweller said, you should contact them.


Good luck.

 

[Kryten]

"Customised firmware"

You're talking to the usual type of PC World employee. They don't actually have a clue what firmware is.
They are actually talking about software, like many other PC World type PC's (advent, compaq, packard bell etc) the manufacturer will slap an absolute bucketload of unnecessary OEM specific software on.
They have no reason to, and do not, install any firmware other than stock on the hardware within their computers.

If it's a pioneer unit, lob an email to Pioneer. You'll find them most helpful.

 

[Xavier]

From what he said above, his contact was with pioneer.

It's not uncommon for SI's(System Integrators, i.e. HP, Advent) to request OEM drives with firmware modifications, a machine I had from Advent many moons ago had a custom dvd writer firmware and branded video bios too. Most of the time it's to get their name somewhere in the GUI for the device, other component manufacturers will insist on it to prevent the devices being sold individually when they've been bulk-bought for system installation.

Call the advent support monkeys on 0870 901 3000. Have a good moan and try to not let them fob you off with calling their software support people as the 09065151180 is charged at £1.50 a minute and this is something you shouldn't need to pay again for



Their website - http://www.pcservicecall.co.uk has a firmware for the 109D online but no mention of the 107D, so no guarantee they've bothered to produce a compatible version of the update.

 

[Kryten]

I thought this practice had died out with Compaq, I guess I'd thought wrong.
PC World are already getting too big for their boots - hence why they've already started afresh with Advent and they're even now removing all the support/computer health centres etc from their stores to open another one. Just one of the reasons why the folks in the know dont shop there.

I'll still be fairly adamant that it is possible to flash a new firmware for the original drive without any problems - most flashing software will have a switch to ignore errors etc - look out for that. I wouldn't be too worried these days, the same drives are not exactly expensive.