Optiarc BD ROM BC-5500S

Hello, I own an Asus L50vn (very similar to M50vn) and since I upgrade to Windows 7, 32 bit, many burning softwares (Imgburn, CDburnerXP...) do not recognize the BD-ROM.

I think it's a matter of firmware and here http://www.sony-optiarc.eu/supportservice/downloads/bluraydrivesnotebooks/bc5500s.html it's avilable version 1.06, where they also say it fix some Windows 7 issue.

However I can not upgrade my OEM version 1.C0 firmware, Sony-Optiarc say:
"Also note that our firmware updates are not compatible with those provided by OEM vendors (Sony Optiarc drives pre-installed by the PC manufacturers e.g. HP, Dell, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Apple etc.). You may damage your drive if you flash it with incompatible firmware."

I tryes anyway but i just got an error message, in fact they say:
"You can only update from Firmware versions 1.01, 1.02, 1.03, 1,04 and 1.05. Previous firmware version(s) other than mentioned here are probably OEMs and therefore cannot be updated with this file. Contact your PC manufacturer (FTS, DELL, HP....) if you require firmware updates for these drives."

So I wrote Asus and they told me:
"Asus doesn't manufacture that optical drive (nor did they write the original firmware for it) so they don't supply firmware updates.
Use the Sony firmware update."

It's amazing! So now what can I do?? Any suggestion? Maybe someone knows how to hack the firmware? I read on intenet I'm not the only one with this problem but no solution yet... And I think it's not me that I have to ask to other companies for new firmware, I bought a laptop from Asus so I expect to find updates in their website. I will personally ask to other manufactures when I will assemble a laptop by myself, am i wrong?? What kind of answer is that to a customer?

 

If your original firmware version is not any of the ones required for the update, then what version is it?

 

My original firmware is 1.C0, and probably it's a firmware from Asus that do not allow me to upgrade... And that's quite sad and I don't know what to do... Anybody can help?

 

I assume that Asus doesn't provide any similiar updates? You could try downgrading the firmware to an acceptable version, then upgrade again with one of Sony's updates.

 

You shouldn't have this problem... i have the same drive and zero problems with this after my upgrade from vista to windows 7... u can try using the sony firmware update but if it screws up , bye bye drive.. another problem might be ur driver so uninstall you BD rom from device manager and then reboot... let windows install its own driver using windows update etc... this might solve the problem..

 

Hi, I tried to unistall BD from device manager and reboot but nothing changed. So sean473, after you upgrade to Windows 7 can you use software like CDBurnerXP or ImgBurn? They used to work under XP and Vista and now they don't recognize the BD no more....

 

As seen on the asus forums, they don't provide updates, which sucks.

I tried searching the HP website for laptop models with the same drives, but no firmware either.

http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20091210033016046&SLanguage=en-us&page=1&board_id=3&model=M50Vn

 

I haven't tried it but i see no problems... i'm able to read all DVD and Cds and even written a few Cds and DVDs...

 

Again, I'm happy for you sean473 that you can use your BD for what you need. Try to read BluRay disk, or try to burn CD's with CDburnerXP or ImgBurn under Windows 7 and maybe you will discover that also your BD fails and that ASUS do not provide any kind of sopport to this. I'm really quite upset with ASUS, expecially because no answer at all. Who carer about Casco or other things if you don't upgrade the firmware of YOUR laptop??

 

You could try a Linux LiveCD to see if the drive itself is the problem or if Windows 7 is the problem.

 

I know ir's WIndows 7 the problem, and I know it depends from the firmware Asus should upgrade

 

I think I'm sure it depends from Windows 7 and that the firmaware upgrade couls solve my problem...

 

http://support.asus.com/download/do...ical Disk Drive Firmware&SLanguage=en-us&os=8


Version 1.E1

Description Optiarc BC-5500S ODD Firmware
Optiarc BC-5500S ODD Firmware_1.E1


In the packet your upgrade discs came with (if you got the from asus) you should also have a piece of paper telling you the above URL, stating that some drives might need a firmware update to work with win7

 

Thanks for link, but that version 1.E1 does not upgrade my 1.C0 version. I just got "Update Failed" message when I try to flash Any suggestion?

 

Hi,

I have the same Problem with my L50Vn (now running Windows 7) - and still no solution. But I´m also working on it and I posted it on "Asustreiber.de".

I also tried to update my firmware (1.C0) to 1.E1 but it failed - I don´t know why.

... still counting on the ASUS-Support!!! (Hope never dies)

 

I also wrote here:
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx?id=20091210033016046&board_id=3&model=M50Vn&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

As soon as someone find a solution, please post! Asus HELP!

 

I not sure if this problem is entirely related to Windows 7, or just circumstantial.

Or maybe I have a different problem.

I have been able to play blu-ray discs in Windows 7 for a month or so and then it just stopped working.

When I put blu-ray discs in, it's just like nothing is there.

So I have a sneaking suspicion that the blu-ray laser is dead. But I'm not sure if I have exactly the same symptoms as Ranger

For what it's worth I tried a blu-ray disc in linux and it didn't make any difference, the drive spun up a bit and then nothing.

 

@ Sean473:
You should try it - can you really read BD?
Because I also can read CDs and normal DVDs and I also can burn CDs and DVDs! But I can´t read BD!!!
So - please try it and tell us if it works or not!

 

i don't BD's now but there should be no problem...

 

You might want to try the latest Sony firmware for this drive and these specific issues (not recognizing certain disks).

See:
http://esupport.sony.com/CA/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VGNAW110D&upd_id=5309&os_id=49

 

The firmware you suggest doesn't work because it is meant for Sony VAIO laptops, not for ASUS. Anyway I'm please to say at least Sony support their laptops better than what ASUS do with new OS. I'm pretty sure next time my laptop wonìt be an ASUS. But for now I still need a solution to ypgrade my BD firmware.. .

 

If you're able to extract it, remove the check it does for a Sony notebook, you should be able to update your OD's firmware.

Sorry, don't know what to suggest for extracting though. Good luck.

 

I managed to extract the Sony firmware update file!
Using a program called universal extractor http://legroom.net/software/uniextract.
So we can at least avoid the first sony check.
I don't have my laptop with me, so I can't check if it works.

When you exact it the firmware ends up in a TEMPEXEFOLDER with a filename of EP0000211176.exe

The flashing utility looks similar to the one from the optiarc website, but a bit newer.

I'll try it out this evening.

 

Great work! Keep us updated.

 

It didn't work :-( "Target DVD Drive is not found correctly for this Program"

 

Good job pearj, at least you tried... That's the same message you get when you try to flash with the file you download from Sony.

So now what?? Any other suggestion?

 

Are you able to extract the 'EP0000211176.exe' file also?

 

Hi,

I solved my problem and it was not the fault of ASUS (besides the firmware update still doesn´t work :-( )

So - I think this is probably not the solution for you, but for me it worked. This ist what I did:

I removed the driver of my optiarc form the device-manager (but I think this is not neccassary, because nothing changed after reboot).

The crux: I installed a patch of Cyberlink Power DVD 8 Ultra (the Support of Optiarc gave me the link). I was totaly sure that my Power DVD was up to date (because it automaticly downloads the new patches and I always install them). But after that I tried a BD - and I had a nice BD-movie-evening yesterday Great!

The firmware is still 1.C0 and I still can not update it - but the drive works!

So, I hope that it will work out for you too.
Happy Christmas
Florian

 

software problem.. no wonder!

 

I tried that too, but it just said the file type was:
Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 [Overlay]

About a year ago I was asking at the CD Freaks forum how to make the BC-5500S Region free http://club.myce.com/f86/rpc1-firmware-optiarc-bd-rom-bc-5500s-252691/.

Liggy tried to extract the firmware, but he said it was encrypted, so I'm guessing it is still the same problem. As much as I want to make the firmware work, I don't think I want to go down the path of decompiling...

 

pearj,

You might want to run the EP0000211176.exe file and see if it gets extracted to the temp folder for you. Something to try.

 

I tried that, but nothing was in the temp directory.
I think trying to use Sony Vaio firmware is a bit of a dead end.

 

Hmm, when I run it, I can see it says "VAIO Packaging manager" extracting the firmware update. When I start Task Manager I can see the file name changes to
5500SVN_WebUpdate_178.exe.
But the update tool, doesn't even show my drive in it's list. So it would probably require hacking of the update tool itself, which sounds difficult.

 

So is there anybody able to decompile the official firmware so we can flash our BD? By the way I'm so disappointed of Asus, such a shame no help at all!

 

You may want to try the following fix http://social.answers.microsoft.com...e/thread/070174b2-78ef-4f42-b855-f726b6f1e760

 

I just bought myself this Blu-ray model from an HP. It's bloody slow and I've read that the newer firmware improves read/write speeds from 16x to 24x.

So... I am looking forward to a new firmware.

 

Blacky,

Since I have the same drive, I'm curious where you got that information?

Do you have a link you'd like to share?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers!

 

I do not have an exact source, but it goes like this:

When I use Nero's Info Tool I get reported that the drives maximum read speed is 16X. On Sony's website the speed of the drive is specified at 24X Max.

I read somewhere on a discussion board of HP I think, that you need the 1.04 firmware to get the speed to 24x, otherwise you are such at 16x. Of course the 1.04 firmware is not available for HP branded drives.

Unfortunately I cannot confirm this, but I assumed you guys know more about it.

Edit: I also find it a bit strange that Nero reports the buffer to 2MB while on Sony's page this is supposed to be 4.5 MB.

 

Do u have that firmware or a link for it as i need to update my BC-5500S to the new version? Thanks. My current version is 1.83...

 

No, that's the problem. We can't use the general firmware released by Optiarc, because we are using an HP branded firmware. Only HP can release the proper firmware update and I can't find it anywhere if indeed they ever did release it.

Here is the official product page with the latest firmware:
http://www.sony-optiarc.eu/supportservice/downloads/bluraydrivesnotebooks/bc5500s.html
trying to flash the drive with this firmware won't work, it will just tell that the flash has failed.

 

i have version 1.83... isn't that weird? Also when i checked the nero info tool it said the same as u did... Looks like i'll make another thread for this.

Cheers
Sean473

 

Blacky,

Thanks for the link.

Sorry, I didn't mean to mislead you - I have a VAIO notebook and am using firmware 1.78.

See:
http://esupport.sony.com/CA/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VGNAW110D&upd_id=5309&os_id=49


Now, I see sean473 is using 1.83 and wonder where he got that from?

Like I've seen so many times, different manufacturer's use specific firmware not only to limit what we users can do (or, so it seems to us), but to fix/minimize other issues with hardware or software/drivers that they can effectively mask by using custom firmware/drivers for their products.

I don't need the highest firmware number available - I just want the one with the most features and highest stability in my system possible (rock-solid!). I guess the 1.78 version is 'it' for the time being.

Cheers!

 

Yeap, I have the same version. All HP's 5500s have the same firmware (1.83), which as far as I know is the same as the first one released by Optiarc -> making it pretty old.

tilleroftheearth: Yeah, that's the first Sony firmware for the 5500s, but I think Sony released an update for it... search it up.

Can you please link to the new thread, I would be interested.

 

So there's not update? I can't use the drive to full performance

 

Blacky, I'm pretty sure that this was released on Dec 8, 2009 - so as current as can be?

Also, I'm sure (well, pretty sure) that I've upgraded this optical drive's firmware twice already in about a year of ownership.

Can you link me to the thread you want me to link to?

Cheers!

 

Oh, sorry then, maybe I am confusing firmwares. If you have the one from Dec. 2009 then you probably have the latest one, probably the same as the un-OEM 1.06 from Optiarc's website.

Unfortunately HP has never released a firmware update for this model...

 

epic failure

 

For what it's worth I sent my laptop away for repairs because the Optiarc BD ROM BC-5500S couldn't read blu-ray discs any-more. I was hoping the laptop would come back with the firmware upgraded on the drive. But instead they replaced the drive with a different brand entirely.

Not that I'm complaining, but it won't help anyone here with not being able to upgrade...

 

Hi guys. I also bought an OEM version of this drive and it cames with firmware 1.0A. I've tried both on ubuntu 10.04 and win7 and I can't play any bluray disc. I've tried 2 and they are AACS 17+. I could grab a firmware update from a sony vaio model, 1.0B and flash it extracting the contents using Universal Extractor. That flashing didn't help me at all. I can open the bluray disc on Nautilus (Ubuntu) or Win Explorer and go over all folders and see the files. However I can't play the disc using TMT 3 nor MakeMKV. When I try to open the disc or backup with MakeMKV I get this:

Code:

MakeMKV v1.5.8 win(x86-release) started
Automatic checking for updates is enabled, you may disable it in preferences if you don't want MakeMKV to contact web server.
Using direct disc access mode
Evaluation version, 30 day(s) out of 30 remaining
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occured while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..05CE2B34676952053189703DD2858CD66AD to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occured while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0396087FEC7BFB1FD62E047C42F1186A474 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occured while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..08F433FA35D0866A6B271E48EC9A874FF6A to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occured while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0811BF7B690C82C0B0D429AFAF5D63E4833 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occured while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..073F560DA722B1322FF0C0956F29614E6C5 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occured while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..07A9C9627E9CBAC9870462255267EBB2C03 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occured while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occured while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0A59A031C7012EBBAFFD801B30EFDF82EFC to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occured while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occured while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..0E58AC11FD37C8EAE651FCD886EAAD6723B to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occured while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occured while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..02D7E0218F25CF38AA62538997D9122B991 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occured while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT PRESENT' occured while issuing SCSI command A30..00200740100720..024D1F436976179949240D1E5822A365B55 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Error 'Scsi error - ILLEGAL REQUEST:COPY PROTECTION KEY EXCHANGE FAILURE - KEY NOT ESTABLISHED' occured while issuing SCSI command AD010..080002400 to device 'SPTI:\Device\CdRom0'
Can't read AACS VID from disc - most likely current AACS host certificate is revoked by your drive
The volume key is unknown for this disc - video can't be decrypted
Failed to open disc

Any good soul could help me to sort this out!? This drive was intended to be used as a 'simple' solution to play bluray discs on my HTPC... So it's being a nightmare... :-(