Firmware Upgrade to dual layer capability: OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H

Question

Level 1

8 points

Firmware Upgrade to dual layer capability: OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H

Is it a simple upgrade of firmware to enable my burner to burn dual-layer DVDs, are additional changes required, or is it not an option? Any advice or caveats?

What I have:

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H:

Firmware Revision: 3AHB

Interconnect: ATAPI

Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)

Cache: 0 KB

Reads DVD: Yes

CD-Write: -R, -RW

DVD-Write: -R, -RW

Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO

Media: To show the available burn speeds, insert a disc and choose View > Refresh

System Software Overview:

System Version: Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549)

Running on:

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: iMac

Model Identifier: iMac11,1

Processor Name: Intel Core i7

Processor Speed: 2.8 GHz

Number Of Processors: 1

Total Number Of Cores: 4

L2 Cache (per core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 8 MB

Memory: 16 GB

Processor Interconnect Speed: 4.8 GT/s

Boot ROM Version: IM111.0034.B02

SMC Version (system): 1.54f36

Usual Applications: Final Cut Pro 10.0.9, Toast 10.0.9, iMovie 8.0.6

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Aug 3, 2014 5:59 PM

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Answer 1

MildlyMiffed Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 4, 2014 9:00 PM in response to baltwo

My drive and your drive appear to be identical except for the Firmware Revision. My Firmware Revision 3AHB enables burning single-layer discs only. If I could replace that with Firmware Revision 3AHF, it seems logical that it would then be identical to yours and therefore able to burn dual-layer discs. A download of that Firmware Revision looks to be available on at: http://liggydee.cdfreaks.com/page/en/Optiarc-AD-5680H/

Ever heard of Liggy's and Dee's? Claims to be the original Revision that came standard on your drive. Maybe, short of a new Mac, an external dual-layer drive is the better option. Below is from their site - the only place I've found any download of this firmware.

Everything about Optiarc AD5680H firmwares

The DVD Burner Optiarc AD-5680H is a slot-in drive which has only been found as an OEM drive in Apple machines so far.

The following firmwares are available for download here:

Firmware version	Download
AD-5680H Firmware 3AHF	Download
AD-5680H Firmware 3AHB	Download

CD−R	CD−RW	DVD−R	DVD−RW	DVD+R	DVD+RW	DVD+R DL	DVD−R DL	DVD−RAM
Strategies	1.05	1.08	1.15A	1.10	1.11	1.07	1.24B	1.16B	1.08
Bitsetting	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Date1 (*)	2011-01-20
Date2 (*)	2011-01-20

(*) Date 1 seems to be related to the strategy version while date 2 seems to be related to the main firmware code

The following firmwares are included:

orig - does not include riplock or region code patches
fast - includes riplock patch
rpc1 - includes riplock and RPC1 patch
auto - includes riplock and region code auto-reset patch

This is the original AD-5680H Firmware 3AHF

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Answer 2

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Aug 4, 2014 2:01 PM in response to MildlyMiffed

MildlyMiffed wrote:

Is it a simple upgrade of firmware to enable my burner to burn dual-layer DVDs, are additional changes required, or is it not an option?

What I have:

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H:

Firmware Revision: 3AHB

Can't answer that, since I don't know where you got the firemware update. AFAICT there's no firmware update for this drive from Sony which no longer makes these. The ones that they do have available at http://www.sony-optiarc.us/support/downloads/dvdrwseries.html are for PC machines, but include this note:

OUR FIRMWARE UPDATES ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THOSE PROVIDED BY THE OEM VENDORS

I have the same drive, but with these stats:

OPTIARC DVD RW AD-5680H:

Firmware Revision: 3AHF

Interconnect: ATAPI

Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)

Cache: 2048 KB

Reads DVD: Yes

CD-Write: -R, -RW

DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW

Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO

Media: To show the available burn speeds, insert a disc and choose View > Refresh

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Answer 3

baltwo

Level 9

62,386 points

Aug 5, 2014 11:03 AM in response to MildlyMiffed

Never heard of them and don't know if it'll work or bork you superdrive. Do note that when I click on the strategy link, I see this, which indicates both have DL capability. Use it at your own risk.

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