Software to change bootcode of LG GSA-T10N

Hello from Germany,

I'm new to this forum and have some troubles with an old Compaq notebook where I changed the CD drive.

The new DVD burner is a LG GSA-T10N which seems to be coded as Cable Select.

Unfortunately the notebook isn't able to communicate with the drive before an OS is installed, so I needed to rebuild the old TEAC CD drive to install Windows XP.
After installation finished, I can change the drive and install the LG which works well with XP - but still it isn't possible to boot from this drive.

So I'm searching for a software or firmware to set the LG DVD burner fixed as Master - anyone here who knows how to do that or where I can find that?

My own activities:

I searched on LG Germany and LG worldwide, but found nothing. The drive itself has no jumper to change as far as I can see, and it's not possible to open it without destroying the cristal clear adheasive tape which seals all edges.

Sorry for possible mistakes or wrong expressions - english is not my mother language...

Hey there, welcome to the forums.

Well, there is patched firmware but usually it is not a matter of the firmware that sets the IDE jumper to Slave, master or CS. I guess this device was modified to where the jumper is removed and just soldered.

No matter what, the cable select setting should still be bootable. Did you configure the boot sequence in the setup/bios of your Compac notebook correctly. To get in the bios/setup you need to press F10 when the blinking cursor appears. If not, consult your manual.

Thanks for reply - of course it's possible to boot from a CD drive, the old TEAC CD drive works this way.
But if I change the drive and install the LG DVD, it does not boot, only an error occurs which says "FATAL" - that's it.

I tried to install Win XP by using start disks and then continue with installation from the DVD drive, but I tried it 3 times, and it does not work because every time the installation is nearly finished Windows says "System time is faulty" - don't know why, but somewhere during installation from the DVD system time in the BIOS is reset to 1998 (CMOS battery is new!).

The only way it works is to reinstall the old TEAC CD drive, boot from and install XP with the drive and after a finished installation change the drive to the new LG DVD.

This is very uncomfortable, so I try to find a way to set the LG drive fixed as "Master".

Maybe you're right and theres no longer a jumper, I guess in this case I should sell it to a person with a newer notebook which has no troubles with cable-select drives and try another drive.

Hmm, according to this it might be caused that the (rather old) BIOS cannot recognize the (rather new) drive. This will result in various unstable reactions of the notebook and/or the operating system.

Check www.hp.com if there is a bios update for your Compaq notebook.

Unfortunately it isn't - I have the "latest" BIOS yet. Seems as if nobody has thought about DVD drives and features like "cable select" when the notebook was released 7 years ago...

Again thanks for your help, I will sell the LG drive and replace it with a NEC AD-7540A. I fitted my girlfriends notebook with this drive and tried it yesterday in the Compaq, and it is recognized as boot drive, so this would be the easiest way.

I guess that's the best thing to do. Hopefully Ebay will give you a nice price for it.
Glad to be of help.

The firmware has nothing to do with the bootcode here for this drive.
IF, then only the firmware should be changed.