Cross-flashing OEM DH-16W1P to Lite-On LH-16W1P

tobridges 2009-12-02 16:34:19 UTC #1

Let me just say first that I'm not a techie, so I may say something stupid or ask a dumb question. Bear with me. I'll try to provide all relevant info.

I have an Acer Aspire E380 with a DVD drive that displays in my device manager as ATAPI DH-16W1P. From the research I've done online, that appears to be the OEM version of a Lite-On LH-16W1P.

The drive seems to work fine, except for when I try to play certain DVDs that I get from Netflix. These primarily seem to be discs from Lionsgate and 20th Century Fox studios.

When I put them into the drive and attempt to play them, I get error messages to the effect that the drive cannot detect the disc. (My standalone DVD player also will not play those discs.)

Presumably, it's a copy-protection issue, and Netflix told me I needed to upgrade my firmware.

Lite-On does not offer an upgrade for the OEM version, only the LH. I downloaded the LH firmware and tried to execute, but received an error message that my drive did not match the firmware.

I know little to nothing about flashing, EEPROM, or related. However, from researching, I discovered the CodeGuys site, along with their list of "unscrambled" Lite-On firmware, along with the OmniPatcher and the instructions for cross-flashing.

This is what I have downloaded and unzipped:

The LH-16W1P flasher (SL08N) from Lite-On.

The "stock" LH-16W1P firmware (which is supposed to be unscrambled and Flashfixed) from this site.

The OmniPatcher from here.

And, just for good measure, FlashFix (and put it in the same folder as UPX, as instructed) from here.

First, I opened FlashFix and dragged SL08N to it. I got an error message that the file size was outside the specified range. I hit 'ignore' and continued. It said the file was patched, so I tried to execute SL08N, but still got the 'no matching drive' message.

Then, following the cross-flashing instructions here, I opened OmniPatcher, and dragged the stock firmware 16W1P.SK08.stock firmware to the patcher. I got this error message: Unable to process this .EXE file! Please make sure that the file is valid and unscrambled.

I also downloaded the Flash Utility for Lite-On Based Optical Drives, but since I don't know what the hell I'm doing, I haven't really tried to use it.

At this point, I'm stuck and have no idea how to continue, or where I am going wrong in trying to use these tools. I've searched the forum and haven't found anything that seems like the answer.

I'd appreciate any guidance.

Thanks.

Whappo 2009-12-02 16:49:44 UTC #2

[QUOTE=tobridges;2470959]

Presumably, it’s a copy-protection issue, and Netflix told me I needed to upgrade my firmware.

[/QUOTE]

I’m sorry but they sent you on a wild goose chase. A more likely reason is that the disks are scracthed. I’ve recieved a few from Netflix that wouldn’t play and sent them back. It has nothing to do with the firmware.

tobridges 2009-12-02 17:00:11 UTC #3

[QUOTE=Whappo;2470962]I’m sorry but they sent you on a wild goose chase. A more likely reason is that the disks are scracthed. I’ve recieved a few from Netflix that wouldn’t play and sent them back. It has nothing to do with the firmware.[/QUOTE]
Hey, thanks for the fast response! I have considered the possibility that the discs were damaged, but have pretty much ruled that out for these reasons:

[ol]
[li]I visually inspected and cleaned each disc. They were in nearly new condition.[/li][li]The problem is consistently with the same studios, Lionsgate and 20th Century Fox. Other discs play fine.[/li][li]I reported the unplayable discs and requested replacements. Then I kept the originals until new copies were sent out, so that I wouldn’t just receive the same discs again. The replacement discs also would not play.[/li][/ol]

I’m trying to upgrade the firmware because it’s at least three years old and, at this point, it seems like my only other option would be to get a newer drive and hope that it is up-to-date enough to deal with some of these copy-protections.