Hi,
I was wondering if i were to update my firmware on lets say an NEC 2500/2510 using an unofficial firmware and then lets say revert back to the original firmware would the warranty still be valid and would the manufacturer no that it has been updated with an unofficial firmware beforehand or would it just look like it has only been updated using original firmware therefore resulting in my warranty being valid?
I dont think theres a way for someone to find out which fw versions one has flashed to prior to the last one aka the one currently used.
So most probably, to answer your question, your warranty would still be valid.
Hi!
If you used a bitsetting firmware, be sure to set the defaults back to DVD+RW and DVD+R before flashing back to an official firmware. These values seem to be stored in the drive internally. So perhaps this could be recognized by NEC when you have to RMA the drive.
Legnerp
Are you sure about this???
If so that means I could flash with one of the bitsetting firmwares set the defaults and flash back to an official firmware and still have bitsetting enabled? Cool…
In the case of LiteOn (and I think also NEC, but not Pioneer), the manufacturer would not know. BUT, if you use an unofficial firmware, you should be fair and accept the consequences (i.e., losing your warranty, even if they can’t technically find out) of using such a firmware.
Absolutely, when you flash an unsupported firmware, you are choosing to give up your warranty. Modded firmware’s do not solve problems with drives, so if you are looking for a fix to a problem don’t flash it. If the drive decides to just give up after you have used a firmware, then you buy a new drive. 
Hi!
No, that’s not true. Those bits are not read out by the official firmwares, but when you flash to a bitsetting firmware again, the previously setted defaults reappear, so the conclusion for me is, that these values are stored in the drive…
Legnerp
I agree also…though perhaps that should be limited to issues arising from the flashed fw only?. Certianly if something goes wrong because of the flash, it’s our own consequence…but what if it’s a “mechanical” issue that has nothing to do with the fw used/flashed or not flashed?
Maybe the thing is, we can never be sure completely what caused an issue after a flash??..except maybe some purely “mechanical issue”…can you all suggest what kind of instance after flashing could occur that would not be caused by the flash?
Just wondering…
Any number of mechanical issues can kill a burner, most of them unrelated to firmware flashing. But that doesn’t change the fact that flashing unsupported firmware voids your warranty. So if one cannot accept not having a warranty, then just don’t flash unsupported firmware. It’s a matter of fairness to the makers of the hardware. Many of the firmware includes things like rip-lock removal which can very deffinitely hasten a drive’s demise.
Very true. Well said. 
Guess comes with the territory…it sure is satisfying to burn 4x media at 8x, and rippping faster than the 2x allowed by stck fw…
I can’t fully agree here. Since NEC says your warranty will be voided, EVEN when you flash their original firmware!
I know about ethics etc, but it’s very unlikely firmware will kill your drive, unless something else is seriously wrong (e.g. broken EEPROM!)
I read on the BTC forum a while back that a certain official version of firmware was actually killing some of their drives. Something about the laser being burned out. The post mentioned upgrading the firmware ASAP to avoid the problem.
This cant be true - they cant void ones guarantee just because he flashed with the original NEC fw they offer at their site - it doesnt make sense.
The only way that makes sense, and preserves Herrie’s infallibility( 
) is that NEC figures that even if we flash their official firmware, we are “altering” their precious device “on our own”. :Z
So, they “wash their hands” and release themselves of mechanically supporting their drive once we “tamper” with it, in their eyes. 
Do you agree Herrie?
I guess it’s like saying" if you open the VCR’s lid, you void the warranty".
Not that I know much, but I figured that, assuming the software is modified correctly (and I figure you do), that should not affect the hardware’s functioning. But, since we’re messing with “the natural order of things”, we cannot say we have left everything like the mfg made it 100%, so we must “flash at our own risk”; but in reality I still think software/firmware should not be mixed with hardware components failure, imho.