Sony DRU500AX Firmware 2.0C!!

by **signal9** on Sun Feb 09, 2003 9:10 pm

I bought mine today from a local Circuit City for $349.99

$10.00 less than www.newegg.com

Anyways, Nero shows this as the firmware version as 2.0c.

So I would say its not a simply rebranded DRU500A.

I do notice that when you eject a cd, the tray rattles on its way out. Surprised by the fact that I have many low-end cd-r writer which have smoother tray mechanism.

by **HyperYagami** on Sun Feb 09, 2003 9:53 pm

signal9 wrote:Anyways, Nero shows this as the firmware version as 2.0c.

And you expected it to say "DRU500A 1.0f"?

Until someone opens it up and check, the general consent is that it's a rebranded 500A.

by **Ian** on Sun Feb 09, 2003 10:37 pm

What is the drive identified as?

by **dhc014** on Sun Feb 09, 2003 11:18 pm

read

Also:

oceanview on rpc1.org wrote:The DW-U10A is a OEM version of the DRU500A and will NOT be supported by SONY should there be any problems.

THe DRU500AX is the DRU500A shipping with the latest firmware. Buying the DRU500A and upgrading to the latest firmware makes the drive a DRU500AX.

This information is from Sony Customer Support. I know, cause I just purchased the DRU500A and then found out about the DW-U10A so I called Sony to find out what's with this model.

Hope this helps....

by **signal9** on Mon Feb 10, 2003 2:01 am

Nero Ids it a DRU500A :cry:

by **Dartman** on Mon Feb 10, 2003 3:01 am

Well the one I bought had e firmware in it and was built Jan. 03 so why would they change it? I think you said yours was a Jan unit also, they probably finaly got the new boxes printed so they used the new firmware to disignate the newer boxed units. Besides I wanna think mine is the same as the new one....

Besides DHC got those 2 threads that pretty much lay it out. Mine has worked perfectly so far and I've been burning a lot this weekend trying different formats to see if I can get a BIG mp3 dvd to work in my players.

by **signal9** on Mon Feb 10, 2003 4:14 am

Jan 16th, 2003 was the Birthdate. lol.

by **Pradeep** on Mon Feb 10, 2003 9:06 am

A friend bought a 500AX the other day, it was manufactured on the 24th Jan and came with 1.0g.

by **signal9** on Tue Feb 11, 2003 12:39 am

kinda odd with the difference in firmware revisions.

:roll:

by **Rishardc** on Tue Feb 11, 2003 7:14 pm

I just went to bestbuy to buy a 500A, and I JUST realized now after its in my PC that its a 500AX. It also has 2.0C installed. When I ran the checking software it said it was compatible with 1.0C I will wait for now and see what happens.

by **signal9** on Tue Feb 11, 2003 9:54 pm

What checking software are you using?

by **Solr_Flare** on Wed Feb 12, 2003 12:41 am

Thats bizarre....unless you've got a drive with some wack firmware release, I want to say its some screwy action with you ID software. AX looks for all intensive purposes to just be a repackaged A.

by **Dartman** on Wed Feb 12, 2003 2:06 am

Now the support web site says that firmware for the a models is ONLY for them and not the ax ...hmmmm....
Oh well mine seems to work fine so far.

by **Rishardc** on Wed Feb 12, 2003 12:59 pm

The software that is on sonys site. If you are looking at the firmware page they have there are some more support tools that will run and tell you your firmware rev and tel you what its comatible with. ITs possible that this software is outdated and doesn't understand the Sony drive though.

by **signal9** on Thu Feb 13, 2003 2:44 am

That's from the software I downloaded from Sony's website.

It also failed to Identify Windows XP!

by **Pradeep** on Thu Feb 13, 2003 7:19 am

You will notice that it says CD-RW edition. Could you try drive properties in Record Now DX or something like that?

by **signal9** on Fri Feb 14, 2003 2:55 am

Here you go. Recordnow version 4.5

2 for 2! 2.0c

by **ddubb** on Sat Feb 15, 2003 6:00 am

I just purchased the DRU500AX as well and can confirm the Firmware is 2.0c. Hoping 2.0c fixes the 4x burn issues I keep reading about with the DRU500A. I just purchased some 4x Ritek media and will post test results soon.

by **Dartman** on Sat Feb 15, 2003 1:06 pm

Well now with this different firmware and all I wonder if I should go back to frys and see if they have the AX in stock and trade out. I haven't had any problems yet with this one and everyone doesn't seem to know for sure if the newer version is better in some way or just uses a new firmware type to keep track of the revision. Mine does 1x on all the cheap media I have tried so far, and they all work. I just got 15 of the newer Verbatim 2x -rw and it claims in Nero to do 2x max. I disabled the Powerburn just to see if I could cheat but it still says 2x max. I haven't made anything yet to see how they really work.
The newer firmware is the only thing that has me thinking, I'm almost tempted to try it and see if it works, I still have a little time on my return privlegde through Frys.

by **jrlo** on Tue Feb 18, 2003 5:14 am

got my dru500ax a few days ago -- also came with v2.0c firmware -- burned a princo 4x dvd-r disc fine (under 18 minutes for nearly full disc).
awesome so far (apart from cdr burning issue in newest nero), and i agree -- the tray is a bit noisy opening and closing; not sure why.

by **wizard** on Tue Feb 18, 2003 3:35 pm

since i just purchased a new dru-500a a few weeks ago and was not aware that the dru-500ax was even coming out i decided to simply contact sony and ask what the difference is between the 2 drives. here is a copy of the exact transcript (minus my full name and telephone number)... :

This is an automated email sent from the SONY NetAgent
Server. The following information is a log of your session. Please
save the log for your records.

Session ID: 106150

02/18/2003 01:11:09PM Session Assigned CSR (Ginny)
02/18/2003 01:11:09PM Enter Session CUS (wizard)
02/18/2003 01:11:25PM Session Accepted CSR (Ginny)
02/18/2003 01:11:25PM Enter Session CSR (Ginny)
02/18/2003 01:11:25PM Message Sent CUS "I was just wondering what the difference is between the DRU-500a and DRU-500ax dvd-rw drives."
02/18/2003 01:11:28PM Message Sent CSR "Hello, my name is Ginny. May I have your full name and phone number please?"
02/18/2003 01:11:50PM Message Sent CUS "(name removed by wizard) xxx-xxx-xxxx"
02/18/2003 01:12:57PM Message Sent CSR "The only difference in those drive is that the DRU 500AX comes with the most recent firmware already installed, the DRU 500A has the latest firmware upgrade available for download."
02/18/2003 01:13:48PM Message Sent CUS "thank you..i was just wondering because i purchased a 500a a few weeks ago...you have been a great help."
02/18/2003 01:14:00PM Message Sent CSR "Thank you for using the Sony Technical Support chat service. In a few minutes, a transcript of your chat session will be emailed to the address that you provided at the time of login. Have a nice day."
02/18/2003 01:15:55PM Leave Session CSR (Ginny)
02/18/2003 01:15:55PM Leave Session CUS
02/18/2003 01:15:55PM Session Ended

If you have any questions, please email storage.support@am.sony.com, or revisit the
SONY NetAgent System for live support.

as u can see....sony themselves state that the dru-500a and the dru-500ax are the exact same drive and that the only difference is that the 500ax comes already flashed with the newest firmware whereas u have to d/l the newest firmware and flash the 500a yourself. best i can figure about the firmware message on sony site saying the firmware is only for the 500a is that the 500ax does not need to be updated since it already contains the most recent firmware.

by **Ian** on Tue Feb 18, 2003 4:13 pm

Yeah, when are they going to release the 2.0c firmware for 500a owners?

by **wizard** on Tue Feb 18, 2003 11:26 pm

don't know the answer to that 1...i'll see if i can get an answer about it tomorrow when they are back around for me to ask...was just passing on what they told me...

by **wizard** on Wed Feb 19, 2003 12:15 pm

This is an automated email sent from the SONY NetAgent
Server. The following information is a log of your session. Please
save the log for your records.

Session ID: 106274

02/19/2003 10:05:08AM Enter Session CUS (wizard)
02/19/2003 10:06:39AM Session Assigned CSR (Jill)
02/19/2003 10:06:50AM Session Accepted CSR (Jill)
02/19/2003 10:06:50AM Enter Session CSR (Jill)
02/19/2003 10:06:50AM Message Sent CUS "i was told the 500a and 500ax are the same if newest firmware is used (1.0g). why is the firmware different on 500ax (2.0c)?"
02/19/2003 10:06:52AM Message Sent CSR "Hello, my name is Jill. May I have your full name and phone number please?"
02/19/2003 10:07:16AM Message Sent CUS "(name removed by wizard) XXX-XXX-XXXX"
02/19/2003 10:08:36AM Message Sent CSR "The firmware are the same. They have different numbers to tell the 500ax from the 500a."
02/19/2003 10:08:54AM Message Sent CUS "all i needed to know. thank you.."
02/19/2003 10:09:11AM Message Sent CSR "Thank you for using the Sony Technical Support chat service. In a few minutes, a transcript of your chat session will be emailed to the address that you provided at the time of login. Have a nice day."
02/19/2003 10:09:44AM Leave Session CSR (Jill)
02/19/2003 10:09:44AM Leave Session CUS
02/19/2003 10:09:44AM Session Ended

If you have any questions, please email storage.support@am.sony.com, or revisit the
SONY NetAgent System for live support.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sony says the firmware (1.0g for 500a and 2.0c for 500ax) is the same. just uses different numbers for the 500ax since the model is different so you can tell the drives apart. has anyone been able to "prove" any differences between the 2 drives other then them showing different numbers for firmware version and possibly a few "cosmetic" differences?

by **cfitz** on Wed Feb 19, 2003 12:25 pm

wizard wrote:02/19/2003 10:06:50AM Message Sent CUS "i was told the 500a and 500ax are the same if newest firmware is used (1.0g). why is the firmware different on 500ax (2.0c)?"
02/19/2003 10:08:36AM Message Sent CSR "The firmware are the same. They have different numbers to tell the 500ax from the 500a."

I've been casually following all the discussion about the (potential) differences between these models. I don't have anything concrete to contribute, and don't have a horse in this race, but on reading this exchange I have to admit that I am becoming more suspicious of Sony. They changed the numbers to distinguish between the changed numbers??? Sounds awfully circular to me, as well as completely pointless. Why would they need to tell one from the other if they are completely the same? Unconvincing answers like that make me wonder if they really are hiding something. At best Sony is handling a completely innocent situation very badly for no good reason. At worst, they are lying to their customers.

cfitz

Sony DRU500AX Firmware 2.0C!!

Sony DRU500AX Firmware 2.0C!!

Re: Sony DRU500AX Firmware 2.0C!!

Should we get a AX?

i decided to ask sony:

here is what they told me:

Re: here is what they told me:

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