Flashing a ND-2500A to an 8x Dual Layer drive!

Flashing a ND-2500A to an 8x Dual Layer drive!
Posted :: Aug 10, 2004 by Impact

Just a few days ago, a short review of the Mad Dog 6 in 1 8x DVD+-RW was posted on AI. It just so happens that this drive is a rebadged NEC ND-2500A. From what I have heard, the ND-2500A is an easy drive to firmware upgrade to a dual layer 8x drive. Dual layer allows for twice as much data to be stored on each DVD (quite a nice feature).

In this short guide, I will go through the steps of flashing a brand-new (used for 1 DVD) ND-2500A to a dual layer supporting drive.

Please Note: None of this upgrade is supported by NEC or Mad Dog (or any other company selling the ND-2500A). This most likely will void your warranty and should be done assuming it will. Whatever you choose to do is your choice and Absolute Insight will not be held responsible for your actions.

1: Download the appropriate firmware upgrade.
I found the new upgrade firmware at this page: http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?t=25904. The direct download for the exact firmware I used is: http://herrie.rpc1.org/downloads/2510215.rar. You will need a program called WinRAR to extract the file. It can be downloaded/installed at http://www.download.com free of charge.

2: Unzip and run the upgrade program.
The program isn't fancy, but it looks like it knows what it's doing. It lists the drives possible for upgrading, shows the current firmware version on the drive, and what version the drive will be after a successful flash. There are only two buttons, 'Flash' and 'Cancel'. I picked flash.

A firmware flash program; very easy to use, with only two buttons.

3: Reboot your Computer
If all went well (which it did hopefully), you will need to restart your computer. When windows booted back up, it did the generic "Found new Hardware" thing and everything proceded uneventfully.

Just be calm while waiting for it to finish flashing.

Reboot your computer after completing the firmware upgrade.

4: Check for Dual Layer Capability
Grab a copy of a handy little program called DVDInfoPro. You can find a free, unlimited copy at: http://www.dvdinfopro.com/. Download/Install it and start it up. It should give you info about your DVD drive. Hopefully yours looks like this one (note the spot with the red arrow). Yours should have a checkmark next to "DVD+R DL" indicating that it has the ability to burn DVD+R Dual Layer discs.

Note the Checkmark next to DVD+R DL

5: Test a Dual Layer Burn
Grab one of those dual layer discs you have lying around, throw it in the drive, and try to burn more than 4.7gb to it. The majority of the flashes work fine, but on occasion you will get a flash that doesn't work. In that case, go to the NEC (or other manufacturer website) and get the original firmware. Flash back to that and be happy with your $25 8x (Single Layer) burner. Wait for the next update of the hacked firmware and try again then. Improvements are always being made.

Congrats! If everything went according to plans, you should now have a dual layer 8x DVD+-RW Burner. If you were just following along, without actually doing this, it might be time to grab a great burner at a great price. I used a Mad Dog 6 in 1 8x DVD+-RW burner and if you don't have one yet, you should check them out! As for my previous review (gave it a 9/10), I would like to bump that up to a 10/10 rating. At around $25-35, you just can't beat it.