Do not upgrade your firmware with any offical Pioneer software if you want your drive region free. For example, there is a new firmware for the 105S available at the Pioneer site - version 133. Do not install it, because you may not then be able to install the rpc-1 (region free) version!
There is now a 133 rpc-1 version available. You may find it at http://kickme.to/dvd105s
I have used it and it seems to be perfectly okay (and I think it reduced the spinning noise of the drive significantly).
One reader has pointed out that the new Aopen DVD-1640 Pro drives may be now based on the Pioneer 115 firmware and not the 105S as they had in the past.
If you have a 115 rather than a 105 then at step 10 use the command: CD C:\115F_127
Also what appears on the screen during the upgrade will be slightly different, refering to 115 instead of 105.
1) Download the appropiate firmware from the site: http://www.geocities.com/progressramsoftnet/DVD/
Download the file named 105F_122.zip for the 105S and 115F_127.zip for the 115.
2) Locate the zip file you downloaded and unzip it with Winzip.
3) Locate the newly unzipped folder which will contain the following files:
You will be running the AUTOEXEC.BAT script and NOT the upg5a.exe program directly.
4) Copy this folder to your c: drive i.e copy the folder itself and paste on your c: drive. Also make sure there is no dvd or cd inside the dvd drive.
5) Create a startup disk - you will need a blank floppy disk. Goto Start->Settings->Control Panel Double Click on Add/Remove Programs->Startup Disk Tab Then click the button Create Disk.
6) Leave this disk in the floppy drive and restart your computer. Now, hopefully, when your computer starts up it will boot from the startup disk. If not you will have to enable floppy disk seek in your bios - See the Entering Bios Section on how to do this.
7) If you are prompted for an answer while booting off this disk just choose the defaults.
8) You should be at dos command line prompt.
9) Enter the following and hit return: C:
10) Enter the following then hit return (note the space): CD C:\105F_122
11) Enter the following then hit return: AUTOEXEC
12) The firmware upgrade program should now begin. See the Partial Listing Section for what to expect. It will do some checks then should begin updating your firmware. Resist the urge to power down or reset your computer until the firmware upgrade has completely finished.
13) When this message appears: ** Firmware upgrade sequence Done! *** followed by: Remove this Boot Disk, and restart your PC ! then follow these instructions.
14) You can verify that your drive is now RPC-1 (region free) by running the program Driveinfo under Windows. If you have problems then see Common Problems.
15) Note this: Although you have removed region protection from your dvd's firmware you have not removed any region protection from either dvd software players or hardware decoder boards (if you have one). You need to use a tool such as DVD Genie to get rid of this other level of zoning, see http://www.inmatrix.com for more info. See also the section Questions and Answers for additional information.
Read your motherboard manual for this info - usually it involves holding down the DEL or F1 key during bootup. Alternatively with both Windows 95 and 98 you can actually access ms-dos boot before you see the windows start up splash screen. Press the F8 key when you see the message "Starting Windows 95..." - Windows 98 doesn't show this message but it is just before the splash screen appears. This does not work for Windows Millennium - a boot disk is your best option.
Choose safe mode command prompt to get a nice dos prompt.
You see this error message:
-->ROM Mark Error<-[0m-<[41m
CPU type of this drive is not supported by this program.
Solution: Check whether your drive actually is a secondary master. See the section What is this Master/Slave Primary/Secondary stuff about?
Other Possible Cause of Problem: This problem seems to happen with some newer motherboards or AMD based motherboards. It has to do with ultra-DMA controllers interfering with the upgrade process. Your best option is to temporary disable DMA when you are about to upgrade your firmware. You will need to enter your BIOS and disable DMA from within there. Consult your motherboard manual and don't forget to turn DMA back on after you have finished doing the upgrade.
Upgrade halts with some other error message: You may not have downloaded all files correctly. Try downloading them again. The 105F_122.hex file should be around 711 KB in size.
There are 2 ports on a typical one named primary and one called secondary on a motherboard. Cables from your Hard Drives,CD-ROM drives or DVD drives are attached to an IDE cable and ultimately these are plugged into one of the two ports.
In addition, these IDE cables may have one or two drives attached to them. If two drives are on the same cable then one will be the master and one the slave. This results in the following table for the property of any drive.
The Pioneer drive has a jumper that determines whether it is a master or a slave. See the top label on the drive for a diagram where the abbreviations MA = Master SL = Slave. A master drive will have the jumper on position one, while a slave has the jumper on position two. The other positions are not used.
The script file AUTOEXEC.BAT is setup for the drive in the secondary master position. If your drive is somewhere else you will have to edit this file by right clicking on it and choosing edit. Look for this line: call upg5a.exe /2 105F_122.HEX Notice the part: /2 It is the number "2" that tells the program which port master/slave combo to use. The table is as follows:
Change only the number 2 to either 1 or 3 as required. Save and quit the editor.
The exact output varies slightly from this.
The first thing you see if the contents of the readme.txt file. Then this:
Press Ctrl-Break if you want to EXIT, or any key to CONTINUE!!!
Last chance to EXIT (Ctrl-Break), or press any key if you are READY!!!
<-[23 Now Running MS-DOS Ver 8.00<-[0m<-23 ------------(UPG5A.EXE Ver 1.06A)---------------- PIONEER DVD-ROM Firmware Update Program for G3-G5 ------------------------------------------------ Present Drive Firmware Revision >>> Inquiry Data : Pioneer DVD-ROM DVD-105 1.11 2000/04/12 <<<
Now rom contents checking... -->Complete
Now update hexa file loading ... (105F_122.HEX)
<-[0m
Data read from 105_122.HEX --> Complete
HEX = HITACHI H8_3062A : ROM = HITACHI H8_3062A
Now Data transfering ... 0 1 2 3 4 --> Complete
Now Code updating ... -->Complete
Now waiting ......
Block 0 : ROM SUM =b74eh HEX SUM=b74eh : Verify Complete
Block 1 : ROM SUM =0d78h HEX SUM=0d78h : Verify Complete
Block 2 : ROM SUM =6558h HEX SUM=6558h : Verify Complete
Block 3 : ROM SUM =8c34h HEX SUM=8c34h : Verify Complete
Block 4 : ROM SUM =03e0h HEX SUM=03e0h : Verify Complete
Block 5 : ROM SUM =7729h HEX SUM=7729h : Verify Complete
Block 6 : ROM SUM =6a97h HEX SUM=6a97h : Verify Complete
Block 7 : ROM SUM =edafh HEX SUM=edafh : Verify Complete
DVD-ROM drive upgrade completely finished.
New Drive Firmware Revision >>> Inquiry Data : Pioneer DVD-ROM DVD-105F 1.22 2000/07/17 <<< <-[0m
*** Firmware upgrade sequence Done! *** Remove this Boot Disk, and restart your PC ! --------------------------------------------
That's it your firmware has been upgraded and is now RPC-1. Don't take too much from the last two lines in bold - they are shown even if the upgrade fails!!
What is the difference between RPC-2 and RPC-1 firmware?
Effectively RPC-1 firmware contains no zoning information at all. RPC-2 was introduced from the start of the year 2000 into all new drives and gives the firmware the responsibility of handling zones. In other words RPC-1 is good and RPC-2 is bad :)
Is enabling DMA that important?
Yes. Without DMA being enabled these pioneer drives perform very,very badly.
What about the super new region protection called RCE?
It does not affect PC drives at all. I had no problems with the zone one title "The Patriot" at all.
Why do I have to use DVD Genie or Region Killer even though I have made my drive region free?
Because the software players have (and have always had) region protection of their own. If you have a RPC-2 drive they consult the firmware to get the zone information. If you have a RPC-1 drive they do not talk to the firmware but instead fall back onto their own internal counters to handle the zone.
Do I have to run other firmware upgrade versions first?
No. Each firmware version is not dependent on previous version, they are standalone. Just upgrade to the latest rpc-1 version regardless of your current rpc-2 version.
Why do you have to run the upgrade from a dos prompt?
Because less things can go wrong in dos. You don't have to worry about what other programs are doing and DOS is less likely to crash while upgrading. I guess you don't have to worry about GUI design either ;)
What is the BEST software player to use?
Probably the best is the latest version of PowerDVD http://www.cyberlink.com.tw PowerDVD has a good user interface, good support and is feature rich.
Coming in a close second would be later versions of WinDVD.
The only others worth mentioning are those based on software Cinemaster such as Elsa. These players use significantly less CPU than PowerDVD or WinDVD making them ideal for slower computers. The video quality is good but the user interfaces can be plain ugly!
What are some optimization tips?
22-01-2001
-added command so that user switches to c: drive
6-02-2001
-added a picture to enhance the website and another faq ;)
15-07-2001
-changed the link to the firmware that works for me at least. Added notes about Aopen DVD-1640 Pro and new official firmwares.
17-09-2001
-added a link to the new 133 rpc-1 firmware.