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Philips PCRW804 - Firmware dump needed

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First post, by kotel

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Hi,

Recently I came across an completely dead Philips PCRW804 ODD. It didn't spin, didn't blink, wasn't detected, was just dead completely.
Now, I only found FW update .exe's which don't include an standalone ROM, BIN or any other file remotely in the size of the EEPROM.

Now, the question is, does anybody here have an dump of the FW?

"Sent on a mission, to protect the last treasures. Through struggle and strife we can see the light. Even if our mission is partially complete, Our efforts are not in vain.
Let that be our legacy."
-Stronghold 5-5

Reply 1 of 5, by Babasha

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I think firmware in .CVT file inside Philips Update folder

Its slightly bigger than 512KB

I think you can try shrink header it from begging to 512288 bytes with HEX editor

Need help? Begin with photo and model of your hardware 😉

Reply 2 of 5, by kotel

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Babasha wrote on 2025-05-30, 12:20:

I think firmware in .CVT file inside Philips Update folder

Its slightly bigger than 512KB

I think you can try shrink header it from begging to 512288 bytes with HEX editor

May I know from where did you get that file? All the zips I had only included the .exe updater and manual .pdf files.

"Sent on a mission, to protect the last treasures. Through struggle and strife we can see the light. Even if our mission is partially complete, Our efforts are not in vain.
Let that be our legacy."
-Stronghold 5-5

Reply 3 of 5, by Babasha

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kotel wrote on 2025-05-30, 12:26:
Babasha wrote on 2025-05-30, 12:20:

I think firmware in .CVT file inside Philips Update folder

Its slightly bigger than 512KB

I think you can try shrink header it from begging to 512288 bytes with HEX editor

May I know from where did you get that file? All the zips I had only included the .exe updater and manual .pdf files.

I take updater for Win2K/XP and double click .exe then install updater to c:\program files (x86\philips cdrom updater folder
Look inside ^^^^ folder 😉

Need help? Begin with photo and model of your hardware 😉

Reply 4 of 5, by kotel

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Actually, the chip (MX29F002TQC-45) is 2M-bit which is 256K bytes...
And pin Q6 is bad (cannot detect). So weird...

Another idea would be to:
1. Flash the firmware from an similar drive (which I don't own any of) or straight up different drive (but still CD-RW)
2. If detected, update the FW directly from windows
Not sure if this would work, but maybe?

"Sent on a mission, to protect the last treasures. Through struggle and strife we can see the light. Even if our mission is partially complete, Our efforts are not in vain.
Let that be our legacy."
-Stronghold 5-5

Reply 5 of 5, by LoStSOul

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If pin Q6 are bad, what do you think will happen when try to flash another firmware?
Now you have "good" firmware that can not be read correctly (data pin Q6), if you try to flash, will corrupt all firmware.

Can you read eprom from external programmer ? like TL866 for example

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