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Slim CD-Rom drive only accepts 2X CD-RW ?

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First post, by user33331

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Hello
I have a slim=laptop CD-Rom drive 1998 old Toshiba XM-1602B that only accepts those old 1-2x speed CD-RWs.
The new fast burning CD-RWs are unidentified.

If I replace the slim CD-Rom drive with a newer slim DVD-drive or a slim DVD-RW will the old motherboard ( From 1998 ) recognize the drive:
1.) As a DVD-RW drive ?
2.) As a DVD-drive ?
3.) As a CD-Rom drive ?
4.) Or the old motherboard won't accept it and a BIOS error occurs at start up ?

Reply 1 of 5, by Errius

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I assume you mean CD-R disks not CD-RW, which are different and presumably even more difficult to get working

Upgrade motherboard BIOS and drive firmware.

Try CD-R disks burned at lowest possible speed, even if you can't get to 1x or 2x. I had success getting some old Toshiba drives to read CD-Rs burned at 8x.

Is this too much voodoo?

Reply 2 of 5, by user33331

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I updated motherboard BIOS to 2001 year (from 1998).
How to update CD-drive BIOS\ROM\Firmware ?
Ver.No. 002
ROM Ver. RC70717
Manufactured 1998 CL
Toshiba XM-1602B
Serial: 859A503125

Reply 3 of 5, by Errius

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I don't have this drive but quick googling suggests that the latest firmware is RC80807:

http://filedump.glitchwrks.com/mirrors/AST/P- … HER/Rc80807.exe

You will have to create a DOS boot floppy from the image in the archive and boot from it. The rest should be automatic.

ETA: results of tests of desktop SCSI Toshiba CD-ROM drives from the same general period:

XM-3601B (1995) - Cannot read 8x CD-Rs [firmware JA50707] [ETA: but see this]
XM-5401B (1996) - Can read 8x CD-Rs [MA51226]
XM-6201B (1997) - Can read 8x CD-Rs [BM71114]

Last edited by Errius on 2018-03-16, 13:55. Edited 2 times in total.

Is this too much voodoo?

Reply 4 of 5, by user33331

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rc80807.exe, Toshiba XM-1602B firmware update.
So this only changes the ROM in CD-drive not any motherboard BIOS or such...? So only CD-drive turns to non-working if it fails...? Can this update not be made inside Windows 98 SE ?
1.) In dos "FORMAT A:/S/U/Q"
2.) Extract those files to Floppy A:\
3.) Select BIOS Startup order A:\ Floppy
4.) Start computer and it installs itself...

It can read old original CD-RW discs 2x(or 4x) but when using faster modern CD-RW discs like 8-12x they are unindentified.

I have been using a +15 year old CD-RW 2x for this computer for data transfer because it has no USB. Only PCMCIA 16-bit 3.3 V ports 2pcs ( Not 32-bit=Cardbus compatible ). So no USB adapters available... 😢 Chinese USB2.0 adapters are only for 32-bit cardbus and do not work with 16-bit PCMCIA.

Reply 5 of 5, by Errius

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Only the CD-ROM drive ROM will be changed.

There is always a danger of killing the drive when updating ROM, but this has never happened to me. If this worries you don't do it, or find a disposable drive to experiment on.

It's a DOS boot floppy so it can't be done from inside Windows.

Simply use FORMAT a: to format the floppy and then run the batch file. That .IMG file is in common RAWRITE/RAREAD format so you can also use a program like WinImage to directly write it to floppy if you don't want to mess with the command line. (Winimage will automatically format the floppy.)

Make sure the computer BIOS is set to boot from floppy and reboot.

Is this too much voodoo?

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