13"MBP + SuperDrive Firmware

I recently got a 13" MBP late December that came with 10.6.0 and if i recall the Superdrive on startup didnt make any noise, but not after transferring one user account from my old MacBook Pro (which was running 10.5.8 without the SuperDrive Firmware) it makes it on start up only.
Its not a big deal, im just wondering if that was normal as i though it was suppose to silence it completely?
could it have been when i transferred by User Account over via migration assistant?
(its a non-primary, non-admin account).
thank you.

Hi FrankBobandy,
I'm at a loss then. Every Apple portable that I've owned since 1994 has made an audible self check on startup as far as I can recall. The noise varies from machine to machine but they've all pretty much consistently made a noise.
The next logical step would be to perform a full backup, wipe the system, reinstall the OS and see if the noise exists. If it does, then it wasn't the imported user. If it doesn't, I'm still not convinced it was the imported user. I'd then reimport the user and go from there (or you could consider restoring from backup).
The user directory doesn't store any system level functions, library data or any parameters that would modify firmware, EFI or normal startup sequences. Which is why I'm stubborn on pointing fingers at the imported user. I don't see what would have brought over to affect a startup, pre-OS function.

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Problems after Superdrive Firmware Update 3.0

Successfully applied the Superdrive Firmware Update 3.0 on my MBP 15" (Unibody late 2008) and, as advertised it no longer make noise on startup and after sleep. All seems ok, but now it refuse to burn CDs and DVDs. Either using Disk Utility or Toast Titanium or iTunes I constantly get media errors and warnings about trying using a different brand of DVDs and CDs.
I always used Verbatim media (16x certified DVD) and never had a single problem until now. After some tries I was able to burn a CD using 4x speed, but this was a lucky one.
Someone experiencing similar problem?
Thanks

Very, very strange , deepnoise,
I've never seen a 'warning" on any Mac OS version suggesting the use of different brands of DVD or CD. To the best of my knowledge , in fact, no such warnings are ever provided by the OS, or by Toast or Popcorn, or other common disc burning software, though sometimes it is certainly worth a try if you have been using cheap media. I very much doubt that such a warning, if it really appeared, was produced by the OS or any regular Mac burning software.
I'm sorry, but most of the posts in this thread sound like an improbable beat up to me.
Cheers
Rod

Superdrive Firmware Update 2.1 hosed your DVD-RW? Here's howto restore it.

I have successfully restored the firmware on a UJ-857 that was hosed following the infamous Apple Superdrive Firmware Update 2.1, thanks to the procedure & flashing utility posted by "ben11" on http://forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?t=42953&sid=7a19b1238543a5e4a43d12770bbd27c1
Please read the instructions carefully before proceeding.
Hello,
+After some private message exchanges it seems I was able to help some people in this situation (inclduing the original poster). I wrote a simple utility to perform a very basic flash to the drive - doing that may be able to recover the situation, but my flash utility performs almost no checks and is generally much more basic than the framework which, for example, the standard Apple Superdrive updaters have used.+
+So, if your drive is in a similar situation this may be able to help. But only try if you feel you've exhausted every other possibility, such as having the drive replaced. This flash process may not work for you, or in the worst case it could conceivably leave your drive is a worse state than before. It is of coursed not endorsed by anybody, in particular not Apple nor the drive manufacturer (or anybody at rpc1.org either).+
+As I wrote, compared to the standard updaters this utility makes few checks on the drive status - so unless your drive has really lost its standard operating firmware, often because of an interrupted flash, don't use this rather than a more featured updater.+
+Simple flash utility archive:+
+http://rapidshare.com/files/57312123/SimpleFlash.zip.html+
+There is the terminal based utility (and source code) - along with copies of the HAEA, HBEA, KBVB, KCVB (RPC1 patched) firmwares for the UJ-857 and UJ-857D.+
_+Basic Instructions+_
+You need to download the "SimpleFlash.zip" file, unpack it and then run it using the terminal. e.g. assuming you have downloaded the archive file to your desktop you can unpack like this:+
+ben11s-computer:~ ben11$ cd Desktop+
+ben11s-computer:~/Desktop ben11$ unzip SimpleFlash.zip+
+ben11s-computer:~/Desktop ben11$ cd SimpleFlash+
+to use the utility you start it using ONE of the following commands:+
+./simple_flash 0 UJ857-HAEA-MBP-rpc1.dat+
or
+./simple_flash 0 UJ857-HBEA-MB-rpc1.dat+
or
+./simple_flash 0 UJ857D-KBVB-MB-rpc1.dat+
or
+./simple_flash 0 UJ857D-KCVB-MBP-rpc1.dat+
+(choose according to the firmware you need, see below)+
+It will prompt you to answer if you want to continue - to which you can type 'yes' or 'y', if you want to go on. The flash should start and will take about 30 seconds after which the utility should say "Finished". At this point I recommended you restart your Mac. If all has gone well your drive should be responding again.+
_+Choosing the Firmware+_
+The firmware included are the ones that the "Apple Superdrive 2.1" update offered for Matshita drives - except the ones in this archive have RPC1 patches. If you don't want RPC1 you could go back to standard firmware using the updaters posted in other threads on this forum after your drive is responding again.+
+In principal the utility would also flash other matshita UJ-8xx drives, but suitable firmware data files are not included for them.+
+HAEA, HBEA are for UJ-857+
+KBVB, KCVB are for UJ-857D+
+If your drive previously had:+
+HAC1 or HAE4 use HAEA+
+HBE4 use HBEA+
+KBV9 use KBVB+
+KCV9 use KCVB+
+If you don't know the previous firmware revision you had then: As far as I know firmware revisions HAEA & KCVB are used in the Macbook Pro, HBEA & KBVB are used in the Macbook. Choose according to which model of mac and which model of drive you have.+
+The optical drive should not accept a firmware corresponding the wrong drive model, but for a given model the various revisions may have slight differences, perhaps because of different physical constraints on the hardware - so try to pick the appropriate revision.+
+Good luck.+

Hello.
I read a lot of stories on this issue, but no one was exactly like mine. However, since I bumped into your post yesterday I decided to give a try to the "ben11" flash solution.
I'm writing here so others can others can find the info (also I'm writing it here since I have an Apple ID but I'm not interested in subscribing to "The Firmware Page Forum", from "ben11" comes from).
So, here it is.
Of course in the beginning, that is June '07, It was the Firmware Update 2.1.
From there, I was capable to burn CD's at 24x even after the update, but suddenly, the week before the past one or so, I couldn't burn a couple of CD's and a DVD. In that moment I couldn't check the issue in detail. I just thought it could be that my Mac was too busy or something. All I was getting was a completed recording phase and then a failing verifying phase. Sometimes with a 80020063 error code.
The past week I successfully wrote a disc at 8x, but another one, and all the subsequent failed with the same conditions: recording succeeded, verification failed.
Then I read your post. I tried a couple of recordings more for control. I was able to record my iPhoto collection at 1x in a DVD with no problem. Then I tried writing data again in a CD at 24x and it failed, as I was expecting.
I applied the flash utility to the (MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-857D/KCVB) unit and voila! At 24x my data was recorded and verified successfully!
Thanks a lot and kind regards from Mexico.
Julián

MBP Superdrive fail to read work-around!

I have discovered a bizarro work-around to get the data off of your backup DVD's if your MBP Superdrive is failing to read properly.
I have a brand new 17" MBP Core 2 machine and the DVD will not read any more than the first half of the files on my backup DVD disks from my old PowerBook which i no longer available to use for xfer.
When all my backup DVD's exhibited the same problem (will copy about 2G of data and then fail with file read error) I suspected the drive rather than the media (I also saw discussions here).
I inserted a movie DVD to see if it would fail to play that as well, but the commercial movie DVD worked fine, even through the final credits. That seemed strange. I reinserted the backup DVD I had just been struggling with, and it now read the files that failed several minutes before! I now got 9/10 the way through the DVD before it again struggled and then failed to read a file.
Replacing the DVD with the movie, I again ran the credits at the end of the movie for a few moments, then ejected it and replaced it with the 'bad' DVD. I could then read the last few files off of it. I continued with this silly '"manual dexterity test" (remember this test from the days of the original 128K Macintosh with a single floppy disk drive?), and got through all 7 of my iTunes backup DVDs. I think I lost maybe 3 to 5 songs to bad DVD tracks, so that was a 99.9999% success rate, rather than a less than 50% success rate that I started out with.
The important points in the process are:
- this obviously won't work with a "multi-DVD single file" DVD like from using the Apple Backup application. It does work for me for DVD's with > 800 big files on it;
- running the movie DVD seems to "re-set" the Superdrive's heads to the correct positions;
- the heads then gradually run astray after more reads, and can't read the data DVD properly after another ~400 files (1 - 2G) or so (your milage may vary);
- when you hear the Superdrive come to a halt, that means you're toast again and it's time to swap out the data DVD for the movie DVD;
- when you go for the next try on your data DVD, don't futz around getting onies-twosies files - select and go for the entire remaining batch - you have nothing to lose;
- after a successful copy of nnn files with no error message, IMMEDIATELY grab more files and drag and drop them as quickly as possible. Don't let the Superdrive stop spinning or you are again toast, and it's time to eject and run the movie DVD again for a minute;
- it's VERY IMPORTANT that when you get the first Finder "can't read file" error to click Ok and then IMMEDIATELY eject the DVD. Don't click on the Finder window, try to scroll up the list of files, deselect files or do anything else, otherwise the poor Finder will grind away for another 10 minutes trying to complete whatever it's doing to redisplay the current list of the directory on the DVD!
- If there is a bad file, you will have to skip it on the next cycle of read attempts - I couldn't get it to read a few files that were obviously corrupt to begin with. However, you should try to re-read the file it fails on at least once - I was successful in re-reading the file it failed on > 95% of the time!
I hope this convoluted work-around works for you if you are desperately seeking backup data!
Regards,
Walter Cooke
MacBookPro Mac OS X (10.4.8) brand new 17" MBP w/erratic Superdrive

what does the "reset" input do? check its polarity vs what the rst block expects, or better yet, just connect ext_reset_in to fclk_reset0_n.
as to why you don't see anything when you write to unaligned addresses is that your program silently crashes as axi-lite slaves don't implement them and return an error which you are not catching.

Can't Read some Discs since SuperDrive Firmware Update

Since upgrading the UJ 835 firmware with the SuperDrive Firmware Update v2.0, I have lost the ability to read many of the DVDs I burned with this drive, that used to read fine with the original firmware. This effects both video and HFS+ discs. The drive tries to read, goes through a cycle perhaps of three attempts and then kicks out the disc.
These are media listed as the "unacceptable" for this finicky drive, but they burned and read fine prior to the update. I am talking about 100s of Memorex, Imation, HP to name a few in particular.
I would prefer access to these discs over burning at higher speeds.
How can I reinstall the original firmware?
Or has anyone found or suggesting a work around for this problem besides an external drive?
Thanx

I had little hope for the downgrade, but thought maybe others have talked about discs not reading after the update that were reading before and could voice in with work around or other feedback.
I am with Apple warranty. Which is of no matter to being able to read none Apple media, I assume they need not warranty that. If I were to get another drive, I'd probably have to get an external to not void my Apple care. Just a shame that the drive used to read media which after updating won't read. Leaves a person out in the cold to loose the ability to read hundreds of discs that the drive used to read. Anyone else reporting this?
As of today the link you offered prices the UJ 845 external at $130. This is a drive by Panasonic. Even at that, LaCie prices less. Any reason to consider the UJ 845 better than the LaCie? Have you experience with the UJ 845 reading 16x Imation or Memorex or HP or other media usually discouraged for apple drives? Apparently LaCie will read these. UJ 845 is not a newer drive.
What would be the best choice currently?
Harmz

Issue with SUPERDRIVE FIRMWARE UPDATE 3.0

Hi! I'm having what I feel is a small issue with the SuperDrive Firmware Update 3.0 that Apple released on August 31st, 2009. Software Update suggested I apply this update, as my SuperDrive's firmware (HL-DT-ST DVDRW GA11N) was KA15 and needed to be updated to KA16. Apple said on their website that this upgrade would "eliminate the noise made by the optical disk drive during system startup and wake from sleep" (as seen on http://support.apple.com/downloads/SuperDriveFirmware_Update_30). I installed it and restarted my iMac.
However, the SuperDrive's noise was not gone; it's still as loud as it was before. When I turn the iMac on, the things that I hear are, first the fans (or whatever that sound is), then the SuperDrive noise and finally, the iMac's startup sound.
Did I do something wrong? Am I missing something? Is this normal? I followed every instruction the Firmware Update installer gave me, but the noise isn't gone...
I tried to re-install it but then it would tell me that my computer wasn't eligible for the upgrade because the firmware was already up-to-date... Oh, and by the way, the SuperDrive does not make any noise when waking up from sleep mode, so it only has to do with the startup process.
I'd really appreciate some info on this issue...
Thanks!

Hi
you are not alone, same behaviour for me: drive is not making noise when waking from sleep, but does when starting up.
I tried resetting PRAM in case it helps, but no luck.
Not that it annoys me, I can live with this, but the update clearly doesn't do what it says.

MBP Retina Firmware Password Reset

I purchased a MBP Retina 13.3/2.5/8GB/128GB back in Nov 2012 and all was fine.
Last year I installed Orbicule Undercover software, in case it got lost & stolen and it recommended I set a Firmware Password, which I did and now I have forgotten that password.
I want to reset my MBP but without the firmware password I am completely locked out at the reset screen.
It works fine day to day, and I know the password to lock & unlock features or settings, etc.
It is running the latest operating System, Yosemite. I have had no trouble upgrading the OS System as they have been made available.
Many post say to take the MBP to an Apple Store so they can reset it with a special CD/DVD, only my MBP has no optical drive.
Clearly it is out of warranty coverage, as I did not purchase the extended warranty.
I don't have the skills to take the thing apart, my past history with old window based laptops is not good! (Although I did have more parts left over when I was done)
Does anyone know if I schedule a Genius Bar appointment, if they can help me? And the approximate cost they would charge me??
I have my original receipt & packaging to show that it is mine, and not a stolen unit.
Any Advice or information on the above questions will be gratefully received!!!

You probably bought a Mac that was stolen. I sure hope a 2011 model, whether the Early version or the Late version (There was no MID 2011 model), would certainly sell for much more than $515. That should of been your first clue there was something up with this noteboook and the seller.
Apple can remove the firmware password but only for the rightful owner.
The best thing you can do is take back into an Apple store and ask them to look up the serial number to find the original owner, if possible, and see if there is any contact info for them and return that system to them. Yes you would still be out the $515 but you would be doinig the right thing. Do the right thing and the right thing happen.

After updating my MBP to firmware 1.1 my internet does not work anymore

Please help,
A couple of days ago my MBP asked me if I wanted to update to Firmware 1.1 and I did. I followed the steps like it said and when I restarted it my internet was not working anymore. I called my internet provider and they tried helping me but no luck.They gave me the codes and I tried to set up the PPP address and other codes.
I am using a DSL cable and a Ethernet connection.
Does anyone know how I could solve this?
Thanks!

Try resetting your iPad:
Double click the Home button. Slide up with one finger on ALL your apps to close them.
Then, Press the Sleep/Wake button + Home button and hold 15 seconds or until you see the Apple logo.
This will reset your device without erasing data, apps or settings.

Yet more Superdrive firmware 2.1 problems

Like everyone else I di the firmware update, and now whilst the macbook works OK, the superdrive will not recongise any disc as anything other than a CD read only disc with 564.3mb capacity. Toast will not write to it.
I'm seriously upset at Apple for this as I'm away seeing family on the other side of the planet and I have all my home movies on the MB, the plan was for them to see which ones they want then I could burn them. That planned is now screwed.
I've repaired permissions and done a PRAM reset, no change. Any suggestions to get the superdrive working again?

Have you tried running the update a second time?
I don't know if it'll let you do it - removing the SuperDriveFWUpdate.pkg in /Library/Reciepts may help.
There should be a SuperDrive Update 2.1 in /Applications/Utilities that you could try running again, or if you want to start from scratch, delete it and re-download.

Bizzarre behaviour of MBP superdrive

Hi all,
My MBP's superdrive behaves strangely: it burns correctly CD/DVDs, it reads CDs, but when it comes to read DVDs (any kind, new from store, just burned from it, whatever DVD, etc) it chomps them for 10 seconds and then just spits them out. Weird, isn't it? I've read many answers here, I tried clearing the PRAM/NVRAM, with no success.
I understand this to be a very common problem, and with different number of hardware, thus I would suggest to Apple to investigate it, since it looks like if you mount the same hardware on a windows machine, it works.
My drive is a: HL-DT-ST DVDRW GWA4080MA
Macbook Pro 2,2

Try a DVD lens cleaning disc.

Superdrive firmware compatible??

Hey guys since my applecare have expired, I just updated my ancient combo drive on my core duo macbook to a superdrive.
Since installing it into my macbook it seems to work okay. As in it is recognised by the system and it burnt CD-Rs and DVD-Rs yesterday. However out of 1 of 5 DVD burns, one failed... this could be a coaster I hope.
Here the drive info:
HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GSA-S10N:
*Firmware Revision: A103*
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Generic Drive Support)
Profile Path: None
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media: To show the available burn speeds, insert a disc and choose View > Refresh
I heard somewhere that A103 firmware is for Dell systems and apple uses A102. Will the A103 damage my system? or work okay?

The mentioned firmware update isn't intended for an aftermarket Pioneer 110.
You have to use DVRFlash 2.2 from http://lasvegas.rpc1.org/
Make sure the correct release for OS X 10.3.x
In addition you need a fitting firmware file - take a look at http://forum.rpc1.org/viewforum.php?f=30 or at Pioneer's homepage

Superdrive firmware

does anyone know for sure if apple provides firmware updates for this device and if not how does someone get one????
MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-825:
Firmware Revision: DAND
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media: No

UJ-835E Apple firmware policy is not fair
The superdrive UJ 835E from Panasonic/Matshita that equipped most of recent iBooks is capable to write DVD at 8x speed.
But Apple has modified the firmware to force users to buy DVD media only from Apple. All other media are burned at 2x speed!
In the technical spec of theses models, Apple never mentioned this limitation. They defraud us.
But making errors like this, give the opportunity to solve the problem.
Be fair ! give the users a firmware upgrade that correct this aberration.
The benefit for Apple is clear : giving the same capability than other PC's make Mac user's happier, with better machines than before => guarentee of more clients for the Mac platform !
Sincerely
Denis Pommier
Mac user since 1985

Superdrive firmware update fail

After updating SL 10.6.8 on my macbook I'm no longer able to update the Super Drive Firmware.
Has anyone ran through this problem?
Regards,
Karl

What model MBP do you have and why is there a need to update the super drive firmware?

MBP EFI Firmware Update 1.7 won't run

We have several MBP's (13 & 15) on Firmware 1.47f2 that will not take the 1.7 update. The installer says it is not needed. Any ideas?

Are you saying that they the update is showing up in Software Update... or are you trying to download and install it that way? I would think that all 13" MB Pros would have shipped with at least 1.6 on them.
Also... have you upgraded any of the hard drives in these machines (meaning have you purchased third party drives and installed them)? This won't be the reason for your update problem, but 1.7 doesn't seem to like third party drives.

Superdrive Firmware Update 2.1 - Glitch?

Hi there,
Since the recommended update I installed on my Macbook yesterday, every time I turn on my machine a "there is no firmware to update at this time" window pops up.
I dont think it is doing anything odd to my machine, but ts rather annoying and the only thing I can think is that this happened with the 'update'
has anybody else found this? and how do I resolve it?
Many thanks
Macbook Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Just go to System Preferences, Accounts, Login Items and select the SuperDrive update and then click the minus in the lower left side of the panel. That will turn it off and keep it from starting each time you start your computer.
Or, you can go into Utilities and drag the SuperDrive Updater icon into the trash. It won't hurt anything, once the update is finished, you don't really need the application anymore.

13"MBP + SuperDrive Firmware

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