JeffBTX Posted June 16, 2009 Author Posted June 16, 2009 Years ago I upgraded the firmware on a Philips dvd player I had (and if memory serves correct I used a CD-RW disc) so I just had a look back at the instructions they provided. One thing that stands out to me is they specify to use IS09660 Level 2 file system and by default ImgBurn uses Level 1. Now I realise this is for a Philips DVD player and not a Panasonic BD player and the instructions, and therefore requirements, are basically irrelevant so don't read too much into it but I thought I'd throw them out there for you anyway, for what it's worth... perhaps it can offer some further ideas if you are still persisting with a freeware solution. Instructions from Philips for creating a firmware upgrade disc:
mmalves Posted June 16, 2009 Posted June 16, 2009 What happens if the Blu-Ray player is in the middle of a firmware update, and the DSL connection is temporarily lost? Most likely the download will be discarded and it'll try again the connection comes back online. Also, since they seem to know their stuff, the downloaded firmware is checked against a checksum to verify that it was a good download. That being said, I'd still try with DVD media: the player may just don't care about the media used and be interested only in the PANA_DVD.FRM file
LIGHTNING UK! Posted June 16, 2009 Posted June 16, 2009 Mode 2 / Form 1 or Mode 1 applies to every sector in the track. If it couldn't read from Mode 1 then it wouldn't be able to parse the file system and find the file in the first place. However, I guess it's possible that the 'normal' code path the player takes when it boots up CAN read Mode 1 (as you would expect it to), but updating the firmware could make it take a different route which then expects Mode 2 / Form 1. The name of the firmware file already complies with level 1 so you wouldn't gain anything by using level 2. I have an image made using the built in XP burning tool right infront of me (for 1.5 and 1.7)... I built them via an XP machine in VMWare. The Joliet file system IS present and the file names have the ';1' version appended to them. That is an option you'd need to enable because it's not normal for the Joliet file system to have those. It's a shame they're 40MB each or I'd upload them so you could test things. I guess the next thing for me to do is add support for building Mode 2 / Form 1 discs. Of course if you're all sorted by the time I finish doing that, I won't have anyone to test it out for me
JeffBTX Posted June 16, 2009 Author Posted June 16, 2009 Mode 2 / Form 1 or Mode 1 applies to every sector in the track. If it couldn't read from Mode 1 then it wouldn't be able to parse the file system and find the file in the first place. However, I guess it's possible that the 'normal' code path the player takes when it boots up CAN read Mode 1 (as you would expect it to), but updating the firmware could make it take a different route which then expects Mode 2 / Form 1. The name of the firmware file already complies with level 1 so you wouldn't gain anything by using level 2. I have an image made using the built in XP burning tool right infront of me (for 1.5 and 1.7)... I built them via an XP machine in VMWare. The Joliet file system IS present and the file names have the ';1' version appended to them. That is an option you'd need to enable because it's not normal for the Joliet file system to have those. It's a shame they're 40MB each or I'd upload them so you could test things. I guess the next thing for me to do is add support for building Mode 2 / Form 1 discs. Of course if you're all sorted by the time I finish doing that, I won't have anyone to test it out for me LIGHTNING UK; Thank you, your efforts are appreciated; I am too inexperienced to understand what you mean; I've just never had to deal with it before. I've only used burning CD's for data backups; with this current Vista computer (purchased / built in 2007), and my previous computer (I used an external USB CD burner). I've never authored CD-R/RWs (for, say, music) or DVD-R/RWs for video (I don't have a Blu-Ray burner). "The Joliet file system IS present and the file names have the ';1' version appended to them. That is an option you'd need to enable because it's not normal for the Joliet file system to have those." I opened ImgBurn and looked thru the SETTINGS tab, I guess you have to have a blank disc inserted, and in the middle of a build to see that settings option. Is this something I should try (leading to possible success), or do your next statements indicate that this probably won't work until "support for building Mode 2 / Form 1 discs" is added to ImgBurn? "It's a shame they're 40MB each or I'd upload them so you could test things." Not asking you to, but I just don't understand - then are those two things "pre-built ISO images" (that you created under WinXP)? If they are then MAYBE I am starting to understand a couple of things. "I guess the next thing for me to do is add support for building Mode 2 / Form 1 discs. Of course if you're all sorted by the time I finish doing that, I won't have anyone to test it out for me " Bottom line - I can wait, depending on how long you think it might take? No pressure, I realize software development is complicated and takes a while. For the time being it is not a *necessity*, it's just something I have to resolve sooner or later - because at some time, I am bound to get a BluRay disc that won't work properly because the firmware is obsolete. The ONE Blu-ray title I have (along with my huge collection of DVDs) works just fine; apparantly it was released last september. I played a few commercial DVDs (with this new player), and some commercial CDs, no problems, but I expect that they would, even with obsolete firmware. I emailed Panasonic last friday and asked for a firmware update CD (Panasonic USA only recognizes 1.5 for now). Their tech support is very busy, it takes a long time to get through on the telephone. Saturday morning I called them on the telephone * as soon as the user manual siad that they were open for business *; it took over 2 hours of waiting, but I asked the Panasonic representative some questions, and ALSO asked for a firmware update CD (again - just to be sure). She said that they would be happy to send one, it would take "7 to 10 days" to reach me. Saturday afternoon I recieved 2 emails, both stating that I would have a firmware update CD "in about 7 days". I assume that one email was the result of MY email to their tech support, and the other one was the result of my phone call. I ordered a 6 foot ethernet cable online for upgrading the firmware by connecting the Blu-Ray player to the internet, that should be here thursday or friday. Then after discussion in another forum last night I ordered a 50 foot ethernet cable so that I wouldn't have to physically move my television and Blu-ray player into my "computer room" temporarily (I measured the distance, its about 35 feet from the player to my router, and the cable would go under the door - I try to keep my cat out of this room). That 50 foot cable hasn't shipped yet, but I specified 1 day priority shipping; so, say, thursday or friday or maybe tomorrow. BUT I can hold off on upgrading the firmware for a while. Please advise. I don't have a paypal account. I USED to, but there was a scandal a few years ago about hackers working Amazon / PayPal / eBay, so I cancelled that PayPal account. With this effort, if it works, I am obligated to GET a new PayPal account and donate what I can (though a disabled military retiree's income is not a lot - I CAN make a donation, even in installments). - Thanks
JeffBTX Posted June 18, 2009 Author Posted June 18, 2009 Okay, no problem... no response to my last post about "holding off" ... I really do realize that this is a low priority thing. In the ~4+ years (?) that Image Burn has been available, I am probably the only one that has posted on this problem (in THIS forum), and apparantly the firmware CD must be in "a really weird format". I received three "presents" today. The two ethernet cables that I ordered were delivered, and the CD from Panasonic arrived in the mail - apparantly with firmware 1.7 according to the label. That was fast! (faster than I expected). After this post and I log off the internet, I will upgrade the firmware via the Panasonic CD (most convenient), if that fails for some reason I can hook this Blu-ray Player to the internet with the 50 foot ethernet cable. Please be aware though; in at least one forum I know that is dedicated to my exact model of Blu-ray player, Image Burn comes up now and then. "I tried to burn a firmware update with Image Burn, but it doesn't work". Much of the time the advice there is useless ( people that don't even have ImgBurn making suggestions about settings that don't work, or even worse - I wouldn't be suprised if someone suggested using voodoo ). Sometimes the advice is useful to varying degrees ( "just get an ethernet cable" "use Roxio" "use Nero Express" "email Panasonic and get a CD, but it will take forever" (apparantly NOT true, I got my Panasonic CD 6 days after I first asked for it via email)). An informal announcement to the effect that imgburn now works for firmware updates for this Blu-ray player (and perhaps other players) would probably "go over real big".
LIGHTNING UK! Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 Well I've completed my work on the mode2/form1/2352 stuff. I put out a new beta release to the beta team a few hours ago. I guess I could send you it to test if you haven't already performed the upgrade on your player.
JeffBTX Posted June 18, 2009 Author Posted June 18, 2009 Lightning UK; Argh... sorry... its all about timing. I should have been a bit more patient - for a sure-fire "litmus test". I wasn't sure if you were actively working on it yet. The CD that Panasonic sent me was indeed version 1.7, and I have already upgraded (worked flawlessy). According to documentation, the BluRay player will summarily reject any attempted firmware install if it has already been upgraded to a version equal to or greater than the version being loaded. All I can say is that if / when Panasonic releases another firmware upgrade, I can test it. It's inevitable, apparantly, due to the nature of Blu-ray ("always evolving"). There are forums that focus on this specific Blu-ray player, though, and I KNOW that people are interested. Here is one: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1131783
mmalves Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 With ImgBurn in Read mode, could you insert the disc Panasonic sent you and copy/paste all the text shown in the Information box? Could you also tell us which filesystem(s) the disc has?
JeffBTX Posted June 18, 2009 Author Posted June 18, 2009 (edited) MMALVES: Okay... I hope this helps... ... if you need anything else, please let me know ... After inserting the Panasonic 1.7 firmware CD into my PC... ======================= clicking "Properties": Volume Label: DMPVD60_1_7 File System: CDFS Used Space: 62,185,472 bytes (59.3 Mb) Free Space: 674,782,184 bytes (643 Mb) Capacity: 736,966,656 bytes (702 Mb) Directory (no subdirectories): PANA_DVD.FRM 37,548 KB PANA_DVD.FRM; "Properties"; Size: 36.6 MB (38,448,840 bytes) Size on disk: 36.6 MB (38,449,152 bytes) (I noticed a slightly unusual lag in time for the PC to do this, as if it takes a bit longer to read than most media). From Properities -> Details for the .FRM file: Date Created and Date Modified; 06/01/2009 ======================= In Image Burn, Toolbar / Mode / Read: ASUS DRW-1612BL 1.10 (ATA) Current Profile: CD-R Disc Information: Status: Incomplete Erasable: No Sessions: 2 Sectors: 18,964 Size: 38,838,272 bytes Time: 04:14:64 (MM:SS:FF) TOC Information: Session 1... (LBA: 0 - 18963) -> Track 01 (Mode 2, Form 1, LBA: 0 - 18963) -> LeadOut (LBA: 18964) Track Information: Session 1... -> Track 01 (LTSA: 0, TS: 18962, LRA: 0) ATIP Information: Start Time of LeadIn (MID): 97m17s06f Last Possible Start Time of LeadOut: 79m59s74f ======================= In Image Burn, Mode EZ-Mode Picker -> Discovery: ASUS DRW-1612BL 1.10 (ATA) Current Profile: CD-R Disc Information: Status: Incomplete Erasable: No Sessions: 2 Sectors: 18,964 Size: 38,838,272 bytes Time: 04:14:64 (MM:SS:FF) Supported Write Speeds: 8x, 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 48x TOC Information: Session 1... (LBA: 0 - 18963) -> Track 01 (Mode 2, Form 1, LBA: 0 - 18963) -> LeadOut (LBA: 18964) ATIP Information: Start Time of LeadIn (MID): 97m17s06f Last Possible Start Time of LeadOut: 79m59s74f Performance (Write Speed): Descriptor 1... -> B0: 0x00, B1: 0x00, B2: 0x00, B3: 0x00 -> EL: 359834 (0x00057D9A) -> RS: 2,816 KB/s (16x) - WS: 1,408 KB/s (8x) Descriptor 2... -> B0: 0x00, B1: 0x00, B2: 0x00, B3: 0x00 -> EL: 359834 (0x00057D9A) -> RS: 2,816 KB/s (16x) - WS: 2,816 KB/s (16x) Descriptor 3... -> B0: 0x08, B1: 0x00, B2: 0x00, B3: 0x00 -> EL: 359834 (0x00057D9A) -> RS: 2,816 KB/s (16x) - WS: 4,224 KB/s (24x) Descriptor 4... -> B0: 0x08, B1: 0x00, B2: 0x00, B3: 0x00 -> EL: 359834 (0x00057D9A) -> RS: 2,816 KB/s (16x) - WS: 5,632 KB/s (32x) Descriptor 5... -> B0: 0x08, B1: 0x00, B2: 0x00, B3: 0x00 -> EL: 359834 (0x00057D9A) -> RS: 2,816 KB/s (16x) - WS: 7,040 KB/s (40x) Descriptor 6... -> B0: 0x08, B1: 0x00, B2: 0x00, B3: 0x00 -> EL: 359834 (0x00057D9A) -> RS: 2,816 KB/s (16x) - WS: 8,448 KB/s (48x) ======================= Edited June 18, 2009 by JeffBTX
LIGHTNING UK! Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 If you attempt to upgrade the firmware again via the supplied disc, do you get a different message to when you try and upgrade again using the ImgBurn made disc? If you do, that could be enough to tell me if the new ImgBurn will work ok. Also, when in Read mode with the supplied disc in the drive, hover your mouse over where the 'label' is written and see if it mentions roxio in the data preparer field within the tooltip. If it doesn't, what does it say?
JeffBTX Posted June 18, 2009 Author Posted June 18, 2009 (edited) Lightning UK; Sorry about the delay - had to sleep, and then drink coffee. ===== ===== First... ImgBurn Read Mode, mouse over label... I did this and did a screen shot, extracted the little yellow information panel that pops up. The bottom line answer to your question is "Roxio", I think. Here is the entire panel (I am typing this in manually from the screenshot, you never know if the extra info might help): Volume Identifier: DMPBD60_1_7 Volume Set Identifier: Unknown Application Identifier: ++++++ (a long line of "crosses") +++ Data Preparer Identifier: IMAPI Joliet Formatter Copyright Edited June 18, 2009 by JeffBTX
JeffBTX Posted June 18, 2009 Author Posted June 18, 2009 Lightning UK.... ooops .... sorry .... I re-read your post, you said " ... attempt to update AGAIN .... "... I will check that.
JeffBTX Posted June 18, 2009 Author Posted June 18, 2009 I had thrown away all of the ImgBurn CDs that I had created so far (I've lost track, but I think it was 5 attempts). They are still in the trash can, but they are covered in coffee grounds, and I think that "violates specifications". During this whole problem, I was keeping a folder on my hard drive... with a copy of firmware 1.5, 1.7; copies of posts from this and from another forum, etc. After I updated the firmware to 1.7 yesterday, I wiped that folder. I went to the Panasonic USA site a few minutes ago... they only have 1.5 listed, even though they sent me 1.7 through the mail (but who knows, maybe their download IS 1.7, they just might not have completely updated the site). I went to Panasonic Global -> for North and Latin America -> firmware 1.7, and re-downloaded 1.7. Okay... attempting to RE-update to firmware 1.7, when 1.7 has already been installed, from the Panasonic CD: Upon inserting the CD and closing the tray, the message "No UP DA" shows up in the flourescent front panel, the unit DOES NOT power down, AND a message panel pops up (all too briefly) on the television screen. The television panel is to the effect that " The firmware you are trying to update is already .... (bla bla bla etc) ". According to the documentation that was mailed with this CD, the front panel display is one of TWO messages that can be in the front panel - the other one being "UNSUP PORT". The player does not power down, it is in normal operational mode, and one can procede without needing to do anything "strange". I created another ImgBurn CD. NOTE: after it was created, I checked the file system: CDFS. Note that when I create a "Mastered" CD using Vista (for my DOS computer), even though it is "Mastered", it says the file system is UDP (I just double checked to be sure). This time I did THREE THINGS differently than I had done before: (1) I duplicated the volume name that was on the Pansonic CD ( "DMPBD60_1_7" ) (2) I set the write speed to 2x (previously I had gone down to 4x) (3) Lightning UK; From this statement in one of your posts above: I have an image made using the built in XP burning tool right infront of me (for 1.5 and 1.7)... I built them via an XP machine in VMWare. The Joliet file system IS present and the file names have the ';1' version appended to them. That is an option you'd need to enable because it's not normal for the Joliet file system to have those. .... I did that for this new ImgBurn CD, I'm pretty sure I found the right option to set. VERY interesting, the ImgBurn CD invoked the ** SAME ** responses as the Panasonic CD! So I am wondering how important item (3) above is to all of this, and if that might have been the problem all along. SO... I will create another ImgBurn CD, and CLEAR that option related to (3) above. I will try it and get back soon. In the meantime... here is teh ImgBurn Log for this new CD that I used: I 11:30:51 ImgBurn Version 2.4.4.0 started! I 11:30:51 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x64 Edition (6.0, Build 6002 : Service Pack 2) I 11:30:51 Total Physical Memory: 8,386,108 KB - Available: 7,043,108 KB I 11:30:51 Initialising SPTI... I 11:30:51 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices... I 11:30:51 Found 1 DVD
JeffBTX Posted June 18, 2009 Author Posted June 18, 2009 (edited) I am in the middle of another burn experiment... that option that I did differently... it was in RESTRICTIONS -> JOLIET -> Add ";1" Version To Files. I set it to checked. I will burn another one, all settings as they were the last time, but with this option cleared. EDIT Also - I am setting the volume label (both labels) to "DMP" Edited June 18, 2009 by JeffBTX
JeffBTX Posted June 18, 2009 Author Posted June 18, 2009 Experiment number 2 (for today) I did two things differently... One is that the volume label was simply "DMP". That shouldn't matter... people have reported using Roxio and Nero Express to burn and use their own firmware CDs successfully, it is unlikely that they would have used the exact same volume label that is on the Panasonic CDs. The other thing : RESTRICTIONS -> JOLIET -> Add ";1" Version To Files. In the first experiment for today, this was checked, and the ImgBurn CD "acted like" the Panasonic CD. In this second experiment, I CLEARED it. It still acts like the Panasonic CD. Oh well. It was just a thought. If it had caused "wackyness", forcing the player to be in "update mode" for a while, it would have been an interesting and valuable piece of info. It LOOKS like (to my untrained, uniformed, uneducated mind on this subject) that the Blu-ray player somehow extracts the filename from the ImgBurn CD (invoking update mode) but ALSO extracts the version number (somehow).... BEFORE attempting the actual update. If the firmware version in the player is the same or higher than the CD, it doesn't even go into update mode; we don't get to see if anything goes wrong during the update procedure. Since my player is already at 1.7, I don't know what else I can do, but I hope some info from the previous few posts helps. The only way to definitively test is to find a player that is still at firmware version 1.1 or 1.5. (until Panasonic comes out with 1.8+)
LIGHTNING UK! Posted June 18, 2009 Posted June 18, 2009 It's a shame there's no downgrade option. I thought were would have been *some* method of doing it - in case an update is buggy and people want to revert. I guess that's the kind of thing you'd find out about over at the avforums or wherever.
JeffBTX Posted June 18, 2009 Author Posted June 18, 2009 It's a long shot, but someone in the AVS forums might be willing to experiment if they have a new player (version 1.1 firmware) or they have only upgraded to 1.5. They MIGHT say "NOT on MY player!"; but I point out that I have now tried with a total of 7+ ImgBurn CDs, and nothing bad happened. I will encourage them to visit this forum, maybe the new "Mode 2 / Form 1" stuff will work. This could benefit new owners of the player, and ALL owners of the player when Panasonic comes out with new firmware versions.
JeffBTX Posted June 18, 2009 Author Posted June 18, 2009 I "put a plug in" on the AVS forums in the section for this BluRay player. Maybe someone can come here and help. Or you never know, Panasonic might come out with version 1.8+ in the near future... in which case I am very willing to do more experiments.
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