hi,

i'm trying to update DVD firmware on my T23 laptop. i found the file i
need on ibm website,
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/si...cid=MIGR-41018.

but it seems i need to attach a FDD to my machine for the update since
the files needs to be started from a bootable disk. i have the floppy
drive, but since i only have one drive bay on this machine, i can't
have both FDD and DVD-rom in at the same time (dvd-rom needs to be
present for the firmware update). i did a search online and found IBM
sells this special attaching cable for $50, yach!

i don't want to shell out $50 just for a software update, is there any
other method that i could update firmware for the DVD-rom? i have a
USB memory stick, is it possible that i copy the files to the USB stick
and boot from there?

Xiongnu wrote:
Why do you need to update the firmware? Is the DVD not working? If it
does work and you just want to update the firmware because there is an
update ... dont. Better to leave well enough alone.

well, it is working

but i have difficulties to play some DVDs, namely a DTS version of
Waterworld DVD and some DVDs with different region format (chinese to
be specific, probably region 5)
so i figure i might correct the problem by updating the firmware

I could be wrong but I dont think it will fix the problem you having
some dvds just dont do it. Most firmwares list all the things they fix
does that one list any of the problems your having?

Xiongnu wrote:

Xiongnu <xiongnu@my-deja.com> wrote:
I think I had the same problem and it's a crap system for
updating firmware if you ask me, especially since many laptop owners
skip the floppy these days. I think I either forgot about the update or
made a small bootable partition on the hard drive to run it. You might
be able to get away with borrowing a USB floppy and booting via that if
the BIOS supports it?

B.M. Wright wrote:
eBay--it recognized the drive for DVD and CD, but would not recognize it
as a CD-RW. It seems the initial releases of some newer drives had bugs
that caused problems with "older" machines like the T23 (the drive I
bought was released with the R40, I think, it was a Ultraslimbay drive).

Anyway, my solution was to obtain a cable for the floppy so I could
attach it to the parallel port and use the floppy externally to boot
from so I could update the firmware in the combo drive. I found the kit
on eBay and paid about $13 including shipping in the US. Search on eBay
for "IBM floppy drive cable" and you should find a number of them
available for the T series. They come in two parts usually, one head on
the cable attached to the drive and the other goes into the external
floppy port on a port replicator, but includes an adapter that allows
you to use the parallel port, too, which worked fine for me.

Good luck!