Looking for some info: I have orderred the Sony DRU-500A (DW-U10A) but it is taking so long I wonder if it's because there are problems with it. Any one know? Should I get something else? I would like to use it mainly for archiving files, does anyone know if this product will do this (DVD-ROM) effectively? Suggestions for alternatlives? thanks, mike
mike00, you may want to reconsider that purchase. Sony told me that the DW-U10A is the OEM version of the DRU500A, and they will NOT support it. I would suggest you call Sony to verify what they told me last week. Didn't mean to burst your bubble, but I hate to see customers get burned. Later...
Hi, Sony stated that they do not support OEM (Original Equipment Manufacture)products. OEM products are usually "white box", sold in bulk at lower prices to reseller, and the reseller handles the support. Other than this, Sony didn't offer other reasons. They will support their retail box product. I wasn't trying to burst your bubble, but just wanted to make sure you knew what this prodcut was about. Please call Sony to verify to be sure. And if the DW-U10A is being sold for the same price as the DRU500A, then get the retail with the product warranty and support should you ever need it. Hope this helps.
If you can't or don't want to return the drive, you can flash the firmware to turn it into a DRU 500a with firmware 1.0d, the hardware is identical. Search google or similar for DW-U10a to DRU-500a. Sony's updater checks for DRU-500a, so someone has patched it to look for DW-U10a. Once you have done this you can go to the Sony site and get the latest DRU-500a firmware. Hope this helps.
Hello, It is the newest model of Sony. Because it is a OEM model, you do not get any support by Sony. Your favorite dealer should help you in case of problems. The DW-U10A has firmware 1.1a that means is fresher than 1.0g from the DRU-500A. And in fact it is a bulk model of the DRU-500A. (you get nothing with it.) I don't know if it is a BETTER version, so don't ask. I bought one today and made my first CD-R with 24x speed and NERO Burning ROM. It works fine but is pretty noisy. if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask via e-mail alcoolj@hotmail.com. Pls name the thread "SONY DVD". THX
I decided not to buy the Sony, I had ordered it in October and in mid january it was still being delayed. I figured it might be because they were having problems with the unit and since they weren't supporting it, well, I got the HP 200i instead. I have been using it mainly to back up files and it works great. It's not apparent how to copy dvd's, a'though I have only spent about 5 minutes trying to figure it out.
Gully - tried your recommendation to flash the DW-u10a with 1.0d but it is not recognised by the software. No dru-500a drives present (or whatever). Is there any way to flash the DW-u10a or are those of us who purchased it stuck with firmware 1.1 for good? Anybody know... it appears that this could be an important question for those of us with DW-u10a.
You can get a firmware update that does work at the address below. This updates the DW-U10A to DRU-500A v1.0d. Two caveats: Make sure you turn DMA off for the drive (either in drive properties, or on XP in the advanced properties for the IDE controller) and remove any Packet Writing software. Secondly, this is currently a one way trip, unless or until a DW-10a firmware update appears. Once you have flashed with this, you can get the latest 1.0g firmware from Sony's Site. This worked fine for me, but I take no responsibility for what may happen of course. http://type-ive.hp.infoseek.co.jp/files/DW-U10A_to_DRU-500A.zip
The U10A is the new X revision of the 500a,the 500a only burned dvd+r at 2.4X before the firmare up-grades, the U10A burns dvd+r at 4X straight from the box, 12 burns so far and no coasters!
macleodkd - sorry, but that info is false. As posted many times in this afterdawn forum, the u10a is the unsupported OEM version of the 500a. It happens to have similar firmware (1.1a) to the 500's f & g allowing 4x writing (or so I believe), however, the firmware is different, the device is recognised differently in the machine and the u10a definately appears to be unsupported.... however there is light at the end of the tunnel. Big thanks to Gully whose posting to the 1.0d firmware in this thread does exactly what it says. It will allow those of us with u10a's to burn in dru-500a firmware, thereby allowing us access to the officially release Sony future upgrades to the dru-500a. I have successfully installed dru-500a 1.0g on my u10a, although I guess its now a dru-500a. Hope this helps clear things up. Summary is::: Those with u10a can still have access to dru-500 released firmware upgrades by flashing with the appropriate version of 1.0d first. Again... thanks to Gully!
DELL just cancelled my order for the DRU-500A saying they will not be able to get them from SONY, is Sony no longer selling thier branded version and only selling OEM versions, no one seems to be getting them in stock, and some on-line places list them as CLOSE-OUT now for the few they have. Does anyone know what the scoop is and what the delay is?
From http://www.burnworld.com/cdr/hardware/sony/dru500ax.htm , apparantly SONY is playing games. Sony DRU500AX and ULX Second Generation DVD±RW Burner Manufacturer: Sony Model: DVD±RW Drive DRU500AX and ULX (USB Model) Updated Info: The differences between this new generation and the previous one are: - Built-in support for 4X DVD-R and DVD+R. For current Dual RW owners, 4X DVD+R is offered as a download because the specification wasn't in place when we announced the first-generation drives. - Same is true for VERITAS DLA (drive letter access) and RecordNow DX software. They've both recently become available, so we're bundling them w/this new generation instead of offering them as a download. - Lastly, Sony's been able to tweak the drives' firmware to even further boost their reading speeds. Already own the first generation, don't worry. Sony is saying that you will be able to download a firmware update to get the latest additions to the drive. See official site for firmware update
I've ordered and cancelled the DRU-500AX 3 times since Christmas. I just reordered from Techmole.com (ETA 2/25/03) FOR $330 shipped but the ETA has steadily moved backwards since I ordered. Newegg.com has the 500A (or at least they did Friday) but the price is pretty high $359....maybe free shipping, not sure. Newegg is a good company to deal with. I've made alot of online purchases from them.
I have had my DRU-500a since January and have no problems burning with any media using a variety of software packages but our stock of DW-U10A are all imported from europe and come without any sony support. I have updated all the firmwares to the latest DRU-500a and all work perfectly now
As far as I see maybe macleodkd is really telling the truth. If you would look to this site: http://www2.alternate.de/cgi-bin/go.../html/nodes_info/ceao04.html&partner=geizhals , you will see that there is a version called X at the end. Also this version is able to write in 4x in DVD+R, from factory settings on, without patching the firmware. And this dealer got this drive in stock!!!! I will test me rather new one this evening. I got today a model hardware rev. BB, manufactoring date 13.01.03. Maybe there is really a newer version avaiable?!? Read the speed table @ the site I mentioned... ("Schreiben: means "Write") Update: ------- I got a telephone call with the support of this dealer, and it is really right! This is the real DWU-10AX Version with factory settings 4x DVD+R !!! Maybe this product is very new, and newer than the other DWU-10A drives. The supporter told me, maybe this are the first drives from the "X" product line avaiable on market. They are really bulk version of the DRU-500AX, which isn't avaiable yet. Why so fast?, he wasn't able to tell me. PS. Look @ the price for a bulk version !!!! thx
Can anyone help with my conversion problem? I have purchased the Sony DW-U10A and have downloaded the Firmware to convert to DRU500a but having a problem converting... when I disable DMA in the properties/device manager it won't find the DVD drive BUT if I don't disable DMA it does find it but of course you can't convert while DMA is not disabled, so can someone tell me what I am doing wrong? Hopefully Gully may help me as he has already successfully converted his model. In my attempts so far I have managed to reduce the write from x4 to x1 on the writer because I am messing it up, so please someone anyone help me. Cheers T-bone
