Hi again, dw!
I used the links you provided and found the correct bios for my NEC drive -
it now reports itself to Windows correctly and actually writes DVDs!
Thanks again for your help.
"news.btconnect.com" <steve_perry*and*no*s*p*a*m@btclick.com> wrote in
message news:dojf50$fl3$1@nwrdmz01.dmz.ncs.ea.ibs-infra.bt.com...
> Hi dw,
>
> Thanks very much for your help. I'll try what you did and let you know
> whether or not it works for me.
>
> Happy Christmas to you too (and everyone else here).
>
>
> "dw" <drumwhacker@*spam is bad*yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:i2kpq1pnnllpmqousqqt4kt9qm06npm2eo@4ax.com...
>> On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 01:07:56 +0000 (UTC), "news.btconnect.com"
>> <steve_perry*and*no*s*p*a*m@btclick.com> wrote:
>>
>>>Hi all.
>>>
>>>I have just installed an NEC ND6500A DVD Writer on my Inspiron 8200
>>>laptop;
>>>however in Device Manager it has installed as an Olympus S-DVD-100, and I
>>>cannot get it to be recognised correctly. I can't find a proper ini file
>>>anywhere for it, and NEC's website just says that you don't need one for
>>>Windows XP, which I am using (SP2).
>>>
>>>Can anyone help? Either with advice or an ini file?
>>>
>>
>> Greetings,
>>
>> I've just installed a drive with that same firmware in my Inspiron
>> 8500. It is, indeed, the NEC ND-6500A and can be readily flashed to
>> it. I flashed it in DOS mode using the "nec6x00a.exe" and
>> "6500FAST.bin" files in this archive:
>> http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_file.php?si...e=6500_223.ZIP
>>
>> Simply follow the directions in the readme.txt file once you've booted
>> into DOS mode. Once I had navigated to the "nec" directory where I
>> unzipped the files, I simply typed:
>>
>> nec6x00a -sec -mas -out Olympus.bin -flash 6500FAST.bin
>>
>> This backed up the old firmware to the file "Olympus.bin" and flashed
>> the new one (quite quickly, I might add). After I rebooted, I had my
>> NEC drive 
I honestly don't know if the new firmware will improve
>> functionality, but at least I have something to work with now!
>>
>> You can also try using the Windows-based utility on the NEC website.
>> The latest ROM on there is 2.24 and you can find it here:
>> http://support.necsam.com/optical/do...adme.asp?ID=10
>>
>> You'll have to read the disclaimer before actually downloading it. If
>> you don't feel like messing with DOS, then it won't hurt to try the
>> NEC util. The advantage of using DOS is that you can easily make a
>> backup of the Olympus rom in case things go awry.
>>
>> Best Wishes and Happy Holidays,
>>
>> dw
>
>