Philips DVD recorder firmware
In the past, this has been a contentious subject amongst the Philips community. Some people have advocated immediate upgrade whenever a new firmware becomes available, whilst other opinion starts from the premise that upgrading is not necessary unless there's a good reason to do so. Certainly the latter view is influenced by the known previous issue of a bad official firmware ‘ff12g’ by Philips, and an unrelated collection of anecdotal reports that apparently healthy machines have stopped working immediately after various new firmware versions were installed. Advocates of the immediate upgrade would quite reasonably point out that because it isn’t possible for us to obtain the facts about exactly how each individual’s firmware upgrade was performed, and that forums tend to be biased towards bad experiences, the firmware itself is not necessarily at fault. However, one central point is that it’s not stretching things too far to suggest that hardware can be influenced by firmware (for example, the variation of laser power), and so it’s plausible that changing the firmware could bring about a sudden failure of a hardware component, particularly if it was asymptomatically beginning to fail already.

So where does this leave us with issuing advice on this forum about whether to upgrade a particular Philips machine? The short answer is: we can’t, and I’m afraid it’s basically up to you since degrees of risk are perceived very differently. Also, because there was a period when Philips did not always release many details of what was meant to change in every new firmware version, it is very difficult to give specific advice about the ability of a firmware version to solve particular problems. For you to judge for yourselves, a summary of earlier Philips firmware revision history can be found here:

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/Article.asp...&sid=10&aid=13

Thankfully Philips have recently been more forthcoming in informing us what is meant to change with a firmware upgrade. For example, this is a list of improvements that were included in the ‘ff16k’ firmware release:

Changes of the ff16k firmware:

• DVDR+ discs are no longer read after updating to Software release 6.2(former upgrade). After updating to 6.3 DVDR+ works again,
• DVDrecorder sometimes does not switch on,
• Audio Distortion on some CD/MP3/DVD,
• Set hangs up during VCD/SVCD playback when changing night mode on/off,
• Fast Forward 8X has been improved,
• 4x speed DVDR+/RW+ are accepted for recording,
• Accepts PC based DVD+VR discs,
• Safe Record implemented for Timer Programming,
• Copy once implemented correctly (that means that the COPY PROT issue for copies of analogue recordings is solved),
• Numeric keys on remote control changed to alphanumeric function for making disc titles easier, and,
• Playback on some commercial DVD discs improved.

All this boils down to a set of conditions when it is considered useful to upgrade the firmware of Philips DVD recorders.

1. You have a problem which is explicitly stated to be fixed by an upgrade (eg see above the revision criteria for ‘ff16k’). As a different example, the early units of the DVDR61x series had many similar reported problems, such as abruptly switching to EXT1 during viewing, clock jumping and rogue on-screen messaging, all of which were stated to be fixed by an upgrade. Reports indicate that this nearly always solved the problems.
2. You have one of the older Philips machines with original firmware and want to use +R/+RW discs with a higher speed rating (4x, 8x etc; see above). This is becoming more important as manufacture of the lower speed discs tails off.
3. Other individuals report extra recording modes appearing after an upgrade. This was the case with some US specification machines.
4. Some minor useful additions, such as enabling the remote buttons to act like mobile phone text input for titling recordings.
5. Other users report success in removing error codes from the machine and allowing it to function again. Although Philips Customer Service have sometimes recommended this, the impression is that this may only be a temporary solution before the error codes return.

Recorder firmware nomenclature
For the uninitiated, there seem many different descriptions of the firmware versions available. For older models there is an ‘ff’ number (eg ff16d, ff12w*), but the actual number ranges vary from model to model and it's not possible to easily say which is the latest ‘ff’ variant for a particular model (for example it's ‘ff12x’ for the machines in the 98x and 8x0 series, and ‘ff16k’ for the DVDR7x and 8x). Making it even more confusing is that Philips sometimes install firmware versions which aren’t publicly available (eg a DVDR70 reappearing after repair with ff17a on board). A rare report found a weird firmware version ‘TS16j’ installed on a new machine, and another on return from repair.

Even more complicated is the finding that some earlier ‘ff’ firmware is only appropriate for different machine builds within a DVDR series, and some reference may be made to the ‘BE xx.x.xx’ number. Normally the firmware upgrade procedure will automatically take account of this.

For these older models you may also see people refer to the ‘6.N’ “firmware”: this is not the actual firmware name itself, but indicates what the latest ‘service pack’ or ‘software release’ level is for ALL models, and which will contain the latest specific firmware for all models. It’s important to realise that although the software release may increment (eg 6.1 -> 6.2), the actual firmware within may stay the same for a particular recorder. At one particular time in 2004, Philips posted a single very large 68 MB incremental software release, which not surprisingly proved incredibly tedious for some users to obtain. Subsequently it became apparent that this was merely an amalgamation of all the previous up-to-date individual releases, and offered nothing new to the majority of those reporting its installation.

Note that some series of recorders have their own software release/firmware level; for example the HDRW72x series where the current version is ‘3.2’.

The easiest way is to simply download the firmware from the Philips site, which ALWAYS contains the latest version.


How to get your currently-installed firmware version
To know whether you need to upgrade, have a look at what version is installed:

1. If there is any disc in the recorder, remove it and close the tray.
2. Press SYSTEM MENU on the remote control. The system menu bar appears.
3. Press <cursor down>. The user preference menu appears.
4. Press <cursor down> four more times. The remote control settings appear.
5. Press <cursor right>.
6. Press <cursor down> one or more times until the system version information appears.

…for example, on the DVDR70:

DI E2/24269 AN 130308 SV 69
BE 20.3.24 DV not present FP 13
P1_7_b 20040421_0505 dev alead xxxx
BASE_20040113_LFF16f 20040113_1115vp

The firmware version is listed on the bottom line, preceeded by ‘FF’, in this example ‘FF16f’.
The 'Burning Engine' (BE) number is on the second line, has the format xx.x.xx, and may be needed to check whether a firmware upgrade is necessary.


How to download firmware and burn a CD
Use this URL to get the latest version for your machine, by typing the model number in the left-hand side search box:

http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/d...rchtxt=DVDR985

Instructions for burning can be found within the download itself, and you should follow these first. However, here's a generic guide to the process:

1. Download the firmware zipfile from internet.
2. Extract the files by unzipping the zipped file.
3. Write the extracted files – not the zipfile – onto a blank CD-R or CD-RW disc, using the following settings:

• File System CD-ROM ISO Level 2
• Mode 2/XA
• Character set ISO 9660
• Single session
• Write speed low

Finalize the disc. (The application may do this automatically.)

However this process doesn’t always work for some people. Removing the .txt file from the collection and reburning the CD has worked in some cases. If all else fails, you could always try the ‘Olsson’ workaround:

“Some people have made the upgrade work on the first attempt without any problems. Some people have had success after deleting the file NO_IMAGE.001, still others have had success after adding a presumably missing file from the previous version of the firmware. Doesn't make much sense, now does it?

Right, so let's assume that the problem is not actually caused by missing or superfluous files, but rather by some bug in the file system that confuses the DVD recorder. Now, if we can prepare a CD with ONLY the files needed for the upgrade, and nothing more, then the recorder might be less confused. Actually, only six files are needed for the upgrade. However, they are different for different recorders, even within the same model. That's why there are so many files. To find out exactly which files to keep, I took a look at the display when the upgrade failed:

DOWNLOAD
SYS VERSION
11018107 <----- Now pay attention to this number!
INIT DISC
VERIFY DISC
FILE EMPTY

After that, I opened the file DVDR1000.001 on the upgrade disc with a text editor (notepad). I located the line that begins with the same number as the 8 digit number above:

11018107 DI110399.001 AN010399.001 DV810111.001 BE070021.001 DL110141.001

This line tells you exactly which files are needed for your version of recorder. So I prepared a new CD with ONLY the file DVDR1000.001 and the five files mentioned above. And presto! The upgrade disc worked like a charm.”

Thanks to Anders Olsson for permission to quote his post in full.


Upgrading firmware
Once you have your firmware CD, follow the instructions here (in the lower half of the page):

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/Article.asp...&sid=10&aid=54


Downgrading firmware
This may be necessary to get an abortive firmware upgrade removed, and has also been reported to be essential to get the machine out of a persistent ‘Showroom Mode’. Old firmware versions can be found at the original Philips FAQ here (upper part of page):

http://www.dvdplusrw.org/Article.asp...&sid=10&aid=54

The procedure:

1. Before starting, make sure you have burned a CD with the firmware you want to downgrade to.
2. Make sure there is no disc in the unit. Some models have a slot at the bottom of the unit that can be used to open the tray if it refuses to open normally*.
3. Switch off the unit at the wall plug.
4. On the front panel, hold in the <RECORD> and <EJECT> buttons at the same time, and keeping them held, switch on the power at the wall again. Keep holding the buttons until the disc tray opens.

*A more detailed procedure for manual opening of the tray on the HDRW72x, DVDR98x, 7x, 61x and the newer 33xx:
There should be a small slot on the lower side of the unit near the front and center of the disc assembly. By sliding a small plastic numb from one side to the other unlocks the door so it can maually be opened the rest of the way. You will need a strong, thin object to slide that release nub. A small knife or nail would work. Of course you should follow all safety precaution such as removing power and not damaging anything else.

Acknowledgements
Thanks to all members of the old forum for their general or specific contributions, but in particular I have used information contributed by: Aybeesea, Loobster, JMT, Cygnus, bertrik, Anders M Olsson.

Region Free? Check here:

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdrecorders