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How to convert your LaCie D2 FireWire CD/DVD Drive on a HDD Drive

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Icy EyeG, 21 Aug 2007.

  1. Icy EyeG

    Icy EyeG Controlled by Eyebrow Powers™

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    Hi!
    I recently got a working bridgeboard from a broken LaCie D2 CD-RW FireWire Drive.
    As you must know, these drives are quite expensive and were quite popular (the DVD+/-RW D2 drives still are).

    Because of the fact that firewire-IDE bridgeboards (ie, a circuit board that convert IDE into FireWire) are a bit hard to find (and are a bit expensive), I decided to try and put this one to an use. The problem is that if you connect a hard disk to the LaCie bridgeboard, it'll be detected as a CD-ROM drive and won't work at all.

    Knowing that this bridgeboard uses the Oxford oxfw911 chip, and after some searching, I found out that you can use a small application (download here) to edit the chip configuration settings and "unlock" the bridgeboard to read any IDE hardware that you want:
    [​IMG]
    I changed the Product ID from LaCie 1394 CD-RW drive LUN 0 to LaCie 1394 drive LUN 0 and selected Master Device Type to (unknown) to read any IDE drive.
    Don't forget to click on Advanced to see this menu:
    [​IMG]
    Make sure that you check all the Drive I/O Mode checkboxes, so that you can run all the IDE types and that the Max. Transfer is set the maximum value, so that you can enjoy the most out of your drive.

    I also used this program to update the firmware to its latest version. I downloaded the firmware here.

    If I get my hands on a full LaCie FireWire D2 CD/DVD Drive I'll do this chip mod and substitute the CD/DVD drive for one Nexus Drive-A-Way together with my IDE HDD. :idea:

    If you find this useful and are thinking about giving a new use to your LaCie FireWire D2 CD/DVD Drive let me know! :thumb:

    EDIT: Please note that this won't work for USB Drives, as they use a different chip. As far as USB/FireWire drives are concerned, I think you can flash the firewire chip only (and use the firewire connection only afterward), but I'm not sure.
    And please don't flame me if you kill your drive.... :blush:
     
    Last edited: 21 Aug 2007

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