Diablo II and Kenwood TrueX CD drive

[aaroncgi]

Hey all! Had a great time my first time around at Diablo II, but was really bummed out because I could neither install nor even watch the Cinematics between acts or anywhere else. I later discovered that Kenwood's tech support area recommends upgrading the firmware on their CD drives for this specific game, weird! I have the 42X version. Anyhow..

I downloaded their firmware upgrade, and typed in their instructions just as written, but the syntax they use doesn't work! ARGH!

The command they give is:

C_BURN V V501_401 [ENTER]

Typing this results in 'Too Many Arguments'.


Has anyone else upgraded the firmware on their Kenwood TrueX drive? I have email Kenwood tech support, and called them, they have yet to be available via phone, and will not return my messages.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Aaron

[Rags]

Don't type enter, hit enter

Rags

[paulcs]

[aaroncgi]

Very funny, Rags. Somehow I don't think the method of pressing enter is the problem.

Seriously, maybe someone can suggest what I am doing wrong. All of the past three CD-ROM drives I've used have had similar problems. I just figured they went bad prematurely, but I am really starting to wonder. I thought MTBF on most CD-ROM drives was at least 40,000 hours, I haven't even scratched the surface of that on any of my drives. The problems have persisted through two cases, two motherboards, essentially two separate systems. Scratch that, I mean three systems.

Do CD-ROMs just not like me or something? I can't find any commonalities between the systems except myself. The first two drives were cheap (Goldstar and Affrey or similar), but I hadn't expected a Kenwood to go bad. And even the cheapo drives I would expect too see more than a years worth of reliable use.

Sorry to ramble on, just getting tired of having to continuously fix/upgrade the darn CD! I have a Kenwood home CD player that I've had for 12 years for crying out loud, had never given me a single problem! I know I can't expect that longevity, but the CD-ROM should at least last until the CPU or video card is outdated...

Aaron

[isochar]

I believe that the Kenwood drive has to be the master in the secondary ide channel for the firmware upgrade to work.

(That's how it is on my 72x)

[Beezer]

I remember lots of people reporting problems with the 42X TrueX CDROMs. Use the Search function here for possible more info.

I have the 52X TrueX. No major problems with it yet -- about 1 year old now. I have an old Toshiba 4X CD ROM in my other system -- been running like a champ for about 8 years now.

However, I do sometimes suspect a driver/firmware problem with my Kenwood, so I think I'll visit that site and look into the firmware update. I haven't played Diablo, but have had problems in HalfLife with "CD Music" enabled.

[Beezer]

I just found this at the Kenwood site. It may be of interest to you since you have the 40X version...

http://www.kenwoodtech.com/40xcdromsettlement/index.html

[aaroncgi]

Isochar - My CD drive has always been the secondary master, by itself.

Beezer - I've read that 40x settlement, but as I have the 42x, don't think it can apply to me. I'd be happy though, if I could trade my drive in for even a little bit of what I paid (only paid $50) in exchange for a new 72X. Unfortunately, Kenwood isn't making such a proposition easy, what with not returning my calls or emails.

Aaron