Flash Your DVR-117 with 108 Firmware


Those who've been watching the mysterious saga of the 'hobbled' DVR-117, as fitted to recent Macs, will know it's merely a Pioneer 108 in disguise. However, as IGM has reported previously, Apple opted to disable the '117's' double-layer and 16x DVD-R/+R burning capability.

However, help may be at hand. MacBidouille has posted the DVR-108 firmware (a 1MB download) of the DVR-108 firmware, which they used to flash the 117 successfully.

We've not had the chance to try this out or read the documentation yet, but it's possible that the 108 firmware (or wait for the MacHacked version) may restore full functionality to the drive. Hacked versions of the official firmware for the 106 and 107, for instance, allow you to write at speeds faster than the media/original firmware allows, and rips DVD-ROM and DVD-Video faster than the 'official' firmware releases permit.

As ever, though, flash at your own risk. Documentation with the download is in English and French.