Firmware is the program that's on a chip in most devices you use with your computer. It is definitely in your CD-R. Originally, such firmware was stored in Read-Only Memory (ROM) of a flavor called Programmable ROM (PROM). The information is hard-wired into the chip and can be changed only by changing the chip itself. In a later version, the chip could be burned (actually burned in the sense that metallic links could be blown out) by relatively high currents. That made it a lot cheaper to upgrade the information. Of course, by now we were writing to read-only memory, but that's computerese, not language. It got worse when people figured out how to avoid actually burning the metal and developed EPROM (Erasable PROM using ultraviolet light) and EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM). Still, it is a way of storing information into your hardware on how the device is to listen to and to respond to the commands it receives. It is, in a word, the sole storehouse in the device of information on what to do with inputs from its host.
The PROM in your CD-R holds firmware. If the manufacturer supports doing so, it may be written from your computer instead of needing to be done by a service center. To do it, the computer must tell the adapter how to supply the signals needed and the card must have the higher-current supplies ready to drive it. Some cards do and some don't; some manufacturers can and will let you do it, others don't. The key is that if you burn the wrong information into your device, it will lose the ability to listen to the computer to get the right information in. There is no way around it but to have it serviced and if you have burned really bad stuff, the manufacturer and service people may simply say: Tough luck - we told you not to do it and you ignored us. You voided your warranty and any implied contract, so it's your problem. Next time, follow the rules.
One brief note: there are two components to the upload you will try to use. One is the binary data which go to the device - your CD-R. The other is the loader which is the program that tells the adapter what to do and how to do it in order to get the information into the device. When the loader runs, you will see some strange stuff on your screen: a version number that has nothing to do with the firmware version, apparent error messages which are not errors, etc. None of that matters. When flashing is complete and you reboot, you will see the new firmware revision as the SCSI buss is polled. At that point, you are free to sigh with relief.
Nothing else that you do with a CD-R has the potential to do as much harm as burning firmware. If you use a program from an unsupported site, you are taking the risk. If you are very lucky, it will work. If you are reasonably lucky, it will do no harm. If you are typically lucky, you will still be able to burn the right firmware when it comes out. If your star is not in the ascendant, you may have made an expensive paperweight.
Software from an unauthorized site is the stuff of Alice in Wonderland. Eat it or drink it and something dramatic will happen. Sometimes, it isn't really bad at all.
E-mail me at cdrecording@mrichter.com
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