LiteOn/ILO DVD recorder
hacks and mods
This guide first
started in May 2004, and has had updates every few months to
attempt to keep up with the technology. If you have a file that is not here, e-mail
us using the CONTACT US button at the top of this page.
LiteOn clones like ILO, Gateway and Daytek can also be
hacked.
After the LiteOn-run forums went offline, users scattered to
several places online:
(1) http://liteonusers.org.uk
Although mostly PAL, the info and technique is good here
too. Most of this board is PAL-centric.
(2) http://www.techolio.com/forums/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=7
Both ILO and LiteOn are discussed here.
(3) http://www.ss3f.com/ilo
This is the site of GUITARMAN, another person that
maintains LiteON/ILO information on hacks and other tips for
the units.
(4) http://ilohacker.tripod.com
This is the homepage of MR WIZARD, the most recent
firmware hacker to the LiteOn/ILO community. He has written
a program that will hack LiteOn softwares.
If you have questions about firmware or the hacking
procedures, GO TO ONE OF THOSE
SITES TO ASK QUESTIONS. We are only hosting files
that are confirmed to work, we are not firmware hackers.
Why
hack the machines?
Macrovision hack. On LiteOn recorders, Macrovision is known to cause severe
problems when recording video. Macrovision is an artificial
video error injected into tape signals, a poor
implementation of copy protection. In a perfect world, this
would be fine, but since many normal video errors exist on
our old home movie tapes, the over-sensitive LiteOn MV
detection will think it sees MV on our homemade tapes,
sometimes even perfect tv or DV signals, and
prevent transferring the video. This is not good, so it must
be removed.
3-hour. The units also have 3-hour mode built into
the firmware, but for some asinine reason, only a handful of
the models come with 3-hour enabled by default. Firmware
hacks can enable it.
Region hack. The units also suffer from the
"region protection" that movie companies foist
onto the world to try and retain a death grip on where there
discs are sold. Firmware hacks can turn this stupid
"feature" off. It can also be turned off by using
secrets menus, found by pressing certain buttons on the
remote. With no disc in the drive try (A) go into SETUP and
move down
to EXIT, press 2960 and then ENTER on the remote and then a
secret REGION menu will appear, and select region 0, or (B)
press RIGHT and then 8000 to change to region 0.
Take note if you are NTSC or PAL, do not install the wrong
one on your machine. Also remember that this is hacking, but the machines appear
to be resistant to death from bad hacks. Nothing on this
page is guaranteed to work, and could kill the machine.
However, countless thousands of people have had excellent
experiences and are enjoying their hacked units.
How
to hack the units...
The units are not difficult to hack at all. It will take a
CD-RW or a couple of CD-R, a CD or DVD burner in your
computer, burning software (preferably Nero or RecordNow),
and a little bit of patience and courage.
STEP 1:
Download the official firmware upgrade.
You can get them from the official
LiteOn firmware upgrade site, and then we have a few as
well, in the files section lower on this page. You can also
download any number of pre-hacked firmwares found in the
files archive further down this page. Download one of those
and skip to STEP 3.
STEP 2: Hack the firmware. Use the program designed
by MrWizard. It can be downloaded from
his site or from
this site (mirrored v1.5b). Be sure to visit his site
first, to ensure you have the latest updates.
STEP 3: Burn the firmware to CD-RW or CD-R. Some
units work better with CD-RW, some work fine with CD-R. Try
to use a CD-RW first, if possible. Open up the burning
software and select the most basic burning option: ISO-9660
Mode 1 (no Joliet, no relaxed items),
no multi-session, and burn the disc. If you are not sure
what that just meant, please read the help files or the
manual that came with your software. Or simply look around,
it's fairly obvious to locate in the software.
STEP 4: Install the firmware. As soon as you turn on
the machine, insert the CD-RW or CD-R and follow the
on-screen instructions. Please have patience, as sometimes
units may hang for a while on 96% completion. Wait at least
10 minutes before giving up and starting over. You may have
to unplug then re-plug the power cord (and then eject the CD
ASAP!) for it to reboot.
STEP 5: Verify the hacks. A region-free, MV-free machine will show a
serial number of (010-xxxx) in the setup. The 3-hour LP mode
will also be present in the recording speed options.
Hacking
notes
Some things to remember:
HACK TROUBLE? Some machines
must be updated first with the un-hacked version before it
will accept the hacked version. Older firmware also had
multiple files that had to be installed one at a time, such
as .DS1, .D01 and .D11 files.
DOWNGRADE? Be aware that
many of the newer firmwares cannot be downgraded once you
upgrade. For the 5001/5005 series recorders,
1163/2163/1063/2063 was the last firmware that could be
downgraded. It has been suggested that changing the version
number in the hex, as well as the firmware name, could allow
a spoofed downgrade to happen (by fooling the machine into
thinking it was an upgrade), though we are unaware of
anybody having tried this successfully to date.
CLONES? Clones like
Daytek and Gateway tend to be on older versions of firmware,
as compared to the LiteOn or ILO versions. Although it is
suggested to download the official firmwares and use the
MrWizard software to hack them, you can also use a LiteOn/ILO
firmware and simply rename it to something Gateway or Daytek
would recognize. For example, simply rename the LiteOn firmware
"LNEA1163.D11" to a Gateway firmware
name like "GWEA1139.D11".
Firmware files
archive
These files are older firmware files,
mostly being provided for archive purposes. This is not a
complete collection of any kind, just random files that have
been collected in the past year or so. New firmwares will be
added here as they are submitted to us. Do not
hotlink to these files from other
sites. Only link to this page!! Or download it and put it on your own site!!
LP = 3-hour mode enabled, MV = Macrovision
disabled
?? = forgot to label if both LP/MV or just MV
LiteOn 5001 (NTSC/R1) OFFICIAL 1129: Download
LiteOn 5001 (NTSC/R1) OFFICIAL 1135: Download
LiteOn 5001 (NTSC/R1) OFFICIAL 1141: Download
LiteOn 5001 (NTSC/R1) OFFICIAL 1143: Download
LiteOn 5001 (NTSC/R1) OFFICIAL 1163: Download
LiteOn 5001 (NTSC/R1) OFFICIAL 1176: Download
LiteOn 5001 (NTSC/R1) HACKED (MV) 1163: Download
LiteOn 5001 (NTSC/R1) HACKED (LP/MV) 1163: Download
LiteOn 5001 (NTSC/R1) HACKED (LP/MV) 1176: Download
LiteOn 5001 (NTSC/R1) HACKED (??) 1063: Download
LiteOn 5001 (NTSC/R1) UNSTABLE (LP/MV)(NoCPRMkey) 1176:
Download
LiteOn 5001 (NTSC/R1) UNSTABLE (NONE)(NoCPRMkey) 1176:
Download
LiteOn 5005 (NTSC/R1) HACKED (LP/MV) 1091: Download
LiteOn 5005 (NTSC/R1) HACKED (LP/MV) 1092: Download
LiteOn 5001 (PAL/R4) OFFICIAL 4163: Download
LiteOn 5001 (PAL/R2) HACKED (MV) 2163: Download
LiteOn 5001 (PAL/R2) HACKED (LP/MV) 2163: Download
LiteOn 5001 (PAL/R2) HACKED (LP/MV) E098: Download
LiteOn 5005 (PAL/R2) HACKED (??) 2063: Download
LiteOn 5005 (PAL/R2) HACKED (??) 2076: Download
LiteOn 5005 (PAL/R2) HACKED (??) 2091: Download
Hacking
code archive
This is originally
from the LiteOn Forums. At this point in time, this is
mostly being kept for archival value. Mr Wizard's LiteOn/ILO
software has made manual hex coding an obsolete requirement
for most people.
3 HOURS LP MODE HACK:
1. Use UltraEdit 10 to open the D11 firmware file.
2. Find "00 00 00 01 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 1B" and replace with "00 00 00 01 00 00 00 03
00 00 00 1F"
3A. Replace "5D" with "61" at 0xB7 for LVW-5001 R1 (use search
-> goto line/page and goto 0xB7)
3B. Replace "D2" with "D6" at 0xB7 for LVW-5001
R4 (use search
-> goto line/page and goto 0xB7)
3C. Replace "8E" with "92" at 0xE7 for LVW-5005 (use search
-> goto line/page and goto 0xE7).
3D. Replace the value at 0xB7 (R2 5001), 0xE7 (R2 5005) with the original value
plus 4.
4. Save file and burn the CD-RW.
REMOVE MACROVISION HACK:
1. Use the latest firmware: 1163/2163 for LVW-5001, 0063/1063/2063 for
LVW-5005.
2. Use UltraEdit 10 (or another hex editor) to open the file.
D11 on the 5001, D00 for the 5005.
3A. Find "55 53 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00" and replace with "55 53 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 01" for
R1 NTSC USA LVW-5001/5005 firmware.
3B. Find ""55 53 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 00" and replace with "55 53 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 01" for
R2 PAL LVW-5001/5005 firmware.
4A. Change the value at 0xA7 to old value + 1 ("AE" to
"AF" in R1 USA)
for LVW-5001.
4B. Change the value at 0x87 to old value + 1 ("E1" to
"E2" in R1 USA) for
LVW-5005.
4C. Change the value at 0xA7 to old value + 1
("7C" to "7D" in R4 Australia)
for LVW-5001.
5. Save file and burn the CD-RW.
FIRMWARE FILE EXTENSIONS:
DS1
= motherboard,
D11 = motherboard and drive,
D01 = drive
Cooling modifications
If you want to cool
down the old LiteOn units (suggested), then
either take off the lid, prop the lid up using the rear side
screws, or cut a hole in back and then add in a small fan
that draws power from the DVD burner cord. Install a switch
if you can. LiteOn is also taking in older machines (like
the 5001) to add fans,
but have fun waiting!
Modifying a LiteOn takes less than an hour, and less than $30
in supplies, after tax.
Parts:
- Plastic PC Fan $10. Good metal fan may run $20, but it's
optional.
- Power cable split, 4-prong, $3.
- Extra cables for soldering the switch, $3.
- Simple power switch from Radio Shack, $3.
- Thermaltake RAM cooling kit with 1-inch wide heatsinks.
- Cooled 5001 unit... priceless. Sorry, had to say it!
.... Fry's Electronics (www.outpost.com) was a perfect place
to buy all this.
Tools:
- Drill. Preferably with a clean bit and using a metal bit,
- Soldering gun, preferably a small one that is not too
messy.
- Hacksaw or other metal-cutting saw.
- Sandpaper, preferably fine grain metal-smoothing paper.
.... most people already have this stuff in the garage ... I
did.
Process:
- Remove lid and put machine in safe place.
- Go outside or somewhere where metal shavings will not
cause problems. Drill 6-10 holes in the side of the case. It
is suggested to put wood underneath the metal, and drill
into the wood and metal case together. Otherwise, you may
destroy the case.
- Sand off the holes gently, and blow off the metal
shavings. We do not want these shaving falling off into the
motherboard or DVD drive.
- Get the Thermaltake RAM heatsink, which measures 1-inch by
4-5 inches long, and cut it into a 1-inch square heatsink
using the hacksaw. Sand it down vigorously to remove all
sharp edges and shavings.
- Take your clean metal items back to the machine.
- Cut the heatsink tape into a 1-inch size. Apply to the
bottom of the heatsink. Now CAREFULLY stick it onto the LSI
Logic CPU on the motherboard. Once it is stuck, it will not
come off. So don't do anything stupid.
- Now pull out the soldering gun and
the 4-prong power cables. Unplug the power cable from the
back of the DVD+RW drive in the unit. You will not be
cutting or soldering anything that originally came in the
recorder. You will only be cutting apart the extra wires you
bought.
- Get your power switch and fan out.
- Cut the .......... sorry, I need to have my photos
before I write anymore.... to
be continued...
In the end, a switch will control the fan, it will blow over
the motherboard and motherboard CPU heatsink, and then blow
out the right side where you drilled holes. The air intake
and switch will be the holes on the left side of the unit.
If the fan gets loud, you can spend $5 on one of those
computer fan speed limitors, with cuts voltage to a fan to
slow it down. I do this myself.
Drive
replacement mods
There have been
several verified reports of people removing the stock LITEON
401/411/811 drives from the recorders, and replacing them
with others. One person successfully used a SONY DRU-500
burner, though the 5001 will still not write to DVD-R or
DVD-RW media, likely due to firmware limitations.
Final
notes
Thanks to GGW2000,
SEANH, OOSEL, UNLEASHEDPC, SMARTBLUE, CCHANG,
TJDMOBILE, MRWIZARD, GUITARMAN (and many others I've
probably forgotten to list) for their contributions
to this page and to the hacking scene in general. Without
users like this, we'd be forced to suffer the cruel fate of
LiteOn coding/engineering.
Page Last Updated: May 22nd 2005
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