For those having problems with SecuRom and the Dell 8400

[Scoop20906]

For those having problems with SecuRom and the Dell 8400

Just wanted to pass this info along to others who might be having problems with their Dell 8400. I was having serious problems running some games (Half-Life 2, Tron 2.0, Pirates) that used SecuRom as the disk copy protection. There seems to be a problem with the Philips DVD8601 combo drive that came with the 8400. It just would not verify the disc so you could run the game.

I called Dell and here is the solution they gave which has worked and resolved my problem. I am passing this along ...

You need to Flash the DVD drive. You can do this by following these instructions.

Download the files need to flash by entering the following in the browser address bar:

http://dvdpro.club.st/firmware/benq/b7p9.cvt.rar

Then

http://dvdpro.club.st/firmware/benq/windwflash.rar

UnZip both files into a directory. Run the Windwflash.exe and select the b7p9.cvt.

This process will take a minute.

Reboot and the problem should be resolved.

Please do not try this unless you are positive you have the Philips DVD8601 drive as if you don't it can really mess things up.

If anyone else has any comments on this, please feel free to add to the post. I hope this helps someone who needs it.

Thanks

[Charlatan]

is this the protection used in Rome Total War? Cuz I can't install it on my newish Dell. In fact, I was so sure the DVD combo drive was bad I called them and insisted they come replace it. Which they did. Did not fix the problem though.

[Scoop20906]

I don't have Rome Total War so I can say but I wasn't having any problems access the disc or installing the program. The problem happened when I tried to start the program and SecuRom couldn't verify the CD or DVD was in the drive.

Hope that helps...