Some of you may have heard that Pioneer has started making some of their new drives LabelFlash capable (2005 technology, but still way better than ugly puke-yellow LightScribe). These enabled models include the DVR-217 and DVR-218. Well, for those of you like me who have the DVR-216, which is not LabelFlash capabale from the factory, then you may be disappointed. However, I found a way for those of us with the SATA version of the DVR-216 to have LabelFlash, without having to buy a new drive! There is a way to upgrade the firmware, but it is not an official flash, so only do this at your own risk. I was able to do this in less than 5 minutes, and my drives still work perfectly, plus they can create LabelFlash discs now, for free! Follow these steps to make your DVR-216 drive LabelFlash capable!

DO NOT CONTINUE READING THIS UNLESS YOU HAVE A PIONEER DVR-216 DRIVE! THE FILES IN THIS POST ARE SPECIFIC TO THAT DRIVE MODEL. IT MAY WORK ON A DVR-215 BUT I MAKE NO GUARANTEES.

Normally you would begin by downloading and running MSCE to patch the firmware, and then you would run it through DVRFlash, however, I have already patched the firmware for you. I enhanced the read speed and enabled auto-bitsetting when burning DVD+Rs – this makes the disc more compatible with set-top players and MAC computer. I also set the drive to RPC1 instead of RPC2 (this make it region free), so you can play any DVD region, not just your native region (most likely USA: Region 1 only). So we can skip the MSCE step, and go straight to flashing the drive. I accept your thanks.

1. Now, download this file here: dvr216_files.zip. It contains both the Firmware and the LabelFlash software.

2. Once you expand it, copy the whole “firmware” folder directly to the root of your main drive (probably your “C” drive).

3. Click on the “Start” button, then “Run” and type in “cmd” then press [ENTER]. This will bring up a command prompt window.

4. Type in the following command: “cd c:\firmware” (without the quotes). This will change the prompt path to the firmware folder you copied.

5. Now, type in the following command: “DVRFlash -ff D: S0415430.104 S0415431.106″ (without quotes). Make sure you change the part that says “D:” to your own drive letter of your DVR-216 drive. It may or may not be assigned the letter “D”. It is imperative that this be accurate, or else you might mess up another drive on your computer.

6. Go through the prompts, typing “y” for ‘Yes’ at both the disclaimer, and the ‘Are you sure’ warning. Your drive will take about 30 seconds to flash, and then you are DONE! Some computers may require a reboot, but mine did not. I was able to start burning LabelFlash discs right away. (You will notice that your drive changed from “DVR-216D” or just “DVR-216″ to “DVR-216L”. The “L” means the new firmware was successfully flashed to your drive)

Now, if you have some LabelFlash media, you can go ahead and burn a copy. Just open the “labelflash” folder, included in the download link I gave you, and run “LIM.EXE” (This is the LabelFlash software executable). You will select your Pioneer “DVR-216L” drive from the right-hand side, and then inset a LabelFlash DVD upside-down (blue side facing downwards). You can then choose a template, type in text, and then click to the “OK” button in the bottom right! Make sure to select “High Quality”, then burn away! The progress indicator will look something like the image below…

After it finishes, it should auto-eject the disc, and you will have a perfectly LabelFlashed labeled disc! Mine took about 10 minutes to complete on high quality, but since it is a permanent weatherproof label, that short wait is fine with me

ENJOY!