This page contains various different versions of firmware for Fujitsu M2513A 640MB 3.5" magneto-optical drive mechanisms. As far as I know, these are not available elsewhere on the Internet; I downloaded them from the Fujitsu UK BBS which seems to be no longer operational.

The M2513A was used in many 640MB MO units from various vendors; in addition to Fujitsu, other companies which sold products incorporating this mechanism include Maxoptix, Pinnacle Micro, Philips PDO, and Verbatim.

The firmware versions on this page are for the Fujitsu M2513A and Philips DD640 (Galaxy MO 640). If your drive is a different OEM version (e.g. Pinnacle or Maxoptix), updating its firmware with one of these versions will probably cause the reported manufacturer and product to change, e.g. to FUJITSU M2513A. This should not be a problem, but it is something to be aware of.

If you want to obtain up-to-date firmware for your OEM drive so that its name does not change, try contacting the vendor. If you do obtain updated firmware, please contact me so that I can add it to this page.

The firmware download program provided requires a PC running MS-DOS with ASPI-compliant SCSI controller. However, it should be simple for a programmer to write a download utility for any computer; read the M2513A SCSI Logical Specifications OEM Manual on the Fujitsu Europe web site. If you use a Macintosh computer, there ftp://ftp.teleport.com/vendors/lacie/.

Be sure to follow the firmware update instructions in the DOWNLOAD.ZIP archive to the letter. If you do not, you risk rendering your drive unusable.

Most SCSI utility programs should allow you to see which firmware revision your drive has. Check this, because your drive may already have a later version of the firmware.

I do not know what functional differences there are between different firmware revisions. Apparently the 1700 revision fixes cache-related problems. Early M2513A drives could not write to 128MB disks (they could read them). It may be that by simply updating the firmware, it is possible to write to 128MB disks with some early model drives. At least one person has reported that after updating their firmware they can write to 128MB disks. This probably depends on the version of the drive hardware.

The latest firmware revision on the Fujitsu UK BBS was 1700. However, rev. 1900 firmware is available from the Maxoptix web site. This rev. 1900 firmware will be the Maxoptix OEM version. Rev. 2700 is apparently the final M2513A firmware.

Backing up your existing firmware before updating

It is possible to back up your drive's original firmware, but this requires that you connect a special cable from your computer's serial port to the diagnostic serial port on the drive's PCB; this is the undocumented 4-pin CNH3 connector. Contact me if you would like information on how to do that.

Please contact me if you successfully update your drive's firmware, and tell me what revision your drive contained originally. Also contact me if your drive has firmware later than 1700.

Firmware Files

Here are links to the various firmware archives. These files are exactly as downloaded from the Fujitsu UK BBS, except for the revision 1900 and 2700 Fujitsu firmware, which was sent to me by someone who received it from Fujitsu.

DOWNLOAD.ZIP -- Firmware download utility for PC with ASPI-compliant SCSI controller

Fujitsu Firmware:

• A0027.EXE -- Revision 0800 Fujitsu firmware, dated 1996.04.26, self-extracting LHA archive
• CAT4T.ZIP -- Revision 1000 Fujitsu firmware, dated 1996.07.01 ("T Revision microcode")
• CAT4U.ZIP -- Revision 1100 Fujitsu firmware, dated 1996.08.09 ("U Revision microcode")
• CAT4V.ZIP -- Revision 1200 Fujitsu firmware, dated 1996.09.17 ("V Revision microcode")
• CAT4W.ZIP -- Revision 1300 Fujitsu firmware, dated 1996.11.21 ("W Revision microcode")
• CAT4Z.ZIP -- Revision 1600 Fujitsu firmware, dated 1997.01.27 ("Z Revision microcode")
• CAT4BA.ZIP -- Revision 1700 Fujitsu firmware, dated 1996.06.09 ("BA Revision microcode")
• FIRMWARE.ZIP -- Revision 1900 Fujitsu firmware, dated 1997.10.02
• CATY0203.ZIP -- Revision 2700 Fujitsu firmware, dated 1999.02.03

Philips PDO Firmware:

• PDO_U.ZIP -- Revision 1100 PDO firmware, dated 1996.08.09
• PDO_W.ZIP -- Revision 1300 PDO firmware, dated 1996.11.25
• PDO_BAD.ZIP -- Revision 1500 (???) PDO firmware, dated 1997.01.23
• PDO_Y.ZIP -- Revision 1500 PDO firmware, dated 1997.01.27
• PDO_BA.ZIP -- Revision 1700 PDO firmware, dated 1997.06.09

Comments on differences between Fujitsu and PDO firmware versions

Differences between the Fujitsu and PDO versions of the same revision are mostly minimal, as you can see below:

Revision 1100
=============

Only differences are as follows:

Offset		Fujitsu version		PDO version
------		---------------		-----------
$00E7C2		'FUJITSU M2513A'	'PHILIPS DD640 '
$00E85E		'PHILIPS DD640 '	'FUJITSU M2513A'


Revision 1700
=============
Only difference is as follows:

Offset		Fujitsu		PDO
------		-------		---
$000520		00 00 00 00	00 05 FF FB

Help Wanted!

I want to find the following:

• Rev. 1900 and later Fujitsu & Philips firmware
• Any M2513A firmware for other OEM mechanisms
• Firmware for any 3.5" and 5.25" MO drive mechanisms by any manufacturer
• OEM/technical/product manuals for any other MO drives from any manufacturer, especially Pioneer DE-UH7101 and DE-UH9101 drives.
• Service manuals for any MO drives.