Thread: Unlock all the iHAS features with the bare-bone drives - Crossflashing Tutorial

So I have seen this question pop up all over the place, there are a couple guides already but some of them are lacking so I am going to put together a detailed one here.

Thanks to "Grimms" over at another unmentionable forum and alexhore as I am incorporating both of their guides and adding some of my own touches. Also thanks to "codeguys" for there awesome utilities and stock unscrambled FW hosting, to "firmwareHQ" for there contantly updated list and dowloads of FW's and finally to the iXtreme team for makeing Burner Max possible

First, if all you want to do is backup your games, then just follow the standard Burner Max guide and only get an iHAS324 B as it is currently cheaper w/Free Shipping than the 124 (as of 12NOV2011). However for only a $1 more you can get the iHAS 224 B which can be flashed to the drive with the all the features the iHAS624, which IMO makes a lot of sense to do, and for you that live in the USA this drive is not available.

*For those who do not know ChiefValue is owned and operated by Newegg and more often than not you can get the same product for cheaper than Newegg with always free shipping, why this is I do not know.

First lets go over the differences in the drives:

iHAS124 B: -- -- --
iHAS224 B: LS -- --
iHAS324 B: -- -- SE
iHAS424 B: LS -- SE
iHAS524 B: -- LT SE
iHAS624 B: LS LT SE
where: LS=LightScribe, LT=LabelTag, SE=SmartErase

The iHAS 124, 324, & 524 are the dives that have the exact same hardware but lack the extra LightScribe hardware whereas the 224, 424, and 624 have that extra hardware. So the features of each drive are enabled by the FW of the drive.

So why would you want these extra features? Well the drive still works as a drive and not just for burning backups of games so might as well get your moneys worth out of it. And you don't have to spend extra to get the better drive. Also if your tired of using a sharpie or printing on your discs, LightScribe can make some pretty awesome Backup designs.







LabelTag is a cool feature if you are burning a regular DVD's or some music as it can be used on any recordable media, not special discs, what LabelTag is it writes anything you want including small pictures to the unused Data potion of the disc.



and finally SercureErase, although I have not personally used it, this is a feature for the security conscious in mind, it destroys data on any recordable media, keep in mind the disc cannot be reused.

So you ready to save some money and crossflash your drive, this is what you need to do.

To make things go smoother download the listed files to a new folder, or move them into one so they are consolidated, also anything that is in a RAR extract to that respective folder. Keep in mind that every program we use needs to be "Run as Administrator".

Just to reiterate, the 124, 324, & 524 HAVE DIFFERENT HARDWARE THAN THE 224, 424, & 624, so please follow the guide to the drive series you have, you cannot make the 124, 324, & 524 into a 624 drive, do not attempt to do so as you may brick the drive.

BY FOLLOWING THIS GUIDE YOU ARE DOING SO AT YOUR OWN CONSENT AND RISK! I OR ANYONE THAT REPRESENTS THE IXTREME FORUMS TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY TO ANY DAMAGE, BRICKING, OR ANYTHING THAT WENT WRONG BY FOLLOWING THIS GUIDE.

1. Download EEProm Utility v6.2.0

2. Download Flash Utility v6.0.1

3a. If you have an IHAS 124 or 324 you can only CF up to the 524 so download the stock 524 FW

3b. If you have the iHAS 224 or 424 you can CF to the 624 so download the stock 624 FW

4a. (124/324 Users) Download the AL2A 524 FW update

4b. (224/424 Users) Download the GL29 624 FW update

5. Download the iXtreme Burner Max FW's

6. Open "EEPROM Utility" and make sure the iHAS drive is selected from drop-down, then select "Backup Eeprom", after it has backed up exit out of that program.

7. Open "Flash Utility", again make sure the iHAS drive is selected from the drop-down, then select "Read Flash", this will back up the current FW, after that is done exit of of that program.

8a. (124/324 Users) Run the "ATAPI.iHAS524_B.AL27.stock.exe", select the iHAS drive from the drop-down, then select "Write Flash", if it asks to restart the computer decline then exit the program.

8b. (224/424 Users) Run the "ATAPI.iHAS624_B.GL27.stock.exe", select the iHAS drive from the drop-down, then select "Write Flash", if it asks to restart the computer decline then exit the program.

9. Open "EEPROM Utility" again, select the "Crossflash" tab, make sure the iHAS drive is selected in the drop-down, then select "Convert Drive" hit "Yes" at the prompt, now restart the computer. *Those who are using the driver externally via an enclosure or an external power supply, shutdown your computer instead, and manually depower the drive by pulling the power connector on the enclosure or unplugging the "SATA Power" connector from the drive, then plug it back in and turn the computer on again, whenever a step asks for a restart, use this proces if you are an external user.*

10a. (124/324 Users) Run the "AL2A.exe" file and it will now update your cross-flashed drive to the latest 524 FW. Restart your computer again.

10b. (224/424 Users) Run the "GL29.exe" file and it will now update your cross-flashed drive to the latest 624 FW. Restart your computer again.

Congratulations you should now have a fully cross-flashed full-feature drive for the price of the barebones 124/224 drives. Now on to putting Burner Max on the drives.

11. Follow Steps 6 & 7 again, but keep "Flash Utility" open.

12a. (524 CF Users) Select "Write Flash" hit "Yes" at the prompt, and browse to the folder where you extracted the "Burner Max" rar, open the folder "iHAS524B-AL2A", and select the "iHAS-524B-AL2A-MKM001MKM003-final" BIN file, select "Open", then hit "Yes" at the prompt, after it has completed flashing restart your computer once more.

12b. (624 CF Users) Select "Write Flash" hit "Yes" at the prompt, and browse to the folder where you extracted the "Burner Max" rar, open the folder "iHAS624B-GL29", and select the "iHAS-624B-GL29-MKM001MKM003-final" BIN file, select "Open", then hit "Yes" at the prompt, after it has completed flashing restart your computer once more.

Your done, you now have a CF drive that has more features with Burner Max, have fun.