What's "flashing" a CD/DVD/Hard - drive?

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spinnerlysspinnerlys
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hello.



While looking for some information for my iMac's Superdrive (Optiarc DVD RW AD-5630A, it does burn 8xDVD-R media with only 4xspeed), I came upon the term "flashing the DVD drive".



As I couldn't find an answer on the world wide web, I try it here.



Is it some kind of firmware update (because even CD/DVD drives have a flash disk)?



Or is it....



Thanks for any info.





PS: And what is flashing a graphic card? Changing the subroutine so it can work under whatever?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 1
    kmac1036kmac1036 Posts: 281member
    It's for the firmware, the low level software that actually runs the device.



    There's been flash memory on electronics for some time, just in different forms and very small capacities.



    Be sure the computer stays on and I reccomend not doing anything until it's finished. A failed flash can render the device unuseable forever.
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