(Older info follows)

Plextor OS X Flasher/1.08 firmware update for PX708 (from a reader mail - previously readers used the unofficial Plextor flasher mentioned here along with the firmware update files.)

(added 10/11/2004)
" Plextor today released a mac firmware updater for it's external Firewire/USB DVD Burner PX708U.
http://www.plextor.com/english/support/downloads/firm_708A.htm. Version 1.08, previously available only for windows.
regards, Hauke M. "

Mac Flasher/Firmware update for Plextor PX-712:

(added 9/6/2004)
" Hi Mike,
Finally Plextor made native firmware installer for PX-712A for OSX, up to 1.03 at:
Plextor.be's site PX-712_103.sitx
But for Windows firmware is already up to 1.05 so i downloaded 712a105.bin file from :
Plextor.be's DVD-Recorder firmware page

I modified file <firmware.plist> in <PlexUpdater.app> :
PlexUpdater.app/Contents/Resources/
so it recognizes 712a105.bin and replaced <712A103.bin> with <712a105.bin> in:
PlexUpdater.app/Contents/Resources/

I run modified PlexUpdater.app and it works, my DVD burner is at 1.05 firmware.
below is part of system profile;

System Version: Mac OS X 10.3.5 (7M34)
Machine Model: Power Mac G4
(snipped for bandwidth)
PLEXTOR DVDR PX-712A:
Manufacturer: PLEXTOR
Model: PLEXTOR DVDR PX-712A
Revision: 1.05 (firmware version)
Serial Number: 106407
Drive Type: CD-RW/DVD-RW
Disc Burning: DRDeviceSupportLevelUnsupported (normal reporting when Patchburn II profile used)
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0 (master)

Still using PatchBurn_II_20b1 (Patchburn II for Panther for iApps burn support.)
But strange things happen, it burns now under Disk Utility DVD+Rs. Everything work OK. I hope Apple makes Plextor native (burn support) (I can dream).
Let me know if you want modified firmware application.
Regards, Ivan I. "

Update to PXUpdate Flash Util for Macs, Guide to flashing Plextor PX-708A DVD Burner in OS X (from the Mar. 12th, 2004 news page)
Yesterday's news had a note about the 1.06 firmware update and reminder on the (unsupported by Plextor) PXupdate flasher for Macs (OS 9 and OS X versions). The OS 9 PXupdate flasher uses a config file that isn't in the download, and the reader modified Config files (for OS 9 use) posted here (below) includes some CDRW models (up to 48x) but not DVD burners like the PX-708A. A reader with a PX-708A wrote that PXUpdate didn't find his internal IDE drive but later wrote with notes on an updated PXupdate utility and guide to flashing the drive in OS X.

" Mike, the author (Jorg Schilling) of the pxupdate OS X command line flasher wrote me back with some what cryptic instructions. But I was able to follow them and flash my drive successfully. In fact it's very easy once you have the missing command line "option".
He's also updated the utility as of today, so that the built in command line help now reflects the missing parameter he sent me on a goose chase to find. :-)
So... here's what I did.

1) Download the pxupdate file (mentioned previously here)
(pxupdate-1.36-power-macintosh-darwin-1.4) from his FTP site ftp://ftp.berlios.de/pub/cdrecord/firmware/plextor/ (linked off of the Plextor.be support page.)

2) I then simply renamed the pxupdate-1.36-power-macintosh-darwin-1.4 file to pxupdate. In doing so, the finder automatically made the pxupdate file 'executable.' I'm not sure if that is a feature of the finder, or if there is something unique on my system that caused that behavior. Otherwise you'll need to make the pxupdate app executable.

3) Now you need the other support document, on his site that he directed me to. It contains a valuable piece of information.
www.fokus.gmd.de/research/cc/glone/employees/joerg.schilling/ private/man/README/README.macosX
the section under "device naming" provides the useful naming convention for flashing CD-RW drives or DVDR drives.

4) Now I opened up a terminal window, and changed to the Desktop dir where the pxupdate utility was located and typed:

sudo pxupdate

(you must be root to run it)
this will simply result in the app printing off the help and some example usage strings. The 3rd string has been added with this release and is quite helpful. Example:

pxupdate dev=IOCompactDiscServices -l

however, I needed to modify the string for DVD drives. So I typed in:

pxupdate dev=IODVDServices -l

This resulted in a readout confirming the existance of my Plextor PX708A drive. VIOLA.

5) Now let's flash it! I had previously downloaded the current BIN file (from the plextor.be site) containing the latest (1.06 in this case) firmware. (see download links at Plextor North America PX-708A firmware page and the Plextor European site PX-708A firmware page) The bin file was located on my desktop as well, so from the command line I typed the following:

sudo pxupdate 708AV106.bin dev=IODVDServices

The terminal showed it was being flashed, and then DONE.
I rebooted and now System Profiler says this:

PLEXTOR DVDR PX-708A:

Manufacturer: PLEXTOR
Model: PLEXTOR DVDR PX-708A
Revision: 1.06 (firmware version)
Serial Number: (varies by drive)
Drive Type: CD-RW/DVD-RW
Disc Burning: DRDeviceSupportLevelUnsupported (normal note after Patchburn II use) Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0 (master)
Socket Type: Internal

yehaw!
So... OS X users should be able to use this utility with either of the following dev parameters depending on the type of device they are trying to flash:

dev=IOCompactDiscServices (for CD burners)
dev=IODVDServices (for DVD burners)

Thanks for everything.
Scott "

(previous info/posts follow)

Plextor IDE 48x24x48x ROM Update Info: (from a reader email on March 26th, 2003)

" I recently downloaded the Plextor firmware update files referenced at http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/IDE/plextor_ide_flasher.html.
I noticed that the "PXUpdate Cfg" file has more drives listed than included at plextor.be. Furthermore, their version 1.52 package does not seem to contain the Cfg file (neither Plextor US nor Plextor Europe would help). I was able to add an entry that for the PX-W4824A. I have included a copy of the Cfg file, in case your readers are interested. With a copy of the appropriate firmware and PXUpdate from http://www.plextor.be/English/technical/technical_download.html, users can update their internal 4824A drives under OS 9; no need to ship the drive to Plextor or move it to a PC.
Stefano P. "

Plextor IDE 40x12x40x Flasher + ROMs (from the Dec 11th, 2002 www.xlr8yourmac.com news page) (from a reader email)

"Hi Mike, as you might remember last time I sent an email it was regarding the plextor firmware utility and the ".cfg" file that I was able to update with the help of "Plextor.be"; the american division couldn't help, they didn't want to disclose details about that file.
Anyway a firmware update is available on "www.plextor.com" and as usual the ".exe" cannot be use or decompress (even with stuffit or Virtual PC) on the mac.So you have to dig the "www.plextor.be" website to find the ".bin" files.
So I have stuffed and archive containing the 1.01,1.02 and 1.03 firmware update as well as the flash firmware software and the 10.2.x iTunes plug-in; which is available on your website! (from the FAQ here)
As usual it is one of those tools that you need to boot into OS9 to use. The firmware updates are very useful as they add support for more media brands and models on your Plextor 40x12x40 CDRW. Here is the link:
http://homepage.mac.com/boudah/.cv/boudah/Public/Plextor_firmware_osx_patcheD799-binhex.hqx
(as of fall 2003 no longer working - he must not have renewed his .mac acct., but I saved a copy and mirrored it here-Mike)"

(March 2001 info follows:)

Although their European site previously had a SCSI only flash rom updater for Plextor drives, a reader sent a note there's a Mac IDE version of the firmware updater available for download now:

"Thought I would let you know that there is now a Mac-friendly firmware updater available on the Plextor European site. I was checking this morning on my Plextor 1210A drive and there is now a firmware update available. I downloaded the firmware and attempted to install it with the prev downloaded Plextor Updater Too 1.3 but it did not see the drive (from what I have read it only supports SCSI drives). So I went back to the site and looked at the Plextor Updater Tool and it had been updated to v1.5 and the README stated it now supported SCSI/ATAPI drives. Downloaded the tool and then successfully updated my 1210A to v1.0.8 firmware from my G4/400 (AGP)

Readers will need to download both the Plextor Updater Tool and the appropriate Firmware from their drive.

The firmware download page is located here:
http://www.plextor.be/English/technical/download2.html
(Note - as of Fall 2002, that link redirects to:
http://www.plextor.be/English/technical/technical_download.html -Mike)

Scroll down and find the model number of the drive you have and download the appropriate firmware.

The Plextor Updater Tool 1.5 can be downloaded directly here:
(Note - check web page above first for any later updates in the future)
www.plextor.be/download/ftp1/PXUpdate150.sit"

It is also available at the top of the previously listed page. Readers may want to peruse the read me on the page also.
- ciao
C.Posey"

Note: You should reboot after updating the drive's firmware. One reader noted not doing this resulted in errors reading some CDs until he rebooted.

Firewire Drives Not Compatible: Within an hour of posting this two Firewire Plextor based drive owners noted the flasher does not work with Firewire drives. The only option then would be to remove the IDE drive from the firewire case and flash it using the onboard IDE controller (assuming your Mac has onboard IDE. The PCI IDE cards appear as SCSI so I'd be leery of using a PCI IDE card to flash the drive.)

I welcome reports if the firmware updater helps with issues you've seen or improves things like bootability with Plextor drives in Macs. Please enter a report on CDRW drives in our Drive Compatibility Database.