DVD Drive Problems. Like you've never seen before.

[Guest]

I have tried 4 different internal and 1 external DVD RW drive and I have had
the same problem on all of them.

With no disc in the drive, Windows sees the drive as a DVD-RAM drive...all
seems OK. When I put a blank DVD disc in RW+ or RW-, the drive turns into a
CD drive and Windows does not see it as a recordable device. If i take the
disc back out...it turns back into a DVD-RAM drive.

I have tried 2 NEC internal drives, 2 Emprex internal drives and 1 LG
external drive(USB).

I had a glimmer of hope when I first connected the external drive and did
manage two successful burns...but that was it.

Without a disc in the drive the devices are recognised as a DVD-RAM by
Windows and the BIOS(Internal) with a disc in the drive they turn into CD
drives.

Please help!

Adrian

 

[kurttrail]

I have tried 4 different internal and 1 external DVD RW drive and I
have had the same problem on all of them.

With no disc in the drive, Windows sees the drive as a DVD-RAM
drive...all seems OK. When I put a blank DVD disc in RW+ or RW-, the
drive turns into a CD drive and Windows does not see it as a
recordable device. If i take the disc back out...it turns back into a
DVD-RAM drive.

I have tried 2 NEC internal drives, 2 Emprex internal drives and 1 LG
external drive(USB).

I had a glimmer of hope when I first connected the external drive and
did manage two successful burns...but that was it.

Without a disc in the drive the devices are recognised as a DVD-RAM by
Windows and the BIOS(Internal) with a disc in the drive they turn
into CD drives.

Please help!

Adrian

Are the drives you are putting in DVD-RAM drives? I suspect not, so if
your BIOS is reporting these non-DVD-RAM drives as such, you might want
to look for a BIOS Update for what I suspect is an older Mobo.

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Guest]

The internal drives were just DVD RW. The latest drive I have tried is an
external USB DVD-RAM drive. The BIOS reports DVD RW drives on start up for
the internal drives irrespective of the disc being in or out.

Windows sees the DVD-RAM drive correctly when I plug it into the USB. Using
NERO 7 or Windows to burn media they both point me to the DVD-RAM drive as
the preferred recording device. When I put a blank disc in, I get an error
message telling me that the drive is not a recording device.

I think this is a Windows/Registry is issue.

 

[kurttrail]

The internal drives were just DVD RW.

In your OP, you made it sound as if these were being reported by your
BIOS as DVD-RAM drives. Are you saying that they show up as DVD RW
drives?

Are the drives DVD+RW, DVD-RW, or DVD±RW? Are you using the correct
media for the drive?

The latest drive I have tried
is an external USB DVD-RAM drive. The BIOS reports DVD RW drives on
start up for the internal drives irrespective of the disc being in or
out.

Windows sees the DVD-RAM drive correctly when I plug it into the USB.
Using NERO 7 or Windows to burn media they both point me to the
DVD-RAM drive as the preferred recording device. When I put a blank
disc in, I get an error message telling me that the drive is not a
recording device.

I think this is a Windows/Registry is issue.

Are you using DVD-RAM media?

Certain DVD recordable drives are very finnicky when it comes to using
different media from certain companies. Have you tried using DVD media
from another company?

Are you running the latest firmware?

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Guest]

Several different types of media have been tried.

I have tried to update the USB drivers through Windows but Windows see the
current drivers as the most suitable.

Any other suggestions?

 

[kurttrail]

Several different types of media have been tried.

But were they the correct types of media for the particular drive you
were using? You seem to have confused these drives when explaining your
problem, so it seems to me anyway.

I have tried to update the USB drivers through Windows but Windows
see the current drivers as the most suitable.

Any other suggestions?

Who said anything about drivers? Not me. I said "firmware," which is
a whole different breed of animal.

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Guest]

The first 4 drives were straight forward DVD RW drives tried with both -RW
and +RW and -R and +R.

The external drive has only been tried with -RW discs, but the result was
the same as before so there is no point in trying other discs.

 

[kurttrail]

The first 4 drives were straight forward DVD RW drives tried with
both -RW and +RW and -R and +R.

No such thing as a "straight forward DVD RW drives."

Some are DVD+RW, some are DVD-RW, and some others do both DVD±RW.

But again, depending on the firmware some drives have problems with some
manufacturers media, even if it is the right kind of media for that
drive.

The external drive has only been tried with -RW discs, but the result
was the same as before so there is no point in trying other discs.

You haven't said whether you are running the latest firmware on the
mysterious external drive. You haven't mentioned the specifics on any
of the drives you've tried. I'm done playing being played for a
psychic.

http://www.google.com/search?q=troubleshoot+DVD Writer

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Guest]

OK...But the LG external drive is multi media...CD...DVD+/- R and RW...also
DVD-RAM. That worked twice when I first installed it...no problems. Last
night it stopped working?

 

[adil.h.ali]

switch to OS X

 

[Guest]

what does that mean?

 

[Mac]

Ever heard of Google? He wants you to out and spend a shed load of cash on
an Apple - then all your DVD problems will be solved ;_0

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-01,GGLD:en&q="OS+X"

 

[kurttrail]

OK...But the LG external drive is multi media...CD...DVD+/- R and
RW...also DVD-RAM. That worked twice when I first installed it...no
problems. Last night it stopped working?

Even more information that you left out. How do you expect to be help,
if you are withholding all sorts of information about your problem?

--
Peace!
Kurt Kirsch
Self-anointed Moderator
http://microscum.com
"It'll soon shake your Windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'."

 

[Kerry Brown]

What DVD burning programs do you have installed? If you have more than one
they may be incompatible. Note if you have hardware problems which is also
possible the following advice won't do any good. Uninstall all programs that
can burn DVDs. Install a known good drive. Install the software that came
with the drive. Test the drive. If it is working then start re-installing
the DVD programs one at a time until it breaks. You have found the offending
program. If it didn't work then one or more of the programs didn't uninstall
properly or you have a hardware problem. You can try to hunt down all the
remnants of them or it's possible you may have to do a full reinstall of
Windows. If it's hardware then the first step would be to install the drive
on a cable by itself and the cable is a 80 wire cable. Make sure you have
the latest chipset drivers for your motherboard. I don't suspect a hardware
problem because the USB drive had the same problem.

 

[Guest]

The drive I have currently is a an LG 16X Super Multi DVD/CD Rewriter. It
says on the box that it support all formats of DVD + & - R and RW as well as
DVD RAM and CD'S.

I can see the drive in the "my computer" window. It clearly says DVD-RAM
drive(J). When I insert a blank DVD or CD...the drive description changes to
CD Drive(J).

This is a Windows problem. The only thing I have done between now and when
the drive did work is clean up the registry. I have since rolled that back
and still no joy.

 

[R. McCarty]

Check your Device Manager, Driver Details and see if there are Upper
and Lower filter drivers in use.

Set a System Level Environment Variable - DevMgr_Show_Details
and set it's value = 1

Then open Device Manager, DVD/CD category and double-Click the
LG. You should see a "Details" TAB, click on that then toggle the
window option to "Device Upper Filters" and "Device Lower Filters".
These usually get added as a function of burning software ( Easy CD
and Nero...).

Microsoft has a Knowledge Base article on resolving issues with
Optical drive Upper/Lower filter(s). The article below has some info
on Lower/Upper filters - but may not apply to your specific problem.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314060

 

[Kerry Brown]

All that is very nice but what DVD burning programs do you have installed?
If you read my post you would see that I was talking about programs that may
interfere with one another. This includes DVD authoring programs, burning
programs, TV recording programs etc., anything that may use the DVD drive.
See R. McCarty's post about upper and lower filters. Many DVD burning
programs modify these settings and cause problems. Sometimes you can edit
the settings and fix it. Most times you cannot.