My Burner

[ChristopherP]

Hey...guess who

Well yet again i have come across another problem. I have a Sony DVDRW DWU-14a burner and a Samsung CDRW in my machine. When i insert a DVD to play, the system goes really slow and any programs trying to access the DVD drive crash. Its ok for writing just not reading!

firmware?

any suggestions?

cheers

 

[floppybootstomp]

I've just fitted a Sony DWU-18a DVDRW to a machine I just built and although it does actually read DVD's and CD's it did struggle with some.

The Sony DVD ROM drive I installed alongside it does a much better job.

I think you'd be better off taking out the CDRW (as you can burn CD's with the DVDRW) and replacing with a DVD ROM drive for DVD playback and backing up movies from.

 

[ChristopherP]

Yeah i have been thinking about that although one of the reasons i haven't done it is because my DVD burner writes at only 24x not 52x. I guess it's not going to make that much difference though.

So why does it struggle with some? i bought it thinking sony would be top notch quality. is it a firmware issue perhaps? i burned a DVD with it one time - data backup and it refuses to read it but the DVD drive (Lite-On) in my dads machine reads it perfectly!

Could it be anything to do with sharing an IDE channel?

 

[Techy]

make sure that the dvd±rw is set as master, failing that update firmware.

 

[ChristopherP]

yeah the jumpers are set correctly i know that.

how do i upgrade firmware i have no clue where to get it from or how to do it?

 

[floppybootstomp]

You can get latest version, V1.0d from Here

However, the instructions on how to install in Japanese.

Sony's site didn't prove to be too helpful, the update wasn't even listed.

When you click on the downloaded executable, it extracts a folder to the same directory. From there, there's an HTML file giving instructions and also a series of images showing sequence of installation.

If you install the Japanese language patch that's offered when you open the HTML file, perhaps it translates it to English?

I've a feeling thjat you just click on the executable and it will upgrade, that's all I did for my Pioneer A106 DVDRW to upgrade firmware, but don't take my word for it, you may have to load the program to a floppy and boot with it.

Try a Google search for Sony DWU-14a Firmware and you may have some luck. I've searched this far, now it's up to you

One last thing, make sure no disk is in the drive when you upgrade.

 

[ChristopherP]

I think the windows language pack justs makes the characters appear as they should on the screen rather than translate it but i'll check it out.

Thanks loads for your help. appreciate it
chris

 

[Techy]

just translate the page using google. wonderful tool!

 

[ChristopherP]

well as it turns out my drive already has firmware 1.0d or whatever version was on the page so hmmmmmmm i dont quite know!!

 

[Techy]

what you using to watch the dvd's? power dvd, wmp, win dvd???

try using other app to watch dvd, if same then check display and audio drivers are installed properly if they are then download updated drivers and install.

does it read cd's ok?

 

[ChristopherP]

It reads CD's and Movie DVD's just fine - it just has a load of trouble reading home burned [data] discs - the system just freezes and the light on the drive flashes at the same time as the HDD light - just as if they are linked. its weird.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Sounds as though the recordable media you're using may not be compatible with your burner, it happens, my Pioneer A106 did not like the white Infinite brand at all.

I now use the Ritec Purple Dye brand all the time, they work fine with all types of files & formats.

Try using a different brand of disk perhaps.

 

[ChristopherP]

lol i got it figured - it just dosent like mirror DVD's...am moving over to Ritek G04 now :d