Sony DRU-500A Failed?

[Brian]

Hi,

My Sony DRU-500A suddenly quit reading DVD's and writing DVD's. It will
still read and write CD's. Sony had me do several uninstalls of software and
such to no avail. They've given me an RMA# to replace the drive. I am
worried they may replace it with a "reconditioned" model. Bottom line, I am
thinking about a reformat and then reloading some of my video software one
at a time to see if that works. Waste of time?

Also, has anyone had problems with the drive, similar to this?

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Charles]

I had my DRU-510A replaced with a brand new unit by Sony when it failed to
eject even after rebooting.

 

[CAM]

Hi,

My Sony DRU-500A suddenly quit reading DVD's and writing DVD's. It will
still read and write CD's. Sony had me do several uninstalls of software and
such to no avail. They've given me an RMA# to replace the drive. I am
worried they may replace it with a "reconditioned" model. Bottom line, I am
thinking about a reformat and then reloading some of my video software one
at a time to see if that works. Waste of time?

Also, has anyone had problems with the drive, similar to this?

Don't know about other parts of the world but here on oz if any cd or
dvd drivefails they no longer try to fix it because thecost of labour
per hour often costs more than the drive is worth so it gts binned and
replaced with a new one.

Back in the days when the drives were over $1000 each then they would
try to fix them. Now they just bin them because it costs to muchto try
and fix them.

 

[Brian]

Ok..sounds reliable..I am going to ship it today.

 

[madbart]

Having dealt with Sony drives for many years and their RMA process i can
quite confidently tell you that you will get a new drive.

 

[Brian]

Thanks...I mailed it Thursday.

Having dealt with Sony drives for many years and their RMA process i can
quite confidently tell you that you will get a new drive.


software I

 

[Don]

See my posting in this same group under:

SONY support and rebate problems.

Before you replace your unit, you could be jumping out of the pan and
into the fire if another Sony unit.
I purchased a $400.00 DVD unit that isn't working. They can't figure
out the problem and their tech support now seems to have abandoned me.

Don

 

[DanGo]

I had a similar problem with DVD-RWs. It turned out that there is a
3rd party utility on the Software DVD that came with the burner.
The utility appears to be needed to read from/write to the DVD-RWs?

Once I uninstalled, rebooted, and reinstalled the utility,
I was able to again access the DVD-RWs.

Hope this helps,
=Dan=

 

[Scoobster]

My answer (although still a new Sony DRU user), is don't use their
software.. I had a friend recommend that XP Pro recognises the DRU
and works well, then to stick with something like Nero..

To date no problems (touch wood) and neither had my friend.,. Could be
a good batch, but could also be to do with their software..

Hope this helps

Marcus

 

[Neil Maxwell]

My answer (although still a new Sony DRU user), is don't use their
software.. I had a friend recommend that XP Pro recognises the DRU
and works well, then to stick with something like Nero..

I recently got an external Sony DRX-510xl burner, and I didn't like
the software that came with it (Veritas Record Now). It would
constantly get to 98% and hang, while Nero burned fine.

The drive has had major problems, though, and I only got a few good
burns out of it before it let out an unpleasant smell and quit
recognizing disks. This may have had some connection with the Veritas
problems, but Nero worked fine.

It's going back today, and I haven't decided whether to take a chance
on another Sony or swap it for something different.


Neil Maxwell - I don't speak for my employer

 

[M.C.]

My Sony DRU 510 A just stopped reading DVD+RW discs. Could you elaborate on the solution
that you found, so I can see if it works for me? Thanks. MC



(e-mail address removed) (DanGo) wrote in

 

[OldTimer]

I recently got an external Sony DRX-510xl burner, and I didn't like
the software that came with it (Veritas Record Now). It would
constantly get to 98% and hang, while Nero burned fine.

The drive has had major problems, though, and I only got a few good
burns out of it before it let out an unpleasant smell and quit
recognizing disks. This may have had some connection with the Veritas
problems, but Nero worked fine.

It's going back today, and I haven't decided whether to take a chance
on another Sony or swap it for something different.


Neil Maxwell - I don't speak for my employer

I've had just the opposite experience with my new Sony DRX-510UL
external multiformat DVD burner. The included software, RecordNow DX,
has worked perfectly, with my only failures due to mistakes I made in
setting up the burn. With a properly done Title Set, such as one from
DVD Lab, SpruceUp, Movie Factory 2, etc., Record Now DX burns without
a single problem. I am a long time user of Nero and still use it for
burning music CDs and transfering files to DVD-RW for archiving but
when it comes to burning DVDs, I'll stick with Record Now DX until
something better comes along.

From your description of the melt down of your burner, I'd bet that
you got a lemon and that the problems you experienced with Record Now
were probably related to a dying burner rather than the software.

OldTimer

 

[J.R. Allas]

Since there are two separate lasers for DVD and CD reading/writing, it
sounds like the laser for DVD reading/writing has failed. The only thing they
can do is replace your drive. As someone else suggested, repairing the drive
would cost more than replacing it.

 

[Paul]

I also had this exact same problem several months ago with my
DRU-500A. When I called Sony I was told there was only one laser for
writing both DVD and CD. They had me send my drive in to their
facility in California. They have a 10 business day turn around so
almost a month later I received my original drive back repaired. I
have since burned dozens of disks with no problems.