DVD Burner Drive

Greetings Afterdawners!

I have what I think is a problem that has been asked numerous times on this forum. I have an HP 640b writer that has stopped recognizing a blank DVD to be burned. I have tried all softwares in my arsenal to overcome this prob, but I keep getting the same message: "Please insert a DVD-RW..." If I go to "My Computer" I see that my E Drive (DVD writer) says DVD-RW. I have also inserted a DVD (first, Memorex DVD+R; second, Imation DVD-R) and then opened ImgBurn and saw that on the right window pane, it says that there is no blank DVD or somewhere something along those lines. I have never encountered any problems burning onto these type of media before. Please help me. I appreciate any input ya'll can give me. Thanks very much.

 

Try going into the drive properties and under the 'Recording' tab, turn off recording and reboot.
Turn Recording back on and test.
If no luck, try uninstalling the IDE controller that the burner is connected to and reboot (the drivers for the controller and the burner will be reinstalled).

 

Attar,
Thank you so much for your response! It feels really good knowing somebody out there like yourself, tirelessly help people like myself with various issues concerning computers et al...Anyway, I am at work right now, but will try your suggestions. I will update the thread when I get home. Take care now.

 

I apologize for posting this on the wrong room. By all means, please redirect to the proper forum. Thanks!

 

attar,
I tried your first suggestion, but it didn't work. How do I uninstall the IDE controller that the burner is connected to?

 

I tried uninstalling/reinstalling the driver, but still unsucessful. When I insert a blank dvd-r, on the right pane it says HP DVD Writer 640b E152, Current Profile N/A. And below is the log...

I 15:27:15 ImgBurn Version 2.3.2.0 started!
I 15:27:15 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600 : Service Pack 2)
I 15:27:15 Total Physical Memory: 1,039,660 KB - Available: 721,324 KB
W 15:27:15 Drive D:\ (FAT32) does not support single files > 4 GB in size.
I 15:27:15 Initialising SPTI...
I 15:27:15 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices...
I 15:27:15 Found 1 DVD-ROM and 1 DVD±RW!

 

Right Click 'My Computer' > 'Properties' > 'Hardware' > 'Device Manager'
Click on the "+" beside 'IDE ATA/ATAPI controller'.
Usually the burner is on the Secondary IDE Channel.
Right click on the 'Secondary IDE Channel' and select 'Uninstall'.
When it's uninstalled, reboot - Windows will reinstall the drivers for the channel and the burner.
Usually the hard drive(s) are on the Primary, but sometimes the burner is connected on the same channel as the hard drive.
The same procedure can be done there - it does no harm.

If DVD's are still not recognized, then you can look at updating the burner firmware.

The easy way to check firmware for the burner.
Run ImgBurn, click 'Tools' > 'Drive' > 'Check for Firmware updates..'


http://www.imgburn.com/

 

attar,
it looks like there's a new firmware for my drive. however, the problem is, i can't burn the installation image file onto a disc. any other suggestions?

 

You don't have a floppy drive or you cannot burn the files to CD?
BTW if you put a blank DVD in the burner and run IMGBurn, does it show the information yet??

 

Unfortunately not. This is frustrating! I really do appreciate your help though. am i left with no other options?

 

attar,
Still no information displayed when a blank dvd is inserted.

 

Are you saying that you can't drag a file and drop it onto a blank CD and burn it?
That's a more basic problem than DVD recognition.

 

attar,
it was saying, "no disc in the drive."

 

Can this drive read the contents of a burned CD?
Has there been any work done inside the case recently?

 

no. i won't play originals either. i forgot to mention that i messed with my 'disc management' while trying to connect to an internal drive (ps2 hdd) thru the usb port via usb ide adapter. i wasn't really sure what i was doing (stupid me). that might have caused the problem...

 

What mine looks like with a CD in the drive.

 

mine says no media with a blank dvd+r inserted

 

If you set the DVD reading and burning aside and look at CD's.

The Burner cannot read the files on a burned CD nor burn a CD.
The ROM can read the files on a burned CD.

Remove the ROM and try to read a burned CD on the Burner.

Remove the Burner and put the ROM in its place (adjust switch settings if required)and read the CD.

I would guess that the ROM will work ok on either position which means you have to test the burner in another PC.

 

attar,
I am completely hopeless...I suppose I can test the burner in another pc, but the problem is my other computer is a sony vaio laptop. I think I might just have to replace the burner itself. How hard is it to do that? What burners are compatible with hp pavilion f1903?

 

NEC, LG, Pioneer all make good replacement drives.
All drives that fit in a PC tower have identical dimensions and are replaced the same way.
The PC is powered down and power cord unplugged.
The top of the case may have screw fasteners at the rear.
These are removed and the top plate is pushed/slid back.
The sides then lift up and off.
The drive is fastened with four screws (two per side), these are removed then the power and ide cables unplugged.
The drive can be pushed out the front of the PC.
The new drive has switch settings which should match the old drive.
Insert the drive, fasten with the screws, reattach the keyed cables.
Check that the other drive(on the same cable) has not been disturbed and its connectors are secure.
Before the cover is replaced, connect the power to the PC, boot and test the drive(s) - power down, reattach sides and top.