Sony DRU-530A unable to detect any type of disk

I have been using this DRU-530A for about a month now and suddenly an hour ago(after endlessly looking on several different forums on different websties for any help), the drive stop properly functioning. Before i relate the problem, let me briefly inform you of the spec. I have DMA set to on, autorun also set to on. Running winxp pro SP1 with 550Mhz, which satisfy the drive requirement, 768MB ram. The drive also running the latest firmware, which is v1.0c. The drive is running on secondary IDE chan with no slave so basically set to single mode. the drive also uses 80 pin cable. in fact all my EIDE chans use 80-pin cable. all winxp updates have been installed prior to this issue a week ago.

In the past i have no problem backing up my data to any different brand of media whether it is dvd or CD media using this drive. But i dont think the media is the issue here since when i put in my windows xp cd, it does not "autorun". i access my explorer, right click on it and select "explore" comes up blank. I noticed this problem, when i was backing up my data which spans 2 CDs like usual. The first CD went fine and when i tried to back up the remaining to the 2nd cd, the problem appeared. device manager does not indicate this drive to be in problem at all too. i cannot roll back the driver because there is none to roll back too. i even tried uninstalling the drive and reinstall it. no good.

any help / suggestions are greatly appreciated.

sincerely,
orangutan

 

This burner is driving me nuts also, after having it for 3 weeks. I've been to many forums also because the Sony site sucks, and calling tech support makes you wait for hrs., then cuts you off. I'm still waiting for an email response. Anyway, as to your problem- either disable dma, or go into your BIOS and set it to "auto" if you have that option.

As a possible alternative, maybe you can go back to a restore point when the drive was working properly, or, on boot-up, tap F8 (usually) when you get a menu of options, and pick "last good configuration". Good luck. My problem isn't as bad as yours- overall, the burner works great, but I can't unlock the regional code to play DVDs I've made/copied. Luckily, I have a DVD player in my system, but I've been thinking of making a Shuttle box, so if I don't get the full functionality I need, Plextor, here I come! Sony: your online tech site sucks!

 

I'll get back to you on this one

 

I'm experiencing the same problem with CDR and CDRW media. I've updated RecordNow! to version 6.7 and firmware to version 1.0d. The drive refuses to autorun and I can't explore their contents. The weird thing is that there's no such problem with DVD+RW media.

After disabling DMA the drive is working fine. I think this drive has some issues with DMA because on their firmware update page it states; "If you are using the DRU-530A, disable [DMA setting] in Windows..." http://sony.storagesupport.com/dvdrw/downloads/DRU530FW10d/530update.htm

Please post any updates and keep this thread alive. Thanks!

Webmal

 

Actually the link you provided said to disable dma when applying the firmware update.

Just some thoughts: do you have any packet-writing software like InCd, Direct CD- if so, I think you should uninstall it. Sony's DLA works well for me.

Is your system BIOS up to date? You may want to try visiting your motherboard's website.

Use Ad-Aware, or Spybot Search and Destroy to get rid of spy/malware? Free on the net; google it.

Re-enable DMA or set it to "auto" in the BIOS.

Do an online virus-scan at : http://www.pandasoftware.com . I find this site better than TrendMicro's.

I've fixed most if not all my problem's except 1: the Sony drive wont play back any DVD's I made with DVDXCopy-I called 321 Studios and they said they never heard of that problem, and we agreed it's the Sony burner, cuz I can play the dupe DVD on every other type of DVD player. This really bites, cuz I was thinking of building a Shuttle box, but not a major issue. Overall, the burner smokes.

Last thought- if your user profile is corrupted, this can cause MAJOR headaches. Try creating another profile with full Admin privleges; you may have to drag the shortcuts from the old profile; I'm assuming you're using XP.

Refresh the native XP files by typing sfc /scannow in the RUN box, then hit enter. You may be prompted for your XP disk.

As a last thought- have you installed any software, THEN the problems started? This has happened to me before, and I googled: "xyz software autorun XP"- got a hit and had to edit my registry. If I come across anything new, I'll post. Good luck.

 

Silimtao - FYI I'm running a Shuttle PC, here's my specs:

Shuttle SB61G2
Intel 865G chipset
P4 2.6 GHz 800 MHz
512 MB Corsair TwinX
128 MB Asus V9560 VS
74 GB WD Raptor
Sony DRU-530A
BIOS set to defaults (auto everything)

I'm not a newbie, I did a clean installation of Windows XP and [bold]only[/bold] installed DRU-530A software (i.e. Sonic DLA, MyDVD, RecordNow!) so there's absolutely no software conflicts, virus or spyware on my system but the problem still remains.

Sony's advise to disable the DMA when updating firmware is strange...I've used dozens of other optical drives (including Sony CDRWs) and I've never been asked to disable DMA when updating. Maybe this is a clue?

The drive works great when DMA is disabled.

Webmal

 

Sweet sounding system, Webmal. Only other thoughts I can think of are: you apply SP1 and the "proper" updates? By "proper" I mean anything you really *need* as opposed to the tons of crap MS releases to cure cancer, etc. How about BIOS updates? Recently, I was having a problem with my usb keyboard, and found at the Asus website a BIOS flash that cured the problem. Figure it's worth taking a look. One other thought- I know the Shuttle's are supposed to run really well with a small power supply; but how's the heat? I'm reaching here, but being underpowered are too much heat can cause lots of problems, as I'm sure you know. But autorun tanking on you is a pretty common problem. But check out this MSKB article that addresses this issue:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;155217

PS- I know it doesn't address XP specifically, but I've used fixes when 2000 or NT is mentioned only; just remember to back your registry!
_X_X_X_X_X_[small]Sil[/small]

 

FYI my Win XP comes with SP1 - then I installed all security updates from Win update. My BIOS is the latest version.

Anyway, I got my drive working normally!! How? I simply re-enabled DMA and rebooted and it worked. I didn't make any software or hardware changes.

Thanks everyone.

Webmal

 

silimtao brings up a good point, those packet writing s/ware can cause havoc with burning programs...

My dad has the sony dru-510a which comes with DLA, but if it's enabled hardly any of the burning proggies will finish successfully or start trying to burn at 2x and then not close the disc off.

But...

I have a pioneer a06 and grabbed dad's sony s/ware disc and installed it on my system, enabled and i get no probs... Crazy eh?

Other burning prgrams can interfere, just ask anyone about eaasy cd creator crap...

Good to see ur prob is fixed webmal, did this fix everyone elses issue?

Bailey

 

Hello Everyone newbie here. Saw all the great answers here.Just started with my sony dru530a ran some dvd+r and it burned but didnt play on computer..so after i get off work I will try all suggestions here and see if I can geta sucessful burn.Using a sony pcv-rx450 and sony dru 530a.
Seeems like you all have done a good job in helping me out all ready.

 

Hey apothec- you wont be able to play backed-up DVDs because they're region-free; you have to unlock it by playing a retail DVD (use the PowerDVD that came with the Sony burner); this should unlock the region. HOWEVER- if you've used something like 321 Studios XCopy, to copy a DVD, it WONT play in the DRU-530-A. I called 321, and they said it's the first they've heard of this issue, and sorry, they can't help me. My backups, DO play on ANY OTHER PLAYER. I think it's the DRU-530A- they're covering their butts with the government. I emailed them regarding this; NO ANSWER. A possible work-around is using DVD Decrypter to make a region free copy of a DVD; you might want to download DVD shrink also. Both free, google it. I'll get around to trying it, but don't have a compelling need to at the moment. Good luck, let us know.

 

Apothec and silimtao,

I just got the Sony DRU530A as well and the first dvd i backed up using dvd x copy platinum would not play back in the dru530a. I used Interactual and than Powerdvd. I found out that the version of Powerdvd I had, 5.0, would not play the backed up copy. But when I got a hold of Powerdvd 3.0 it did play back.

My problem is that the dvd backup i made could not play in my home dvd player. Its a Panasonic RP56U-K. It was able to play in my Playstation 2 though. I may need to try different media as well but if I cant get it to play in my dvd player, this burner is going back.

 

qtran- I just got a canned email from 321, the makers of XCopy, and they said not to use interactual as the player. I'd suggest uninstalling all players, then load PowerDVD that came with the drive, then put in a retail DVD to set the region code.

I'm FINALLY able to play back backed up DVDs on the Sony- I've been using TDK +R disks, and they seem to work great. Just for the helluva it, you might want to go into your BIOS and set the dma setting to "auto" and let it set the mode.

One thing I have to say about Sony tech support: THEY SUCK, SUCK SUCK. I spent 3 hrs. on the phone waiting, and the tech says he's gonna send me an email to fix my problem (I wanted to know why I couldn't play region free DVDs even though I followed their online instructions about putting a retail DVD in, etc.) The email HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH MY PROBLEM. Just a canned response about uninstalling, then reinstalling the software. IDIOTS!. I checked for updates for the Record Now software, and magically, I'm now able to play everything on the drive now. The drive is great, now that I'm working out the kinks, BUT, SONY, YOUR TECH SUPPORT SUCKS. Hope I was of some help.
_X_X_X_X_X_[small]Sil[/small]

 

Thank you both for helping me.I did disable dma and now I can burn on dvd+R imation with no problems didnt do anything else.I apprecaite the help to both of you.

 

Hi everyone,

I'm having problems with my Sony DRU-530a drive. It just happened all of a sudden also. It was working for the last 2 months or so and all of a sudden, one day I wasn't able to burn anything or read anything. Under "Device Manager", it says that the device is working properly. I've installed the firmware update 2.0a and left my DMA settings to "DMA if available" setting under Device Manager in Windows XP.

It still didn't work. If I go into Windows Explore and try to view the contents of any CD or DVD, it just shows up blank. Any suggestions?

 

Per SONY and the thread here, you need to set the DMA in Windows to PIO only and uninstall any DLA-type software first. Good luck!

 

I also have a sismilar problem with 530A DVD burner. It seems like it will burn DVD-R without any problem but it won't read it! Now, my stand alone DVD player play the same DVD-R without any problems! Can anyone suggest how to fix this problem?

 

rmin, eric, & yboro-

I'd suggest going into the BIOS and selecting "auto" and let it pick it's own mode.

>>Per SONY and the thread here, you need to set the DMA in Windows to PIO only and uninstall any DLA-type software first.<< When I was having problems and finally got through to tech support, I was told by tech support that: 1. I MUST have the drive set as the master and 2. I must have DMA enabled. BOTH NOT TRUE. As I've said in an earlier post, I think that the Sony techs suck and don't know what they're talking about. In my experience with burners, I've often found resetting the the dma setting to the opposite of what it is will cure the problem. Alternatively, instead of manually setting the pio mode to something like pio4, set it to auto, and let the BIOS set itself. My setting is "UDMA 2" which, I believe is the same as pio 2. So far, with friends having problems with burners, resetting the dma/pio mode has cleared up problems. As to not being able to explore a disk after what seems to be a successful burn, I've found I need to leave the disk in for awhile...the spin-up time can take about a min. or more on certain disks it seems. I've switched from TDK CD+R disks to cheap Khypermedia disks ($40/50 disks) and found the spin-up time is longer. I'm guessing it's the cheaper media. Hope this was of some help. Oh, did I mention that Sony tech support SUCKS???? ;-)

[edit]CORRECTION: udma2 IS NOT the same as pio2. Sorry if I mislead anyone. Don't know what I was thinking at the time.
_X_X_X_X_X_[small]Sil[/small]

 

Sil,

Thanks for your suggestions. I spoke to tech support and they recomended me to set burner as master. But that didn't solve the problem. I still cannot read freshly burned DVD-R. Next, reinstalled my Win2000 with a fresh copy and now my read speed is actually slower! It used to be 7x and now it's 4x. Also, I noticed if I don't have Intel Ultra DMA installed the read and write are much much slower! Like 1x write and 1.8x read! Without Ultra DMA it's takes forever to make a DVD copy!

I'm using DVDShrink and Nero to make to burn. Is there any option maybe I need to set in Nero(from this site) or DVDShrink(latest)? I'm using all default options.

Yuriy

 

Hi Yuriy-

Only thing I can suggest off the top of my head is..

make sure you've installed all your motherboard drivers.

I *think* I saw an MS update of some type that had to do with "Intel...something"; not sure if it's specific to your problem...oh, wait, this may have been unique to XP, but worth having your system scanned for updates?

Have you tried a different brand media? Does +R disks work? I've only used +R disks since they've proven to be compatible with my regular DVD player; TDK has proven to be the best for me. The cheap Khypermedia disks I've tried is kinda hit or miss.

You have the latest BIOS upgrade? May be worth a look.

I use Nero Ultra. Do have the drive tools that tests your drives? Maybe that can give you some helpful info. Sorry, best I can come up with off the top of my head. Maybe someone here with 2000 can offer something better, cuz ME and 2000 are 2 OSes I've skipped.

Personally, from my experience with tech support from both Sony and 321 studios, I take anything they say with a grain of salt. Good luck.

Another thought just came to me...You say you use Nero. Did you install InCd AND Sony's DLA for packet writing? You shouldn't have 2 different packet writing software programs, as this is a known issue. DLA works just fine for me; I uninstalled InCd. Hope this helps.
_X_X_X_X_X_[small]Sil[/small]