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Blank DVD's not recognised!!??

Discussion in 'DVD-ROM drives' started by surferg, Dec 15, 2005.

  1. surferg

    surferg Member

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    My DVD drive is failing to recognise blank DVD's and this has happened now with 3 seperate brands in the last week.

    When I open Explorer the d:\ drive reads as DVDRAM Drive D

    But when I place in a blank DVD it converts to read
    CD Drive (D)!

    When I check the properties out the general tab reads CD Drive (D) Properties
    there is a logo of a DVD-R disc
    but it then reads
    Type CD Drive
    File system RAW
    Used Space 0 bytes
    Free space 0 bytes
    capacity 0 bytes

    when I check the properties it says the the device is enabled and working properly

    Please can you help me ASAP as I wanted to send some family DVD with the Xmas cards

    Thanks in advance

    Seasonal Greetings

    Graham
     
  2. david07

    david07 Member

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    That is EXACTLY what my drive says, i have a LG DVD RAM drive. when i insert a dvd drive, it shows CD Drive, but it works if u wanna burn stuff to dvd, mine shows free space is 4.7 GB, but it says CD Drive, i don't know what kinda problem it is, besides, what kind of DVD RAM drive do u have?
     
  3. Phantom69

    Phantom69 Regular member

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    if it sayse cd drive its no problem because you can still write to dvd its only playback if it says cd drive that it should be considered a problem...
     
  4. btitus

    btitus Regular member

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    U might to uninstall and reinstall the IDE cables. You can also try a "system restore" and set the cpu back to the last time that everything functioned the way it is supposed to. I had that same problem just last night and the system restore ended up doing the trick.
     
  5. david07

    david07 Member

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    but with system restore, wouldn't you lose all stuff on hard drive?
     
  6. btitus

    btitus Regular member

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    No, all e-mails, documents, etc. would still be there. U might be thinking of system recovery..
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2005
  7. david07

    david07 Member

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    oh yeah, system recovery, sorry
     
  8. Exinferis

    Exinferis Member

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    I've got this same problem with a Pioneer DVR-K14L drive; it'll play dvd's, cd's etc, but it won't recognise blank DVD's! All the details that Surferg posted above apply to my problem.

    It was fine until I moved house and then it suddenly stoped working.

    I've tried uninstralling and reinstalling the driver and I've done a system restore, but nothing's working.

    Anyone got any idea where I can get an updated driver from? Pioneer and Sony (it's a Vaio machine I have) are no use at all...

    Cheers,
    Ex.
     
  9. btitus

    btitus Regular member

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    Exinferis, have you tried uninstalling the IDE cables and then letting the computer recognize and install them on restart?
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2005
  10. Exinferis

    Exinferis Member

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    Hi Btitus.

    Well, you see, the problem I have is that it's a Sony Vaio Desktop and getting to the drive means practicly taking the whole thing apart!

    It is still under warrenty, but to get such a simple thing sorted means sending the whole computer back to Sony so they can fiddle with it! Thought I'd see if I could sort it myself before letting them at it!

    I might attempt getting to it if I can get away with it!

    Thanks for your advice, I'll be back with an update!
     
  11. Phantom69

    Phantom69 Regular member

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    <(EDIT)>
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2005
  12. btitus

    btitus Regular member

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    You don't have to physically uninstall the IDE cables or the drive. You can go to control panel, system, hardware, device manager, IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. You should see a primary and secondary channels. Right click and drop down to "uninstall" click on uninstall and then restart the computer. The computer should detect and re-install on startup...
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2005
  13. Exinferis

    Exinferis Member

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    Ah, I've already done that (one of the first things I did!); I thought you ment physicly unplug and then reinstall.

    Anyway, I've had a look and there's no way I can get into it without voiding the warrenty, so I couldn't have done it anyway!

    I've tried all the software fixes I can think of, but this has got me stumped...
     
  14. btitus

    btitus Regular member

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    I really wish some of the more seasoned members would chime in and give you some better instructions.....
     
  15. Exinferis

    Exinferis Member

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    Yeah, it would be nice if I could get this fixed. You kow what it's like this time of year; if I try and get Sony to collect it, it'll be after the new year.

    Anyway, I appreciate your help Btitus! :)
     
  16. Phantom69

    Phantom69 Regular member

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    ok im going to attempt to help...
    is your firmware up to date... if you do not know pm creaky and ask hime, find out your drive name and firmware version through nero info tool...

    i highly doubt that there would be an actual physical problem in you cabling itself...

    try going to the device manager through going to control panel, system, hardware tab, device manager + under DVD/CDROM drives right click your drive and select uninstall, once this has happened, restart your computer see if it works...

    if it does not, try running the windows troubleshooter that may be able to help...

    if nothing i have said works then try going to Accessories under the start menu, system utilities, then system restore, restore your computer back to an earlier time when the drive was working properly (this will not delete any of your files)...

    if this does not work (any of it) then i have to say backup your documents and files and run a system recovery (erase everything, reinstall everything) then after doing this see if it works if so create a restore point and create a hard drive backup...

    hope this helps...
     
  17. Exinferis

    Exinferis Member

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    Hi Phantom,

    Thanks for trying to help me out! I've actually done everything you've suggested, bar checking the firmware. I did think of that, but because the Vaio's not connected to the internet right now (I'm using my laptop to write this) I've not had the oppotunity to do that. Think I'll run an extension cable to the Vaio and give that a go as I'd really rather not do a full recovery!

    I'll report back later!
     
  18. surferg

    surferg Member

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    Hi

    Thanks for all the tips I will try them out

    I had not noticed if it read it like this until recently Nero used to burn no issues

    But now if sorts out the files etc - but then simply freezes when it comes to burning the DVD - I have left if over night and still nothing !!

    Thanks again

    Any other tips very gratefully recieved

    Seasonal greetings
     
  19. Exinferis

    Exinferis Member

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    Nope, it's no good. There are no updates from Sony for the Pioneer drive, only firmware for a different drive installed on most V2M's. :(

    Off to search for an alternative before I give in and restore my system...
     
  20. Exinferis

    Exinferis Member

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    Oh, that's interesting; in My Computer the disc is still being read as 0 bytes and the drive is reverting to CD-Rom again, but it's reading in Nero as "The disc is empty" and showing 4,483mb. Weird!

    Guess the Bios update sorted it out? Will try for a burn and see how it goes!
     

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