Dell Dimension 2300 Windows XP SP2 (2600) Yes, I know it an old drive but I'm stuck with it for now! I have had re-occurring problems with some Media in this old drive of mine from the day I purchased it new and never really got to the bottom of why, For example I have a brand new SONY +RW disk here that cost me a fortune (in comparison to others) and I purchased it for reliability. I placed this into the drive and tried to use it. It mounted as a blank disc, I dragged and dropped a file over onto it and now it will not work anymore., It no longer recognises the disk when placed into the drive and therefore cannot be simply be re-formatted. In the past I have had this happen with whole packs of verbatims disks and others, using various programs. Sometimes they work, sometimes they do not and when they don't they screw the disk up so it does not mount. I always put this down to the fact that the drive is a poor make but when I read other write-ups on the net I find other people are using them ok. I figured it was a case that the drive didn't like the media and it was going to be a case of finding the correct one to use and sticking to that, hence I had high hopes for the Sony as I have found the Sony CD-RW to be very reliable. So tonight I have finally got round to spending a few hours researching the problem and I'm a little confused. It would seem that the reason for the failure is not down to the drive, moreover the Firmware. On one site I have read that each of the disks you place into the drive have some information on them that tells the drive what the disc is, how fast it can be read to/from, media type, etc. The site also says that if the Firmware is outdated then all newly manufactured media will not work as it will not be available within the Firmware. Ok so it seems I need to update the Firmware to include this new disk, I jump over to the NEC site and download this new file (err Firmware v1.93). I run it and the software does not recognise the drive, the site says this happens when the software cannot identify the firmware already installed. So I check over at Dell for the file which may be OEM format and hey presto they have the Firmware the same as mine ie v10GE and that this file has not been updated since 2003 !!?? I cannot use the newer Firmware from NEC as the file does not recognise the OEM flash file. Dells is installed and is out of date >!!! What do I do? and more to the point is what I have read on this site true Why does this drive do this?? Thanks to anyone who read this waffle even if you could not help. Phil
We're not payed or obliged to help you, so quit whining and we can begin. Use this update for your firmware... Here it is. If that doesn't help, then there is something else we can try to help your drive recognise these new disks. That would be crossflashing it to a later model with the same chipset (e.g, insides and parts). If the firmware update doesn't fix your problem, then ask about crossflashing. The drive you have is one of the oldest NEC drives around; it's not surprising that it won't read new media very well. Try cleaning the laser with some rubbing alcohol and a q-tip. (Just rub it in little cricles for a bit, then dry it off again.) It could just be the drive's laser is dying..
ok ripper, will do. Sorry for sounding curt, it was my first post here but the problem I have lived with for two years!!! and in the end gave up
That download was the one I have installed, v10GE. I have re-flashed it again to be sure and run DVD Identifier with the apparently damaged Sony disc in the drive this is the output [23:42:57] Waiting For Drive To Initialize Disc... [23:42:59] ERROR : Unable To Initialize Disc In Time : Not ready - Medium not present [02/3A/00]
