Sony Burner unable to read blank media

I have used dvd shrink/dvd decrypt for a long time and had no problems. Today I woke up an was unable to burn DVDs! I have a dell inspiron 6000 and called customer support thinking the drive was dead, but they tell me it not hardware because i can still read cd's and dvd's (although dvd shrink was having trouble recognizing dvd's as well today).

Basicly waht happens is I'll insert a blank verbatim disk to copy an iso to and dvd decrpytor (and all other progs) just sit and keep trying to read the disk for over 5 minutes to no avail.

After reading other posts, I have tried uninstalling all dvd programs, deletering the upper and lower filters from the registry and have updated my firmware, all to no avail. Please someone help me resolve this software conflict!! You will be my hero.

Thanks, Scott

 

scoot616

Just to be clear..

If you put a Music CD in it plays?
If you put a Store bought DVD it plays?
If you put a previous burned DVD it can play or read it?

Are these correct?

 

Music CD yes, store bought dvd yes, burned dvd no
Thanks

 

Answer is your media or your laser when it comes to burning.

Get some media from a friend or try a different batch from a different maker and see what happens first.

 

I tried a different batch and media, neither worked. It just refuses to read blank media.

 

Just for kicks, access the hardware tab and go into device manager. Remove/uninstall your DVD drives in device manager and then restart windows so that it will find the new hardware and see what happens.

 

Yeah dell had me do that before too, but still didnt work.

 

Then have a friend burn a dvd in his and try it in your DVD to see what happens.

 

Yeah I have a lot of dvd's I've burned in the past and none of those work anymore. It just keeps spinning and never recognizes the dvds (in either windows media player or windows explorer for example). Oddly enough those dvds use to work in my comp and they still work in normal dvd players.
~Scott

 

I would then try a new burner, maybe one that you could return if it’s not the problem, say from a store like Circuit City, etc.

 

I appreciate the help, but I want to try to rule out everything i can before that. Any other ideas?

 

I mean thus far I feel like I've checked everything, firmware is updated, aspi is fine, uninstall/reinstall of the drive did nothing, etc. What else can I do to rule out that this isnt a software issue and attempt to convince dell this is a hardware issue???

 

I believe the next step is to exchange your Burner with either a new one or a friends, and see the results. That's a pretty sure bet to finding the cause, especially if you followed through with all suggestions.

 

Yeah DMA is on

 

Hey Scoot616!
That is exactly the same thing that happened to me on Friday. Since then I was not able to use my Drive D: only the drive E:
I also have a DELL my specs below.
That is really strange!

 

I do a lot of burning with my system but I dont know for some reason the DVD RW Drive works fine its the DVD-ROM that has the problem. I always use DVD shrink or sometimes DVD X COPY. I also have DVD Decrypter and NERO 6. They all seem to freeze when I use my DVD ROM.
I havent tried uninstalling the drive as I dont have a disc driver to reinstall it again.
I dont think theres a problem with the drive it self so not sure if replacing it is a good idea. I might try to reformat my system tomorrow and I will let you know my findings... Any other plans you have in mind to work this out?!

 

Problem Solved!!! I convinced Dell to send me a new dvd/burner and tada! The new one worked fine. All you Dell people out there, don't listen to them when they tell you its a software issue if your sony burner dies. Thanks for the help guys.

 

Congrads scoot616! One thing for sure, you did your homework and I'm sure it paid off when talking with Dell support!

Good job!