Discs problem or Burner problem??

[PowerRanger]

Hi all, got a weird situation at hand. I have a bunch of Sony DVD+RW discs I'm currently having issues with. The discs are fairly old (5 years+?), but still fresh with no writes on them. I'll try to break it down for easy legibility.

1. On laptop #1, I can burn & format (1st time format) a FRESH disc. After burning, the same disc can not be read. After popping in the drive, the drive just makes some weird noises, but does not even recognize there's a disc inside.

2. On external DVD-RW drive, said disc is READABLE. However, I can not erase/format the disc for further re-writing. I just get errors when I try to erase the disc (ImgBurn & built-in Windows burner thing).

3. On laptop #2, EVERYTHING works. Previous unreadable/un-erasable discs work just fine on Laptop #2.

I never had ANY problems with the drive on Laptop #1 or the external before. So, does this look like a burner issue, or are my discs starting to rot or something? Any insight would be great! Thanks in advance.

 

[mfenn]

Try different media? Could be an incompatibility between the burner and that specific media.

 

[Slugbait]

Sony occupies both 1st and 2nd class media. 1st class discs are MIJ, which means they are Taiyo Yuden. High-end Taiwan discs are also considered 1st class.

But most Sony discs are not TY. Sounds like you got the cheaper Taiwan stuff, or perhaps even the (gulp) Malaysia discs.

Tons of people go out and pair cheap discs with off-brand drives and wonder why they get so many coasters...if going with the cheap discs, use the good drives.

Me, my last 600 burned discs have all been TY, and my last three drives have been a Plextor 708A, NEC 3500A/G, and currently a Samsung S223Q. I messed up one day, and coastered one of the discs...all others are fine.

 

[Blain]

RW media has always been picky. Throw age into the mix and it spells... "Buy new media"

 

[PowerRanger]

Thanks for the replies everyone! The reason I'm still a bit suspicious regarding incompatibility btw. media & drive is that its always worked before. I understand age does play a factor, however wouldn't laptop #2 have issues as well if the disc was damaged in any way? :\

One thing that has changed, is my upgrading to Windows 7. Is it possible that my laptop is too old, and that the internal drive is having compatibility issues with the new OS? The external burner is also quite old, 6+ years I'd say. Then again, laptop #2 is also fitted with Windows 7, and even older than laptop #1. 😕

Oh also, the drive in question, according to Everest is: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T20N ATA Device (DVD+R9:4x, DVD-R9:4x, DVD+RW:8x/8x, DVD-RW:8x/6x, DVD-RAM:5x, DVD-ROM:8x, CD:24x/24x/24x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM)

In ImgBurn, I tried using the "Check For Firmware Updates" option, and it led me to this page: http://www.firmwarehq.com/drive.php?inq=HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T20N&chk=73

I downloaded the firmware, but upon running, the upgrade program couldn't detect my drive. :ninja:

Again, I appreciate all the suggestions!

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for the replies everyone! The reason I'm still a bit suspicious regarding incompatibility btw. media & drive is that its always worked before. I understand age does play a factor, however wouldn't laptop #2 have issues as well if the disc was damaged in any way? :\

Not necessarily. If the disc was marginal in the first machine, age could've cause it to become unusable. The second machine may be more compatible and still be fine, even given the age of the media.

One thing that has changed, is my upgrading to Windows 7. Is it possible that my laptop is too old, and that the internal drive is having compatibility issues with the new OS? The external burner is also quite old, 6+ years I'd say. Then again, laptop #2 is also fitted with Windows 7, and even older than laptop #1. 😕

Oh also, the drive in question, according to Everest is: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T20N ATA Device (DVD+R9:4x, DVD-R9:4x, DVD+RW:8x/8x, DVD-RW:8x/6x, DVD-RAM:5x, DVD-ROM:8x, CD:24x/24x/24x DVD+RW/DVD-RW/DVD-RAM)

In ImgBurn, I tried using the "Check For Firmware Updates" option, and it led me to this page: http://www.firmwarehq.com/drive.php?inq=HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T20N&chk=73

I downloaded the firmware, but upon running, the upgrade program couldn't detect my drive. :ninja:

Again, I appreciate all the suggestions!

I doubt the upgrade to Win 7 would matter, as long as you're using the same software.

I wouldn't mess around with updating the firmware unless you (a) know exactly what you're doing or (b) don't mind if the drive ends up bricked.

 

[PowerRanger]

Not necessarily. If the disc was marginal in the first machine, age could've cause it to become unusable. The second machine may be more compatible and still be fine, even given the age of the media.

That makes sense.

I doubt the upgrade to Win 7 would matter, as long as you're using the same software.

I wouldn't mess around with updating the firmware unless you (a) know exactly what you're doing or (b) don't mind if the drive ends up bricked.

I tried a couple of burning software, including the one built into Windows. Problem is, it won't even recognize the disc in the first place hahaha. Oh well. I guess I'll stay away from any firmware tweaks. 😀