DVD RW Problem

A while back, I recieved a Sony DVD burner. It had been working fine for a while, but now it suddenly doesn't work at all. It won't read DVDs or CDs, it won't burn onto any blank disk, but the computer recognizes that it is there and is "working properly." I have contacted Sony about this, but they are no help. It is a SONY DVD RW DRU-530A, in case that is necessary.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

i tried that, and both the master (normal cd rom) and slave (sony) are set to PIO mode.
any other suggestions?

 

i tried all different combinations of changing the sony and the cd rom to dma, nothing works. i don't think that's the problem, but thanks for your suggestion.

i don't know if this is important, but for some reason, when i installed the sony, it became the D drive and the cd rom drive that came with the computer (previously the D drive) became the E drive. odd, but i doubt it's important, since it was working fine for a few months.

 

When you installed your Sony drive, did you put it on the same cable as the other cd-rom? Can your other drive read CD's? Or is the drive in question on the same cable as your hard drive?

 

yes, they are on the same cable, with the original cd rom set as master and plugged into the master position on the cable, and the sony set up as slave in the slave position.

i'm not sure which drive you're asking about, but the cd rom can still read cds fine, there's nothing wrong with it. the sony cannot read anything (rather, it doesn't recognize that there is a disk there at all) and cannot burn anything either. and it's not on the same cable as the hard drive, it's connected to the secondary cable with the original cd rom.

 

I was just trying to eliminate the IDE cable as being the problem... is the drive still under warranty?

 

right, thank you for your help.
i don't know, but i doubt it's still under warranty. i've had it almost a year now.

 

okay, now i have a new(ish) problem:
i turned off the computer and unhooked all the connections to the sony. then i booted it back up and unistalled all the software that came with it, just in case. then i turned off the computer again, and re-attached all of the connections. turned on the computer again, reinstalled the software.
now, the sony will read cd roms, but it won't recognize if there is a blank cd in the drive. when i try to burn a cd, it tells me i need to insert a blank cd.
so now it is reading cd roms, but isn't recognizing blanks. i have tried it with a couple different brands of blanks, same result. so now we have a slightly new problem. hope you can help! all suggestions are welcome. thank you for your time.

 

This is the same exact problem I am having with my DVD-RW made by NEC.

It would read DVD's and Cd's fine, but then after reformatting the hard drive, it would not read anything. I reinstalled windows 2000 and it would read CD's fine but not DVD's. I don't understand this...

 

Have you tried a laser lens cleaner yet?

 

I haven't...

 

me neither...
i don't think that's the problem though, because it was very sudden, and since i reinstalled it, it will now read CD roms that it wouldn't read before.

 

I only suggest it because it is a cheap option, and is usually the solution for problems like this in my past experience. At the very least, it cannot hurt anything. Getting something in the way of the lens can happen suddenly and can often cause it to act just as described.

 

hmmm, well i might try that. where can you get something like that?

 

Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, Wal-Mart, etc.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?j=1&id=1051384652107&type=product&ref=03&loc=01

 

well i tried the laser lens cleaner. didn't do anything...
i don't even know if it cleaned the lens, because all i can do is stick the disc into the drive. i can't tell it to play or anything...although i did hear it spin, as if it was trying to read the disc. maybe that cleaned the lens, but it didn't help with the problem. the sony still won't read blanks...
thanks for the advice, but i still need help. so if anyone has any suggestions, your help would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

 

Anyone have a fix for this yet? I have had the EXACT same issue. Any help/comments appreciated. Many thanks in advance!

 

I recently had a DVD\ROM failure so I put it in my spare computer to double check... Previous to this both DVD\RW (in both rigs) were Master. When I installed new DVD\ROM neither computers would accept them configured as before so I swapped Master to Slave and Slave to Master and now all is OK ... strange things these machines...hope this is of some help..

 

i just installed a Sony 720A DVD/CD drive, and it wasn't recognised by XP at all when hooked up as slave to the hard drive. The OS wouldn't even come up. I have it on separate cable now, as master there. Can you tell me please if there is a reason it wouldn't work as slave? Am reading with interest this problem about the other sony DVD and wonder if I'll have the same problem later. Thanks!