DVD Writer not Writing DVDs :(

Ok, I have come across a problem, and I'm not sure how to fix it, or why it is even a problem in the first place. I have an HP DVD Writer DVD420E, and for some reason I get an error whenever I try to burn a DVD, no matter what program I use. The drive is still reading properly, and I am still able to burn CDs with it, but not DVDs. The really strange thing is that I was able to burn a disc last night, but today it doesn't work. The only difference is that this morning I had to open a package of new blank DVDs. Memorex DVD-R, 16x, 4.7G, 120min. The same exact type of disc I used last night however the disc last night was from an old package from a few months ago, while the new package I bought last week. The only difference I can see is that the design on the face of the discs have changed, is it possible they changed the disc itself as well? I also factored out a bad batch of discs since I tried discs from another new package and that still didn't work. Is there a way to fix this or do I have to think about getting a new drive? The drivers are up to date (I needed to do that in order to use 16x discs to begin with), so I can't think of any way to fix it other than a new drive, or change my brand of discs. Any ideas?

 

Minor updates. I just bought a package of Maxell dvd-rs, just to see if maybe the brand was the problem, and I'm getting the same error. I'm really starting to think it is the drive now, and I don't know what's wrong.

 

You might want to go to HP and look for firmware updates.. sometime that will fix media issues.

 

Okay, major update. First off, I did make sure the firmware was updates, uninstalled and re-installed the drivers, and many other suggestions I found online, and nothing seemed to work. Then I seriously thought about how the only difference from when the drive worked to when it didn't was the age of the discs. I luckily found a couple old Memorex DVD + Rs from a couple years ago, and I tried one of them. Voila, it worked. So there is something about the newer discs that it doesn't like. Neither Memorex or Maxell DVD-rs work, so is there any idea as to why, and what brands should I try? The only ones I can think of that are readily available are TDK and Sony (and the generic staples brand but I don't trust those)

 

Right, usually firmware updates help with media compatiblity... but if your is the latest and still not recognizing those disks we can look at the disks with
dvd identifier. That will help you figure out just what manufacture your dvd burner likes. If you delve deeper into that site your learn how to edit the drive to be more compatible.
I had a MadDog DVD+R that had issues with a major manufacture's disks becasue in the media table they mispelled their name... after tweaking that it read more disks.

 

Ok, I downloaded DVD Identifier and tried out the different discs, and sure enough, the memorex and maxell discs are from the same manufacturer and the same id. [RITEKF1]. I also noticed under the "Drive Capabilities on this disc" tab it had "
** INFO : GET PERFORMANCE Write Speed Descriptor(s)
** WARNING : Drive Did Not Report Any Write Speed Descriptors"

I tried a couple discs that did work and they were different manufacturers and they had descriptors listed. Now that I have this information, how do I tweak my drive? The DVD identifier site didn't really help.