Can't write to my DVD RW

Factual Questions
1

OK, to make a long story short…
I can read from DVD’s, but I can’t write to an R or RW.

Computer info: 1ghz CPU, Windows XP Home Edition, 40gig HD, 1gig SDRAM

Here’s everything I’ve done: Tried two different drives (first, a Lite-On, and now a Pioneer), Completely reinstalled Windows (for a variety of problems besides this one), switched the cables around, and unplugged my Zip drive to see if maybe my power supply was too low and needed to be replaced.

About the only thing I didn’t do is switch the DVD drive from master to slave, but I seriously doubt that will make a difference.

I use InCD for my packet writing, but when I try to format a disk, I’ll get an error message, or, if I suceed, I can’t write anything to the disk. I only tried a +RW, but the drive can handle both, so I don’t think that’s the problem.

I have Nero for writting to R disks, but it gives me errors too. I have another program, forget the name, that also gives me problems. I only have -R disks to check, but again, since the drive can handle both + and -, I don’t think that makes a difference.

So, in summery, I don’t see how it could be Windows, the power supply, or the DVD themselves, because I’ve used different ones, not just the same ones over again, and since I tried two different drives, I don’t think it’s the drive either. This is pretty frustrating.

So, before I spend $60 or $80, or however much it’ll cost to have a repair shop look at my computer, does anybody have any advice? Does anybody know of any diagnostic programs I could download? Any help is appreciated, thanks.

2

I’ll give you a bump, but you seem to have things pretty much covered. I like to have my DVD burners connected via 80 wire cable, and on a separate IDE controller (you don’t say how yours is set up), but it’s not required really.

What type of error messages were they? Failure to verify, buffer errors, etc?

3

That’s OK, I usually don’t get any answers for computer problems. I just thought I’d give it a shot and hope to get lucky before having to fork over a lot of money.

Right now, I have my CD RW as the master drive, and my DVD RW as the slave. They’re both hooked up to the Primary IDE channel, using an 80 wire cable, although I didn’t check to see if it’s plugged into the ultra DMA or not. I replaced to normal 40 wire cable to see if that was the problem. The only other cable I had with two connectors was the 80 wire.

My other two IDE devices are my hard drive and Zip drive, also connected to an 80 wire cable.

Let’s see, Nero gives me an error that the burn failed, then gives an error report (I saved the most recent one) that I look at, but can’t figure out what went wrong. The last time, I had it check for the fastest speed, it said 4x was the maximum, then proceed to write at 4x, only to say the burn failed.

InCD, if I try to format will tell me to check and see if the disk is incompatible or damaged. I tried a couple of different disks. Well, both +RW. I guess I’ll try -RW, but I doubt it will help. I had a disk that was formatted on my wife’s computer, and I could read files from it, but try to copy any onto it, and the copy box pops up, but then nothing happens.

I guess my final options before taking it in to be looked at, are play with the writing speeds, although I doubt it’ll help, and try +R and -RW disks, although again, I doubt they’ll help.

Anyway, thanks for helping my thread die with a little dignity :slight_smile:

4

Has it ever worked? If so, what happened between the last time it worked and the first time it didn’t?

Can it write to CDs? Does the CD writer work/still work OK?

5

The DVD burner never worked. Either the Lite-On or Pioneer.

Put a CD RW into the CD drive, seems to work OK.
Pasted a couple of files, Pasted OK. Hmmm, disk doesn’t want to eject. I closed an InCD box in the taskbar, and now the whole task bar disappeared. Now I have to reboot. After rebooting I’ll try the experiment with the DVD drive.

6

Rebooted, checked my CD RW, nothing written on it.

Maybe InCD itself is the problem, although that wouldn’t explain my problem with R disks, just RW disks.

Oh well, I’ll just play around with my computer until the weekend, try this, try that. If I can’t get anything fixed, guess I’ll pay money and keep my fingers crossed that they figure it out.

7

Not that it matters, but to clarify, I think that box I closed was from when I opened up the D drive (the CD is labled InCD) from My Computer. When I closed the My Computer window by clicking the x, the corresponding box in the task bar never went away.

8

Remove (uninstall) the entire packet writing module and see what happens.

Also put the DVD drive on a separate channel from the CDRW and check your BIOS make sure your system is seeing the drives correctly.

9

Thanks for the help, but I decided I’m going to spend some money anyway. I don’t think InCD is the problem. And I have checked the BIOS and it recognizes the drive just fine.
I think I’ll get an ATA to USB adapter. I’ve thought about getting one anyway, so, if it helps to run the DVD RW through the USB port, great. If not, at least I’ll have the adapter, which I wanted anyway.
Thanks again for the suggestions though.

10

RW discs screw up rather easily, from scratches, fingerprints, and unreliable forced erasures. In this respect +RW discs are more robust than -RW, and name brands are better than no-name cheapies. Try with a variety of disc brands.

11

I’ll try, but I don’t think it’s the disks. I can just right click the D drive in either My Computer or Windows Explorer, and if the mouse is over the window, it’ll show that the computer is still thinking. It’ll keep doing this until I close the window, at which case the task bar disappears, and I have to reboot.