[starchild]

I have a DELL XPS 400 pc (WIN XP Media Edition) I got Feb 2006.

Just ran Belarc Advisor and it says for the drives

HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GWA4164B [CD-ROM drive]
SONY DVD-ROM DDU1615 [CD-ROM drive]

I've looked these up online before, trying to find out what speed they are (couldn't find this) and kept getting websites that people said how they're not good. Well, the DVD burner drive. I've also looked for updates for drivers, but don't seem to be any.

It seemed to be working good, I'd buy whatever blank discs were onsale, it didn't seem to matter if they're + or - (the drive says it uses both)

Lately, there have been more dvds that don't work with this. The burner drive keeps saying "please insert recordable blank media" to write on.

Started a few months ago with Memorex cds, I asked about it here and learned this is (supposedly) the worst brand to buy.

Someone gave me a pack of IMATION ones (-R) the drive wouldn't pick up on. I thought it was because it says 16X on it. Thus I tried to find out what speed my drive is, and couldn't find this anywhere (can't find the paperwork that came with the computer at the start) I remember having problems with my previous computer burning CDs if the disk speed was higher than my drive. Gave them to my grandson, who says they work on his (PC he got 2 years ago on sale at Walmart) But, when he used them to burn something for me, it won't open it on my PC (either drive)

Got a small pack of Fujifilm +R says 1x-16x and these worked.

Went back and got 3 more packs (they were on sale) but all they had left were -R. Since my drive has used both kinds I got them. 1x-16x on them

The cd burner now says to insert a rewritable CD again. I gave some to my grandson, who again says they work on his.

I take a lot of big pictures and save them on dvds to take them off the harddrive, and yesterday couldn't get the burner to recognize a blank dvd to write on. It read the files from my PC but stopped at the writing. I finally found one of the old Memorex +R ones (that hadn't worked good) put that in and it worked.

I have a cd cleaner disk (little brushes on it) I've trried using. The burner drive works fine with the cleaner disk, and also already recorded cds. Though it won't work with anything on the brands/kinds it won't write on.

Is this the blank media I'm using, or the burner? And if it's the burner, others don't seem to have this problem with only certain brands working?

When I first got the PC I bought any kind, and they all seemed to work. I don't have many places to buy blank dvds, except online and the shipping is so high with that. Friday I'm going to get another brand (Sony) and see how those work.

If I should get another burner drive, can someone suggest a good one (that's also affordable) point me in the direction of where it is? Good place to buy one? Ones that are on sale right now won't work because I have to wait till Feb to buy anything. But, unless there is something else I can be doing, to get this to work better, i could be looking around?

Few years ago, I got a cd burner drive for the pc I had then, and someone on this board gave me a link to one ($33) I got, put it in and it worked fine. That PC didn't have a burner drive before.

One thing I like about this DELL, it has the easier to open case I've ever seen. Just squeeze a place on top and it swings out. It shouldn't be all that hard to replace the burner drive if that's the problem?

Thanks,
Carrie

 

[MysticEyes]

Well first off going by Brand name doesn't mean too much. Country of Origin is more important. A Fuji, Sony, Imation made in Taiwan will be different than one made in Japan. I've had Imation brand discs made by Fuji and Fuji brand discs made by ProDisc. In the long run it's best to stick with what works, but that can be difficult as the same Brand name 8X discs might be made by a different maker than their 16X discs. Many time regardless of the Brand name they are, if made in Taiwan they will all be the same disc, CMC.

This free app will tell you who the real maker is.

http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/

When using it look right after your drive listing for [FW XXXXX], this will show what Firmware is installed.

You can check to see if you have the latest version installed E113, which is available here.

http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/FIRMWARE/LG/LG-GWA-4164B-Dell-OEM-E113.shtml

Your drive is made by LG but to Dell's specs, hence you won't find any firmware for it at LG.

A Firmware update may help as usually they contain honed writing stategies for newer discs.

I would first try going into Device Manager, find the burner, right click on it and choose Uninstall, reboot and see if this corrects things. If still no joy try a Firmware update (if yours is lower than E113).

From what you've posted it seems like a new drive is in order. Drives are cheap. Most of these should work well (I'd avoid Samsung and Plextor). You can also read the customer reviews.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...010100005+1036506653&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=5

As far as cheap quality media these are hard to beat.

http://www.supermediastore.com/taiyo-yuden-8x-dvd-r-media-value-line.html

If buying locally Verbatim -R's are great (the only very good media from Taiwan). They cost a bit more though.

 

[starchild]

Thanks, I will go over this and see what i can do.

If I uninstall the drive, then it will reinstall again?

one problem I have is I don't have much locally where I can buy blank cds/dvds, we have a Walmart (that is changing into a Sam's Club) about 20 miles away. And Staples, I have used Staples brand (cds) but they wouldn't work on my old WIN 98 PC (cd burner)

Seems like I've had Memorex (and Sony, which I was planning to try next) blank dvds that worked at one time.

I'll see what I can figure out from your links. Maybe look for a new drive next month.

i just wnat things to work!

 

[MysticEyes]

If buying locally Verbatim -R's are great

I buy them at Sam's Club.

 

[belithrawien]

Should be an LG burner, I have that one also. Same problems. Even after finally finding a firmware update for it. It locks all the time now and I have to end explorer and restart it to open the drive. Have bought a pioneer as I hear these are good ones. Haven't installed it yet however. Sorry it isn't much help but after searching about the web for the brand/model, seems it's very bad quality.

 

[MysticEyes]

Should be an LG burner, I have that one also. Same problems. Even after finally finding a firmware update for it.

Your drive is made by LG but to Dell's specs

 

[belithrawien]

Missed that, my fault, sorry.

 

[starchild]

Update... I decided to get a new burner drive (trying to make something work is so frustrating)

I'm limited to what I get unless I order online, and pay shipping and wait. My grandson (age 19)knows about this stuff so said he'd get me one at Walmart. Our Walmart is closing (and reopening as Sam's Club) and I don't think they are restocking. He said all they had was one (he got) 16X LITEON internal DVD+/+RW ReWriter (the + have underlines under them so maybe + and -) Double layer/dual layer.

New, should work great.

First of all my One Click DVD burner doesn't seem to pick up on it. It keeps saying to choose a destination drive, from the drop down menu and there's nothing there.

I have Clone DVD2 also, and this works, but a lot of the time it says (like the old drive did) "please insert a blank disk" when it comes to the WRITING part. Not all the time, sometimes. Sometimes I try again, or try the other brand and at some point it picks up on it and writes it.

I have several different brands, one Sony -R (says 1x-16x) and the fujifilm DVD-R that also say 1x- 16x. These wouldn't work with my old burner.

I don't have a lot of money, and this month opted to get the new burner instead of buying more blank DVDs (ones recommended here) Which will be my NEXT move.

But, I got the Dell computer a year ago this month, and up till recently any dvds would burn in it. And, seems like they should with the new drive?

My grandson got a computer (think it's emachine?) from Walmart on sale, 3 years ago.

I give him the blank dvds that mine won't use and they work fine on his. He says he's never had a dvd that wouldn't work on it.

I can't even say Dell probably put in cheap burner drives, because now I have another one in it.

My grandson put it in, and I had him check the master/slave settings, he said he put it on the same as the previous one, and both the drives are set on an auto setting. So, the new one is set the same as the one he took out.

I can probably keep trying different dvds till I find ones that always work (like they did when I first got my Dell PC and the burner I put in my previous computer, which is cd burning only, and LiteOn brand) It's just frustrating. I'm thinking maybe the planets are lined up wrong or Mercury is retrograde, or something.

I keep thinking "I want things to WORK!"

 

[MysticEyes]

Get Nero InfoTool and run it.

Post a screen shot of your Configuration tab.

http://www.cdspeed2000.com/go.php3?link=download.html

Here's one of mine.

 

[starchild]

Like this?

 

[MysticEyes]

Well hopefully some else will chime in. That's a most unorthodox set up. If you compare it to mine (typical set up) you'll note major differences.

To have your opticals on the Primary and your HD on the Secondary is not common practice. Has someone worked on your rig? I can't imagine a factory rig being set up that way.

What I would try first is to pull your Sony DVD-Rom completely. Hook up the Lite-on to the end of the IDE cable and make sure it's set to CS (cable select).

 

[starchild]

The only one who worked on it was my grandson, last week when he put the new dvd drive in (replacing the one that I got from Dell). I was here when he did it and he replaced it just the way it had been. I made sure he checked the jumpers and he said both were set as CS cable select.

I have only put in one drive, myself)few years ago) a new cd burner in a previous computer and one drive was master and one was slave and I put the new one the way the old one was.

You're saying you think the plugs on the cable should be switched? i don't remember how they went, but seems like the end one would go to the top drive (the D drive) just going by how they reach. Nothing was done to the Sony DVD-Rom, which is in the top space. Just the burner (E) was replace in the space under it.

The problem I have with working on this stuff is I'm at the age where I can't see things good up close and have a hard time getting the little screws in place.

But, I can give it a try tomorrow.

When I first got the pc a year ago, it seemed to work good and burn DVDs using whatever ones I bought. When I first wrote this post it had started to not work, at least with the blank DVDs I had.

After I unplug the Sony, and plug the end of the cable on the Lite-on then what?

I'll check in, in the morning and see if there's anything new.

Except for the basic idea that the cables plus in, and (I thought) one is master and one is slave, I don't really know much about this.

Except for opening it up and blowing dust out of it, changing the dvd burnder drive was the first/only thing I've don or had done since I got it. And, as I said, I thought it was replaced the same way it had been.

 

[starchild]

I haven't done anything yet, not sure what to do. If I plug in the top plug in the new liteOn drive, then what? I need both drives going to see if it picks up on the blank dvd and writes on it. Sometimes it does do this (I assumed it was the brand or kind of blank dvd, but at one time everything worked. It was the old dvd burner that stopped picking up on them, and the new one is doing the same. Not all the time, just most of the time) Nothing in the plug ins and settings was changed that I know of.

To have your opticals on the Primary and your HD on the Secondary is not common practice

I was reading through the post again this morning and don't know what this means.

All I can see in the chart is the drives and how they are set up, and it doesn't seem much different than yours (to me) Just that you have another (slave) at the end of it and I don't.

All I did was buy the pc from DELL (and get the dvd burner drive with it) and it worked for almost a year, then stopped picking up on (some) blank disks, but it still would on some of the old disks I had on hand, so I thought it was the brand and type.

I bought a new dvd burner drive, and it's doing the same thing. Not quite as bad, so a lot of times will say "please insert a blank disk" when there is one in it. Sometimes when I keep trying it, it will finally pick up on the blank and write on it.

There must be something wrong in the PC (settings) because a new drive should work better than this. it is 16X and the disks I have now say 1x- 16x on them.

Just recapping the overall situation.

 

[MysticEyes]

To have your opticals on the Primary and your HD on the Secondary is not common practice

I was reading through the post again this morning and don't know what this means.

All I can see in the chart is the drives and how they are set up, and it doesn't seem much different than yours (to me) Just that you have another (slave) at the end of it and I don't.

Your rig set up is very different from mine.

Primary IDE, is where the hard drives usually are... not the opticals (burner, DVD-ROM). As I stated that is the way I've always seen things set up, hence the question has anyone been in your rig and by chance reversed/switched the IDE cables. I can't say for sure sure if this makes a difference, but I find it most unusual. I was hoping someone else would read this and verify that Dell does indeed put opticals on the Primary and hard drives on the Secondary (where the hell is everyone?).

Some burner makers recommend that their burner be set as Master, that is not to say that they won't work set to Slave, as in your configuration, hence my suggestion to try using your new burner set to Master (it seems Dell's prefer CS, setting the burner to CS and attaching it to the end of the IDE cable makes it Master). Eliminating the Sony DVD-ROM was just for testing purposes, if the burner was to work as Master you would then reconnect it to the center IDE connection and see if things still work.

My only other suggestion is to contact Dell and verify that the Primary/Secondary IDE configuration is correct then use any Restore discs that came with your computer.

 

[wtxcowboy]

Starchild: my Dell configuration looks just like yours. I haven't done anything to mine except replace both optical drives... have you called Dell to ask them ?'s? They could be of help

 

[starchild]

I talked to my grandson, who put in the new burner and he said he put it in exactly like the one he had taken out.

Tomorrow he is coming here and will try changing it like you say. Changing the cables will then make the burner drive the D drive? This is what happened with my previous computer when I put in a CD Burner (it had only had the cd-rom drive, which was D before) After I put it in the cd burner was D and the cd-rom that had been D was E (slave) Going by this the burner drive was the master.

I don't know about what the hardrive is on, as I said this is how it's always been, unless it somehow changed itself in the settings.

I'm not really sure how to contact Dell and what to ask them, can I email them, or are they easy to get hold of by phone? I don't remember the exact date I got this (in Feb 06) but can I call and ask, if the year guarantee is up?

It worked when I got it. Nobody did anything to change it. All that was done is the new burner put in, the same way the old one h ad been.

I didn't get any restore disk with it, I think it has a restore option built in? It had a paper with it with a picture of a restore disk on it and said if it needs to be restored it has it all built in.

If I do this, will I lose all my files, programs, etc or will it just restore the OS?

I finally got so I had WIN 98 and 98SE figured out fairly well, even settings like the BIOS, etc but this is XP and not sure it's the same. I always got a restore CD with the 98 ones But it would wipe the hardrive and I'd lose all.

With this one, XP and now you say it's not set up the way it should be, I'm confused.

Maybe someone who knows about Dells will read this and help?

~ Carrie

 

[starchild]

Starchild: my Dell configuration looks just like yours. I haven't done anything to mine except replace both optical drives... have you called Dell to ask them ?'s? They could be of help

I guess that's good, if yours looks like mine. I don't feel so alone and weird

It's only burning DVDs that's been the problem, and even that didn't start till about a month ago (and I'd had the pc for almost a year then). I first thought it was the dvds (but I'd used all brands before that) then replaced the burner and still a problem (though not as bad- it sometimes works now (LOL)

just recapping, seems like it must be the settings or set up, not the burner(s)

Could something, another program, be interfering with it? Isn't there someplace in the programs or settings that shows if 2 programs are a problem together? aren't compatible?

I got so I knew more about Win 98, but this is XP. And, apparently Dell sets them up differently, too.

I haven't called Dell, wasn't sure what I wanted to know. And, the past week has been kind of hectic with 2 days of snow (30") and various problems with the house (furnace not working, etc) that distracted me from the computer.

Maybe it's the planets...

 

[wtxcowboy]

LOL... like they say, when it rains, it pours but if/when u call dell, u'll need ur svc tag # which is located on ur tower or u can use that # & go 2 dell's website & look up ur specific pc & use their diagnostic tool from there. since it's been barely a yr since u purchased ur pc, if it's not exactly a yr, it's still under warranty. but since u've changed a drive, i imagine that's voided the warranty, but dell still should be able 2 walk u thru diagnosing ur issues. doesn't make sense 2 me why ur having such a prob, like i said in my prev post, all i did 2 mine was change the drives, i didn't mess with any wires or anything else. just made sure the jumpers on back of the drives were in the correct position & windows did the rest. maybe it's time 2 just take a break from it & deal with ur home issues & let the computer rest on the back burner 4 a while? good luck

 

[starchild]

I didn't change anything either. When my grandson (who is 19 and has worked on is own computer) put in the new drive, he just changed it, put it in the same and made sure the jumpers were the same. (I put in a CD burner in my old computer a few years ago, so had learned about jumpers) I could have done it, but as I said, getting to the age where I can't see good upclose and the tiny screws and plugs are a challenge. (picture me with a flashlight under my chin and a magnifying glass in my teeth trying to fit plugs and little screws in (LOL)
the house is delt with for now (I hope) today's project was getting the 3' or so of snow off the porch roofs so it wouldn't collapse them and getting a path out to the mailbox on the street.
But, i have heat (and water- my artesian well pump froze last week, first time in 10 years since I've lived here. Too cold out without enough snow... that was BEFORE the 30" of snow (LOL)
I know, I don't have to worry about this tonight or figure it or or deal with Dell.

Tomorrow when grandson comes we'll try switching the cables. I don't know about the hd not being on the right ide connection nobody's done anything to the hd.

Have been taking notes and printing all this out

What I was thinking of was hardware conflicts and I think those are to do with ports and port setting and not cd/dvd drives.

I did get a new printer and put it in about a month ago, though I can't pinpoint it being when the dvd problems started. Had a Canon Pixma ip 4200 and got a 6000D (so much better!) I don't think this would have anything to do with the dvds not picking up.

Sort of like going over everything it might be, could be- and sometimes these things fix themselves and I never know why (LOL)

if I restore the OS using the built in Windows XP system (all I have) will I lose files and programs? Can I do it with just the OS? If so, it might help. Tomorrow will get the cable plugs changed. Makes sense that the burner would be master (that's how the cd burner I put in my previous computer ended up. That had only one drive (CD-ROM) to start I put in the burner)

Thanks... Sometimes I think I am starting to know something about all this, and then something new comes along (or a new OS or virus or something) to show me I don't.

And tomorrow is another day.

 

[wtxcowboy]

if u use dell's recovery option, F11 i think, it will take ur pc back 2 "as shipped" meaning anything u've added since then, window's updates, programs, files etc will be wiped out. so if ur cd burner is working, u might want 2 burn some cd's with ur pix files etc b4 doing that. but i'd still give dell a call & ask them what's up with ur pc. it sounds 2 me like it's under warranty & why wouldn't u be letting them fix it 4 free anyway instead of puttin in ur own burner?