Problems writing CD-RW with DVD+RW

Hi Harvatom,

I have not had the chance to check this out but received an e-mail, jump over to Sonic`s site and see if there is an updated for the software.

Best Regards





God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.

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CD/RW Link

Message Edited by Predator on 10-06-2004 05:54 PM

Harvatom,

If you're using the Phillips DVD drive model 8601 (dual layer), then you're in the same boat as me and a lot of others (see earlier post dated 10-1).

After many emails and 4-5 hours of phone tech support, I was told that the drive will not *write* to CD-RW 1X-4X media. The brand of media makes no difference. The drive was replaced which resulted in no change in behavior. However, it WILL write to CD-RW 4X-10X (or higher). Also like yourself, it writes to CD-R just fine. My DVD functions are also OK.  If you have the opportunity to borrow/purchase a high speed CD-RW (4X to 10X), I bet it will work.

The spec sheet for this model drive on the Dell support page, clearly says, "...CD-RW 4X, 10X, 24X". Meaning to me that it will write an inexpensive CD-RW 4X.  Not so says Dell. "Use only high speed", I was told after I cited the spec sheet. "What is written and what actually is, are two different things" was one quote.

I disagree and the Phillips rep I talked to doesn't support OEM drives (which this is). They also are not about to jeopardize a relationship with Dell with any comments.

So far there is no firmware update for this 3 month old model. If there are any revisions to this drive, they will only be posted on the Dell's site per the Phillips rep.

My assertion is the laser lens during a wrtite is not re-aligning (or whatever it does) properly to accomodate the low speed media. It would be ludicrous to think that a new model drive won't support the tons of older media that are already in the consumer's hands. But since I'm not the designer...

With the mounting complaints, a Dell lab tech person needs to experiment with this drive with all flavors and brands of media and find out what the problem is (firmware, software, drivers, hardware, etc.). I just don't believe this is working as advertised.

Dell is installing these drives like crazy in their mid to upper machines and those folks who have the older (slower) CD-RW media are going to be in for a surprise. So are Dell's tech support when they are flooded with calls...

B

I experienced the same problem with the Philips 8601 in my new Dell Dimension 8400 -- it would not write to 4x CD-RW discs.

However, I have found a solution. I have upgraded the firmware using upgrades from Benq. The drive is now a Benq 1620 and writes beautifully to 4x CD-RW discs. It also writes to DVD-R and DVD-RW discs, which the Philips did not.

Details on what I did can be found at
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=110931

thanks a lot charliefin