I went through the one disc that Nero claimed to have successfully burned on my 8500... and I found that it was actually full of errors and unreadable files. This is on Windows XP Professional. Nero said that my disc burned without any problems, and I can read about 1/2 the files on the disc. The directory structure of the files is flawless.
However, many of the files on my burned DVD+R data disc are corrupt, and Windows refuses to copy them or read them due to CRC checksum errors.
I also tried the disc on an Inspiron 8000 (Windows 2K Professional) with a DVD drive and a Sony Vaio laptop (Windows XP Home) with a DVD drive... and the same files were unusable on each of those systems.
Is my DVD+R drive broken?
Again, I can burn CD-R discs and watch DVD's without any problems.
Thank you for using the
Dell Community Forum. The drive could be bad, but you can still try a couple things.
1.Stop all background applications to see if an application is interfearing.
2.Reinstall Nero and get the latest Nero updates from
here. 3.Try another burning program like Easy CD Creator.
If you have the same problem with another program, the drive is probably bad.
4.Remove and reseat the drive to make sure a loose connection is not causing the problem.
5.Confirm that DMA is enabled.
Win2000 and XP
Click on Start, Control Panel, System.
Click the Hardware Tab, Device Manager button.
Click the + next to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
Right click on the Primary IDE Channel and click properties.
Click the Advanced Settings Tab.
Make sure that Transfer Mode is set to DMA if Available.
You must also repeat these steps for the Secondary IDE Channel listing.
6.Turn off indexing for the drive.
To verify if a CD, DVD, CDRW drive has been indexed, perform the following;
Right Click on My Computer and choose Manage
Click the plus sign next to Applications and Services
Click the plus sign next to Indexing Service
Click the plus next to System
Select Directories
A list of directories that have been indexed will appear in the window to the right. Look for any entries that include the Drive letter of the optical device, such as D:\
If an entry for an optical device exists, perform the following action;
1. Double click on the appropriate entry
2. Select the Radio Button for No under the Include in the Index? Section
It is suggested that a reboot is performed at this time.
7.Disable Auto Insert Notification.
Win2000 and XP
Open My Computer.
Right click on your CDROM drive and click properties.
Click the Autoplay tab.
Choose the media format file type, such as Music file or Video file.
Click on the red circle for Take No Action.
Click Apply and Ok.
8.Remove the drive from device manager.
Removing the drive controllers from device manager and rebooting to let Windows reload them sometimes helps.
Win2000, WinXP:
Right click on My Computer, click on properties.
Click on the Hardware Tab.
Click the Device Manager button.
Click the + next to DVD/CDROM devices.
Right click the appropriate device entry that appears under DVD/CDROM then click Uninstall.
Perform this step for any other devices listed under the CDROM category.
Reboot the computer.
9.Reset the bios defaults if applicable on the system.
Resetting the bios defaults resets any bios settings that may have gotten corrupt.
This should allow the cdrom drive to redetect if the problem is caused by the bios.
You can find information on how to do so on the following sites:
--How do I restore the Setup Defaults on my Dell™ Inspiron™ portable computer?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=1035265
--How do I restore the Setup Defaults on my Dell™ Inspiron™ portable computer?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=FA1035265
--How do I restore setup defaults on my Dell™ Latitude™ system?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=FA1035267
10.Update your bios file to the latest version.
Go to the main Dell Support site:
https://support.dell.com/register.aspx
Input your service tag number and click "Sign in to Standard Support".
Click the Downloads button.
Under the "Select Your Download Category" section, choose "Flash Bios Updates".
Then click GO.
Click the Dell XXXX XXXX System Bios link that comes up.
Click the Dell XXXX XXXX System Bios link that comes up again.
Click on the file name XXXXXX.EXE for FLOPPY version.
Click Download Now Using HTTP.
Save the file to your desktop.
Put a blank formatted floppy in the floppy drive.
Double click the file to create the bios update boot floppy.
Once that is done, leave the floppy in the drive and reboot the system.
The bios will be updated when the system boots to the floppy.
11.Test the drive using the Dell Diagnostics.
You can find information on how to run the Dell Diagnostics on the following site:
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=1060550#toc
12.If everything fails, contact support for a replacement drive.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I upgraded to Nero 6.0.0.23 but the problem happened again. I guess if I can secure a copy of Roxio EZ DVD creator, I should give that a try.
But, I figure out a way to get a successful burn... I had to create an image (.iso) file of an entire disc before and burn the .iso instead of the separate files. I've done two DVD+R discs now and both seem trouble-free. I don't know about media dvd's though... I haven't tried to make a disc that can play in a DVD player.
Also, I had DMA enabled on my drives, but I guess there was a bottleneck somewhere and something wasn't keeping up with the burn process. I guess the DVD writer drive is fine... it's just more of an issue with my surrounding hardware not working well with the burner when it's loading files.
Oh well, now I wish I had purchased a bigger hard drive ...
I tried Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator and I get the same results .... many new DVD+R coasters. My attempts at creating images first have been met with about a 50% success rate.
Who can I / should I talk to about getting a replacement drive? I know *most* things can be solved with updates, tweaks, and hard drive reformats, but I am getting really fed up with this problem. It think it's funny how many people with the Philips unit are trying to get this _NEC drive... but it doesn't look like this one is any better
I don't get it... Dell used to be so responsive and easy to get fixes just a few years ago. What happened??
Yeah... I think I just need more evidence to the fact that I'm not a novice goof-ball when I call the support guys. I'm going to direct them to viewing this thread if I have to. I refuse to reformat my hard drive...
Anyway, here's a picture of my successes and failures. Please note... I had to boost the saturation and contrast to get the bands to appear. This image has undergone slight photo editing to get my point across.
These images show how the "burn ring" of the failures is obvious. It almost appears as if the DVD+R drive refused to move the read/write head beyond a certain point, and data was corrupted as a result.
1: DVD+R Attempt by Nero Burning ROM 6.0.0.23. Fail. Attempt was of an .iso image that could be mounted just fine using Alcohol 120%
2: DVD+R Attempt by Alcohol 120%. Fail. Same image as attempt #1. The "ribbon" on the disc looks different than on Attempt #1, but the outcome is the same... disc is useless
3: CDR attempt using Nero Burning ROM 6.0.0.0. This is a 640 MB data disc burned flawlessly at maximum speeds. Note that the outer band extends almost to the outer edge of the disc
4: DVD+R Attempt using Adaptec EZ CD & DVD creator 6. The image you see is of a successful DVD creation. Notice how the burn ring extends almost to the end of the disc. This attempt was of the same .iso image in Attempts #1 and #2. I attempted this burn two times using Adaptec. However, even though this succeeded the first time; it failed the second time. The outcome of failure is very similar to Attempts #1 and #2
I hope when some Dell support person who has the authority to send a replacement part reads this, I will get a replacement.
This is horrible... I was on hold for about 45 minutes for two separate occaisions and my call simply got terminated :(
My email to support hasn't been returned either :(
Oh well, I guess I'll work on this after Thanksgiving. Of course, by then, I'm sure there will be other issues regarding the fact that 30 days will have passed since I got a hold of this computer.
Never again with Dell personal hardware. If only my company hadn't been roped into Dell by getting those blasted Dell Poweredge Servers...
Well, I got a new drive... pretty quick delivery too :)
Unfortunately, the problem persists... although the dark "ring" around the disc looks different than the posts above.
I'm still baffled as to what is going on... Software, hardware, OS, drivers, BIOS, the media itself? I just don't know.
Oh well, I'm just going to resign myself to pretending that I didn't get a DVD+RW drive with this computer... the effort / benefit ratio isn't enough to make me keep banging my head against a wall trying to figure this out.
Do you know anyone with an Insiprion 500m, 600m, 8500, 8600?
If you do, try the DVD burning drive and software on their system.
If the drive and software works, then you know you have a software problem with your system.
At this point you may wish to reinstall Windows to get rid of whatever corruption is causing
the problem. Try another brand of DVD media if you have not already done so.
Make sure you are not doing anything else while burning the DVDs.
From everything you have tried, it sounds like there may be a problem with Windows.
But, this will definitely be verified if the drive works on another system.
Unfortunately, we either have Apple products, or older Dell hardware. I am one of the lucky ones who actually got a new computer. We have lots of the 8000-8200 Insirons though. I still work on an 8000 sometimes and I'm fairly happy with it.
I forgot to post earlier in this thread, but I have used some other DVD+R media with the same outcome. That annoying dark burn ring is in almost the exact same spot, but it looks a bit different. Very strange.
Actually, your statement about a software issue isn't necessarily true. For example, I have that D/Port docking bay, and the problems that I have with seem to be hardware related as per the posts of other users. I have re-installed Windows XP already on this computer - I did it the day I got it. I downloaded all the latest drivers I could off support.dell.com and I reinstalled XP Professional using the supplied Dell operating system disc.
I am almost certain it is not a driver issue. I just realized that all of my tests have involved fairly large DVD burning sessions; ranging from 3.8 gig to 4.4 gig.
I just tried to burn a relatively smaller, 1.5 gig ISO of particular files. It burned without a hitch, and the disc is readable just fine. It seems that as long as I don't hit that "ring threshold" where I end up with garbage, the DVD burning process works great.
I'm not looking forward to doing the exact same reinstall again in a quest to replace what could be a faulty driver. I don't see why I can't make any backups above a certain size ... and I don't know what causes that crippling burn ring as evident in the images. I might as well just stick with CDR media since it's cheaper and I'm not getting the benefit of using DVD+R at all.
If / when I come across someone else with a newer Dell laptop, I'll give this thing writer a try.
DonutDude
41 Posts
0
November 19th, 2003 18:00
As a followup...
I went through the one disc that Nero claimed to have successfully burned on my 8500... and I found that it was actually full of errors and unreadable files. This is on Windows XP Professional. Nero said that my disc burned without any problems, and I can read about 1/2 the files on the disc. The directory structure of the files is flawless.
However, many of the files on my burned DVD+R data disc are corrupt, and Windows refuses to copy them or read them due to CRC checksum errors.
I also tried the disc on an Inspiron 8000 (Windows 2K Professional) with a DVD drive and a Sony Vaio laptop (Windows XP Home) with a DVD drive... and the same files were unusable on each of those systems.
Is my DVD+R drive broken?
Again, I can burn CD-R discs and watch DVD's without any problems.
Karell
2 Intern
•
2.5K Posts
0
November 20th, 2003 12:00
Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.
The drive could be bad, but you can still try a couple things.
1.Stop all background applications to see if an application is interfearing.
2.Reinstall Nero and get the latest Nero updates from here.
3.Try another burning program like Easy CD Creator.
If you have the same problem with another program, the drive is probably bad.
4.Remove and reseat the drive to make sure a loose connection is not causing the problem.
5.Confirm that DMA is enabled.
Win2000 and XP
Click on Start, Control Panel, System.
Click the Hardware Tab, Device Manager button.
Click the + next to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
Right click on the Primary IDE Channel and click properties.
Click the Advanced Settings Tab.
Make sure that Transfer Mode is set to DMA if Available.
You must also repeat these steps for the Secondary IDE Channel listing.
6.Turn off indexing for the drive.
To verify if a CD, DVD, CDRW drive has been indexed, perform the following;
Right Click on My Computer and choose Manage
Click the plus sign next to Applications and Services
Click the plus sign next to Indexing Service
Click the plus next to System
Select Directories
A list of directories that have been indexed will appear in the window to the right. Look for any entries that include the Drive letter of the optical device, such as D:\
If an entry for an optical device exists, perform the following action;
1. Double click on the appropriate entry
2. Select the Radio Button for No under the Include in the Index? Section
It is suggested that a reboot is performed at this time.
7.Disable Auto Insert Notification.
Win2000 and XP
Open My Computer.
Right click on your CDROM drive and click properties.
Click the Autoplay tab.
Choose the media format file type, such as Music file or Video file.
Click on the red circle for Take No Action.
Click Apply and Ok.
8.Remove the drive from device manager.
Removing the drive controllers from device manager and rebooting to let Windows reload them sometimes helps.
Win2000, WinXP:
Right click on My Computer, click on properties.
Click on the Hardware Tab.
Click the Device Manager button.
Click the + next to DVD/CDROM devices.
Right click the appropriate device entry that appears under DVD/CDROM then click Uninstall.
Perform this step for any other devices listed under the CDROM category.
Reboot the computer.
9.Reset the bios defaults if applicable on the system.
Resetting the bios defaults resets any bios settings that may have gotten corrupt.
This should allow the cdrom drive to redetect if the problem is caused by the bios.
You can find information on how to do so on the following sites:
--How do I restore the Setup Defaults on my Dell™ Inspiron™ portable computer?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=1035265
--How do I restore the Setup Defaults on my Dell™ Inspiron™ portable computer?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=FA1035265
--How do I restore setup defaults on my Dell™ Latitude™ system?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=FA1035267
10.Update your bios file to the latest version.
Go to the main Dell Support site:
https://support.dell.com/register.aspx
Input your service tag number and click "Sign in to Standard Support".
Click the Downloads button.
Under the "Select Your Download Category" section, choose "Flash Bios Updates".
Then click GO.
Click the Dell XXXX XXXX System Bios link that comes up.
Click the Dell XXXX XXXX System Bios link that comes up again.
Click on the file name XXXXXX.EXE for FLOPPY version.
Click Download Now Using HTTP.
Save the file to your desktop.
Put a blank formatted floppy in the floppy drive.
Double click the file to create the bios update boot floppy.
Once that is done, leave the floppy in the drive and reboot the system.
The bios will be updated when the system boots to the floppy.
11.Test the drive using the Dell Diagnostics.
You can find information on how to run the Dell Diagnostics on the following site:
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=1060550#toc
12.If everything fails, contact support for a replacement drive.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
DonutDude
41 Posts
0
November 20th, 2003 21:00
I upgraded to Nero 6.0.0.23 but the problem happened again. I guess if I can secure a copy of Roxio EZ DVD creator, I should give that a try.
But, I figure out a way to get a successful burn... I had to create an image (.iso) file of an entire disc before and burn the .iso instead of the separate files. I've done two DVD+R discs now and both seem trouble-free. I don't know about media dvd's though... I haven't tried to make a disc that can play in a DVD player.
Also, I had DMA enabled on my drives, but I guess there was a bottleneck somewhere and something wasn't keeping up with the burn process. I guess the DVD writer drive is fine... it's just more of an issue with my surrounding hardware not working well with the burner when it's loading files.
Oh well, now I wish I had purchased a bigger hard drive ...
DonutDude
41 Posts
0
November 21st, 2003 14:00
So tired...
I tried Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator and I get the same results .... many new DVD+R coasters. My attempts at creating images first have been met with about a 50% success rate.
Who can I / should I talk to about getting a replacement drive? I know *most* things can be solved with updates, tweaks, and hard drive reformats, but I am getting really fed up with this problem. It think it's funny how many people with the Philips unit are trying to get this _NEC drive... but it doesn't look like this one is any better
I don't get it... Dell used to be so responsive and easy to get fixes just a few years ago. What happened??
Karell
2 Intern
•
2.5K Posts
0
November 21st, 2003 17:00
Just contact support to get a replacement drive.
Make sure to tell them *everything* you have tried to get this drive working.
DonutDude
41 Posts
0
November 21st, 2003 18:00
Yeah... I think I just need more evidence to the fact that I'm not a novice goof-ball when I call the support guys. I'm going to direct them to viewing this thread if I have to. I refuse to reformat my hard drive...
Anyway, here's a picture of my successes and failures. Please note... I had to boost the saturation and contrast to get the bands to appear. This image has undergone slight photo editing to get my point across.
These images show how the "burn ring" of the failures is obvious. It almost appears as if the DVD+R drive refused to move the read/write head beyond a certain point, and data was corrupted as a result.
1: DVD+R Attempt by Nero Burning ROM 6.0.0.23. Fail. Attempt was of an .iso image that could be mounted just fine using Alcohol 120%
2: DVD+R Attempt by Alcohol 120%. Fail. Same image as attempt #1. The "ribbon" on the disc looks different than on Attempt #1, but the outcome is the same... disc is useless
3: CDR attempt using Nero Burning ROM 6.0.0.0. This is a 640 MB data disc burned flawlessly at maximum speeds. Note that the outer band extends almost to the outer edge of the disc
4: DVD+R Attempt using Adaptec EZ CD & DVD creator 6. The image you see is of a successful DVD creation. Notice how the burn ring extends almost to the end of the disc. This attempt was of the same .iso image in Attempts #1 and #2. I attempted this burn two times using Adaptec. However, even though this succeeded the first time; it failed the second time. The outcome of failure is very similar to Attempts #1 and #2
I hope when some Dell support person who has the authority to send a replacement part reads this, I will get a replacement.
DonutDude
41 Posts
0
November 25th, 2003 18:00
This is horrible... I was on hold for about 45 minutes for two separate occaisions and my call simply got terminated :(
My email to support hasn't been returned either :(
Oh well, I guess I'll work on this after Thanksgiving. Of course, by then, I'm sure there will be other issues regarding the fact that 30 days will have passed since I got a hold of this computer.
Never again with Dell personal hardware. If only my company hadn't been roped into Dell by getting those blasted Dell Poweredge Servers...
DonutDude
41 Posts
0
December 8th, 2003 23:00
Unfortunately, the problem persists... although the dark "ring" around the disc looks different than the posts above.
I'm still baffled as to what is going on... Software, hardware, OS, drivers, BIOS, the media itself? I just don't know.
Oh well, I'm just going to resign myself to pretending that I didn't get a DVD+RW drive with this computer... the effort / benefit ratio isn't enough to make me keep banging my head against a wall trying to figure this out.
Karell
2 Intern
•
2.5K Posts
0
December 9th, 2003 13:00
Do you know anyone with an Insiprion 500m, 600m, 8500, 8600?
If you do, try the DVD burning drive and software on their system.
If the drive and software works, then you know you have a software problem with your system.
At this point you may wish to reinstall Windows to get rid of whatever corruption is causing
the problem. Try another brand of DVD media if you have not already done so.
Make sure you are not doing anything else while burning the DVDs.
From everything you have tried, it sounds like there may be a problem with Windows.
But, this will definitely be verified if the drive works on another system.
DonutDude
41 Posts
0
December 9th, 2003 16:00
Unfortunately, we either have Apple products, or older Dell hardware. I am one of the lucky ones who actually got a new computer. We have lots of the 8000-8200 Insirons though. I still work on an 8000 sometimes and I'm fairly happy with it.
I forgot to post earlier in this thread, but I have used some other DVD+R media with the same outcome. That annoying dark burn ring is in almost the exact same spot, but it looks a bit different. Very strange.
Actually, your statement about a software issue isn't necessarily true. For example, I have that D/Port docking bay, and the problems that I have with seem to be hardware related as per the posts of other users. I have re-installed Windows XP already on this computer - I did it the day I got it. I downloaded all the latest drivers I could off support.dell.com and I reinstalled XP Professional using the supplied Dell operating system disc.
I am almost certain it is not a driver issue. I just realized that all of my tests have involved fairly large DVD burning sessions; ranging from 3.8 gig to 4.4 gig.
I just tried to burn a relatively smaller, 1.5 gig ISO of particular files. It burned without a hitch, and the disc is readable just fine. It seems that as long as I don't hit that "ring threshold" where I end up with garbage, the DVD burning process works great.
I'm not looking forward to doing the exact same reinstall again in a quest to replace what could be a faulty driver. I don't see why I can't make any backups above a certain size ... and I don't know what causes that crippling burn ring as evident in the images. I might as well just stick with CDR media since it's cheaper and I'm not getting the benefit of using DVD+R at all.
If / when I come across someone else with a newer Dell laptop, I'll give this thing writer a try.