Hi there,

Do you have the latest firmware installed on your Philips DVD8631 ?

(A03 / CD21) is the latest firmware for it.

I have 0 problems with this firmware and Nero Burning Rom.

To work in a DVD Player, your dvd media has to be burned as a Video-DVD (AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS directories).

But like you said, if it worked at a friends house, it was probably burned in the right format. Just wanted to make sure !

 

My 2 cents worth !

Yes, i did install the firmware, but it hasn't helped. b/c my burned dvds do work on some dvd players, i do think i am doing it right. after researching my philips drive on this site, i see that many many people have problems with it. i am currently trying to get a replacement, but they want to give me the same exact drive. if that is all they can do for me, i will insist they give me $ back for the drive, put in the standard cd-r drive and i will buy and install my own dvd-rw. i would rather not do that, but putting the same philips drive in won't fix my issues.

Hi nmr1279,

Yes there have been a number of issues with this drive, some Members have actually had good success flashing back to BD10. Dell also released a BIOS update for your 4700 to address ATAPI detection issues, you may wish to try it.

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

I have a Dimension 8400 purchased in January 2005 with a PHILIPS DVD+-RW DVD8631  flash version 9D03 and am having basically the same problems -- I can't reliably burn a DVD-R that will read on my Toshiba DVD player, yet using the same media and software (copy program / Nero demo for the burner),  I can burn disks using my Plextor 708A.  My el-cheapo Apex DVD player is able to read the disks (I think it uses a computer style DVD drive), but still requires a much longer time to initially recognize the disks. The only thing I can't try is slowing the write speed down below 4X -- any options to do this?

Should I jump on Dell to replace the drive with a non-Philips drive, or go through the pain of tweaking parameters, un-installing Sonic, etc?

One of the reasons I went with Dell rather than building my own is to avoid this sort of component and software incompatabilties -- how ironic:)

Regards,

Jamie

Hi Jamie,

Considering eveything we have seen in here with this drive, my nickel would be to report the drive as bad and politely request a non-Philips drive replacement...

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.

---

CD/RW Link

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@nmr1279 wrote:
A few weeks ago, a technician came out and replaced my Phillips drive with an NEC. When I initially requested a new drive, the dell guy was trying to tell me that they only have the same Phillips drives available. I told him about these message boards and how people were saying how they have received NEC replacement drives. I told him they will just have to come back out to my house and keep replacing the Phillips b/c I am not going to stop calling until it is fixed....after I said that, the NEC was miraculously available, but couldn't tell me the model # or any features. I didn't care...just wanted a different drive. They came and installed and now everything is great. I have had no problems with the disks I burn not working on any standalones. I just hope they stop installing those faulty Phillips drives since they are getting so many complaints. I still can't believe when I called initially with this problem, they had the nerve to tell me, after putting me on hold and doing 20 minutes of “research” on my problem, that I was the FIRST person to complain about this!! I would appreciate not being lied to. Just so glad to have this taken care of. Best of luck.....just wanted to let you know that you can get a NEC, even if they try to say they don't have them. Be nice and persistent.

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Thanks for the update. It is important for others to know that
it is not them but the drive. :-)

A few weeks ago, a technician came out and replaced my Phillips drive with an NEC. When I initially requested a new drive, the dell guy was trying to tell me that they only have the same Phillips drives available. I told him about these message boards and how people were saying how they have received NEC replacement drives. I told him they will just have to come back out to my house and keep replacing the Phillips b/c I am not going to stop calling until it is fixed....after I said that, the NEC was miraculously available, but couldn't tell me the model # or any features. I didn't care...just wanted a different drive. They came and installed and now everything is great. I have had no problems with the disks I burn not working on any standalones. I just hope they stop installing those faulty Phillips drives since they are getting so many complaints. I still can't believe when I called initially with this problem, they had the nerve to tell me, after putting me on hold and doing 20 minutes of “research” on my problem, that I was the FIRST person to complain about this!! I would appreciate not being lied to. Just so glad to have this taken care of. Best of luck.....just wanted to let you know that you can get a NEC, even if they try to say they don't have them. Be nice and persistent.

Hi nmr,

Ditto with what Ieee said,
glad you are happy!

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.

---

CD/RW Link