4 Operator

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34.2K Posts

November 14th, 2006 22:00

Please post the model of your drive and the brand of CD and DVD media you are using. Check your drive properties (right click the drive, select properties) and tell me if you see a recording and/or DLA tab, and check the setting of each.

November 18th, 2006 00:00

dimension 3100

4 Operator

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34.2K Posts

November 18th, 2006 10:00

Let me re-phrase my questions. Please post the model of your drive (hint, check device manager) and the brand of CD and DVD media you are using. Check your drive properties (right click the drive, select properties) and tell me if you see a recording and/or DLA tab, and check the setting of each.

November 19th, 2006 23:00

i dont see a DLA tab
 
its an HL-DT-ST-DVD+-RW GWA4164B drive
 
dimension 3100

6 Posts

November 20th, 2006 00:00

I'm having the same problem with the same model cd drive (also a dimension 3100).  I am not able to write to the CD.  Any help would be appreciated.

4 Operator

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34.2K Posts

November 20th, 2006 22:00

There is a recent firmware update, download and instructions here.

4 Operator

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34.2K Posts

November 20th, 2006 22:00

noburn:

If you have the same model drive, see my post above. If not, please post the model.

6 Posts

November 22nd, 2006 16:00

I have the same exact model drive.  I tried the firmware update that you linked to above.  I also found a second update.  Neither did the trick though. 
 
Apparently, numerous people are having the same problem with this model drive (there are a lot of posts on these forums).  I called Dell, but they refuse to replace the drive since I'm passed the warranty.
 
I guess I won't be buying from Dell in the future.  Seems like there is a real problem here but Dell refuses to acknowledge it.

November 22nd, 2006 18:00

thanks for the input,.....i feel the same way, maybe i should just get them to replace it since mine is still under warranty,..... :)

4 Operator

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34.2K Posts

November 22nd, 2006 19:00

noburn:

Since you have not provided any detail whatsoever, I'm at a loss as to how to advise you. If you can supply a description of your exact issue, perhaps we can come up with some suggestions.

4 Operator

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34.2K Posts

November 22nd, 2006 19:00

Check drive properties and tell me if you see a DLA and recording tab, and the setting on each.

6 Posts

November 22nd, 2006 19:00

Ok, sorry. I'll explain. I have the same HL-DT-ST-DVD+-RW GWA4164B drive in a Dimension 3100. When I try to copy files to a blank CD, I get a message to insert a blank CD into the drive (and obviously I've already put the blank cd in the drive). The drive can read data CDs, as well as play audio CDs and DVDs. But I am unable to write to a CD (neither data nor audio will work). I have tried using Roxio CD creator as well as the copying files through Windows.

Any other ideas would be appreciated, but it appears that some others have been stuck too:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=xps_desk_cddvd&message.id=2826&c=us&l=en&cs=19&s=dhs

6 Posts

November 23rd, 2006 11:00

The DLA tab has the DLA box checked now. But I've also tried writing to a CD with the DLA box unchecked. It didn't work either way.

On the recording tab, the "Enable CD recording on this drive" box is checked. The image is to be stored on the C drive and the recording speed is set for fastest.

4 Operator

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34.2K Posts

November 23rd, 2006 12:00

Ok, disable DLA for now and let's use the Windows CD burning wizard to test this out. Open Windows Explorer, select the file(s) you want to write to the disc, right click the selected files, hover over Send to, then select CD-RW (or DVD-RW) drive. Windows will copy the files to a temporary location and a little bubble will pop up telling you there are files waiting to be written to the CD. Click that and a box will pop up showing files on the disc and files waiting to be written to the disc. Click File, Write these files to CD.
 
Please post back with the following details:
  • At what point exactly are things are not proceeding?
  • What kind of discs are you using?

4 Operator

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34.2K Posts

November 23rd, 2006 16:00

If you don't have a recording tab, then Windows does not recognize the device as a recordable drive. See if this helps.
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