DVD/CD not working on Sony DW-D56A

[avalancha]

In short:

I bought a VAIO A317M with a SONY DVD+-DL BURNER type DW-56A. I made my backup copies after the first start, formatted the partitions (including the hidden one), installed Win XP Pro.

Now:
Win XP Pro SP2 with all Updates
Nero Burning Rom 6.6.0.12
The newest Firmware for the burner: PSF2 (according to Nero Info Tool) is already in place

Problem:
With most CD/DVD media it has problems reading. Most of the time it acts like there was NO CD at all in the drive. It tries to read the CDs several times - no result.
Tried all kinds of media - including expensive Fuji, TDK, Verbatim etc. Even original DVD movies dont initialize properly. The drive reads around 30secs before it can recognise them.

So what 2 do?? The laptop has been in use for only a couple of days now. Installing from my burned CDR and DVD-R worked well - but now suddenly it can hardy read ANY media. I dont want to go back to the original XP Home Edition.

Any ideaa please???? Thank u all

[dabel]

Hi, the problem described is DEFINITELY nothing to do with the configuration described. I use EXACTLY the same one (XP Pro SP2, latest Nero, latest FW) on my A317M and everything works fine. Seems more like a HW problem to me... if your notebook is only a couple of days old, go back to the shop where you bought it and get another one...

I'm just thinking... with my previous notebook, I got huge problems after installing and later deinstalling ASPI drivers. After deinstallation of ASPI, the CD writer has become really unpredictable.

[avalancha]

Hi, the problem described is DEFINITELY nothing to do with the configuration described. I use EXACTLY the same one (XP Pro SP2, latest Nero, latest FW) on my A317M and everything works fine. Seems more like a HW problem to me... if your notebook is only a couple of days old, go back to the shop where you bought it and get another one...

I'm just thinking... with my previous notebook, I got huge problems after installing and later deinstalling ASPI drivers. After deinstallation of ASPI, the CD writer has become really unpredictable.

Thats what thought - problem is that I bought it via Ebay from a shop in Slovakia - too far away to just go by and ask for help or another A317m. And (its just a guess but I think a good one) I believe the seller will just point to Sony's warranty if I ask him.

@ASPI: After I installed XP Pro I only had the ASPI driver from Nero on my system. After the problems with the drive began I installed the additional ASPI drivers for Windows XP (Adaptec Version 4.6) --> didn't change anything 😞

any1 else?!

[avalancha]

I really hope to find some experts in here - most of the time users know more than those so-called experts at support-callcenters. I dont want to answer stupid questions like

-- r u usinf antivirus-progs?
-- u know what spyware is?
-- you have checked for updates?

Somebody HAS 2 know it - just cant believe that after 4 days of usage a brand new SONY burner stops working... thought I went with QUALITY by bying a VAIO. 😞

[kee-lo_]

Nice of you to say that :smileygrin:

I can't really think of anything else, as ASPI didn't seem to work, a lot of these cases end up with Sony fixing them.

Have you ran Windows Update lately, as a lot of people have had problems with certain updates?

[avalancha]

yes - I took all necessary updates except for the .NET 1.1 application - it just didn't want to install that one - the whole installation process froze around 50%... but as I don't need the .NET crap, I just leave that away.

As I wrote: it's all up to date - Firmware, proggies and WIN XP...

[kee-lo_]

I didn't bother with that update

[AMDFreakDE]

Hi!

I have the same problem! After first start I've burned the recovery-dvd, deleted all partitions and installed WinXP Pro SP2.
After updating Firmware my DVD burns only CDs but no DVD! If I use the drive (copying some files, play music-cd, watch DVD) the system hangs like 100% CPU-Usage and I can't do anything.
I think the problem is the firmware, because after updating my DVD-burner uses only PIO-Mode, not DMA!
Is there any way to downgrade the firmware to the old? Or is there any other way I can make my DVD run properly?
I have the VAIO VGN-A317M...

Greets AMDFreakDE


PS: Sorry for my bad english, I hope you can understand my post...

[avalancha]

Hi AMDFREAK

Guess its a hardware problem - cant even boot from a CD, so right after start the drive doesnt work/read anymore.
I filed a report with Sony and just called them - they will probably replace the drive. Don't know how long that takes - hope it'll be done within a couple of working days...

Good luck!

[jammold]

Just for information, once you install a firmware update you cannot get rid of it or roll back to the old version!

@Avalancha
What I would do is remove each update one by one, reset the computer between each, and test CD/DVD functionality. If you find the problem disappears it is a software issue. It is worth a try to see if this cures any issues in WIndows. Also remember to test all types of media reading and writing to them between removing the updates.

If it still persists it is a hardware issue. If the system cannot boot from a CD as you suggested then it does suggest a hardware issue.

I wonder if IMAPI.EXE (the Image Mastering Application Programming Interface) along with the CDROM.SYS driver is causing problems in an SP2 interface.

It is not the first time a Microsoft update stopped hardware from working - I speak from experience!