Sony VAIO VGN-AR21S drive problems

[Vandors]

I have got Sony VAIO VGN-AR21S laptop. The Blu-ray drive doesn't work properly. There are 2 problems with it.
1. It doesn't read DVD-ROM disk. Doesn't see it, however disk is readable, was perfectly read at my desktop computer and DVD recorder. The laptop and disk are brand new. Bought 2 weeks ago.
2. Every software that reguires more than 1 CD to be installed just one after another can't be installed on the laptop.
System stops responding after second CD was inserted. However seperetly all they were read perfectly. Problem happens every time. Tried restarts, full system recovery and so on. Disks all new and readable on desktop computer. Tried 3 different software with the same result.

Can you comment all this and verify if it is a laptop problem.

[kee-lo_]

I think it's to do with the game protection system, like SecureROM

[neavsie]

I've had the same problem with my AR21S since I first got it 2 weeks ago. It won't load games with multiple CDs (namely NBA Live 2005 and Simpsons Hit and Run) - they're my daughter's before anyone queries my taste!! I reported it to Sony Support on 27th Nov and they've been working on it ever since. They told me on 6th Dec that a new firmware update, posted on 6th Dec on the vaio-link website, would fix the problem but it hasn't. Still just loads Disk 1, then when it asks for Disk 2, you load it and nothing happens. I can understand that with a new Blu-Ray drive there are going to be some teething problems but maybe these should have been sorted out before the laptop got put on the market? My daughter is looking to get some new games for Xmas so it looks like I need to get them on PS2 rather than PC!! If anyone has any ideas I wil be very grateful. Someone in this post suggested copying Disk 2 to harddrive and then pointing the gameload to this. This sounds feasible but I have no idea on how to do the 'pointing' arrangement. I guess we shouldn't need to do this with a brand new £2k laptop though!!

[gbh]

As I have said before, I got over this by copying the second disk to the hard drive and when it asks for it direct it to that location, of course make sure you have the original discs otherwise you are in breach of copyright. I worked for me on Colin McRay rally 4

[rikkiblobs]

Got around the 2 cd problem by burning images of cds onto DVD and then mounted them using power iso. When it came up asking for disc 2 i mounted disc 2 on virtual drive and it worked straight away the install progress bar came up and away it went. This proves that It has got to be the drive that doesnt support multi cd installations .

[neavsie]

OK guys - Sony have finally come up with a solution for the multi-CD loading problem. Go into my computer - right click the Blu-ray drive and click properties. click the UDF reader tab and disable UDF reader. insert game disks - they should load ok now. It seems to have worked for mine. Apparently the UDF reader is to do with the Blu-ray disk and while this is enabled, the laptop is looking for it on the cd-rom and can't find it. After you've loaded the disks I assume you'll need to re-enable the UDF reader so that you can play blu-ray disks. Hope this helps. Cheers and a merry chistmas to one and all.