Can't read DVDs

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
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Dave Taylor
My 1yo Toshiba Tecra (Intel Centrino, Win XP Pro) laptop will play a dvd fine but it won't recognize the new DVD-Rs I bought.
When I put one in, it spins up then stops.
If I click on the CD drive(D:) icon it says "Windows Explorer Incorrect Function D\: not accessible".

Several of the new disks in this Imation pkg do this.

When I install them in my wife's 2yo IBM it asks if you want to format them so I do...and they can be written to just fine.

I know the Toshiba laptop is capable; I asked for max functionality in the dvd domain including DL write/read capability.
 
I have had similar problems twice that turned out to be that the DVD drive itself failed and had to be replaced. But I did not get the same error message, so don't go throwing it away until someone smarter than me chimes in.
 
India says (after zero troubleshooting) that its the DVD drive and needs to be replaced.
I am having a hard time accepting their conclusion outright mainly because of the hastiness of their conclusion.
And I rue the thought of being without the machine for so long, and that they will erase my hd most likely. It takes me days to get things back where they belong.
Any ideas welcome.
 
I didn't believe the first tech so I called again just now.
This tech says there is nothing wrong with the drive and it is the correct one.
His conclusion was reached by going to Start>Right click on My Computer>Manage>Device Manager>DVD/CD ROM drives>click "+" sign> "MAT****A DVD-RAM UJ-852S"

He then checked the speed of the DVDs I am using (DVD-R 16X) and said the max I can use is 8X.

His conclusion is that I have purchased the wrong disks.

Yes there are dozens of disk types out there was no direction given on which to buy.

The saga continues...
Of course, if I don't like this answer, I will hold out for the third answer!
 
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Let'sgoflying! said:
I didn't believe the first tech so I called again just now.
This tech says there is nothing wrong with the drive and it is the correct one.
His conclusion was reached by going to Start>Right click on My Computer>Manage>Device Manager>DVD/CD ROM drives>click "+" sign> "MAT****A DVD-RAM UJ-852S"

He then checked the speed of the DVDs I am using (DVD-R 16X) and said the max I can use is 8X.

His conclusion is that I have purchased the wrong disks.

Yes there are dozens of disk types out there was no direction given on which to buy.

The saga continues...
Of course, if I don't like this answer, I will hold out for the third answer!
Click to expand...

Bull! The 16X is the maximum burn speed, meaning it EXCEEDS 8X.

Can't get good off-shore instantly-trained help these days.

You should try another set of blank DVDs, though. Buy a small number of a good name brand like TDK, Verbatim, Maxell, 3M, Memorex,...
 
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mikea said:
Bull! The 16X is the maximum burn speed, meaning it EXCEEDS 8X.
Click to expand...

Agreed. It's like the speed rating on automobile tires. If your car is rated to drive (think DVD WRITE) at 80mph (8X), you can use tires rated for either 80 (8X) or 160 (16X) mph; but if your car is rated to drive (WRITE) at 160mph (16X), and you intend to drive it that fast, you best use 160-mph (16X) rated tires.

See the link I PM'd you; Microsoft has an article about this very error and the cause/fix.
 
I will try another brand. Might try some 8x s just so I can tell them they are wrong.
No Roxio or Easy CD creater showed on a search ref the link.

Someone also mentioned 'what software are you using to burn DVDs'?
I said, um..none!
I thought I could put the disk in, maybe format it, then drag and drop (Windows XP). So maybe I am missing some important step here? But this all worked OK on the other laptop (Lenovo) with these disks - I was able to burn a dvd just fine.

Do I need to query the drive with some dvd burning software?
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I will try another brand. Might try some 8x s just so I can tell them they are wrong.
No Roxio or Easy CD creater showed on a search ref the link.

Someone also mentioned 'what software are you using to burn DVDs'?
I said, um..none!
I thought I could put the disk in, maybe format it, then drag and drop (Windows XP). So maybe I am missing some important step here? But this all worked OK on the other laptop (Lenovo) with these disks - I was able to burn a dvd just fine.

Do I need to query the drive with some dvd burning software?
Click to expand...
Should work, you sure you don't have a + - problem?
 
well during the sales portion I asked for the most compatible, least likely to be obsolecent, widest-functioning drive including CD, CDR CDRW, R R- R+ R+/- RW RW- RW+ RW+/- DL, DL- DL+
and their specs listed all this hoohaw but this is what you get. :( :(
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
btw this
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3916
says 8x:
8x DVD SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) drive

Do you folks say I should still be able to use 16x disks?
Click to expand...

Yes; 8X is just the fastest your drive can write. FYI, the Mat****a is viewed by many as one of the worst drives out there. If new media doesn't help you, I'd ask Toshiba if they have a Sony, Liteon, LG, or other manufacturer available as a replacement DVD writer; or, get a good external unit that connects to your USB (or Firewire, if you have it) port.
 
The disk packaging says on the inside surface of the label (not visible unless you dismantle it all) in tiny font "Attention, this media intended for use with DVD 16x speed drives"
So I will be trying some 'slower' DVDs.
Thanks!

TangoWhiskey said:
Dave, do you have the 16X disc packaging? Does it say it can write at 4X/8X/16X? I just read an article that says that not all 16X media will write at slower speeds.

FYI, here's "the bible" on media: http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm
Click to expand...
 
I tried to get some 8x DVDs to no avail. I did notice while looking around most say "up to __x" as someone mentioned - but my 16x do not say that.

Anyway my choices seem to be
-keep friggin with it myself using different disks etc.
-send it off to Toshiba so they can erase my harddrive and keep it for weeks (ug)
-spring for a new disk drive on my own probably best option.
 
Isn't this a removable drive? I'd see if there's a toshiba authorized service center nearby. Go take it there, have them try swapping out just the drive unit, and see what happens.
 
TMetzinger said:
Isn't this a removable drive? I'd see if there's a toshiba authorized service center nearby. Go take it there, have them try swapping out just the drive unit, and see what happens.
Click to expand...

Tim:

You have to understand- "nearby," for Dave, is a relative thing. I would imagine that the nearest Toshiba Authorized Service Center is, in all likelihood, several hours away - by Super Viking!

I don't want to say that it's remote there- but look at my avatar picture. That's his 'hood.
 
I ran into the same problem years ago when my old 4x DVD writer would neither recognize nor write higher speed rated DVD blanks of certain brands. Once the DVDs were burned by another writer, they could be read just fine on this old DVD. For this particular writer, I found that certain brands like Verbatim, Sony and Teon blank DVDs worked just fine regardless of the rated speeds.

Since a brand DVDs can be manufactured by several sources (for example Imation can be made by Ritek, Ricoh, Fujifilm etc), for a finicky DVD writer, there is no guarantee that the same brand will work the next time. However, some brands are known to be more consistent in quality than others. This website provides blank DVD ratings

http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm

I don't think there is anything wrong with your Toshiba DVD, you just have to find the right brand of blank DVDs which works with this particular writer.
 
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