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General discussion

Help with Sony DVD RW - not finishing burning!

Oct 11, 2004 7:42AM PDT

I have recently purchased a Sony DVD RW DW-U18A and haven't succesfully burned one DVD yet! The burn process fails at the last 10% or so (I can't remember the exact error message, but it entails 'failed').

I have tried burning a DVD (mixed data, film, audio) with the most recent Nero and Alcohol and yet it still fails.

I have tried looking for updated drivers for the DVDRW but they don't seem to exist...help!!!

I am running WinXP.

Discussion is locked

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Re: Help with Sony DVD RW - not finishing burning!
Oct 11, 2004 8:46AM PDT

1. You are right. No drivers. None are required.

2. You didn't say if you tried with the software they supplied.

3. Try it with the IMAPI service disabled.

4. XP? SP2? All the drivers have been updated? (Tip: Microsoft doesn't do this!)

Bob

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Re: Help with Sony DVD RW - not finishing burning!
Oct 11, 2004 8:42PM PDT

1.OK

2.I wasn't supplied any software with it

3.How do I disable the IMAPI and what does this do?

4.Not installed SP2 as I believe at the moment it causes more problems than it cures

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Re: Help with Sony DVD RW - not finishing burning!
Oct 11, 2004 11:29PM PDT

1.OK

2.I wasn't supplied any software with it

Big mistake. What many find out is they get laughable support on bare drives. If it was mine, I'd make sure the FIRMWARE is uptodate and see if DVDSHRINK works with it.

3.How do I disable the IMAPI and what does this do?

I do not hold hands. You would type XP IMAPI into google.com

4.Not installed SP2 as I believe at the moment it causes more problems than it cures

Your choice. And this may sound bad, but I move quickly to update all drivers, firmware and the OS so I know I'm stable. You haven't. You picked up a bare drive and that means you are an expert or have great support systems. I've shared what I would do and you have to decide what to do next. Let me be blunt. You may eventually find out what's wrong, but without latest firmware, drivers and SP2, I leave you to figure it out.

Cheers,

Bob

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Re: Help with Sony DVD RW - not finishing burning!
Oct 12, 2004 3:06AM PDT

Yeah thanks for that Mr Proffitt; I can't help noticing that on most of your replies to peoples questions (including mine) you treat them as imbeciles when all they are doing is asking for a little help.

Maybe it's time for you to hang up your keyboard and do something less stressful as your highly paid/high pressure job seems to be taking its toll, hahaha!

"I've shared what I would do and you have to decide...I leave you to figure it out."

Cheers

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Did you try the supplied test?
Oct 12, 2004 3:10AM PDT

Your last reply did not supply any feedback if dvdshrink worked or not.

As to your ire, you should direct it to the friendly people that took your money. I pull all the NASTY problems up on the table for discussion. Some will not want to hear that a bare drive is trouble for most owners.

Get over it and let's whip this drive into working.

Bob

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Re: Did you try the supplied test?
Oct 12, 2004 3:12AM PDT

Apologies if I did sound irate, but i'm sure you can understand why people get shirty, especially if they're not as technically offay as some.

I'll check DVDShrink out.

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Not a problem.
Oct 12, 2004 3:17AM PDT

You've been taken a little advantage of by the person/place that took your money, gave you a bare drive and tossed in the deep end of the pool.

It's not funny.

And while you can beat me up, I have to pull all the dirty items up on the table so we can work the issues.

It would be interesting if DVDSHRINK was able to dupe and make a good DVD since that points to updates needed in Nero/other or even a FIRMWARE update.

These bagged drives are for OEMs that update the firmware and more...

Bob

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Re: Not a problem.
Oct 12, 2004 10:04AM PDT

Hiya Rob

I tried DVDSHRINK and the burn failed (again, at the 'lead out' part of the disc...so close, so close!!!).

From what I gather searching on the web, Sony use other peoples drives and rename them as Sony...possibly why I can't find any firmware updates etc...

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Here's what I'm reading...
Oct 12, 2004 10:18AM PDT

The DW-U18A see discussions like this...

"only use discs that the writer does like. The solution here is to stop using the DVD-R discs that don't work. A firmware update probably will not help you because your current firmware is not old enough to be significantly improved upon by a firmware update."

1. Are you using DVD-R?
2. Did it ever work?
3. With what make/type media?
4. http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/114504 looks like you are not alone.

I'd get another model, but do try DVD+RW or DVD-RW until you sort it out.

Have you been talking to the supplier?

Bob

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Re: Here's what I'm reading...
Oct 12, 2004 10:36AM PDT

Thanks, i'll give the salient points a try and let you know how I get on.

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Re: Help with Sony DVD RW - not finishing burning!
Nov 7, 2004 11:27PM PST

If you do not have USB 2.0 installed try burning at 4X speed.

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Re: Help with Sony DVD RW - not finishing burning!
Oct 11, 2004 10:51PM PDT

"I can't remember the exact error message"

Knowing the error message would be a big help.

When burning
1. Slow down the write speed to 1/2 the default
2. Walk away from the system while burning

Other thoughts
1. Not as bad with Xp but possible, Incompatable memory chips.
2. Check for spy-ware/virus
3. Quality of disk
4. Capacity of disk
5. Do Nero and Alcohol play nice together?

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Re: Help with Sony DVD RW - not finishing burning!
Oct 12, 2004 3:10AM PDT

Thanks mate.

I've put burn speed down to 2, but still problems.

I've walked away whilst burning many a time!! hahaha!

I've checked for virus/spyware etc and "i'm clean".

Quality of disk - they're Datawrite Yellow V2.

Capacity of disk - 4.76gb.

I've never had conflicts of any sort with Nero or Alchohol both being installed.

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Re: Help with Sony DVD RW - not finishing burning!
Oct 12, 2004 6:19AM PDT

As to Bob's question to you about Nero and Alcohol working together, I think(just listening to people that use them together) the answer is sometimes. DVDShrink and
Nero work very well together. Another factor you might consider. DVD burning (more so than CD) reinstituted the old problem of media compatibility. You have to find what
media works best on your machine(mine doesn't like Sony)
and then pick out the good quality from that list. Good
luck. chuck

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Re: Help with Sony DVD RW - not finishing burning!
Oct 12, 2004 10:00AM PDT

Thanks Chuck.