Thread: DVD burner will not recognize blank discs

I own a gateway ml6720 laptop which came with vista home. A downgrade to XP was not supported by the manufacturer, so I had to slipstream drivers.

Okay, the laptop works beautifully, except for the burner. Before, when I was running Vista, I burned several dvd's so it doesn't seem like there's a hardware problem. Now, the drive won't recognize blank dvd's that i put inside (if I go to My Computer and doubleclick the drive, a message pops up, telling me to insert a disc). The funny thing is Nero's InfoTool can tell that there is a disc inside.

What should I do to get this drive burning again?

You've probably already tried this, but...

If InfoTool can tell that there is a blank disc in the drive, what happens if you run the burner software directly (rather than double click the drive)? Maybe the problem is just with Windows itself, which doesn't really matter if you're using 3rd party burning apps (you should, they're better).

Other than that, maybe you can remove the burner from the device manager, then reboot and let Windows redetect it.

Windows XP cannot burn to DVDs, you'll need third party software.

I lol'd.
PEBKAC all over again.

Originally Posted by tigerm

You've probably already tried this, but...

If InfoTool can tell that there is a blank disc in the drive, what happens if you run the burner software directly (rather than double click the drive)? Maybe the problem is just with Windows itself, which doesn't really matter if you're using 3rd party burning apps (you should, they're better).

Other than that, maybe you can remove the burner from the device manager, then reboot and let Windows redetect it.

yes, i have tried using the burning prog directly (infrarecorder), as well as removing the device via device manager and rebooting.

Originally Posted by 98abaile

Windows XP cannot burn to DVDs, you'll need third party software.

Doh! Got me. I haven't used XP much at all, but yeah you're right I vaguely remember setting someone up with Nero Express and another person with CDburnerXP because they couldn't burn DVDs directly in Windows.

PiedPiper: The Nero option is actually something you might consider, because I believe it installs its own drivers (actually the ASPI layer). The Nero ASPI is also available separately. There are ASPI versions made by others as well, but the Nero one seems to be better. You should check you've got the right IDE or SATA interface driver too.

Edit: It appears the old Adaptec ASPI 4.60 still works in XP, so that's another option. google for ASPI. There's lots of misery out there to read about regarding burning in Windows.

I'm at a loss otherwise. It doesn't seem like Infrarecorder/cdrecord interacts much with Windows itself, so it sounds like a hardware driver problem or something wrong with the layer immediately above that (which Nero ASPI might work around). Can you even read from the drive? Tried burning a CD yet? Have you checked all those files that InfoTool lists? Maybe you can reinstall those files from the original Windows CD. For that matter, you might want to redo your slipstreaming job and reinstall (or avoid slipstreaming if you can--it may be the source of your problem).

When you get sick of searching the MS knowledgebase, I suggest trying a repair installation from the Windows CD. That and applying service packs have solved some truly mysterious problems for me in the past! At least it's worth a shot before you give up and reinstall.

Originally Posted by PIEdPIEper316

yes, i have tried using the burning prog directly (infrarecorder), as well as removing the device via device manager and rebooting.

*SLAP*

You used Nero's InfoTool. That means you have Nero installed. Use it!

Originally Posted by MadDogMike

*SLAP*

You used Nero's InfoTool. That means you have Nero installed. Use it!

actually, i don't have nero- i found infotool as a standalone type of download.

@tigerm
i'll try out a trial verison of nero before resorting to a reinstall (waiting on the download right now). also, what do you mean when you mention "those files that InfoTool lists." the only thing i can find that would resemble that would be the list of drivers, and i don't understand how i would check those files?

Originally Posted by PIEdPIEper316

i'll try out a trial verison of nero before resorting to a reinstall (waiting on the download right now). also, what do you mean when you mention "those files that InfoTool lists." the only thing i can find that would resemble that would be the list of drivers, and i don't understand how i would check those files?

Sorry, to be honest it's been a few years since I've actually looked much at InfoTool (and yes, it's a standalone download at Nero CD-DVD Speed website). Now that I look at it again, it's not quite what I recall. I remember it giving more targeted information about files related to cd burning, with special highlighting of ASPI versions (running on Win2k). I'm not seeing that in the more recent version of InfoTool (running on Vista--although it's quite possible vista doesn't use ASPI at all anymore).

Anyway, the Nero and Adaptec/force ASPI versions are worth a try. Google for more info on those, a lot of people have discussed them because they've been a source of pain and joy since win95. The replacement for ASPI is SPTI, and that has been with us since NT I think, but I understand many programs continued to use ASPI anyways. A brief description and history is here:
Hydrogenaudio Forums > All about ASPI and SPTI

But before you do anything, I hope you've seen this Infrarecorder FAQ: InfraRecorder FAQ
SATA drive in your new notebook? Possible.

well, ive just tried nero and it seems to work perfectly. I'd rather not poke around things I don't fully understand so I'll just leave things as they are.

much thanks to the repliers in this thread, especially tigerm.