Toshiba Sat. A200-AH6 laptop DVD drive cannot read DVD DL discs

[MeekloBraca]

I have this laptop and the drive will not read finalized DVD+R DL discs. It will read empyt discs and burn them no problem, but it will not read a full disc.

What can I do short of throwing the beast off the bridge?

[SmokieStover]

Are they bit set to DVD ROM when you burn?

[budz]

How old is the laptop? It could be the drive is failing.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Use IsoBuster to read.

[MeekloBraca]

How can I check if they are bit set to DVD Rom?

And these types of discs have never worked on this drive, every other type of disc works fine. I dont buy that its a "this drive is old and failing" problem.

Could it be my firmware?

[MOVIEGEEK]

If that particular DVD doesn't read then it's the firmware, go to Toshiba's website and see if there's an update.

[MeekloBraca]

Well there is nothing on the Toshiba.ca website to indicate anywhere I can download firmware.

But if it will help, my DVD drive is a TS-L632D With what looks like firmware labelled TO04

[lordsmurf]

It may be hardware related. Not all drives can read DVD+R DL media. Beyond that, laptop drives are notoriously finicky.

[SmokieStover]

How can I check if they are bit set to DVD Rom?

And these types of discs have never worked on this drive, every other type of disc works fine. I dont buy that its a "this drive is old and failing" problem.

Could it be my firmware?

One way is to download and install image burn (it's free). Load the burned DVD in your drive then open image burn, select write image from Disk to HDD. Give it some time to load and fill the window on the right with disk info, then scroll down to near the bottom of the data window and you will see something like this:

Physical Format Information (Last Recorded - L0):
Disc ID: MKM-003-00
Book Type: DVD-ROM
Part Version: 1
Disc Size: 120mm
Maximum Read Rate: Not Specified
Number of Layers: 2
Track Path: Opposite Track Path (OTP)
Linear Density: 0.293 um/bit
Track Density: 0.74 um/track
First Physical Sector of Data Area: 196,608
Last Physical Sector of Data Area: 16,580,607
Last Physical Sector in Layer 0: 2,202,447

Physical Format Information (Last Recorded - L1):
Disc ID: MKM-003-00
Book Type: DVD-ROM
Part Version: 1
Disc Size: 120mm
Maximum Read Rate: Not Specified
Number of Layers: 2
Track Path: Opposite Track Path (OTP)
Linear Density: 0.293 um/bit
Track Density: 0.74 um/track
First Physical Sector of Data Area: 196,608
Last Physical Sector of Data Area: 16,580,607
Last Physical Sector in Layer 0: 2,202,447

Layer Information:
Layer 0 Sectors: 2,005,840 (50%)
Layer 1 Sectors: 2,005,840 (50%)

[SmokieStover]

You can also discover the capabilities of your drive using image burn. Open the program, select read mode (I think any mode will work), click on the Tools tab at the top, select Drive, then Capabilites. Automated search for firmware updates is right below that.

[jman98]

And these types of discs have never worked on this drive, every other type of disc works fine. I dont buy that its a "this drive is old and failing" problem.

I work in IT for a living and this is a VERY foolish attitude to have. Why should anyone bother to help you now? If you know so much about what is and is not the problem, then why do you need help? Fix it yourself if you know everything.

[budz]

How can I check if they are bit set to DVD Rom?

And these types of discs have never worked on this drive, every other type of disc works fine. I dont buy that its a "this drive is old and failing" problem.

Could it be my firmware?

Let me tell you that all drives whether or not it's in a desktop or laptop will fail over a period of time. As already mentioned not all drives are capable of reading dual layer media. Which is why I asked how old your laptop was.