DRU-500AX Doesn't See DVDs or CD-ROMs

[Maynard123]

My DRU-500AX is plugged into a fast Dell P4 with 1GB of RAM, and the "properties" show that the drive is working properly. The problem is that when I click on the drive in explorer is asks me to put a disk in, regardless of whether I have a DVD-R, DVD+RW, or CD-ROM in the drive.

Any ideas on how I can diagnose and fix this problem?

Thanks.

[mkelley]

What OS?

Assuming a decent one (anything based on NT: W2k or XP) I'd make sure the drive was the master on the IDE chain (and possibly remove any other drives on that chain), remove the drive itself and let the OS reinstall it, run the Sony diagnostics on it (they are pretty crappy since they are strictly designed for CDR, but at least it will tell you something), call up the place I bought it from and get another, all the usual suspects.

Does it see a commercial DVD? Or not any disk in the drive? Did it *ever* see a disk in the drive? If not, the above should help.

[Maynard123]

I'm using XP Service Pack 1. I can write files to DVD media and read it in a different CD-ROM drive, but I can't see those files on the DRU-500AX. Even though I installed Veritas DLA, I don't think I have drive letter access. When I right click on the drive letter in windows explorer, it doesn't show a DLA option.

The Sony diagnostics show it is working properly. It is the master on the IDE chain. I think the problem might be drive letter access, but I can't figure out how to enable it.

Thanks.

[mkelley]

It's the master on the chain how? By CS or by actual jumper?

I would take out your DVD-ROM (assuming it's on the same chain) leaving the burner as the master at the end of the chain to eliminate all possibilities. (Actually, I'd take out both drives, reboot, and then put the burner in by itself and let XP reinstall). At that point I'd be *extremely* skeptical if the OS doesn't see files on that drive.

[psx_pirate]

i have the same problem .... heres what i do .... go to my computer and right click on the sony drive and select explore double click a file eg VIDEO_TS if its a movie, close all windows then go bact to my computer in the my computer window right click in a blank area and select refresh it then displays my drive with the volume label of the dvd and normal access is returned, ... i have to do this every time i insert a dvd or cd....... it works for me but i'm not making any promises

p.s i'm using windows 98 se

[Maynard123]

Thanks...that actually worked...going to my computer then going back to windows explorer. However, I don't have direct write access to the drive letter from applications. I'm using XP.

I used to be able to write directly to my DRU-500AX from within applications, but then I needed to reinstall the XP operating system, and now I can't directly write to the DRU.

When I right-clicked on the Sony writer prior to reinstalling XP, I saw an option for "DLA" which was checked. Now, DLA doesn't appear, even when I re-installed DLA.

Any thoughts about how to fix this?

Thanks.

[mkelley]

Here's a thread that *might* help:

http://bizforums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x3497afe90f1cd71190050090279cd0f9,00.html

In essence, it says there is a problem with DLA in that it can conflict with DirectCD -- you haven't got any Roxio stuff installed, do you? Even if not it might be worth a look to see if you can see anything that pertains to you.