DRX500UL Not Recognizing RITEK

[watmite]

I have just bought my DRX500UL and upgraded the firmware to 1.0f.
It doesn't recognize my Ritek media at all, which I got from http://www.allmediaoutlet.com/P-DVD-R-4.7-R100free.html

I have tried using various software such as Record Now, Nero 5.5, and DVDDecrypter to no avail. It just doesn't see it. It sees my Princo, but then that fails halfway into the burn.

I have read other posts which others have had no trouble using this media.

Has anyone else had this problem?

[docchak]

Hello,

There is a few condition to look at:
1. Could you use your drive to play regular press DVD title?
2. Have you use cheap -RW media prior to this?

If you have the problem with this 2 , your drive may be damaged due to incompatibility issue, I have gone through this twice myself, very painful.

If the answer is no:

Do you have veritas DLA installed? If so, uninstall it, same as Roxio Direct CD, then re aplly firmware 1.0 f.preferably apply the firmware in safemode.

I have the same drive that you have (my third ,of course) and has no problem seeing the media that you have just described,

W2K, Sony DRX 500UL

[docchak]

The Princo that you described was that -R or -RW?

I used the -RW and it killed my drive twice, if it was the -RW I am afraid you may have to exchange your drive for a new one. Reappy the latest firmware before using it to read any cheap media. It is OK to use the drive to read the media besides what sony recommends , but only after you have appled the new firmware.

I wished Sony put this cleary on the box /manual somewhere.

[pogue1000]

i have burnt about 5 ritek -r dvds on my sony 500a and no problems,

[docchak]

Hi pogue1000,

The issue here is with the -RW Princo, and the 1.0 a firmware.

User must upgrade to at least 1. d before using the drive to read some off brand DVD-R/RW.

[watmite]

docchak,

The drive does play regular DVDs just fine. I have also successfully recorded the included Sony DVD+RW.
As soon as I got my drive, I upgraded the firmware to 1.0d, before any burning, and the Princos were DVD-R. I haven't used a -R/W yet.
Sorry to hear about your experiences though.

I tried what you told me, uninstalled any DLA using software and reinstalled the firmware.
Still, though it does the same thing. It just will not read any of my Ritek.
Any other ideas?
I'm beginning to wonder if I just have a bad batch.
Thanks for your help.

[watmite]

Looks like there may be a problem with my writer. It failed on a CD burn too - Maxell 80 min. Called Sony and am getting horrible support on this thing. They told me that Nero is conflicting with their HP RecordNow and I need to uninstall Nero and only use only RecordNow. When I did that, they are now saying that it has to be my USB card, and I need to get someone to check my USB card, even though I told them, I never had any problems with it before.
I was also told that I should use only supported Media, and just because Ritek or ACCU works in a friends DRX500UL, doesn't mean it will work with mine.

[rkr1958]

Attention All Customers: If you have Panasonic or Sony DVD burner with Window XP as your operating system, please make sure to update your firmware and enable the Ultra-DMA mode.

While this applies to Accu DVD-R media it might apply to Ritek. Are you running Windows XP? If so, is Ultra-DMA mode enable?

[watmite]

Thanks. Ultra-DMA mode is enabled, but since mine is the USB drive, I don't think that is it, and I upgraded the firmware sometime ago.

Weird thing though... I just used the firewire port instead of the USB, and I can get it to work. I just burned two Accu DVD-Rs with no problem.
Maybe my USB drivers need to be upgraded, although I haven't found an upgrade available. They are USB 2.0, so I don't understand what the problem could be.

The drive still does not read the Ritek Media I got, which is the topic of this forum, but perhaps I got a bad batch.
Anyway, I guess I will keep it connected via firewire and burn away.
Thanks for everyone's help.

[jarvis1781]

this might sound easy but how do you go about enabling Ultra-DMA mode or even finding out if it is enabled?


thank you so much!

[jarvis1781]

by the way I am running Windows XP Pro

[watmite]

In XP: Open your Control Panel and select "System", then select the Hardware tab.
Next select Device Manager, expand the IDE controllers, and right click on one of the Channels and select "Properties". Finally select the "Advanced Settings" tab and you can find your DMA settings for that Channel.

[jarvis1781]

thanks mate

however, I still can't get my cheap media to work.

I guess it is time to realize "you get what you pay for"

thanks again