Sony DRU500AX Dead...now what?

[Kellygirl32]

I have had my Sony DRU500AX since March of 2003. It just died on me. My computer is recognizing the drive, says everything's working fine, but when I put any type of cd or dvd in it, it won't read it. I've tried everything, cleaning the drive, uninstalling the hardware and re-installing it, doing the drive check from the Sony website, upgrading the firmware everything. No luck. One day it worked, the very next day it didn't.

My question is this: I have seen on this site how horrible Sony tech support is, and how long it might take me to get my drive back once I send it to them. Is there another drive anyone would recommend that I get that's a multi-format drive and is a lot, lot cheaper than the Sony?

Also, should I be using another drive to rip my dvd's instead of my Sony? I've read here that it's not good to use the Sony to rip. Unfortunately, I read it a little too late to save my drive.

Thanks for all your help,

Kellygirl

[TBoneit]

KG, have you tried it in another machine? Sometimes windows goes weird and good hardware that was working won't work.

Did it pass the Sony Diagnostic program?

Good Luck
Roger

[The village idiot]

You might try taking it to a repair shop. They will most likely put a new laser in it, and then if it doesn't work, they will rip you off for more parts until it does work. Though it sounds a little like the laser died, but it could be many things from a simple switch gone bad, to a broken wire, to defective control board or burned up motor.

You could look for a Panasonic LF-D521 or its retail twin, though it will not be too much cheaper. I've seen the white box versions on Ebay for for around $170.00 USD buy it now option. Full retail price around $250. But it does not do +R/+RW.

Don't know much about the other multi drives that are out.

[TBoneit]

It should be under warranty, why should the owner pay to have it repaired??

The Dru 500a had/has a one year limited warranty. The 500AX should be the same.

Cheers

[overloaded_ide]

First the drive is getting a good power connection right. And you tried another IDE cable?
I ask this because I have seen people take something out look at it then make the same connections when they put it back in!

I had wierd problem with a memorex cd burner once that was caused by a faultly connector on the wire in the computers plug (molex)

In my case sometimes the drive worked sometimes not just depending how the wire hung. So try differnt power connecter, and if your using a Y cable try with out it or swap power lines with a drive that is working. Also Try another IDE cable, recently a friends system would not boot though I could get to bios and the hard drive checked out fine there. I found a cut in the ribbon cable that was stopping the drive from working, changed cable and all was fine.

I know thats not a DVD burner but same wierd stuff can happen anyway and worth a shot! It all works the same

When all else fails, RMA to the place of purchase or sony!
I found Newegg to be fast and good at rma's if you happened to by it there and if not maybe where you did buy it will be also hopefully.

You may not have to rma to soney, I had a system board for about 6 months I hadn't tested, or used of course, and the dealer Rma'd it and I never had to mess with the manufacter

Otherwise, at times tech support and an rma is not the same.
I had lousey tech support for items from other places before, but then I rma'd the item and got it back in like 8 days from the day I shipped it.
So althoug you might have to wait 6 days to get garbage e-mails that don't aplie to the problem your having, you might make one phone call get an rma number in 5 minutes and a new drive in 8 days?

It's all a crap shoot, tech support is almost always lousy, but often service is great.

[DaveS]

just so you know you're not going crazy, mine did something very similar. 500ax, worked for a few days, then just died. my s/w would report a h/w error when trying to access it - I think the drawer wouldn't even open and close. I have no idea what caused it - didn't move any wires, etc.

my resolution was to return it to where I bought it. but, I guess I got lucky (?) and mine died shortly after I bought it. you may need to battle sony unless you can convince whoever sold it to you to give you a new one instead, which maybe you can do??

[mkelley]

All good advice here but let me provide some more (because this is thought-provoking -- I started thinking about what I would do if MY Sony failed).

I wouldn't panic. First I'd contact Sony (assuming you can't go through the place you purchased as others have suggested) and find out *exactly* how long it will take to get your new drive. Even if horror stories in the past have led you to believe the worse, it may be a lot better now. Things usually get better as new stuff is released and things settle down. Sony may have evolved this support to a better degree.

If you find you will be without your drive for some period of time you can't live without (in my case, that might only be a month) then I would buy the cheapest DVD burner you could find -- it doesn't have to be dual format, because eventually you'll be getting your Sony drive back. You just need something to work with as a stopgap measure. If like most of us you've mostly been burning DVD-R, buy a cheap one and think of it as your backup and/or ROM reader once the Sony comes back. Or give it to your little brother, or uncle, or sell it on Ebay. Heck, if you play your cards right you may only be out a few bucks at the most.

To put this all in perspective, things could have been worse. Your whole computer could have died and you might be looking at trying to replace it, or living without it for months. So hang in there and things will get better.

[spiderman2k1]

DRU500 are junk i hate to tell you I had two of them nothing but problem's. Get your self a Pioneer Ao6 it will burn both format DVD-+R.

[Artistimus]

DRU500 are junk i hate to tell you I had two of them nothing but problem's. Get your self a Pioneer Ao6 it will burn both format DVD-+R.

don't listen to this idiot.
The Sony Dru500a is a great burner.

[Kellygirl32]

Thanks for all of the help on this. I took the burner back to Office Depot where I got it and convinced them to exchange it for me for the DRU510A (I think I had to pay another $17 or something like that). I haven't tried it yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks again!

Kellygirl

[overloaded_ide]

Great, no Soney hassles eh,

My first choice when an option is almost always back to place of purchase.

Thats why I like dealing at places like newegg.com, good prices most the time and one time I had to rma they were fast and nice.

Memorex and Western Digital were both fast when I had to rma to them also.
I do hate shipping costs though, but when you buy online you got to ship it back to wherever if an rma occurs. But luckily it seldom does.