Help! Can't read non-retail disks!

[abudguy]

I have a Pioneer 106D, and just purchased a Sony DRU-720A. I have had the Pioneer for about 3 years or so, and over the last several months, it won't read any non-store bough CD.

I tried a few things with the burner, but nothing works. So, I bought the Sony thinking it was just a bad laser or something, but guess what, it does it too.

When you click on the drive, it says "Please insert disk in Drive F:"?

Like I said, the Pioneer was working fine for several years, and all of a sudden it stopped.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[SLK001]

What is the source for your burned CD? Do they work in other players?

Check your cables and power supply.

[abudguy]

What is the source for your burned CD? Do they work in other players?

Check your cables and power supply.

The discs are from several recorders, mostly CD's with pictures, some MP3s, but mostly pictures. They do work in other players, just not on this computer. I've tried both the Pioneer and the Sony, along with an old CDROM drive (8x) which I know works in another machine.

The cables have been checked, and I just replaced the power supply yesterday (thought that might be the problem) with an Antec TruePower 430W power supply.

Could it be something in Windows 2000 Pro? I just took the other Hard Drive off the IDE Cable (80 wire), with no effect. It's frustrating since my family is waiting for pictures of my new daughter and I can't get them off the CD, and I can't burn the DVD's of her either to send to them.

Again, I am truly grateful for any help anyone can provide.

Thanks.

[sholmes202]

A few questions:

1) Is your PC seeing the drive?
2) Have you recently changed your OS or done major patching?
3) What burning software do/did you use?
4) Did you burn multi-session disks?

If your PC sees the drive the last three questions could answer your question. In the mean time IF you have a drive that can read the disks I suggest you copy your files to a folder just in case you might need to reburn!

Holmes

[abudguy]

A few questions:

1) Is your PC seeing the drive?
2) Have you recently changed your OS or done major patching?
3) What burning software do/did you use?
4) Did you burn multi-session disks?

If your PC sees the drive the last three questions could answer your question. In the mean time IF you have a drive that can read the disks I suggest you copy your files to a folder just in case you might need to reburn!

Holmes

The PC is seeing the drive, and it works great with silver (retail) discs and even DVD movies. Any writable CDs or DVD's just don't register with it for some reason. I've even taken blank CDs and tried burning with the Nero software it came with.

I haven't changed my OS or done any major patches or upgrades.

Any they aren't multi-session discs.

[lordsmurf]

Your 106 cannot be 3 years old. The drive model is not that old. More like 2 years maybe.

The CD laser may just be dead or dying. It happens. Lasers die, have limited lifespan.

[SCDVD]

I have a Pioneer 106D, and just purchased a Sony DRU-720A. I have had the Pioneer for about 3 years or so, and over the last several months, it won't read any non-store bough CD.

I tried a few things with the burner, but nothing works. So, I bought the Sony thinking it was just a bad laser or something, but guess what, it does it too.

When you click on the drive, it says "Please insert disk in Drive F:"?

Like I said, the Pioneer was working fine for several years, and all of a sudden it stopped.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

A major clue - "I have had the Pioneer for about 3 years or so". There is a very good chance that you have a dusty/dirty laser lens in your 106. I had a very similar problem with a Pioneer 104 that is about four or five years old. I cleaned the lens with a cleaning disc that has a little brush on it and magic, it worked perfectly after I cleaned it. Worth a try.

[SLK001]

Yeah, except that he mentions that his NEW SONY does the same thing...

[lordsmurf]

I had a very similar problem with a Pioneer 104 that is about four or five years old.

Much like the OP and his "3 year old 106" your 104 drive AT MOST is 3 years old. There were no DVD-R(G) drives 5 years ago, and 4 years ago there were only Pioneer 103 drives and maybe the Panasonic.

[SLK001]

Pioneer has a SCSI DVD-R burner that came out about mid 2000. It didn't get much penetration, because it cost approx $4,999.

[abudguy]

I had a very similar problem with a Pioneer 104 that is about four or five years old.

Much like the OP and his "3 year old 106" your 104 drive AT MOST is 3 years old. There were no DVD-R(G) drives 5 years ago, and 4 years ago there were only Pioneer 103 drives and maybe the Panasonic.

Okay, you forced me to look at the tag on the Drive... It was manufactured in 2003, sorry for that. I thought I got it with the birth of my first daughter, but I must have putting those videos on CD. Sorry. Nonetheless, the problem remains with at least two other drives on the system (installed for testing only).

I just broke down and purchased XP Pro Upgrade (since I have win2k pro). Does anyone think this would help?

I can't help but think there might be something with the OS since it's three different drives.

[abudguy]

A major clue - "I have had the Pioneer for about 3 years or so". There is a very good chance that you have a dusty/dirty laser lens in your 106. I had a very similar problem with a Pioneer 104 that is about four or five years old. I cleaned the lens with a cleaning disc that has a little brush on it and magic, it worked perfectly after I cleaned it. Worth a try.

I tried the lens cleaner several times in fact. Nothing changed. This whole situation just has terrible timing written all over it.

[lordsmurf]

Pioneer has a SCSI DVD-R burner that came out about mid 2000. It didn't get much penetration, because it cost approx $4,999.

I don't think that was a DVD-R(G) drive, in fact I'm pretty sure that was an early DVD-R(A) drive.

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Of course my whole point is with age. At about the 3 year mark, you can expect a drive to start dying. It may not last more than 2 years under heavier use, maybe up to 4-5 with infrequent use. This is another reason using a burner as a ROM drive is bad, prematurely kills it.

My original 103 I gave to a family members, and it works, though stubborn and picky at times. My 105 died after 2 years, almost to the day, but it got lots of use, pretty much daily.

With your drive being that young, though it's possible, I tend to dismiss age as the liekly culprit. It's more likely lens issues or something to do with the media. But those are just best guesses.

[abudguy]

Of course my whole point is with age. At about the 3 year mark, you can expect a drive to start dying. It may not last more than 2 years under heavier use, maybe up to 4-5 with infrequent use. This is another reason using a burner as a ROM drive is bad, prematurely kills it.

My original 103 I gave to a family members, and it works, though stubborn and picky at times. My 105 died after 2 years, almost to the day, but it got lots of use, pretty much daily.

With your drive being that young, though it's possible, I tend to dismiss age as the liekly culprit. It's more likely lens issues or something to do with the media. But those are just best guesses.

I thought it might be age, too, at first. But then I bought this brand new, out of the box, Sony DRU-720A, and the same thing happens.

I have gotten it to recognized a compiled audio CD (burned), but all it does is open Musicmatch Jukebox to start playing the CD, but nothing appears. I go to explore the disk, and again it says "Please insert disk in Drive F:"

Does anyone think XP Pro might help? I'd do the upgrade. I'm just at my wits end.

I appreciate all the help and suggestions from everyone. I'm soliciting help from Sony via email, but who knows how long that will take.