lightscribe drive question HP Pavilion DV6000Z

[cduval04]

hi I have a question about my ls enabled dvd/rw drive
the model number of the drive is Slimtype DVD A DS8AZH
the firmware of the drive is NH61
I am using latest ls system software 1.12.37.1

I wrote to lightscribe with the following question:

Problem description: Hi, my finshed lightscribe disc shows circular strokes, only in darker areas, almost as if you can see the burn pattern of the drive. Dirty Lens, or defective drive, or something else?

they responded with this:

Hello Caroline,

Thank you for contacting Lightscribe. You may try comerical lens cleaning discs and they will be helpful in keeping your lenses as clean as possible and that should translate into a better functioning drive with possible improvement in image. The slight banding seen in the dark areas is a result of the concentric tracks not perfectly aligned with tracks from previous printing. Depending on the amount of overlap between the successive tracks, a banding pattern may be noticed. This may be more apparent on some drives than others due to manufacturing variability.

You may also see slight differences in contrast with different media brands.

I would also recommend that you check your hardware providers support site to see if a firmware update is available for your drive.

There is a difference in appearance of labeled LightScribe DVDs and CDs. I have attached an explanation of why this is below. You may see improvements in image quality as new media is developed and released.

the thing with this response is I dont know which one of these is the problem!
-Is it more likely my media (I have HP lightscribe discs, original sepia color)
-Or a dirty lens (I don't want to spend money on a lens cleaner if this is not the problem, what is a good len cleaner to buy for ls drives? does the same lens that burns the dvd, also burn the label?)
-Or is my firmware not the latest (how do I find this out, looked on hp's support site, nothing for dvd-drive firmware updates)
-Or is it my version of ls system software? I have the latest
-Or has my drive just gone bad? (I just bought this new on ebay, cuz my old one the lens would not read anything but data discs anymore, it's the same hp part number)

is the likely hood of one of these problems greater than others? I just do not know enough about the anatomy of the drive to tell, plus I'm not good with hardware in the first place - software troubleshooting is my specialty

one more thing, lightscribe said

The slight banding seen in the dark areas is a result of the concentric tracks not perfectly aligned with tracks from previous printing.

so I tried just doing the printing once (not putting it on the dark setting so it wouldnt print twice) and the banding is more subtle but still there.

I am thinking try another brand of media? thats probably the easiest factor to eliminate first

any help/suggestions would be appreciated - I make discs for ppl for gifts, and this has really been a pain in the hiney - thanks in advance!

[[_chef_]]

To say the honest truth, its a crappy slimtype drive (built by Liteon, i think) ...........