LG GSA E60L communication problem

[waynum]

Hi, I could do with some help.
My laptop has Windows XP and I bought a used LG GSA E60L Super Multi dvd writer and I can't get it to work. I did install the driver software which was on a CD with the burner. I've bought Nero 7 Premium software to burn with as the Nero 7 Essentials that came with the LG was not any use for burning avi files.....the Nero 7 Premium works perfectly and transcoded two hours worth of Enterprise season 4 but the actual burning went nowhere. All that happened was the dvd tray slid open and an on-screen message asked me to insert a blank dvd. The dvd+r I'm using are brand new so totally empty.
My laptop does recognise the connection and does assign the correct title 'DVD-RAM drive E' to the external drive.
I have tried playing a store-bought DVD on this LG but without success as nothing happens, when I double click on the icon for the LG in My Computer I just get prompted to enter a disk in drive e.
As I check to make sure the burner is being communicated with I receive a message telling me that the device is not ready.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong or what I'm failing to do right, can someone help me out, please?
I did suffer a head injury in 1992 and suffer memory problems as a consequence; my long-term memory is really brilliant but my concentration/focus do suffer if I'm unsure what I'm doing and as there are many new things to consider I could easily be overlooking something......I mention this as a means to explain that I'd really like step-by-step instructions that I could follow.

[jman98]

This is an external drive. You need to check the connectors in your enclosure and make sure that the drive is connected and there is nothing loose.

1) Download and install the free ImgBurn program. It sometimes works when Nero has problems.
2) Does your enclosure lack power? Sometimes USB ports don't have enough power to drive anything bigger than a USB flash drive. Changing to an enclosure with its own power source will fix this if this is your problem. In fact I don't own any enclosures that don't have their own power supplies just to eliminate this as a potential problem.
3) What brand discs are you using? Oddly "device not ready" can actually sometimes be a media problem. ImgBurn can help with this, but burn at a slow speed like 4x or less. Any disc not made by Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden is probably low quality junk or as I've heard it referred to as "landfill grade media". Consumers just assume all brands are the same and equally good, but they really are quite different from each other and most are pretty crappy.
4) Finally, you bought it used, so it could be defective. If you buy on Ebay or Craigslist, NEVER fully trust your seller.

This is just a USB attached drive so you should not need any special drivers for it.

[waynum]

Hi, thanks for replying.
The external dvd writer does have its own power supply so it's not a USB port not having enough power.

I was quickly expecting it was this blasted laptop that was at fault as I bought it used for £185 to replace my last laptop which became broken beyond repair in an accident but the things you say have me thinking along different lines now. In particular, the quality of the dvd+r that I'm using; they're made by Maxell and I assumed this was a reputable brand name as I never had any problems burning onto them when using Windows DVD Maker on my last laptop.
The movie I tried to play on the burner was a genuine dvd movie and not one I burned myself......this is what causes the biggest concern and indicates it's either a communication problem or a defective piece of hardware.

I bought Nero 7 Premium and when using this it looked like it was working great with the transcoding phase of the dvd write and the only problem came when it was time to actually burn the dvd. Do you think that ImgBurn will work better than Nero 7 Premium or will it conflict with the Nero 7 Premium already installed?

Yes, I had considered it might be defective so I was quickly in touch with the seller to ask his advice in case he had ever noted similar symptoms himself when burning dvds. He was helpful in his replies, if not rather vague, but I still intend to take the GSA E60L to a local computer shop and see what they have to say about it. Hopefully, he'll be back from Scotland tomorrow but if not he should be on Monday.

I'd have been as well just buying a new laptop with a built-in dvd burner and gone back to using Windows DVD Maker instead of putting me through these problems.......I'm only a flip of a coin away from returning this laptop to the same computer shop I spoke of and getting a refund, returning the burner through ebay for a refund and selling on the Nero 7 Premium through Amazon. I'll wait and see how the burner does in a check before making such a decision, though.