Hello all,
I'm having a problem with my DVD writer and hope for your advice! System specs are as follows: HP Media Center PC 873N, XP MCE 2002 w/ SP2 installed, P4 2.6G, 1.0G DDRAM. I needed to reformat my hard drive so I backed up all of my important documents and a few encoded movies to DVD+R. The PC came factory-shipped with HP DVD writer DVD200i, which is a single-format +R drive. I use Nero Ultra 6 to write CDs/DVDs. After the reformat, everything is in fine working order except the DVD writer. I insert the DVD+R that I backed my information up on not more than a few hours ago, and the drive recognizes it as a blank disc. The DVD+R drive will also not recognize DVD the movies burned on the same drive, and also sees them as blank media. I upgraded firmware from v. 1.36 to v. 1.72 with the update available on the HP support website, but still encounter the same problem. The media in question are 4.7G single layer DVD+R discs, brand name of Value Disc. I do not have another +R drive in the house to try these discs on, however the movies work fine in my two DVD players hooked to the TV...even while the drive they were written on says they are blank. Store-bought DVD movies and DVD-Rs from my latop work fine, only has trouble reading the discs it has written. Also note that the drive label in My Computer is simply CD Drive where it used to say: DVD/CD-RW. Please advise, I need to get my backed-up docs. off of that disc!

Thanks,
Skybrono07

[B]Hello and welcome to Techspot.[/B]

First thing to try is go into device manager and uninstall it from there then reboot and let windows redetect it and see if that helps.

Regards Howard

Hi,
Thanks Howard, this was one of the solutions I knew to try, but unfortunately had no effect. Windows did recognize the device on the reboot, but didnt do anything to help me out with getting the drive to recognize the media.

Skybronco07

The only thing I can think of to do is turn off your computer and unplug it from the mains open up your case diconnect the ide cable from your dvdrw then clear you cmos then reconnect the dvd and reboot.

Before you clear your cmos make sure that you make a note of your bios settings then you can reset them later.

To clear your cmos take out the battery being careful to hold it only by the edges not top and bottom replace the battery after about 20 seconds or so.

Another way to clear your cmos is by a jumper on your mobo(your mobo book should tell you how to do this)

Regards Howard

Have you applied all the driver & service pack updates to the new install?

Did you install all the software from nero or just the recommended, (might be missing some codec or something). If you right click on the drive and read properties is recording available?
In the hardware section of properties, is the drive being recognised properley?

Just a few ideas for you.

Dear Shiney,
As far s I know, all applicable driver updates and service packs have been applied through windows update. I installed the entire SP2 from disc after the reformat rather than downloading its components. The software is (shh...bootleg) and includes Nero 6 ultra 6.3.0.2, NeroMix, NeroVision Express 2, InCD, and Nero Showtime. Probably unrelated and merely coincidental, Nero Recode 2 no longer shows the video preview when recoding DVD video where it did prior to the reformat, both with and without XP SP2. In drive properties, CD recodring is enabled (says nothing about DVD). Under hardware properties, the drive is recognized as HP DVD writer 200j. Interesting that it reads 200j since the drive is a 200i! Probably a buch of superfluous inforation, but I also thought this may help:

Nero InfoTool 2.07

Drive Information
------------------
Drive : HP DVD Writer 200j
Type : DVD+R/RW Combo Drive
Firmware Version : 1.72
Buffer Size : 2 MB
Date : 04-02-09
Serial Number : DA73 300849
Vendor Specific : 040209
Drive Letter : E:\
Location : 1:0
Mechanism : Tray
Read Speed : 32, 20, 12, 10, 8, 4, 2 X
Write Speed : 12, 8, 4, 2 X

Read CD Text : Yes
Return C2 Pointers : Yes
Read CD-R : Yes
Read CD-RW : Yes
Read DVD-ROM : Yes
Read DVD-RAM : No
Read DVD-R : No
Read DVD-RW : No
Read DVD+R : Yes
Read DVD+RW : Yes
Read Digital Audio : Yes
Read CD+G : Yes
Read VideoCD : Yes

Write CD-R : Yes
Write CD-RW : Yes
Write DVD-R : No
Write DVD-RW : No
Write DVD+R : Yes
Write DVD+RW : Yes
Write DVD-RAM : No
Buffer Underrun Protection : Yes
Mount Rainier : No
Modes : Packet, TAO, DAO, SAO, RAW SAO, RAW SAO 16, RAW SAO 96, RAW DAO 96

Region Protection Control : RPC II
Region : 1
Changes User : 4
Changes Vendor : 4

Disc Information (E:\)
-------------------
Type : - no disc inserted -


Drive Information
------------------
Drive : MITSUMI CD-ROM FX48++W
Type : CD-ROM Drive
Firmware Version : W01H
Buffer Size : 128 KB
Date : ?
Serial Number : ?
Vendor Specific :
Drive Letter : F:\
Location : 1:1
Mechanism : Tray
Read Speed : 48 X
Write Speed : n/a

Read CD Text : Yes
Return C2 Pointers : No
Read CD-R : Yes
Read CD-RW : Yes
Read DVD-ROM : No
Read DVD-RAM : No
Read DVD-R : No
Read DVD-RW : No
Read DVD+R : No
Read DVD+RW : No
Read Digital Audio : Yes
Read CD+G : No
Read VideoCD : Yes

Write CD-R : No
Write CD-RW : No
Write DVD-R : No
Write DVD-RW : No
Write DVD+R : No
Write DVD+RW : No
Write DVD-RAM : No
Buffer Underrun Protection : No
Mount Rainier : No
Modes : n/a


Disc Information (F:\)
-------------------
Type : - no disc inserted -


Interface Information
---------------------
Adapter 1
---------
Description : Primary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : System32\DRIVERS\atapi.sys
Company : Microsoft Corporation
Version : 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Description : IDE/ATAPI Port Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: SAMSUNG SV1204H
Type : Disk Drive
DMA : On

Adapter 2
---------
Description : Secondary IDE Channel

Driver
Description : System32\DRIVERS\atapi.sys
Company : Microsoft Corporation
Version : 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Description : IDE/ATAPI Port Driver

Attached Devices
Description : Master: HP DVD Writer 200j
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : On
Autorun : On
Description : Slave: MITSUMI CD-ROM FX48++W
Type : CD-Rom Drive
DMA : On
Autorun : On


Software Information
--------------------
Operating System : Windows XP Professional (5.01.2600 Service Pack 2)
DirectX : DirectX 9.0c

Description : Nero Burning ROM
Version : 6, 3, 0, 2
Company : Ahead Software AG
Version Check : Ok

Description : NeroVision Express
Version : 2,1,0,4
Company : Ahead Software AG

Description : Nero ShowTime
Version : 1, 5, 0, 6
Company : Ahead software AG

Description : InCD
Version : 4, 1, 0, 0
Company : Ahead Software AG

Description : MyDVD MFC Application
Version : 3.5.2.0
Company


Video Codecs
------------
Cinepak Codec by Radius : 1.10.0.11
Intel 4|2|0 Video V2.50 : 5.1.2600.2180
Intel Indeo(R) Video R3.2
Intel Indeo(R) Video R3.2
Intel IYUV codec : 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Microsoft RLE : 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Microsoft Video 1 : 5.1.2600.0 (xpclient.010817-1148)
Microsoft YUV : 5.3.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Microsoft YUV : 5.3.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Toshiba YUV Codec : 5.1.2600.0 (XPClient.010817-1148)
Microsoft YUV : 5.3.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
Microsoft H.263 Video Codec : 5.1.2600.2180
Microsoft H.261 Video Codec : 5.1.2600.2180

Audio Codecs
------------
Microsoft IMA ADPCM CODEC : 4.00.0.0
Microsoft ADPCM CODEC : 4.00.0.0
Microsoft CCITT G.711 A-Law and u-Law CODEC : 4.00.0.0
Microsoft GSM 6.10 Audio CODEC : 4.00.0.0
DSP Group TrueSpeech(TM) Software CODEC : 1.00.0.0
Microsoft G.723.1 CODEC : 1.02.0.1
Windows Media Audio : 4.02.0.0
Sipro Lab Telecom ACELP.net audio codec : 3.02.0.0
Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Codec (advanced) : 1.09.1.49
InterVideo MP3 Audio CODEC : 4.00.0.0
Creative MP3 CODEC : 1.00.0.0
Hewlett Packard Mobile Voice : 4.00.0.0
Microsoft PCM Converter : 5.00.0.0


ASPI Information
----------------
System ASPI : ASPI is not installed

Nero ASPI : ASPI is installed and working properly

WNASPI32.DLL : 2.0.1.59 160016 bytes December 16, 2003

Installed OS Patches
--------------------
(Q810090) USB Update : Yes
(Q329112) Multi-Border DVD with More Than 4 GB of Data Not Readable Past First Border : Yes
(Q812415) Problems with Multiple ATA devices : Yes
(Q322359) Intelide.sys Is Not Used on Computers with ICH4 or ICH5 : No
(Q320174) IMAPI Update - CDs recorded have missing files or errors : Yes
(Q311542) Devices May not power up properly when resuming from standby : Yes
(Q327086) Data Added to Removable Media During Hibernation May Be Lost When You Resume Windows XP : Yes
(Q308374) Ricoh 1394 Controller May Not Work with Windows XP : Yes : Yes
(Q822603) USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 update : No
(Q323507) Your IEEE 1394 or USB CD-ROM or DVD-ROM Drive May Not Be Recognized in Windows XP : No
(Q815834) 'Code 28' Error Message and a Yellow Exclamation Mark Next to a USB Device in Device Manager After Your Computer Resumes from Hibernation : No
(Q316575) Problems When You Swap a CD-ROM During Hibernation in Windows XP : No
(Q811789) Surprise Removal of 1394 Device Can Cause Bluescreen Error : Yes : No
(Q811789) Surprise Removal of 1394 Device Can Cause Bluescreen Error : Yes

Okay, well I've tried the stuff I backed up on a friend's computer with another DVD+RW drive...and same problem, the drive will recognize the disc as blank media, even though in properties it shows the disk with no free space. The disc is NOT blank, looking at the writeable side you can see where it has been written to! Nero gave no indication that the burn process had failed, but for some reason, all of my backed-up documents are now written to a DVD that cannot be opened :-( Any suggestions??

I noticed your'system ASPI layer ' is not installed.
You must have it for Nero especially.Nero 6.5 is also availible it is a huge download but it is supposedly to assist SrPck 2
I did and it works for me.

Thanks Liquidlen,
Do you know where I can download said ASPI (I wish I knew what it was or what it does...) I will download it and try if there's a chance it might get my stuff working!

All authoring software is touchy and it also does not help with the copyright protection Media giants are after. You need to read up on how to assure you can make and utilize your programs and media. I go to this forum they cover everything (there are others).
http://www.afterdawn.com/

wnaspi32.dll can be copied from your windows CD into C:\winnt\system32(or if you left Service Pack2 files on your disk )
DO NOT use the Nero wnaspi file it has to be a Windows and DO NOT touch the Wnaspi in any Nero location on your system!
Just check to make sure it is not in System32 first(do a file search.(If it is ,rename it ...32.old, and get a new file)
Reboot your computer and check and see if it is system aspi is in InfoTool(green bar)
If yes upgrade to 6.5
If not you will have to clean install 6.5 but get back to me as it is involved,
It can be a pain ,,,,,,but it is worth it when it is right.

The problem you had with that CD not being recognized can be caused by Cheap Media.I have found it is not worth it for backups etc. If they do not work. Use a brandname and test them for reliability.Use value media for items that you can afford to lose like copies of music that you have the original for. I use these copies in my car and they get damaged easily(but still test before buying in quantity).

A little more info Here;
http://www.nero.com/us/FAQs_Windows.html#1