Sony DRU-500A can't burn anything

[DPtoo]

Hello all, I posted this over at the other place and will try here. I've finally gotten around to messing with my DRU-500A and have found that I can't burn anything. Here's the situation;

> can read data CDs, including CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs
> can read music CDs
> can read video DVDs
> cannot write CD-Rs, tried two or three brands
> cannot write CD-RWs
> cannot write DVD-RWs
> cannot write DVD+RW (disc that came with drive)

The machine is a homebuilt with an Abit KT7A, 900 MHz Duron, 512 MB, running WinXP Home SP1. The Sony is on the second IDE channel, which otherwise is known to work with a Plextor CD-R and a hard disk.

I've run Sony's DriveCheck program and it passes all tests, including write tests. I've tried PIO as well as DMA. Under Device Manager it appears as "SONY DVD RW DRU500A", under Properties it is listed as "Device Type: DVD/CD-ROM drives". IIRC I updated the firmware to 2.0g. I've tried deleting the device and refinding it with New Hardware Wizard, and tried updating the driver. I've also messed with the ASPI driver and currently have Adaptec's v4.71 driver, and used Adaptec's ASPI checker app to ensure the driver's loaded, and rebooted afterwards.

I'm completely stumped at this point. The hardware can write, the DriveCheck program proves that. If it were a Windows driver issue, updating the driver would have solved the problem. If it were a firmware issue, that would have been corrected. But as far as Windows is concerned, that drive is read-only. Can anyone give me a clue what to look for?

Thanks

p.s. since I can't find my receipt to verify date of purchase, Sony support wants $18 or something to even talk to me. I won't soon forget that, Mr. Sony.

[Darkman]

Reading but not writting sounds like ASPI, what O/S are you using?

[sawedoff1]

What are you using..... Nero, Adaptec have you tried another writing program if not try burnatonce 0.99b (http://www.burnatonce.com/cgi-bin/ShotGun/ShotGun.cgi?ammo=burnatonce) its freeware

[Nuttapper]

How powerful is the PSU in your PC? in terms of watts?

[DPtoo]

Reading but not writting sounds like ASPI, what O/S are you using?
WinXP Home SP1.

[DPtoo]

What are you using..... Nero, Adaptec have you tried another writing program if not try burnatonce 0.99b (http://www.burnatonce.com/cgi-bin/ShotGun/ShotGun.cgi?ammo=burnatonce) its freeware
You know, I have been assuming all along its been a driver or hardware issue, but after seeing this suggestion I decided to clean off all burning SW and install the freebies that came on the Sony CD-ROM. I was able to add a file to an existing CD-RW disc using the dorky RecordNow by Veritas. I then used the WinXP Help reader to look at the instructions for burning a disc from the Windows interface, and sure enough that isn't working. On my Dell laptop which has Easy CD Creator, I can churn and burn from Windows Explorer, but not on my desktop.

I have an older purchased copy of Nero, dunno if it'll run under XP but maybe I'll give it a try.

[BlackDiamondJr]

You may want to upgrade to the latest firmware on that drive. There were numerous issues with the older firmwares.