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Inspiron8500/NEC ND-5100A DVD+RW Won't Read Data DVD

I have a Dell Inspiron 8500, running WinXP Pro (SP2), with a NEC DVD+RW ND-5100A drive, purchased in Aug 2003. I have never tried to burn a data DVD+R on this laptop (LT) until now. I have played video DVDs and read and written CDs. I recently burned some jpg files to a DVD using Roxio Easy Media Crreator 7.0 on the LT. I put it in my desktop (DT) and was able to display the pictures with no problem. I put the DVD back into the LT and couldn't read it. I burned a DVD on the DT, and it couldn't be read on the LT. I retried a movie and that worked fine. When I insert the DVD into the LT, it just sits there and whirs. After a while I may be able to examine the contents in the DVD (everything happens VERY slowly); if I try to copy a file off, I get the error msg: Cannot copy "filename"; Data error (cyclic redundancy check).

I flashed the DVD firmware to: latest update 10FE at...ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/rmsd/R94927.EXE
This made no difference. I tried using different combinations of the options in Roxio; nothing worked.

To summarize: DVD reads and writes CDs
DVD reads video DVD disk
DVD writes data DVD+R disk (readable on my DT)
DVD won't read data DVD+R disk written on either my LT or DT

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Irwin Santos

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SOLUTION

cashcomp

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SOLUTION

rindi

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gleasonll

ASKER

irwinpks -- the drive has been cleaned.

cashcomp -- I tried using the lowest burn speed on LT; no difference.
No, the LT won't read DVD's burnt on the DT.

rindi -- there is no ...\class\... key, just ...\Class\...

question(s): should I delete the upper.bak & lower.bak, also
should I delete "upper" & "lower" in all ...10318 keys
CDROM
Disk drives
Keyboards
Mice & other pointing devices
Floppy disk drives

SOLUTION

GGJJ

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gleasonll

ASKER

GGJJ -- I couldn't find a firmware update on the NEC site for the
ND-5100A. In fact, a search of their site for "5100A" produces nothing. There is info on a "5100", but no firmware info.

SOLUTION

tim_qui

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gleasonll

ASKER

tim_qui -- the AutoPlay Repair Wizard didn't find anything wrong.

GGJJ

gleasonll

I actually flashed with firmware from
http://tdb.rpc1.org which is not official
so It's up to You to decide if you want to flash it.
I must warn You that there is a possibility to damage burner, I flashed one drive death.
But I also flashed many drives succesfully.

rindi

You can try running the download from the following link, it should remove the upper and lower filters automatically. Reboot after it is done.

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/xp_cd_dvd_fix.htm

gleasonll

ASKER

I spent 2hrs on the phone with a Dell tech, yesterday. He concluded that the problem was hardware, and put a new drive in the mail. I just received it this morning and it works fine. Thank you all for your efforts; I split the points between all 5 who tried to assist me.

gleasonll

ASKER

By the way, the new drive replacement was a Nec ND-6650A.

Irwin Santos

cool. thank you!

GGJJ

gleasonll THX,
You got a much better writer now
It supports everything (+ and -, DL) but DVD-RAM
5100A was only + single layer.
You are lucky Dell has no more 5100a on stock.

cashcomp

thanks for the points - glad to try - at least the problem was resolved.

cashcomp