DVD-ROM does not recognise DVD-R discs

[theTiger]

The data disc can be read on another machine all right, but my DVD ROM keeps saying there is no disc in the drive. It reads CD and DVD video discs ok, btw.

Nero InfoTool says my DVD ROM supports DVD-R/RW, can it be wrong? Anything I can do to get it to read DVD-R?

I tried to contact the distributor of DVD ROM but no luck . Hope I can get a clue here.

[John Prophet]

Is the dvd disc blank? Do they have to be formatted before they can be read? Is it a brand new drive or have you read some of those dvd-r disks before?

Seems like, believe it or not, that some of the first drives were compatible with dvd-rw but not dvd-r, lol. Could it be that?

JP

[John Prophet]

Here is some of what I was looking for also.



from http://www.dvdplusrw.org/pc/pccomparison.html#7 so maybe your dvd-r needs to be formatted first?


"When you want to use your rewrtitable DVD discs, the discs needs to be formatted first. With DVD+RW, this format procedure is performed in the background, invisible to the user, and nearly without consuming any time. The drive starts formatting a small portion of disc first (lead-in area and part of the data area, required to start writing). It then resumes for the remaining portion automatically in the background when there is no writing or reading operation (Background Formatting). This feature enables to start initial writing immediately. Background formatting shall be suspended should additional reading/writing be required. Discs that are only partially formatted can be ejected from the drive, maintaining the compatibility with existing DVD-ROM drives, and formatting automatically continues when you re-insert the disc. Older DVD-RW drives required you to format a full disc at 1x speed, so you had to wait for over one hour before you can start recording to the disc. With some newer -RW drives you can use some form of a software application to perform a quick format which has to be initiated by the user. It cannot be interrupted, so you have to wait for it to complete before you can start writing to the disc. "

JP

[muno]

-+r discs can't be formatted, -+rw discs can.

Perhaps incompatible media?
-M

[theTiger]

JP & muno, thanks. The data discs are not blank, as I said they can be read on another machine.

The DVD drive on my machine had never been used to read a DVD-R disc before, that is why I am not sure whether Nero can be trusted or not when it says my drive supports DVD-R/RW discs.

I don't have a DVD-RW in hand, so I can't tell whether formatting the disc could help or not (DVD-R can't be formatted, as suggested by muno).

I've heard that changing the book type of the discs to DVD-ROM might help. But then I was told MY Sony DVD RW drive does not support the trick .

BTW, the drive was bought last year, probably manufactured the year before that. Do you think it should be considerred a early model? I just have no idea.


Thanks again for your time.