In a bind.

[banger]

Over a year ago I bought two Samsung 203P drives. Their both out of warranty and one of them has stopped reading DVD+RW disks. The working one has burnt about 3 disks and the other about 20. So can anyone recommend a drive that will last more than a year? Here's the bind the replacement DVD Writer should do Dual Layer and be Silver or at least have a silver bezel. Ideas?

[Superewza]

That's a really wierd problem, usually nothing wrong with Sammy drives. Even bad ones (looking at Lite-On) here last for hundreds more burns than that.

But quality wise... Pioneer?

[banger]

Cheers will have a look round for a Sata Pioneer but Silver is going to be difficult methinks. I just burnt Win 7 Release Candidate x64 for a try. Hardly used Sammy boots ok and recognises in Windows, dodgy one wont boot or recognise in windows yet it reads CDs. It used to, new disks thought it was them, but dug out some old +RW disks and same effect drive is definately gone.

Edit: Anyone know if the Sony has multiple bezels?

[banger]

Anyone know what the warranty period for the Sammy drives is according to this page, http://www.samsung.com/uk/support/warranty/warrantyInformation.do?page=POLICY.WARRANTY the warranty is for 36 months. Do I have to get in touch with Samsung or Nova for support with the SH-203P drive?

[banger]

Have emailed Nova, see what they say. Trouble is Nova don't have any silver drives and have my eye on a rather nice Sony Optiaric AD-7241S in silver. Have now tested the drive with a pressed movie DVD and it wont read that either, doesnt think theres a disc in the drive, working drive reads it fine. Will update this thread with any results, looks like it wont read any DVD but CDs are fine.

[Cnr]

You could maybe update the firmware on the drive to see if that fixes it. From searching Google it seems it could be an issue with the registry. Have a look at Post #6 here (http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-83702-dvd-rw-drive-can-t-read-disc) and see if that helps you at all.

[Aegis]

Hi Banger,

I have quite a few sammy drives and apart from a couple along with mdd which i think was a bad batch i have had no trouble with them at all.

When i got mine they came with a silver, black, and beige front plate as they are interchangeable, also sammy have their own auto updating firmware which is supplied on the disc you get with the drives.

If you do go for another sammy i have a few silver frontplates here and if you want i will pop one in the post for you.

[Danno]

as Cnr said, try updating the firmware on the drive. if you download and install the live update program from here you can get the latest firmware for the drive.

http://www.samsungodd.com/Eng/Firmware/FAQ/Faq.asp

[banger]

You could maybe update the firmware on the drive to see if that fixes it. From searching Google it seems it could be an issue with the registry. Have a look at Post #6 here (http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-83702-dvd-rw-drive-can-t-read-disc) and see if that helps you at all.

Thanks for that, tried every suggestion in that but no go. Firmware is up to date, even tried old firmware to see if that made a difference but no. Thing is I have two identical drives and have tried the non working drive on working machine but still wouldn't read. I think the clincher is that it wont boot on working machine, which rules out OS. Boots from CD ok but no my Win 7 DVD yet other drive is fine.

[banger]

Hi Banger,

I have quite a few sammy drives and apart from a couple along with mdd which i think was a bad batch i have had no trouble with them at all.

When i got mine they came with a silver, black, and beige front plate as they are interchangeable, also sammy have their own auto updating firmware which is supplied on the disc you get with the drives.

If you do go for another sammy i have a few silver frontplates here and if you want i will pop one in the post for you.

Many thanks for your kind offer but I don't think I will be going with a Sammy again. This drive has burnt less than 20 discs and it's caput for DVDs. There was another thread on here round about April 2008 with a similar problem of a Sammy drive not being able to read discs.

[banger]

as Cnr said, try updating the firmware on the drive. if you download and install the live update program from here you can get the latest firmware for the drive.

http://www.samsungodd.com/Eng/Firmware/FAQ/Faq.asp

The firmware has been up to date for a while now but this has made no difference. I even reflashed the firmware and tried the drive in a known working Machine. What's the warranty on these drives?

[mrgoose]

This might be interesting reading for you - it seems you are not alone! Like most TH threads, it does wander off-topic a bit. But it might still be worth a read as your Samsung drive does receive a few mentions:-
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/600-63-problem-writer-windows-with-nero

As a matter of interest, what burning software are you using?

Best wishes, G.

[banger]

This might be interesting reading for you - it seems you are not alone! Like most TH threads, it does wander off-topic a bit. But it might still be worth a read as your Samsung drive does receive a few mentions:-
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/600-63-problem-writer-windows-with-nero

As a matter of interest, what burning software are you using?

Best wishes, G.

Thanks Mr Goose (sniggers). Well I have been in touch with Samsung and they reckon it's a hardware problem after trying various suggestions. Seems the DVD laser and CD laser are separate so could be the laser. Have tried cleaning the lens but no different. Thing is it wont boot a DVD on a different machine so that rules out Nero 7 which came with the drive.

Samsung say it has to go back to the Netherlands which will cost around £7 and the drive will be refurbished by Hanauru. I have ordered a Sony Optiaric ADS7241 from Amazon to replace it but not sure it's worth sending to get refurbished.

That TH thread is more software related, but I don't have any problem with my other identical drive and Nero on my other machine.

Nova wont touch it as they only warranty it for 12 months. :(

[mrgoose]

Hmm dunno mate. Granted, you can buy new ones for about twenty quid. Still, seven quid is hardly a king's ransome, is it? Still, I'm glad you know what the problem is. That's always half the battle.

Out of curiousity, how much is the Sony? Can't actually find a price for the 7241?

Best wishes, G.

[banger]

20 quid. Am sending the Sammy back and keep the refurb as a spare because I have another one and that might go. Now to find the box.

[banger]

Just to update this thread and hopefully conclude the Saga. Have ordered the Sony drive and sent back the Sammy drive to the Service centre in the Netherlands for a swap out, cost me £6 for Airmail, not bad, would have cost me that to send to Nova. According to Dutch lady Sammy drives are warrantied for 27 months just for info, so that not too bad.

[banger]

Got the Sony drive today and it flies. Just gotta wait for the refurb swap now and keep it as a spare.

[banger]

Got the Sammy back a week ago but it had the wrong bezel so they sent a replacement bezel in the post which took a week. Sammy drive is now fully functional so have two drives in my machine. :D

[Hayling Laser Sailor]

Just for future information for everybody, I had a similar problem my dvd burner wouldn't read discs, so I bought a cheap disk cleaner for £1 to clean the drive heads (thought it might be worth a try) and ran the cleaner, it read and burnt discs again fine after.

I understand that it is not always that simple but might be worth a try if you get problems

P.S: Good to hear banger that you are getting sorted

[banger]

Mine would read CDs but not DVDs. Sammy technical told me there are two lasers one for CD and one for DVD both using the same lens and there was a hardware problem with the DVD laser. Oh I already have a lens cleaner.

[Hayling Laser Sailor]

Right, just thought I would let anybody looking at this thread later on know that it is worth a try. ;)

Anyway good to hear that your getting sorted

[jon bda]

Hey banger, do you mind if i ask what the rma process was like?. Got an SH-S223 dvdrw here thats totally fubar and almost got binned until i saw this thread and the 36 months warranty bit!.
:)

[banger]

Hey banger, do you mind if i ask what the rma process was like?. Got an SH-S223 dvdrw here thats totally fubar and almost got binned until i saw this thread and the 36 months warranty bit!.
:)

It was relatively smooth. Samsung gave me a free phone number for Samsung ODD, 00800 80108011. Then all communication was by email after the phone call with them asking me to do a few tests and giving me a RMA number and address to send to in the Netherlands. They promise about a weeks turnaround if they have replacements and will check the serial number for warranty info.

All in all it was relatively quick apart from them sending a black drive when I wanted silver but for £6 airmail total cost I can't grumble. Good luck if you go ahead and pack the drive well they are sticklers for that. Let us know how you get on?

Tim

[banger]

You wont believe it but the replacement drive has failed with Timeout and Sense errors. Looks like another RMA :|

[_Locke]

You wont believe it but the replacement drive has failed with Timeout and Sense errors. Looks like another RMA :|

Ouch that's not good.

What media are you using? have you tried changing those?

[banger]

It's not the media as I bought a Sony and have another hardly used Sammy that both work fine. The Sony is on the same machine. Media is Memorex DVD+RW 4x but like I say that works fine on two other drives.

[_Locke]

It's not the media as I bought a Sony and have another hardly used Sammy that both work fine. The Sony is on the same machine. Media is Memorex DVD+RW 4x but like I say that works fine on two other drives.

Ah that's reasonable.

Just thought I'd throw that suggestion out there, since cheap media is a cause of many burner related issues.

[banger]

RMA number 2. They are sending me a different model this time, a 203S, if this one breaks I'm giving up as postage is going to cost more than the drive is worth.

[banger]

New (RMA) drive, arrived today. Initially testing drive would only read/write DVDs at 3x despite write rated at 4x and usually reads up to 12x.

Booted from DOS/Win 7 DVD no problem. Went back to XP checked DMA mode and controller had reverted to PIO only mode (slaps forehead). Changed back to DMA and reboot, drive back up to speed.

Wonder how long this one will last.

[jon bda]

Gone my drive ready to go after finally getting contact off them...heard nothing the first time i tried, guess my message went awol somewhere :rolleye:. Anyway, as you say, everything seems fine so far...i've had the standard 'put it in another pc, try this, etc' approach and after that it was fine,. Had to email them to request my rma number which arrived within the hour, now i just need to send it off.
:thumbs:

[banger]

RMA drive took a wobbly today. Was getting timeout errors. Redid the DVD and it worked ok seemed it had trouble reading a disk it had just burned. Sony drive is working perfectly though, **** Sammys.

[banger]

RMA drive not reading discs now, not a windows problem as I cant boot from it either it thinks there is no disc.Sony workin fine Sammy refurb useless.

[banger]

Second Sammy has now failed, have ordered a Sony AD7261S to replace. Not touching Sammy again.