DW D56A optical drive not reading blank CDR's...... help/advice reqd.!

[jimmex]

Hi club members....

Any chance anyone can offer some help/advice
I have a 3 month old VGN-A417M which for the past 2 weeks wont recognize and blank CDR inserted (various brand names tried without success) The strange thing is (to me at least) is that it will recognize written CDRs and it will recognize blank DVD's and will write them ok (I use DVD-R) and will also read all DVDs.

A few days ago I upgraded the firmware to the latest version but that made no difference and Im now at a loss as where to go as I desperately need to burn CDR on a regular basis for work purposes. Worst still is that I purchased the laptop in the UK on the way to Bangladesh where I wil be working for the next 6 - 12 months and as far as I can tell there is no local Sony Repair agent here to go to for advice.

PS - Before posting this I did a quick search on the net and was suprised to find lots of complaints about malfuctions with this particular drive unit.

Any help/advice (or sympathy) appreciated

thanks
jimmex

[Twisted-Rizla]

Hi Welcome to the Forum

Have a look at this thread. It might help.

Beardo rules:smileygrin:

[jimmex]

Thanks Twisted - had a look at that post but not much help - Ive tried everything I can think of including the usual recovery to Sony's original factory default installation and I still can't get the drive to read blank CDR's - and to make matters worse it's now struggling to read written ones.

Judging by other comments in this forum it looks like Sony need to get their act together when it comes to DVD writers. Really disappointing for an otherwise great laptop and now makes the high end price I paid look like money not very well spent. My big worry now is how long before the DVD writer fails and turns my laptop into a real lemon!!

I guess my next thread with be to look for advice on external USB burners - LOL!!

thanks m8
jimmex

[Twisted-Rizla]

As you've gathered Jim you're not alone with this problem.

My only advice would be to contact Sony at Vaio-Link and see what they have to say. I'm pretty sure they must be being inundated with complaints judging by the number of people who have reported the problem here.

[jimmex]

Thanks again Twisted - you read my mind....

A 'disgusted' letter is winging its way to tech support, particularly as I've just found out that any sort of repair solution by a laptop workshop here in Dhaka is going to cost me at least 400 USD and even then they will only give me 30 days guarantee.

Hardly something to inspire confidence - LOL!

Jim