Please help : Sony DRU500a and black CD-Rs

[waldok]

Hi,

I know this is not directly related to DVD burning since it is about CD-R but hey, MiniDVD is also on Cd-R, so...:D

Here is my problem : I have bought a DRU500a, great buy, works like a charm on every DVD+-R/RW I tried, but it wont accept my black CD-Rs (PSone-like if it helps you see what I'lm talking about).
Problem is I have a bunch of these because they were the only ones that used to work on my former standalone player when I was doing SVCD (before I bought the DRU500a).
I have memorex and PNY black cd-Rs I'd like to use without having to reinstall my old CD burner (Ricoh MP5120A).

Black CD-Rs are not even recognized by the Sony, the drive spins for a few minutes then acts as if no CD was inserted. It's not only about blank CDs since it won't either recognize previously burnt CD-Rs that work great on other readers. It's not limited to SVCD, since it also fails on standard Data CDs, or audio CDs. Black dye seems to be a problem for the sony.

Did anybody here experience that or have any information about it? I precise my firmware is 1.0d (didn't see the need to move to 1.0f for the moment).

Thanks for your help.

Waldok:cool:

[klona]

not familiar with the Sony, but is there different version of firmware ?
Pioneer A05 had issues with CDR detection, fixed with new firmwares.

Anyone know about this burner ?

[waldok]

yes latest firmware is 1.0f, available from the sony storage site (can't remember the URL).
But I wouldn't like to upgrade if I'm not 100% sure it would help on this issue, since I've read people had problems with this new firmware. Hence my question.

Waldok:cool:

[gooki]

For me I'd say you have a 50/50 chance of it fixing your problem.

50% of me say's it's the firmware. the other 50% say's it laser incompatibility.

[markrb]

If you do decide to upgrade (I did without issue) please remember to put the IDE channel into PIO mode when you upgrade or you will hose the drive.

Actually I forgot to put it back to DMA mode so good thing I saw this. :)

Mark

[mb1]

My Sony DRU500A recognizes black cdrs without any problem.
I have firmware 1.0f and hardware revision BB.

Tested with black Intenso, black Bestmedia and unprinted black cdrs.

So I would recommend to update the firmware.

[waldok]

Well, thanx to all, and particularly to mb1, that's an interesting info. Still, I heard of problems when upgrading so what parts should I be aware of (apart from what Mark already mentioned about PIO mode).

I'll also look into it on the sony web site, they give some recommendations about upgrading.


Thanks for your help

Waldok:cool:

[int 21h]

My drive shipped with 1.0e, I upgraded to 1.0f a few minutes after I installed it, with absolutely no difficulty. (Running Win2kSP3)

I've only used the drive to burn two images that I had, on some expensive Imation discs (2x whoohoo), I bought locally. Going to order a large amount of Riteks from Rima soon I think... However, so far, I am pretty satisfied with the drive, and very, very satisfied with the progress DVDDecryptor has made (I still remember when SmartRipper was the best), the WRITE mode of DVDDecryptor is nothing short of great, can't imagine using anything else for images.

[mb1]

I heard of problems when upgrading so what parts should I be aware of (apart from what Mark already mentioned about PIO mode).
Everything to take care of is written on the sony site
http://sony.storagesupport.com/dvdrw/downloads/Firmware1f/Instruction/500Aupdate.html