My DVD burner not reconizing blank dvds?

[Goldman]

Hey there

i am currently using a hp dvd 740 external dvd burner and all of a sudden it just has stopped recognizing blank discs. it recognizes normal dvds but not blanks. sometimes when i put in blanks and tap the top of the external drive it recognizes the blank disc and when i go to burn a dvd it will just freeze at 1% and nothing will happen after that. can anybody tell me whats going on? thanks.

My first thought was to try upgrading the firmware, but I can only find the firmware for the internal version of your drive on HP's site (which I do not recommend trying to use--it sounds like there were several different manufacturers HP used for the drives of this model number, and you've got to know the exact one for them to work).

Of course, from the threads I've seen from trying to hunt down a firmware upgrade for your drive, it sounds like even those with the same burner (and problem) who did find firmware upgrades and installed them didn't have any luck. I hope this isn't the case for you, but it sounds like you might be screwed because HP's support is pretty much non-existent.

[Audioarchivist]

My cent and a half's worth:
How old / used is it? I'm thinking dirty laser lens...?

[direwolf-pgh]

Originally Posted by Goldman

Hey there

i am currently using a hp dvd 740 external dvd burner and all of a sudden it just has stopped recognizing blank discs. it recognizes normal dvds but not blanks. sometimes when i put in blanks and tap the top of the external drive it recognizes the blank disc and when i go to burn a dvd it will just freeze at 1% and nothing will happen after that. can anybody tell me whats going on? thanks.

its broke - replace it

[Goldman]

Originally Posted by Audioarchivist

My cent and a half's worth:
How old / used is it? I'm thinking dirty laser lens...?

its a little less than a year and a half old but i havent used it since november. when i plugged it back in and tryed using it this is whats happening. also i got it to work once and it burned a dvd successfully. after i took out that disc and put in a new blank to burn another it wouldent recognize the blank dvd again...pretty weird huh? also last week i got it to burn 4 discs successfully in the middle of it not reading discs and reading discs but burning them but freezing while burning but after those 4 it just stopped reading blanks altogether. i can put in a dvd and watch it or rip it fine.

[saltman]

Since it's an external drive.... try it on another computer. That will rule out if it's an OS, burning program, lots of stuff issue.

If it doesn't work on the other computer I'd get a new one. A year and a half is about average life expectancy in my experience.

[katnapz]

Originally Posted by saltman

Since it's an external drive.... try it on another computer. That will rule out if it's an OS, burning program, lots of stuff issue.

If it doesn't work on the other computer I'd get a new one. A year and a half is about average life expectancy in my experience.

Agree with saltman - Try it in a different computer.
Also, just for checks, take a look at the error log on your computer and see if you've had anything pop up at around the same time as you remember the burner not working.....some program that hits that port up while it's running? Maybe there's a conflict somewhere that's causing it to stop for no reason but not enough to throw up a message on your desktop.
Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer>System

Saltman - A year and a half expectancy? You must really beat your equipment to have it go bad in that short a time. I've taken compenents around the world into some pretty harsh conditions and haven't had them regularly break that quickly.

[saltman]

Originally Posted by katnapz

Saltman - A year and a half expectancy? You must really beat your equipment to have it go bad in that short a time. I've taken compenents around the world into some pretty harsh conditions and haven't had them regularly break that quickly.

That's about what I get out of my internal drives...... I burn a lot of discs. shit ton actually.

[Homebrew101]

Maybe the problem is your burner doesn't like the brand of media you are trying to burn on it. If your using some El Cheapo dvd blanks that might be the problem.

[direwolf-pgh]

Originally Posted by Goldman

Hey there

i am currently using a hp dvd 740 external dvd burner and all of a sudden it just has stopped recognizing blank discs. it recognizes normal dvds but not blanks. sometimes when i put in blanks and tap the top of the external drive it recognizes the blank disc and when i go to burn a dvd it will just freeze at 1% and nothing will happen after that. can anybody tell me whats going on? thanks.

this issue isnt software - bummer
i used to have a TV set you had to hit for a good picture.

[Goldman]

Originally Posted by Homebrew101

Maybe the problem is your burner doesn't like the brand of media you are trying to burn on it. If your using some El Cheapo dvd blanks that might be the problem.

I'm using Sony DVD-R and DVD+R, its seems to like the DVD+Rs more since those are the ones that its been recognizing whenever it decides it wants to work but it doesent always recognize them only every once in awhile.

Originally Posted by direwolf-pgh

this issue isnt software - bummer
i used to have a TV set you had to hit for a good picture.

haha since i last posted that that method hasent been working either....i think that may have been a coincidence that two times it happened.

[possessed]

www.newegg.com

Buy a new one.

I had a Plextor start doing these same things. Eventually it recognized less and less discs, even ones it burned. Tried everything (firmware, new cables, cleaning the laser) and just bought a new one. Problem solved.

[diggrd]

Originally Posted by possessed

www.newegg.com

Buy a new one.

I had a Plextor start doing these same things. Eventually it recognized less and less discs, even ones it burned. Tried everything (firmware, new cables, cleaning the laser) and just bought a new one. Problem solved.

Agreed had an HP do the same thing