Burner can't burn??

[Bobbias]

Somehow, my burner got messed up, and I can't burn anything. Windows recognizes it as burnable, but nothing else does. I've reinstalled the drivers, and still nothing. I need to burn a DVD iso, but it just won't work. DVD decryptor froze in the middle of burning a while back, and since then it's been like this.

[Spectere]

Can you successfully burn CDs?

[Bobbias]

No blank CDs to try, but the point is moot. Every cd burning program immediately identifies the burner as incapable of burning anything. Well, except dvd decrypter, but it's the cause of this mess in the first place.

Also, thanks for gracing us with your ever-diminishing presence once again

[Sneaky]

New firmware/reinstall firmware? I tried this once and it worked...

also with another drive (toshiba), I had to RMA it and send it back because it was a manufacturing error of some kind, where any blank media put in the drive would basically leave the busy light on and stall it, making me have to eject it using the paperclip hole.

[Bobbias]

It opens and closes fine, and this is something new, because it used to work fine.

I tried googling the model (Pioneer DVDRTD08A DVD-RW) with no luck as far as firmware is concerned. (Why is laptop hardware such a fucking pain sometimes? Oh, right, companies think that laptop owners don't need the same level of tech support that regular computer owners do.... :<)

[Spectere]

The reason that DVD Decrypter froze might be simply because the drive took a shit.  I've seen drives lose functionality prior to completely dying.  The last DVD-RW drive I had in my desktop refused to burn anything; replacing it resolved the issue.

I tried googling the model (Pioneer DVDRTD08A DVD-RW) with no luck as far as firmware is concerned. (Why is laptop hardware such a fucking pain sometimes? Oh, right, companies think that laptop owners don't need the same level of tech support that regular computer owners do.... :<)

No, the problem is more than the Dells and HPs of the world like to control everything about laptops.  The situation where you could only use video card drivers provided by your OEM, for instance, was a 100% artificial limitation that managed to sneak its way into the manufacturers' agreement.  Luckily, ATI and NVIDIA seemed to dislike getting pushed around to the point that you can actually get drivers directly from them now (not like that's stopped me...I'm using Mobility Modder to get the latest legacy drivers for my laptop, since Dell doesn't support this model past XP).

For further proof of this, look at all the stupid, STUPID adapters and plugs that they use.  Believe it or not, there are standards as to how PCI-E video cards should connect to laptop motherboards.  Additionally, there is also a standard for the way CD/DVD drives should mount into the case, and hard drives all use standard connectors.  However, it's rare that you find a system that directly uses any of these standard connectors.  It's a big, bloody mess.

[Bobbias]

Great, so now I'm gonna need a new drive? How hard is it to get a replacement drive for something like this anyway?

[Spectere]

I'd try to do a bit more testing first (get an OS that you can boot from USB to do a good, last test), but yeah, sounds like you might need a new drive.

It's not too hard to find replacement parts.  Try searching Google Shopping for your model and what you're looking for.  I upgraded the DVD/CD-RW combo drive on my Dell about a year ago by searching for "inspiron 9300 dvd burner" or something along those lines.  That will generally get you something that will not only connect to your computer, but has a good chance of fitting flush with the case.