tanowalla

i have a Nascar laptop with a NEC ND 6650A DVD RW, which stopped burning DVD´s (it reads CD´s, DVD´s and burns CD´s but not DVD´s), after i formatted it and installed Windows XP SP2 on it (it originally came with Home edition). Please if you have any ideas, please write. Thank you very much in advance.

smz

Well with XP based systems and Vista as well. You certainly don't need a driver for them. I've had only one drive in my life that was a combo but refused to acknowlege DVD discs, even for reading. That NEC is a reputable drive. Are ou using Nero by any chance? that program is pretty darn accurate at detecting burners. otherwise the firmware on your writer maybe be talking to the software and identifing itself as a cdr only.

Wouldnt' hurt to buy a dvd-rom cleaning disc either.

tanowalla

Hi, thank you for your quick answer. Yes i am using Nero and with the tools from nero i found out that it was a NEC ND 6650A. I thought of getting a dvd rom cleansing disc, but i was waiting for some advise. Howerver i think the only way is to update the firmware, because the only thing it doesn´t do is burn DVD´s.

Thank you very much again, i will keep you posted if i have any progress.

smz

Be careful you use the correct firmware. Just a couple years back I was high and mighty with the updating of DVDRW firmware specifically on NEC drives. There are a lot of patched firmware binaries available that let you do some things you are not supposed to do but can also give you issues or just a headache. I don't suggest a google on this one. Go directly to the NEC official homepage and download it from there. Of course you know the routine of making sure your machine is stable, probably shouldn't boot while overclocked and in my case, has a UPS onboard. Unlike some modern motherboards, I'm not sure if you can recover from a bricked DVD drive if the update fails???

Good Luck! Those NEC drives have always treated me the best. Though you mentioned a laptop. You should see if your laptop maker posted any firmware updates. They are considered the OEM but always a good option to pursue first.

-Scott

smz

OH do I feel like a DOH DOH. (Thanks Homer)

You can axe a couple of my suggestions, specifially about having a UPS onboard and the overclocking advice.

Boy, being MIA for a couple of months sure has knocked me out silly.
But all kidding aside. Use official firmware only. This link will hopefully help you navigate to the appropriate site. Looks like NEC and Sony have a combo venture going on. You'll have to start from here. Good Luck: http://support.necam.com/Optical/

Scott