Cannot write to CD/DVD drive

bonehead38 · 11-14-2005, 02:17 PM

I cannot copy any kind of files to my cd/dvd drive, it tells me ‘D:\ is not accessible. Incorrect function.’
I can read from it with no problems whatsoever, but stick a blank disc in and the above happens.
Anyone have any ideas why?
The drive is an NEC DVD RW ND 2500A.

RockinNick · 11-14-2005, 05:56 PM

hmm sounds like a problem i had.. i had a 2100A drive and my problem was that the dvd's that i bought were not in the right format...

I think your problem is with the firmware.. and if its not its always a good thing to update it usually fixes the problems.

heres the link
Firmware for ND 2500A v.1.9a

**please** · 11-14-2005, 08:29 PM

@ bonehead38
It is always good to have the latest firmware when DVD-RW are concerned as RockinNick has suggested. Sometimes flashing a drive with new firmware fixes things that weren't intended to be fixed, but they get fixed as a residual benefit, if that makes any sense.

Your problem could be lots of things. What and how are you trying to copy? What program are you using to do the copying?(kinda the same question...)

Why haven't you upgraded to WinXP SP2? There are many benefits and few downsides...

bonehead38 · 11-17-2005, 06:11 AM

Disc format shouldn't be a problem 'cause the drive is compatible with both + & - format discs.
I'm tryin' all ways I know to copy, but my main software is Pinnacle Instant Disc. I'm in the middle off a college class at the moment so don't have time to go too deeply into it with a lecturer breathin' down my neck, but I've tried copying all kinds of things, video audio, word docs etc, nothin will work.
I have upgraded to SP2, strangely enough this problem started around the same time as I did that!
Is there any danger in using the firmware listed in your post RockinNick?
'Cause I've read lots of scary stuff on the net about ruining your drive if you get it wrong!

**please** · 11-17-2005, 09:02 AM

@ bonehead38
Try physically removing the power and IDE cable connections from the rear of the drive after deleting the IDE channel from within 'device manager' and restart. Windows will redetect the channel with NO NEC2500 on it. At this time, you will want to get every windows update available for your system and install them and resboot. Then, power down again and reattach the connectors for the NEC and power up again, allowing windows to redetect your drive. It seems that when upgrading to SP2, something happens with the detection method in windows on some systems and you get what you are seeing.

Keep us posted with you progress.

RockinNick · 11-17-2005, 02:30 PM

wow good advice please!

yes i use that the websites firmware all the time and highly reccomend it. I use it whenever i need to update my firmware. If you dont think you can trust it just go on google and search for your drive's name and the word "firmware".. Another large database for firmware is at rpc1 . MANY people use this site for their firmware and comes highly reccomended. Although i think you have to register to be able to acess files.

I would try updating your firmware first before disconnecting your drives and IDE Channels. That's getting more serious than just updating your firmware.

Keep us posted!

bonehead38 · 01-02-2006, 10:36 AM

Hi guys, let me start by apologising for the amount of time that has passed since my last post, but for various reasons I have only just been able to try the fixes you both suggested.

So.....I never really found a firmware that put me 100% at ease so I decided on a leap of faith and just used the newest I could find. For some reason I could not download from softpedia.com as you recommended RockinNick, even installed download manager and still no joy. Anyway, to cut a long story short it didn't work, so out came the screwdriver, and on to please's suggestion.

I thought I had followed your instructions as intended, but I'm not so sure I did now and would like to run some things by you before I try again.
In device manager I uninstalled the drive itself under DVD/CD ROM drives (and it's this step I think may have been incorrect) then shut down and disconnected the cables, rebooted, shut down and reconnected cables and the drive was reinstalled again on bootup, but the problem still remains.

I have been able to burn some audio tracks onto disc through Pinnacle, but even this program has now decided to give me a hard time telling me I've got problems with the registry settings.

But back to the original problem, should I have deleted/uninstalled the primary IDE channel under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers rather than the drive itself? I don't want to move forward on this one until I hear back from you in case I do more harm than good!

One final thought, and don't shout at me 'cause I should have already tried it but......could the laser just need cleaning??

Oh, and a very Happy (belated) New Year to you both and all at TSF.

**please** · 01-02-2006, 11:42 AM

@ bonehead38
Sounds like you did the 'uninstall/reinstall' procedure correctly. The next step will be to uninstall and reinstall your burning software to the latest version. Since you trouble started with the SP2 install, I might guess that your burning software install was configged for SP1, so a reinstall might set things right.

If that doesn't get the results you desire, a firmware update might help.
Here are some links to set your mind to ease for firmware updates
A great NEC Forum and its FAQs that has a link to firmware pages, including Liggy and Dee's firmware page. They can be trusted to improve your drives performance.

Lens cleaning can help, but I doubt it is your problem.

11-14-2005, 02:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
bonehead38 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Hull, UK Posts: 6 OS: Windows XP Home SP2	Cannot write to CD/DVD drive I cannot copy any kind of files to my cd/dvd drive, it tells me ‘D:\ is not accessible. Incorrect function.’ I can read from it with no problems whatsoever, but stick a blank disc in and the above happens. Anyone have any ideas why? The drive is an NEC DVD RW ND 2500A.

11-14-2005, 08:29 PM	#3 (permalink)
please Tech Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,185 OS: WinXP SP2	@ bonehead38 It is always good to have the latest firmware when DVD-RW are concerned as RockinNick has suggested. Sometimes flashing a drive with new firmware fixes things that weren't intended to be fixed, but they get fixed as a residual benefit, if that makes any sense. Your problem could be lots of things. What and how are you trying to copy? What program are you using to do the copying?(kinda the same question...) Why haven't you upgraded to WinXP SP2? There are many benefits and few downsides... __________________ P4P800E-D:~:P4 3.0C@3.75GHz:~:Zal7000AlCu:~:OCZ4001024ELDCPER2-K@250MHz 2.5-3-3-7 WinXP SP2>2X160GB Samsung SATA ICH5R RAID1:~:2x80GB Samsung SATA Promise RAID0 ATI A-I-W X800XT~SB Audigy2 ZS~2X BenQ1620~Antec SLK3700AMB~Antec SmartPower2.0 500W

11-17-2005, 09:02 AM	#5 (permalink)
please Tech Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,185 OS: WinXP SP2	@ bonehead38 Try physically removing the power and IDE cable connections from the rear of the drive after deleting the IDE channel from within 'device manager' and restart. Windows will redetect the channel with NO NEC2500 on it. At this time, you will want to get every windows update available for your system and install them and resboot. Then, power down again and reattach the connectors for the NEC and power up again, allowing windows to redetect your drive. It seems that when upgrading to SP2, something happens with the detection method in windows on some systems and you get what you are seeing. Keep us posted with you progress. __________________ P4P800E-D:~:P4 3.0C@3.75GHz:~:Zal7000AlCu:~:OCZ4001024ELDCPER2-K@250MHz 2.5-3-3-7 WinXP SP2>2X160GB Samsung SATA ICH5R RAID1:~:2x80GB Samsung SATA Promise RAID0 ATI A-I-W X800XT~SB Audigy2 ZS~2X BenQ1620~Antec SLK3700AMB~Antec SmartPower2.0 500W

01-02-2006, 11:42 AM	#8 (permalink)
please Tech Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,185 OS: WinXP SP2	@ bonehead38 Sounds like you did the 'uninstall/reinstall' procedure correctly. The next step will be to uninstall and reinstall your burning software to the latest version. Since you trouble started with the SP2 install, I might guess that your burning software install was configged for SP1, so a reinstall might set things right. If that doesn't get the results you desire, a firmware update might help. Here are some links to set your mind to ease for firmware updates A great NEC Forum and its FAQs that has a link to firmware pages, including Liggy and Dee's firmware page. They can be trusted to improve your drives performance. Lens cleaning can help, but I doubt it is your problem. __________________ P4P800E-D:~:P4 3.0C@3.75GHz:~:Zal7000AlCu:~:OCZ4001024ELDCPER2-K@250MHz 2.5-3-3-7 WinXP SP2>2X160GB Samsung SATA ICH5R RAID1:~:2x80GB Samsung SATA Promise RAID0 ATI A-I-W X800XT~SB Audigy2 ZS~2X BenQ1620~Antec SLK3700AMB~Antec SmartPower2.0 500W

11-14-2005, 05:56 PM	#2 (permalink)
RockinNick Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 31 OS: WinXP	hmm sounds like a problem i had.. i had a 2100A drive and my problem was that the dvd's that i bought were not in the right format... I think your problem is with the firmware.. and if its not its always a good thing to update it usually fixes the problems. heres the link Firmware for ND 2500A v.1.9a

11-17-2005, 06:11 AM	#4 (permalink)
bonehead38 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Hull, UK Posts: 6 OS: Windows XP Home SP2	Disc format shouldn't be a problem 'cause the drive is compatible with both + & - format discs. I'm tryin' all ways I know to copy, but my main software is Pinnacle Instant Disc. I'm in the middle off a college class at the moment so don't have time to go too deeply into it with a lecturer breathin' down my neck, but I've tried copying all kinds of things, video audio, word docs etc, nothin will work. I have upgraded to SP2, strangely enough this problem started around the same time as I did that! Is there any danger in using the firmware listed in your post RockinNick? 'Cause I've read lots of scary stuff on the net about ruining your drive if you get it wrong!

11-17-2005, 02:30 PM	#6 (permalink)
RockinNick Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 31 OS: WinXP	wow good advice please! yes i use that the websites firmware all the time and highly reccomend it. I use it whenever i need to update my firmware. If you dont think you can trust it just go on google and search for your drive's name and the word "firmware".. Another large database for firmware is at rpc1 . MANY people use this site for their firmware and comes highly reccomended. Although i think you have to register to be able to acess files. I would try updating your firmware first before disconnecting your drives and IDE Channels. That's getting more serious than just updating your firmware. Keep us posted!

01-02-2006, 10:36 AM	#7 (permalink)
bonehead38 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Hull, UK Posts: 6 OS: Windows XP Home SP2	Hi guys, let me start by apologising for the amount of time that has passed since my last post, but for various reasons I have only just been able to try the fixes you both suggested. So.....I never really found a firmware that put me 100% at ease so I decided on a leap of faith and just used the newest I could find. For some reason I could not download from softpedia.com as you recommended RockinNick, even installed download manager and still no joy. Anyway, to cut a long story short it didn't work, so out came the screwdriver, and on to please's suggestion. I thought I had followed your instructions as intended, but I'm not so sure I did now and would like to run some things by you before I try again. In device manager I uninstalled the drive itself under DVD/CD ROM drives (and it's this step I think may have been incorrect) then shut down and disconnected the cables, rebooted, shut down and reconnected cables and the drive was reinstalled again on bootup, but the problem still remains. I have been able to burn some audio tracks onto disc through Pinnacle, but even this program has now decided to give me a hard time telling me I've got problems with the registry settings. But back to the original problem, should I have deleted/uninstalled the primary IDE channel under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers rather than the drive itself? I don't want to move forward on this one until I hear back from you in case I do more harm than good! One final thought, and don't shout at me 'cause I should have already tried it but......could the laser just need cleaning?? Oh, and a very Happy (belated) New Year to you both and all at TSF.