dvds not readable burned & verified via nero

[ranjan2001]

A strange thing happened that I needed a set of dvds which I had burned & verified 1 year ago with nero burning rom/sony 16x writer.

The dvd wont autorun nor it shows in windows explorer, on checking properties it shows as 0byte but the moser baer dvd clearly shows burnt data section on its surface & after burning & verifying with nero I always test that the dvd is working or not, I have used the same dvd in past also.

What could be wrong, I don't have that same writer but now I have 20X, can that be an issue? I need my data back for sure how can I read this dvd?
I remember reading about some software which can read scratched dvds, what are they have anyone used for reading bad dvds.

I have lost faith in dvds as this is 3 such case & thinking to transfer all data to hdd instead & keep another hdd as backup.

[techtronic]

Did you try reading the DVDs in any of your friends house ?

[Ponmayilal]

Download IsoBuster and check your DVDs.
http://www.smart-projects.net/cdrecovery.php

[ranjan2001]

I installed that software & it mounts the dvd & report it as "blank DVD-R " where as its surely has the data burned on to it.


What to do next??

[Ponmayilal]

If IsoBuster says there is no data, I will take it as the last word.( So many have recovered data that couldn't be recovered by any other means using IsoBuster and it is a highly acclaimed piece of recovery software. )

In any case try your DVDs on your friend's computer/on a different optical drive and if you get the same results, I am afraid nothing can be done about it.If you do succeed in bringing them alive, please do let us know.

Why did it happen if you were able to read it earlier? I have no definite answer.

But I have read somewhere that the writable DVD media do not really retain the data for ten years or longer as claimed and they do disappear sooner or later depending upon various factors.

Taking this cue I would advise you to replicate any important DVDs once in three years and discard the old copy. ( easy to give advice ) Also keep a copy of all important data (includes audio, video and still images) on a removable hard drive which you use sparingly.. Redundancy pays.

[dheeraj_kumar]

LOL! sony DVDRW

Welcome to the club. I'm tired of repeating the same thing to sony dvdrw owners..

[start repetitive advice]

Sony uses NEC/Optiarc hardware, and they are faulty, and they cant read DVD-Rs properly, both external ones, and even the stuff they themselves write. To solve, try flashing the latest firmware, or, replace it if under warranty.

firmwares at liggydee.cdfreaks.com
flasher at binflash.cdfreaks.com
more support at cdfreaks.com forum

[end repetitive advice]

[aminsagar123]

yep, rite said.

try the solution at your own risk.

my "Sony DVD RW AW-G170A" drive had this kinda problem.

I modified the firmware to "Optiarc AD-7170A 1.04 BT" with Binflash utility and its permanently fixed now

Originally Posted by dheeraj_kumar

LOL! sony DVDRW

Welcome to the club. I'm tired of repeating the same thing to sony dvdrw owners..

[start repetitive advice]

Sony uses NEC/Optiarc hardware, and they are faulty, and they cant read DVD-Rs properly, both external ones, and even the stuff they themselves write. To solve, try flashing the latest firmware, or, replace it if under warranty.

firmwares at liggydee.cdfreaks.com
flasher at binflash.cdfreaks.com
more support at cdfreaks.com forum

[end repetitive advice]

[dheeraj_kumar]

^^ I had the same drive, and I flashed it to the 1.04 firmware like you, and got it solved partly. It read the DVDs it wrote, and some DVD-Rs(game dvds) but it didnt read ANY movie dvds. So I got it replaced.

[sreenidhi88]

Originally Posted by dheeraj_kumar

LOL! sony DVDRW

Welcome to the club. I'm tired of repeating the same thing to sony dvdrw owners..

[start repetitive advice]

Sony uses NEC/Optiarc hardware, and they are faulty, and they cant read DVD-Rs properly, both external ones, and even the stuff they themselves write. To solve, try flashing the latest firmware, or, replace it if under warranty.

firmwares at liggydee.cdfreaks.com
flasher at binflash.cdfreaks.com
more support at cdfreaks.com forum

[end repetitive advice]

hey dheeraj ,like you said lets start this club.i hav posted in atleast 3 or more similar dvd- problem threads!!.i had sony dru 830 a,it stopped reading and writing dvds(cd's worked fine)

i checked up in my friends place.it was working properly.so the problem was in my comp

1>changed ide cable from 40 conductor to 80 conductor cable ....cost :25rs

2>after changing the cables ,i got {"found new hardware"sony dru 830a} pop up.i checked the dvd writer,it was still not working

3>i uninstalled secondary ide channel (where i had connected dvd rw)in device manager,and restarted comp.

finally its working .

never in my life time ,i am going to buy any sony dvd rw's
(i still don't understand how it worked perfectly for a year)

[ranjan2001]

This all sounds scary to me but I will try the same dvd in some other comp before I update the firmware.
I bought sony dvd bcoz I got the advice here on this forum, earlier I have been with LG/samsung & they used to work only for a year & then needed replacements.

Sony is the only one I have used for more than 2 years without giving any problems but then this present problem seems to be the worst of all problems.

[dheeraj_kumar]

Lol, its not scary at all. Pretty simple stuff... Just remember to backup your existing firmware before flashing. Thats it. You can backup using binflash itself.

[ranjan2001]

Ok I will try that after I have checked the same dvd on some other computer.

[ranjan2001]

On other computer the dvd reads fine so all the data is intact but i have now total 72 dvds which are not working in this sony 190A.

I decided to update the firmware, downloaded it from
http://sony.storagesupport.com/node/7073

& flashed it from 1.63 to 1.65 successfully


But it still wont read the dvds, I am left with 15 days of warranty don't know if Sony would change or repair it. What else can I do to read the 72 dvds, else I have to copy 72 dvds on other computer & then get that data back on my computer.

Even if I get this repaired I need to change the DVD so please recommend me a reliable good DVD writer.

[ranjan2001]

GOT the replacement under RMA & the new drive works fine & read all the dvds as before.
This whole experience has shaken my confidence in DVD as a backup, it is prone to land me in trouble at times.