Used CD Burner Problem

[WillyBWright]

I bought a used CD-RW on eBay for ten bucks. I installed it yesterday and it plays audio just fine. Games autoload just fine. But I try to burn data and it wants me to install a CD. OK, no problem. But I do and it the message doesn't go away. I have 5 blank CDs and it doesn't seem to know that I put one in there. Is this a CD-RW problem, driver problem, or crappy blank CDs?

P3 450MHz processor
128MB RAM
9GB Hard Drive
Widows XP
AOpen CRW2440
Memorex Printable CD-R*52X*700MB*80 min

After installing it, the computer semed to update just fine. It recognizes the unit and it is correctly ID'd in Properties. I've restarted the computer a few times since. Nero is installed and seems to be working. But if I drag a wav file from My Documents to the CD-RW icon in My Computer, it wants me to install a CD which I do. But it goes no further and the message doesn't go away. It doesn't lock-up, it just sits waiting for a CD. Same result if I try to do it with Nero.

So my questions are...
Do I need to download a driver for it?
Am I doing something wrong?
Is there a problem with the used unit?
Do I need a specific kind of blank CD?
What does 24x10x40x mean?

I'm not going to lose any sleep over a $10 CD-RW that mostly works, but it sure would be nice to be able to burn some CDs.

 

[dolluper]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

Nero has a setting you have to change for wav files,I haven't done it yet but I saw it one day ,either that or the WIDOWS doesn't except that writer un compatible with that widows

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

Do I need to download a driver for it? If it shows up as a CD/RW in my computer , no
Am I doing something wrong? ?????
Is there a problem with the used unit? Could be
Do I need a specific kind of blank CD? Some use +R and some use -R cd's

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

OK, ....regarding the AOpen CRW2440
"What does 24x10x40x mean?"

It will burn cd media at 24X
It will burn cd-rw media at 10X
It will read cd media at 40X

Nero has a menu selection called Nero Info Tool. Nero will give you info on the drive to include the firmware revision of the drive.....the firmware inside the drive controls it's features.
In Nero Info Tool results, look to see that there is an Aspi layer installed.

Heres a review...:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=77&page=Intro

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

Thanks for that info. Nero ASPI is installed, System ASPI is not. Can that be corrected? In the meantime, I'm running to the store to get my last Christmas gift, and I'll pick up a few CD-RW blanks as well as look into the -R and +R.

And a few questions regarding my DVD player. It supports DVD, SVCD, VCD, JPG and MP3. I assume the CD-RW will burn JPGs and MP3s. How about the others?

edit: I see the DVD blanks are -R and +R, but the CDs are all -R. I grabbed some CD-RWs. How many times can they be written on?

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

It will burn CD's, but not DVD's. But yes, your jpg's amd mp3's will be fine.

 

[Colorado04]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

You got me wondering about the +/- R thing when reffering to CD's. Blank CD's are referred to as CD-R or CD-RW. The first is a writable CD and the other is rewritable CD. DVD's on the other hand are noted as DVD-R or DVD+R. They represent two different types of DVD technology. Stupid question but, is it possible that you are putting a DVD into a CD unit? Sorry, had to ask, just to remove the possiblity.

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

Nope. I didn't get any DVDs. I had CD-Rs and now CD-RWs too. I get the same result with the -RWs. (How many times can -RWs be written on?)

It looks like I have to get the System ASPI installed. I tried that thru Windows Update via Add/Remove Hardware, but no luck. It liked the driver version I already have.

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

Your running XP? Does the drive play CD's?

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

Try downloading and installing the latest firmware if you haven't. It improves media compatability....

http://cd-rom.free-driver-download.com/Aopen/10364/Aopen-CRW2440-Drive-Firmware-2.08.html ] Click Here [/url]

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

The drive plays audio CDs and it loaded the game I tried okay. I just can't get it to burn because it doesn't seem to know that I've put a blank CD into it when it asks for one.

I'll try that upgrade now.

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

Boy did I screw things up! Now it won't even open. This little project is on hold for now. I have a fake Christmas tree to repair. Not mad, just frustrated. Heck, it's a whole ten bucks. Whoop-de-do! Kinda funny, actually. And I love a challenge. I'll update later. Thanks for all your help. I am learnig from this and that's worth the ten bucks alone. Besides, I still have my main computer and that CD-R works. If I take the time to network them together, I can take the data from here and burn it there.

Thanks again!

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

There should be a tiny hole on the front cd drive, you can use a paperclip to open it.

And if you don't want to network the computers, you could always pull the hard drive out, set the jumper to slave and hook it up to the working computer.

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

WHEW! I'm back to square-one, but considering that last night it wouldn't work at all, that's a huge step in the right direction.

I tried updating the firmware, but that made it think that it was a Ricoh and absolutely nothing worked. Not even the paperclip. It gave me the initiative to get my Christmas tree up anyhow. I shut the computer down for the night and it booted up nicely this morning with the CD-RW mostly working again.

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

Woops, flashing a cdrom with the wrong firmware can render the drive useless. If you had 2 cdroms of different manufacturers or models, some folks will remove the other drive, leaving only the drive to be flashed connected , so there's no confusion as to which drive will get the new firmware.

Some drives with different manufacturers names are really the same drive because they have the same basic hardware inside. It's the firmware that makes them different.

The paperclip, when inserted, physically pushes the latch parts to open the door, this has nothing to do with the version of firmware. Sometimes you have to do a bit of probing with the paperclip until you get the door to open.

The Nero info tool can I.D. the make, model and firmware revision of the drive. Is the drive connected on it's own IDE ribbon cable alone or with another cdrom? Is the drive jumpered correctly as a Master or Slave?

BTW, you can find aspi drivers for XP here:
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/cdr_software/cdr_tools/aspi.cfm

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

The update that killed it was from the manufacturer's website. Yesterday their website was fubar. So I found another website and upgraded with that. I upgraded and restarted the computer. Still mostly works, but no improvement. Then I went to the link above and downloaded the aspi driver by clicking the Open button. It unzipped and didn't seem to do anything besides that. It only took a second or two. Restarted the computer. Still mostly works, but no improvement. So I did it again using the Save to Disk button. Then I double-clicked on the icon in the folder it saved it to, and it unzipped the file again, just a second or two. Restarted the computer. Still mostly works but no improvement.

Checking Nero tools, the Nero aspi has always been green, installed and working properly. But the System aspi is always yellow and not installed. What the heck am I doing wrong?

( This is the only CD drive on the computer. There is also a floppy drive and a Zip drive. There is no room for anyfhing else. This is an old flat IBM 300PL and not a tower. I took the old IBM CD-Rom out and put this CD-RW in, but did not uninstall the old hardware from Add/Remove Hardware. When the computer restarted, it updated the driver without propmting. It is accurately identified in Properties, and a Windows driver update attempt liked the driver that was installed already. Looking at Add/Remove Hardware right now, the only CD device on the list is the one that is currently installed and it is acurately identified. But there is a Disabled Device with a speaker icon to the left of it. That's the closest I can come to a possibility for a residual driver that might be messing me up. )

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

I found my error and aspi is now installed and working properly for both System and Nero. But the same problem exists when I drag a file from My Documents to the CD-RW icon in My Computer. It asks me to install a disc and goes no further. Just keeps displaying that stupid box. Arggggghhhh! :|

BUT! It does burn using Nero.

So I want to thank you gentlemen for your most valuable and appreciated assistance. I was lost without you.

Mission Mostly Accomplished. Is there a way to set the computer so that I can drag and drop data (not audio) rather than going through Nero?

 

[Xcusme]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

"Is there a way to set the computer so that I can drag and drop data (not audio) rather than going through Nero? "

It sounds like you want to do packet writing...have you read this?

http://www.nero.com/nero7/enu/InCD_5.html

 

[WillyBWright]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

I just might try that. Thank you once again and Merry Christmas.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Used CD Burner Problem

Its probably got a fried laser. I had the same more less problem with my built in burner. Bought a new external one off ebay for about 40 bux...zero prob. Actually I think ya got burnt. Demand you bux back. Ya see a lot of junk CD (audio) players for super cheap or free that only play the cassette part if they have one. Lasers aint forever