DVD Burner Problems (Trouble Reading and Burning Discs)

Newbie Forum
#1

I have a Matshita BD-MLT UJ230AS external DVD/Blu-Ray burner connected to my laptop. I purchased it about two weeks ago and I have had many problems with it. When I load a blank disc, it takes around six or seven attempts to read the disc (I always use Verbatim). When I try burning a disc with Imgburn or Nero, I usually get a Power Calibration Area Error or something similar.

My previous burner had the same problem which is why I purchased a new burner. I’m thinking now that it may be a computer problem or perhaps a problem with the drivers or codecs, I’m not sure. If anyone knows where to begin, please let me know as I would love to get this problem resolved quickly.

#2

[QUOTE=Mr. Analog;2687302]I have a Matshita BD-MLT UJ230AS external DVD/Blu-Ray burner[/QUOTE]

Drives that are Mat5hitta drives…very poor drives to buy you should spend your money on LG ext Blu burner drives instead. Those Mat5hitta drives have a bad reputation of being bad drives to use to burn to begin with. I have a LG ext BD burner and it works well since it uses two USB ports one to power and other to operate the drive.

#3

[QUOTE=coolcolors;2687309]Drives that are Mat5hitta drives…very poor drives to buy you should spend your money on LG ext Blu burner drives instead. Those Mat5hitta drives have a bad reputation of being bad drives to use to burn to begin with. I have a LG ext BD burner and it works well since it uses two USB ports one to power and other to operate the drive.[/QUOTE]

I agree that this is a bad drive, but I need to make certain if the problem is with the burner or if it’s something with my laptop.

#4

Since coolcolors says he has a working LG ext doing this that may be the way to go.
I’m sure if you ask he would give you the model.
I’m a fan of a wall wart for an external even for a loptop but the dual USB like the LG has seems to be the next best option.
I also think the chipset in an external doesn’t always play well with Windows.
My external drive has worked fine for DVDs but won’t burn an Audio CD.
The CD laser is OK because it will burn a data CD. It is not a BD drive so I can’t say how it would work if it was.
In my old backup computer I have an internal Matshita DVD drive. It is a good reader & writer. My only complaint about it is no firmware updates available & it can’t be book set to do DVD-ROM.

#5

The “same bad behavior from other external” does make “computer problem” seem to be the primary culprit. I wonder if the newest external can be returned to a local store, or if it was an on-line purchase?

I might try to get a 3rd unit from a local store that has some tech-department and, just in case it too exhibits the same behavior, see if the techs can find a problem in a Windows setting (or 2 or 8 - the joys of the registry).

But, before that…

I wonder what Auto-Play settings are for that drive, and do those follow along with any changed USB port? (Your computer probably has at least 2 USBs… does AutoPlay work on one but not on another? Therefore, AutoPlay would be enabled by the USB port’s address, and not the External Drive’s driver.)

#6

This burner does have dual USB connections. When auto-play comes up (if the laser is able to power up), it just gives a list of options for what program to use to read or play the disc.

Tried a couple of things but nothing is working. I tried updating the drivers and it seems they are up to date. One interesting thing: when the computer finished checking for drivers, it listed the device as a CD-ROM drive and not as a DVD drive. Could that be a problem? After all this, I’m still not any closer to finding out what the problem is. Is there anything else I could do?

#7

Which operating system are you using? The CD-Rom deal was a frequent glitch in Windows XP, but didn’t prevent the drive from operating normally. How old is this laptop?

In Device Manager, does one of the USB controllers show up as Enhanced Host Controller? If not, you need to update the motherboard chipset drivers.

And a long shot, you might reset the bios to default settings.

#8

I’m running Windows 7 on a three-year old Gateway laptop. Device manager has the external drive listed as well as USB Mass Storage Device. No Enhanced Host Controller is listed.

#9

[QUOTE=cholla;2687335]Since coolcolors says he has a working LG ext doing this that may be the way to go.
I’m sure if you ask he would give you the model.
I’m a fan of a wall wart for an external even for a loptop but the dual USB like the LG has seems to be the next best option.
I also think the chipset in an external doesn’t always play well with Windows.
My external drive has worked fine for DVDs but won’t burn an Audio CD.
The CD laser is OK because it will burn a data CD. It is not a BD drive so I can’t say how it would work if it was.
In my old backup computer I have an internal Matshita DVD drive. It is a good reader & writer. My only complaint about it is no firmware updates available & it can’t be book set to do DVD-ROM.[/QUOTE]

I bought and now own the LG BP40NS20 bluray burner that writes to Mo disc but haven’t tried that feature was looking for a inexpensive way to upgrade my laptops to BD without having to buy each a BluRay to use. Also a couple of the laptop came in IDE connections. I am guess would have problems as some where the Panasonic that where questionable as to whom made those drives. Just remember if you do a movie backup on BD it can take more then it would take a DVD movie backup from start to finish. Also BD-R cost more so mistake can be costly on BD-R backups. I am also running W7x64 Ult Sp1 on all of the laptops.

#10

[QUOTE=Mr. Analog;2687689]I’m running Windows 7 on a three-year old Gateway laptop. Device manager has the external drive listed as well as USB Mass Storage Device. No Enhanced Host Controller is listed.[/QUOTE]

Really and it doesn’t list the device name under the cd/dvd/bd drive location of device manager? I think my LG was listed under there even though it was connected to the USB ports. Even my program Anydvd HD detected the drive and listed it. And that is the case for you then something else seems amiss in the drive itself. Maybe you might want to get another if that is the case. So what kinda gateway do you have exactly?

#11

No, the device is listed, but the Enhanced Host Controller wasn’t listed next to the device. I did see Enhanced Host Controller listed under system properties, but I’m not sure if it is connected to the burner though.

#12

Your device cannot sustain the necessary usb power consumption rate to make this external drive working properly.

There are other externals which also use 2 usb ports, eg. Samsung 506*.