Media reading question

Computer Hardware
#1

Nowadays I only burn using TY media, but before I knew the importance of this I used cheaper media and I was burning discs on a lite-on that eventually stopped functioning. Those discs were readable by the lite-on but they seem not to be recognized by the the drive I’m using now (Pioneer DVR-110D). I have the latest firmware, etc., but if f I put them into the drive, the Pioneer just doesn’t see a disc there. I know the discs are still functional (the DVD reader on my old laptop can read them for some reason, despite the fact it’s a much older drive than the Pioneer).

I am wondering if there is anyway I can get my Pioneer to read these discs, or at least to extract the data from them, so that I can reburn it to TY discs, which I know my drive can read without a problem.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

#2

LiteOn drives, especially older ones, are great readers - I rescued quite a bit of stuff from cheap media with an old Litey :slight_smile:

Pioneers are a bit more picky, as you’ve found.

But - try Googling for ISOBuster or ISO Puzzle, and see if either of those will help you get the data off the discs :slight_smile:

#3

If you still have your lite-on, it may be possilbe to fix it by cleaning the laser lens with a q-tip and some isopropyl alcohol.

#4

Thanks for the replies.

I still have the lite-on. I stopped using it because it was writing discs that would be partially unreadable (some data would be accessible, some not). But it also seems to have a mechanical problem, because it does not eject when I hit the eject button and I usually need to use a paper clip to get a disc out of it!

How do I access the laser lens to clean it? I am not exactly sure where the lens is located. Am I able to do this by simply pressing eject and locating the lens?

I am wondering if perhaps at this point I should just buy another drive, rather than reburn the approximately 100 discs which my pioneer cannot read! I bought the pioneer because I wanted the most reliable writer. I had lost too much data while using the lite-on and didn’t want to run the risk of that happening again.

Is there any drive that is known as both a reliable writer and which I could expect to be able to read the cheaper media my Pioneer won’t recognize?

I appreciate the input.

#5

A lite-on is a good choice, heres a good deal LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black IDE Model DH-20A4P-08 $25 free shipping.

#6

Eric,

Thanks for your suggestion. I did buy this drive and have found that so far it is able to read all of my media.

Another thing I have noticed is that it burns no faster than my Pioneer, although my Pioneer is I believe at least a couple of years old, but I’m sure this has to do with the media I’m using: TY 8x. My Pioneer gives me an option to burn at 12x with this media, but it actually burns no faster than 8x when I select it.

But if you could make me some media recommendations for use with this Lite-on Drive I’d appreciate it. Are there any particular brands you feel work well with it and do you recommend burning at max speed with this drive, or lower? I would like to start burning discs faster if I could, but my main concern is to get a good burn, using quality media, that will be readable by whatever brand drives I am buying in the future.

Thanks.