Greetings,

I've been having a problem similar to a lot of people -- my Sony DW-D56A CD/DVD drive is not recognizing data CDs or music CDs. It does, however, recognize audio (burned) CDs.

I am using WinXP Pro on a Dell Inspiron 9300, and have burned 30-50 audio CDs and a couple of DVDs in the past. I was using Maxell and Memorex blank CDs.

I first noticed a problem when I was burning a couple of television programs to DVD, and the burn was unsuccessful -- whereas the day before I was able to burn a TV program to DVD.

Here is what I've done:

• Updated firmware to PDS7
• Set ASPI to the recommended 4.60
• Digital music recording is enabled
• DMA is on

The drive couldn't recognize ANY media until I flashed the firmware to PDS7 (though the laptop always recognized the drive). I tried booting to a Windows OS Backup CD, but the computer didn't recognize it (since, I guess, it's a data CD).

I have researched this for hours, and have tried every suggested solution I could find, to no avail. It seems to me that the problem lies somewhere "between" hardware (since the drive works for audio CDs, and the computer indicates the drive is working properly) and software (since all Windows Media, Real player, etc., show the same results).

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and regards,
Scott

Same here, Has anybody anykind of clue ?

Sony DVD RW DW-D56A same problem above...

Hi,

that drive is part of the Dell computer? Are you under warranty? If yes, then contact Dell support for further instrunctions.

Michael

Hi, did you ever find an answer to your problem? I have a Sony DW-Q58A and the problems I am experiencing are almost identical to the ones you described. I feel very strongly (though cannot prove it) that these are software related problems because Sony has already replaced my CD drive twice and the problems are back again. I am desperate! I am still under warranty and Sony will replace again but my concern is what will happen once warranty runs out. Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Oh, by the way, another symptom that shows up when the CD problems appear is related to sounds. All .wav and .wma files sound choppy and "static-y" when played. Arrrrrgh!

Perform a clean OS installation.