I have a brand new Pacific Digital Dual format DVD burner(U30182)on Win XP Pro SP1 system. The drive reads and writes normally to DVD+R media and CDs but it does not see the disk when I place a blank DVD-R media in it(Sony Brand). I have 10 of these brand new disks, the same thing with each one of them. I am using Nero Ultra v6302. When I run the Nero Info tool it sees the DVD burner and does say in its properties that the burner is able to write to DVD-R, but it does not see the DVD-R media in it. Drive is installed on Secondary IDE cahnnel as a slave drive and it is detected by Win XP as Generic Drive and it operates under native support of Win XP What could be wrong and where ? Pacific Digital tech support is always on voice mail, I have left messages but no response. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Matt
Matt just got the same DVD burner have only used Philips DVD+RW & Imation DVD-RW. Forget the Imation, 3 out of 4 had power calibration errors upon erasing. Took them back. 2 out of 5 with Philips had error of the same but at least they burn faster and I use them over and over. Found out that if I use Nero Ultra 6 to erase and then if problem occurs(i.e. power cal. error run it through Roxio erase program that came with burner) it finally shows up empty and I can burn again. I'm not sure what the problem is with -R media as I only have used RW media I have 2 boxes of -r and +r under my desk but so far have not found anything I want to keep. By the way they are Khypermedia and I heard they SUCK but I got for free so sooner or later I will try. I have P-4@1.9GH, 2x80GB HD, 764RAM, Plilips DVD+-RW drive(1300A) TK
I am using Sony DVD-R media and the drive is not even sensing the presence of the disk so, there is nothing I can do with the disk that is not even sensed by the drive and Nero and my media is DVD-R and not DVD-RW, therefore, it cannot be erased anyway. I cannot figure out if the problem is with the media, the drive or the Nero, I do not even know how to figure this out. Any idea? (please read the first post in this thread to get an insight into this issue.) Matt
Matt my comp is computer select so slave and master are determined by computer. I remember that the install instructions said drive works best when set as master. Is this possible with your set up? Maybe this mighn't help it recognize media better. At least you could try master setting and see how it responds? TK
I also purchased same burner from Staples. Running on XP same as Netman. DVD+r burn and work fine, cd also. I also cannot get drive to see a DVD-R disk, I have tried Imitation and Memmorex. From what I read -r are the best for PS2 backups. I have tried at least five different programs. I too could use any info how to solve this. I have not called company yet, might wait and see what Netman finds out.
Geo. read your reply. Can't help much with PS2 stuff, but my DVD which I think is the same as yours, a Philips 4x DVD-+RW burner recognizes all media. I have only burned to Philips +RW but I have boxes of KHypermedia -R and +R and it recognizes both. By the way Nero Tools says the KHypermedia is really a rebadged TDK. Try a box of this, if Staples in your area they have for $9.99 box after rebates. TK
Geo: I am struggling to contact Pacific Dig. Please post the following info: the model number, the initial five characters of the serial number, and indicate how your DVD burner is installed (Master/Slave) and how is it identified by your system (Brand of Drive and Windows ver?)and what is its Firmware version number. This may help us take up the issue with Paicific Dig, if a pattern can be found. Matt
well i dont guys, i have the same burner and dont have any of the problems u guys are having. i had a hard time not to long ago trying to get my computer to recognize the drive using roxio, but then i just used nero and selected my burner in the driver properties in the nero software. (somehow i magicall got roxio and nero to work bith on the same computer(have no idea how i did that)). good luck guys.
well i dont guys, i have the same burner and dont have any of the problems u guys are having. i had a hard time not to long ago trying to get my computer to recognize the drive using roxio, but then i just used nero and selected my burner in the driver properties in the nero software. (somehow i magicall got roxio and nero to work bith on the same computer(have no idea how i did that)). good luck guys.
Well, You got lucky Signal, to help us find the root of the problem, can you post the following info about your DVD drive. : the model number, the initial five characters of the serial number, and indicate how your DVD burner is installed (Master/Slave) and how is it identified by your system (Brand of Drive and Windows ver?)and what is its Firmware version number. This may help us take up the issue with Paicific Dig, if a pattern can be found. Matt
Netman: Ahh.. here is the serial # 37P1159S211, Nero Info Tool recognizes the drive as NEC DVD_RW ND_1300A(a rebadged Philips), firmware v1.06. Running XP Home, SP1. Info says it is a slave on cable with old NEC CD-RW, but this a Dell system so I have set as cable select. In Info Tool on the botton right it says "vendor 4" could this be a code for mfg. that Philips uses? TK
Nephilim: A firmware update can only be tried if the actual manufacturer name and model is known. The drive I have, has been sold to me under Pacific Dig. brand but they probably only made the cardboard box or may be not even that. WinXp Pro recognises it as Generic and Pacific Dig. would not respond to email or any one of my four voice messages over the last 3 weeks, so I am trying to look everywhere I can for a solution. May be other owners of this drive will help shed some light on the drive and Pacific Dig. Matt
netman, I've been elsewhere and didn't see your thread until now - I spent a ton-"O"-time with Meritline who sold me my drive - My question - it SAYS dual format so, what gives ?? Hear is the word so take notes - The drive you have is a NEC DVD_RW ND_1300A (see my signature) Your drive WILL - 1. Write to +R media 2. Write to +RW media 3. Write to -R AZO dye media ONLY ! 4. Write to -RW AZO dye media ONLY ! Our burners just don't like the run-of-the-mill, -R media, ONLY top-of-the-heap will do - Hence, Dual Format, they never said it will burn on everything !! FYI, many of the NEC's, straight out of the box, come with a disc of each type of media - please note, if yours was packaged that way, I will not ask, I shall tell you that the -R media didn't work and neither did that pretty -RW that they sent you. (and you thought it was just those two discs, silly you ! trrkod, Your Phillips isn't the same burner my friend, you "lucked out". Congrats - Sorry, I didn't get to ya all sooner, Pete
Pete: Thanks for the info. You *may* be right BUT the drive I have is most certainly not NEC because 'trrkod' who has been posting to this thread has the NEC drive , its firmware version is way different than mine. Mine is installed in Win XP Pro as "Generic" Firmware version 2.17, serial number begins with an I unlike that of TK's drive. Mine may be made in a Chinese or Taiwanese boiler room taht does not have a name yet. My question to you is, were you ever able to reach Pacific Digital, if so what did they say? My drive came with only one disc that was a +R and that is it. If not clearly specified by the media manufacturer, how do you tell different dyes from each other? Matt
Netman: The s/n of my unit is I2239028737, purchased 11/29/03. It is on secondary as a slave, I installed it in place of a DVD player only. Device manager list it as a Generic DVD Dual 4x Max. I'll add more in a minute. Today I just decided to remove all cd related drivers and reinstall them with the disk provided by Pacific Digital, its a yellow disk with DVD Burner Bundle 3.1. I still have a Sony cd writer CD-RW-CRX175A1, thought maybe the driver or drivers were interfereing with each other, this didn't help anything. I went to device manager and removed the drives, turned off the computer and restarted, after windows loader message said new hardware found. Just flashed by for a couple seconds. I then went back to device manager to look, my Sony was listed as drive letter G: CD ROM DRIVE SONY. My DVD drive is now in three different letters, F: CD-ROM DRIVE GENERIC DVD DUAL H: CD_ROM DRIVE AXV CD/DVD ROM SCSI CD ROM DEVICE I: CD ROM DRIVE IMAGE SIMULATION SCSI CD ROM DEVICE I have no idea why so many letters. I opened up NERO, I has a ISO file on my HD, I clicked burn, was asked to place empty disk in, and i recognized the -R disk. This was the first -R disk that I ever got the burner to burn. It was a Memorex, made me feel good. I don't know what you mean by firmware, if you explain it to me, I'll try to answer you. I will try Roxi and a couple other progarms and disk types and let you know what happens, make sure I wasn't just lucky. I don't really know which is better -r or +r. Just wanted my drive to work like it was advertized. Not quit sure how this helps you, if you would want additional info about my system, please just ask. George
Matt, My mistake, we have an awful lot of people on this page to keep separated - I got through to Tech support at Merit line and gleaned a bit from CD Freaks forum plus some "across the pond" friends. The true "Break" is when I got 5 DVD-R AZO media from a friend in the UK (Can't seem to find this stuff easily around here, when it's in stock, it isn't for long.) Any way, it burned like a "Bad Boy" smoking through "Bruce Almighty" in 14 minutes - when I unbuckled my seat belt it took me 5 minutes for my knees to stop shaking. The AZO stuff is extremely top shelf, suited for high speed (minimal flutter) and layered accuracy - some of the explanations were beyond me as I was suffering Cerebral synapse shutdown as a result of price exposure ;-) Between price (had to convert pounds to US) add the Shipping - it came to $158.50 for 50 DVD's and then the shipping was to average 4 to 6 WEEKS - Anyway - if it burns -R media of ANY KIND then it truly is dual format. After 8 months of chasing, Merit line, where mine was purchased said they would gladly exchange drives - but then guess what I'll still be here - Much, much too much said - Bye - Pete
Hi, I just purchased the Pacific Digital Dual format DVD burner(U30182)and am having tons of similar problems myself. I cannot burn to +rw dvds and my dvd xcopy software won't even recognise my burner as being in existence. I am running win 98 and have the drive set as a master with no slave attached. windows recognises it as "Generic DVD Dual 4x Max." my system is running an athlon xp2000 chip and has 256 megs ram. i cannot find a firmware update anywhere. help please.
mercurycs, Like it or not, and I'm none to thrilled with it, the answer is to use +R and +RW media. I know that +R media is, usually more expensive than -R media but Mertline.com has Ritek +R, X4 for $0.89 each when purchased in the 100 pack. I know for one thing, I personally am going to be much more careful when I buy my next 8X drive - Cheers, Pete
