SONY DVD/CD Rewriteable Drive

Hello AC Wing

Please advise whether you used the Sony IDE DRX-500ULX drive, and connected it inside your PC, or the DRX-500ULX in an external housing, perhaps connected via USB.

I note that others have had problems with that Drive, refer:

http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=DRX-500ULX&meta=&btnG=Google+Search

Reply here, with

Kind Regards....

Hi Sparkstation,

It is a DRX-500ULX, which is an external driver. It can be connected using the Sony iLink, or using USB 2.0. I tried both, both did not work.

On the ME system (it was a Packard Bell), the computer recognised that there is a DVD but would not burn at all. I could only use it as a simple DVD. I had another Ricoh DVD Combo, it worked fine with that computer.

I have 2 XP professional systems, one is an Asus M2N notebook with XP pro and service pack 1, another has an Asus motherboard which I built myself that has XP pro service pack 2. it did not on both. The one with Service pack 2 reported that the Sony software cause instability to the system and would not load the software. The Service Pack 1 system just could not recognise there such an external drive no matter I used the iLINK or the USB 2.0 ports.

Any further suggestion?

Thanks and cheers,

AC Wing.

I had a similar experience with a Sony DVD. I think they had problems with the drivers. All that other software was just junk that Sony gave away for free. It is all worthless in my opinion. I eventually found a working driver on the web, then I bought a good multimedia software program to do things with it. I like Roxio Creator myself, but there are other good ones as well.

The "free" stuff they usually put in the box with drives is never worth the plastic in the disk. It is full of spyware and adware that clogs up your system and is very very difficult to get rid of.

Hi JRaef,

I share your feeling. Sony service actually updated my firmware to Version 2.1A, but even their engineer could not make the +RW work, without knowing the reason!

Roxio came within the box, but it is the software that XP pro SP2 reported that it causes system instability and would not load, therefore cannot run!

Any other suggestions?

Thanks and cheers,

AC Wing.

Hello again, AC Wing

Get your money back from Sony or the Dealer, for that Drive.

Purchase a later model, which is compatible with winXPPro SP2+.

The later DVD writer Drives are so cheap, it's not really worth wasting a portion of your limited and irreplaceable lifespan on.

Kind Regards....

Hi Sparky,

You are right but its a bit late, warranty period had gone! That's why I need help.

Actually, the unit never work, not a single time. The SONY DVD+RW disc is still blank and unformatted. I started thinking it was my ME system trouble, but by the time I can change it to XP pro system, warranty gone!

Bad, Sony is looking into the trouble, but feedback does not seem anything promising! Reading the link you gave me earlier, let me understand that there are lots of trouble this product and as I suspected earlier, it's a design trouble, mainly concerned with the firmware and probably something with the hardware, as the reading and especially the writing of +RW might have conflict with that of -RW! If SONY refund me, I'll definitely do what you said!

Cheers,

AC.

Considering its a few years old, why not just save the hassle and buy a new drive (that works)? newegg or tigerdirect usually have pretty good deals on cd/dvd writers.

I considered that as well, but its a shame that even SONY would put things like this to the market! I therefore want to give it a go, at least see if there things I can try. Although its a few years old, it never work for once!

On top, if I can save it, I would one more working unit and I can save the hassle in investing in DVD burner, I can look for other things!

New video stuffs is on its way to the market anyway!

Cheers,

AC Wing.

First look for update driver on Sony website.

Second install SP2 on XP. SP1 doesn't support USB 2.0 hub. It'll fail to detect the hub and everything connected to it.

What warning did you get when you install the drivers? Windows will complain about "Non-certified" driver saying it "may" cause compatibility and stability problem. It only means the manufacturer didn't pay/send drivers to Micro$oft to be "approved". Doesn't mean it doesn't work. In the case of old driver, they're most likely not certified.

CD/DVD drives do fail with time. The laser diode only last so long. Another failure could be the power supply. It'll power the drive but fail when it require more power for burning.

Since you're out of warranty, you can remove the drive from the case and install it as an internal drive. See if that works.

Pineapple,

Thanks a lot.

Sony actually replaced the firmware for me and asked me to give up the +RW and use only -RW. Since there is only ONE and only one read write head, so I figured that the LASER diode was all right. I insisted for the functionality and Sony did make the -RW worked as well. The power supply was actually fine, it works OK now.

Once Sony did their repair, the unit worked, but after I installed a Registry Cleaner software, the driver kept causing my computer restarting when I tried to power it down (as XP reported, the MyDVD also resulted in Bad Memory pointer, so it was obvious a software problem). BTW, these softwares worked with SP1, actually some USB 2.0 stuffs as well probably because I deliberately installed USB 2.0 driver. Since these drivers have similar problems on both systems I installed Registry Cleaner, I believe it may be the Registry Cleaner was a problem, or it may be the problem with these drivers. What I finally did was removing all these drivers, because the provided PowerDVD restarts different computers just when I tried to install it, even before I used the Registry Cleaner.

Now, I am searching for a freeware DVD driver, appreciate if you all can tell me which is a better one. Final Burner Free, Alcohol 52% free, BurnOn CD&DVD... Which one you would recommend?

Thanks again.

Cheers,

AC Wing.