+/- RW problem with Pioneer DVR-106D

[moles42]

I'm hoping someone can possibly point me in the right direction even
if it's only to the exit...

no seriously I've had my burner for over a year now and it works
perfectly but I'm having great difficulty getting it to recognise
and burn to +/- RW.

I've tried 'LASER DVD-RW' and 'LASER DVD+RW' both without any success.
so I went and purchased an "IMATION DVD-RW' but once again no luck.
my drive wouldn't even acknowledge it in the drive.

I'm guessing this could still be a media problem but I'm reluctant to go out
and stock up further on RW's as I already have quite a few now that I
can't use...

my burner does have the latest firmware installed and has no problems
with any other media apart from RW's...
can anyone possibly shed some light on this problem please?
I've even tried using nero's incd to format them but once again
that failed which does suggest to me a media problem.

I'm hoping you guys can suggest something so I can put this problem
to sleep once and for all.

many thanks in advance.

moles42.

[Raven386]

I've tried 'LASER DVD-RW' and 'LASER DVD+RW' both without any success.
so I went and purchased an "IMATION DVD-RW' but once again no luck.
my drive wouldn't even acknowledge it in the drive.

I have never even heard of Laser, is that the manufactuer? If it is it sounds like cheap media, im not to sure about Imation... your burner supports -/+ RW so it could be a media problem

[moles42]

Laser is a pretty well known brand as far as I know...
and Imation is also a recognised brand here in Australia.

but I'm still putting it down to an incompatability between burner and media.
looks like I'll have to forget about RW's or I'll end up with an even bigger
collection of dud's.

thanks.

[scooter1556]

I have nver been a big fan of Pioneer writers because of this!! My old NEC reads every -/+RW disc i have thrown at it from many different brands and when i have tried them on the pioneer's they don't want to know. I had the same problem with som -/+R disc aswell. Basically, the only thing to do is to keep trying different brands of disc until it works but that could be as expensive as buying a new writer which is much better at reading discs such as an NEC or LG!

[moles42]

strange I bought the Pioneer after it being recommended here
on the forum...
ah well I'll just forget the RW's and continue using
blank dvd's which are pretty cheap now anyway.

thanks for the feedback.

[Raven386]

maybe try a higher quality media like TY or Verbatim, or just try using -/+R media.....

[Experi-Mentor]

someone will correct me if i'm wrong, but i think that laser & imation are both the same (laser is imation 2nd's).
the most cheap & friendly "+rw" i found was "melody".
do not buy any "princo rw's".

could also be that you've flashed your 106 too many times & the firmware data may have gone faulty. try going back to the original firmware.

check out your local "swap-meet". so many different brands of blanks/rw's to choose from, & cheap too. buy 1 of each ($1.20 each).
you're sure to find a compatible rw for your aging 106 (good-old drive btw).

[Chewy]

Last update: Thu Oct 21, 2004 9:11 pm

http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?download_id=1615

dvd burners don't last that long, after reading how they work I understand why

[moles42]

could also be that you've flashed your 106 too many times & the firmware data may have gone faulty. try going back to the original firmware.

I've never flashed my drive since buying it..it had the latest firmware already installed but thanks to all for the feedback...

I'm just going to continue using +/- R..I have no problem with any
brand of these...the Pioneer just doesn't like +/- RW's and I've
tried several brands and in the process wasted to much money.

thanks again.

[bill7621]

See if you can find some Fuji -RW's. I have a Pioneer 108 and these seem to be the only ones I've tried that it likes.

[steveareno1955]

I have a Pioneer DVR-106D and have upgraded the original firmware. It has worked with any +/- rw I've thrown at it. Check the upgrade site that Chewy has a link to in reply #8 above. I've never had a problem with mine and its 3 years old now. Still a good and true plow horse burner.

[moles42]

my burner had the 1.08 firmware installed when I bought it...
I've since checked it and there's no further updates for this model.
I'll have to try other media but the problem is I could end up with
about 20 different dead brands of media on my hands...

purchasing them and taking them back to the dealer after them
failing in the drive isn't an option it would seem.
I could always try contacting Pioneer and get their views on it.

thanks again to all.

[Chewy]

Considering that -/+ rw's are more expensive, completely fail to live up to the specs of being able to write to 100's of times, -/+ R format disks have come down so much in price, not quite sure why anyone even bothers with them?

[Raven386]

i bought a few RW's to experiment with....menushrink,psl2 plugin, vobblanker etc.... i just bought a 5 pack so i didnt waste my Verbatim's...

[moles42]

Considering that -/+ rw's are more expensive, completely fail to live up to the specs of being able to write to 100's of times, -/+ R format disks have come down so much in price, not quite sure why anyone even bothers with them?

Well the only reason I looked at the option of RW's was in order
to continualy update the backup of my hard drive using 'Acronis True Image'.

I suppose using an ordinary cheap +/-R isn't such a big loss...
the actual frustration was just at not being able to use the
burner to it's full potential...

I'm guessing this thread has had it's day now...time to close it.

thanks for the final time to you all for your feedback.