Drive cannot see DL disks

[maxthegold]

I am trying to write to a DL disk (Verbatim) but my drive seems to be having trouble recognising the disk. The drive makes a sort of clunking noise for a minute or two then nothing. The software (Nero, Ashampoo or ImgBurn) just says there is no disk in the drive. I have a Lite-on LH-18A1H (Firmware version HL09). I have tried +R and -R DL disks with the same result. Any help would be much appreciated.

[Chewy]

is it just dual layer it won't recognize or any blank dvd?

[maxthegold]

Just Dual Layer. I have been using Verbatim DVD+R single layer for a while with very few problems.

[Chewy]

well I once made the mistake of mentioning that it might be a power problem, I was corrected and told that dual layer at 2.4x took less power?

maybe the drive is dirty or just bad? firmware might be corrupt, you could try reflashing from safe mode? with drive empty

[maxthegold]

OK I'll try that. I don't think it's dirty as I have just run a lens cleaner through it. I was afraid just bad might have been the answer but I hoped not.

[maxthegold]

Reflashed in safe mode, still the same. Looks like duff drive then. %$@#

[rosariorose9]

New drives are so cheap now it's not so bad when one 'goes south.'

[Chewy]

I think I would try a 12x burn of the sl verbatim and then do a quality scan at 8x with cdspeed, probably wouldn't give a very good result if the drive is going bad, it's a possibility that the verb dl are bad(slim one).

[maxthegold]

I've done that, here are the results. Not sure if this is good or bad.

General Information
Drive: LITE-ON DVDRW LH-18A1H
Firmware: HL09
Disc: DVD+R (MCC 004)
Selected speed: 8 X
PI errors
Maximum: 39
Average: 2.06
Total: 36379
PI failures
Maximum: 15
Average: 0.01
Total: 2041
PO failures: n/a
Jitter: n/a
Scanning Statistics
Elapsed time: 9:46
Number of samples: 112471
Average scanning interval: 1.25 ECC
Glitches removed: 0

rosariorose9, yes I agree that they are cheap but I have only recently bought this drive and I bought it specifically for its lightscribe and DL features. It's very annoying and not so cheap if you have to buy 2 or 3 before you get one that works properly.

[Chewy]

use the little picture of a floppy to capture a png, that pif max of 15 looks bad for a liteon?

is your room got a lot of lint, etc?

[maxthegold]

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean by your first sentence.
As for the room, I don't know really, I wouldn't say it has a LOT, it has a hard floor (no carpet), but we are not housework fanatics.

[Chewy]

.

notice also the little picture of a floppy on the top right, here's where you save a png picture of the screen

http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=65716

[maxthegold]

I had to rerun the test, here are the images, attached.

I also started to run through the test as laid out in your link and I got a write error 030c00 trying to create the test disk.

[Chewy]

it might be worth a try to blow the drive out? leave the tray open and power down

I have used several methods, the more air the better

there's really nothing that shows bad wrong with that verb sl burn?

I wonder if your computer has some minor glitches/issues

might try reflashing in safe mode with drive empty

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129007

has been the standard for burning dula layer disks the last couple of years, it's evidently being replaced by a new model that will probably be a bust

[maxthegold]

Well I guess that answered my next question of what would be a good DL drive to get if I have to replace the Liteon.

I have done the reflash in safe mode.
I'll have to get some air to blow it out and give it a good clean.
I don't know about issues with my computer. I try to keep it up to date but as I am always fiddling anything is possible.

I did ask the question of Liteon and Verbatim, I got a stony silence from Liteon but Verbatim made a very helpful offer of a couple of blank disks that they are sure are ok for me to test.