LG DVD Problems

[rgeist554]

I purchased an LG DVD-R/RW Combo Drive and the first time something went wrong - just before the 1 year warranty was about to expire - the drive suddenly stopped reading ANY media, and when I could click the drive in My Computer, it would suddenly change from a DVD-RAM to a plain CD Drive. The BIOS recognizes it as a DVD-RAM and so does the drive page in Device Manager (even the properties on the drive it self lists it as a "DVD-RAM" even after it renames it self to a CD Drive) I was curious if anyone else had experienced any issues with LG DVD drives?

Things I've tried:

I've tried reinstalling the device. (Both physically and removing / reinstalling the drivers)
Changing jumper settings on the drive to make sure it was the master.
Checked power cables and tried another PSU (I read that the capacitors used in LG electronics are terribly cheap, so they have issues with certain PSU's)

Anyone have any suggestions for other things I should try to get it working? If not, can anyone recommend a reliable DVD drive (burner or just reader, I don't really care) that will last longer than the factory warranty?

 

[skittle]

The samsung SH-S203B, is currently one of the most talked about SATA burners on the market. cdfreaks.com has a good review of it... and the forums are overflowing with comments.

I bought one, and am very pleased with it!

as for fixing yours, try updating the firmware.

 

[rgeist554]

There is no updated firmware for my model, sadly... there are also no known drivers available - just the standard "let windows detect it" thing. I also tried contacting their customer service (which, if you've ever tried to do, is absolutely TERRIBLE unless you have a service center within diving distance of you) that struggled to understand what firmware and drivers even were... which is also very sad. Enough with me complaining though! I'll just spend the money on a new, reliable drive. (Probably that Samsung SH-203B)

 

[CompTIA_Rep]

Try booting with a Linux Live CD and see what happens. You can Determine if the drive is having issues, or your windows.

 

[rgeist554]

I think the drive is actually going to die. It's not even spinning up anymore.

 

[skittle]

That would involve him burning a disk first.

But yeah, that samsung drive is wonderful... espically having SATA cables instead of thost awfully thick and intrusive IDE cables. I think its on sale right now, 29.99+free shipping

promo code for free shipping:
EMC1016ODD10

 

[skittle]

also, what model number is your dvd drive, here is a list of firmware for various LG drives.

http://www.opendrivers.com/categorycompany/15/1288/cd-rom-lg-electronics-free-driver-download.html

 

[CompTIA_Rep]

So? There are a few ways to get a disk, or even use a USB device to load the image.


If the drive stopped spinning up, even at boot, then its toast, or your PSU is not providing the correct voltage to the -/+5v rail.

 

[skittle]

doubtful the rails are bad, he tried a different PSU.

 

[CompTIA_Rep]

Ah didn't catch that.

 

[rgeist554]

**Edit** Model is: GSA-h62n --- I didn't see any firmware on the link posted above. : / (link to drive: http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Reviews/Specific.aspx?ArticleId=20843 )

The tray will open and close, and the light will blink like there is activity when a disk is inserted... but it never actually reads. Not even on bootup. Like I was saying earlier, I can't hear it spinning at all, not even the slightest hint of activity besides the blinking light.

*My new PSU is Silencer 750w Quad - More wattage and amperage / rail than my previous power supply... I know there has been issues downgrading PSU's or adding a more power hungry piece to the system (like a top of the line GFX card), but I don't think that's the issue. I believe it died. (new psu link: http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=S75Q )

 

[The_OGS]

Hi guys,
At my supplier I can get NEC, Pioneer, Sony etc. burners and they are all $34.95.
LG burners are $29 bucks and (like Sony) the firmware support is not so good...
I always try to come up with the extra five bones, y'know? LoL.
Pioneer and NEC have good firmware support, good brands.
There is a brand-new burner available called SONY/NEC OPTIARC, $35 bucks in IDE or SATA, I gotta check one out!
Anyone tried one of these yet?
Anyway, a 1-year warranty on a $30 part is too much nuisance to pursue, heheh... and since there are many other better burners, I try to avoid the LG.
Regards

 

[Falken699]

I used to do all my video stuff on my old Dell, and it has an LG burner that is ROCK SOLID. So I got another LG on my current system.

I built my S939 system, and just recently felt like doing my video stuff on this system with the NEW drive that I picked up when making this system, my old LG DVD burner is still in my Dell and works great still, since 2003.

I used my burner in my S939 system ONLY to read from for installing games, OS etc. and always worked fine. Then I was burning stuff and it worked fine for a while.

Now, it doesn't autorun anymore when I insert media. When I explore, it says there is no disk in drive, then when I persist it eventually "sees" the media.

When I go to play Oblivion, I insert the disk and launch the game from a shortcut on my desktop. Oblivion then says "please insert disk" then I have to click retry then it sees it.

Honestly, I just think the quality is going down the tubes with LG burners. I mean, the newer one in this system (S939) still WORKS, but it is just buggy I guess.

I have installed all the new firmware, re-installed Nero, and that helped a bit, you might want to re-install Nero.

Anyway, this is an old IDE drive, I'll burn my use out of it then it gets pitched. The use I get out of any burner in a few months makes the cost negligable, so I don't really mind.

Plus, I want a new Samsung SATA drive, maybe two of them

My new LG burner is a GSA-4167B SuperMulti if that helps. It is a piece of junk I guess.

From now on sticking to Samsung and Pioneer.

 

[justalurker]

Have a GSA5160 external DVD burner. Downloaded the A303 firmware upgrade from the LG web site. Read the readme file and executed the firmware update.

The update didn't progress as the readme file stated and never completed. Called LG TS and they told me "I haven't ever done a FW upgrade".

Put me on hold, came back and said "reboot the CPU". I reminded the CSA that there was warning in the readme file NOT to interrupt the update or damage to the drive could occur. Said "do it anyway" and I did.

Now the drive is brain dead. LG says "too bad, out of warranty and that FW update is at your own risk".

Duh, no warning on the web site, no warning at download, no warning in the readme that it is at my own risk.

My drive worked...
Downloaded LG FW update...
Followed the directions...
My drive don't work...

My fault?

Remember how LG stands behind their product and takes care of their customer when you're out there shopping for big buck HDTVs.