LG DVD writer can't read DVD's

[Awesum]

I have a LG lightscribe dvd writer which is about 18 months old. Yesterday I found that it can no longer read DVD's.
It can read Cd's and read blank DVD's and it can write DVD's, but it cannot even read the dvd it just burnt or original DVD Rom's.

Im running Vista Ultimate and Nero 7.

Any idea if its hardware or software related? If I try to view the contents of the disk under explorer it ejects the disc after trying to read it and says insert disc.

 

[LazyLion]

Im running Vista Ultimate

There's your problem right there!

 

[quovadis]

There's your problem right there!

Very constructive.

As for the problem at hand - check the drivers have not been updated for the device (if they have roll back the driver to a previous version and see if that works). I know a few people that had a similar issue and booting windows with last known good configuration seemed to fix it and the problem never happened again... it's a strange issue to begin with.

 

[LazyLion]

Very constructive.

As for the problem at hand - check the drivers have not been updated for the device (if they have roll back the driver to a previous version and see if that works). I know a few people that had a similar issue and booting windows with last known good configuration seemed to fix it and the problem never happened again... it's a strange issue to begin with.

Thank you!

btw, the drivers for his DVD drive are built into the OS, how is he going to roll them back?

 

[antowan]

Odds are the drive is bust. I have one that is also giving me endless hassles.

Let us know how this pans out but I have a feeling the drive is bust.

 

[quovadis]

btw, the drivers for his DVD drive are built into the OS, how is he going to roll them back?

What driver are you using and on the details for that driver can you click the Roll Bac Driver button under the driver tab?

 

[howardb]

Sounds to me like your optical drive is on it's way out - seems to be the biggest problem with LG.

I have found that my LG optical drives have given up after 6-18 months use for some reason, and without excessive use at that! This just seems to be the life-span of the LG products (or at least their optical drives from my experience) -- my RH1999H home theatre HDD/DVD recorder optical drive unit also gave up the ghost last week, after only 13 months (I only watch an average of 1 DVD movie every 2 weeks = 28 movies in the last year) getting a replacement unit tomorrow and will see how long that one lasts. I only use the HDD portion of the unit daily, and that is still going strong (Seagate 250GB HDD)!

I've already replaced all my LG PC optical drives with Sony or Samsung, and will not be buying LG optical drives again soon... just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Awesum]

Thanks for the assistance guys. I've tried to do a system restore, but it didnt help.
After further testing I found that it can read -R DVD discs, but not +R or original Dvds.
90% of my discs are +R.

Any other ideas?

 

[Juggy]

Those LG DVD writers aren't that good imho. I've had 5 or 6 crap out on me in the past. I just started buying LiteOn and never had an issue since.

LiteOn ftw....

 

[howardb]

Those LG DVD writers aren't that good imho. I've had 5 or 6 crap out on me in the past. I just started buying LiteOn and never had an issue since.

LiteOn ftw....

What Juggy said...

 

[howardb]

Thanks for the assistance guys. I've tried to do a system restore, but it didnt help.
After further testing I found that it can read -R DVD discs, but not +R or original Dvds.
90% of my discs are +R.

Any other ideas?

What's the warranty on the LG optical drives these days - 3 years? - can't find any immediate reference, so when I take my knackered one back to them for a replacement/swop-out tomorrow, I'll try and find out more...

What model optical drive do you have Awesum?

 

[SlyFly]

Ive had 2 LG's fail on me just after the warranty expired (Normally 2 years)

 

[Awesum]

Its the GSA 4166B. I think the warranty is one year.

 

[howardb]

Its the GSA 4166B. I think the warranty is one year.

That sounds like the same drive I had - gave up working after 13 months. Will let you know later today on the replacement and warranty...

 

[The_Unbeliever]

All my LG drives also packed up just out of the warranty.

Do they put a chip with a timer in inside their drives so as to "expire" the drives soon after the expiration of said warranty date?

 

[Dohc-WP]

Maybe its just the lightscribe 1's cause i'v had my LG burner for almost 3 years now and im burning no less than 10 dvd's a month nd also use it alot for gaming, movies etc. and it hasnt given a single problem yet

 

[adsl3g]

My LG lightscribe external has been going for around 24 months now w/o hassle - still going strong.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

My LG lightscribe external has been going for around 24 months now w/o hassle - still going strong.

Let us know in a month or two's time...

 

[Asha'man X]

The optical drives in most of our new school computers are LG, with a few Asus thrown in the mix. So far so good, none of them have given up yet.

I actually have the LG model mentioned running in a computer that gets heavy use of the drive, and after almost 3 years it's still going strong

I've also had my fair share of optical drives just giving up on me. Irritating when it happens

 

[NoRulez]

Sounds to me like your optical drive is on it's way out - seems to be the biggest problem with LG.

I have found that my LG optical drives have given up after 6-18 months use for some reason, and without excessive use at that! This just seems to be the life-span of the LG products (or at least their optical drives from my experience) -- my RH1999H home theatre HDD/DVD recorder optical drive unit also gave up the ghost last week, after only 13 months (I only watch an average of 1 DVD movie every 2 weeks = 28 movies in the last year) getting a replacement unit tomorrow and will see how long that one lasts. I only use the HDD portion of the unit daily, and that is still going strong (Seagate 250GB HDD)!

I've already replaced all my LG PC optical drives with Sony or Samsung, and will not be buying LG optical drives again soon... just my 2 cents worth.

Those LG DVD writers aren't that good imho. I've had 5 or 6 crap out on me in the past. I just started buying LiteOn and never had an issue since.

LiteOn ftw....

Ive had 2 LG's fail on me just after the warranty expired (Normally 2 years)

All my LG drives also packed up just out of the warranty.

Do they put a chip with a timer in inside their drives so as to "expire" the drives soon after the expiration of said warranty date?

There's your problem right there!

Not quite Vista, eh?
LG sucks at best!