Asus Notebook + Asus External Slim Optical Drive = Fail?

One would think the two would play nice together, right? (Google searches revealed this is not uncommon, but archive searches on this forum didn't give me any solutions either.)

Per recommendations on this forum, I purchased an Asus USB 2.0 8x DVD Writer External Optical Drive SDRW-08D2S-U from Amazon this week. It arrived yesterday, but I'm having some problems. Why does my Asus UL30VT-A1 not recognize this drive? It powers up (LEDs illuminate and I can hear it spinning) and Windows 7 automatically detects the hardware but then says " device driver software was not successfully installed." Yes, I'm using the Y-cable, tried different USB port combinations, tried to Uninstall the drive from Device Manager and let it detect again.

Asus' website doesn't have downloadable drivers for this optical drive. So now what can I try? Installing the accompanying software (from the CDROM, which I had to copy over the network since the optical drive wasn't detected) didn't help either. Did everyone else's drive just plug-n-play?

 

Could easily be a bad drive, as these should be PnP. Also be sure your W7 is up-to-date.

Try connecting it to another PC. If you get similar results, then it's the drive and you should call AMZ for return or exchange. NewEgg offers many external DVD drives that should work fine as well.

 

Win7 SP1 is up to date (I even made sure all of the optional updates were applied).

The drive detected and worked fine on another PC (WinXP for cryin out loud!).

Any other suggestions? Are there any generic 64-bit drivers that I can apply? When I look at Device Manager, there is a yellow exclamation point warning triangle beside the DVD drive. Device Manager actually recognizes the full name of the device ("Asus SDRW-082DS-U etc...") but for some reason when I click on properties it only shows it as a CD/ROM drive (not a DVD burner). Wonder if that's the problem? Wish I had some other drivers to substitute the one Windows automatically installed.

 

At least one review @ NewEgg mentions that the drive does not have W7-compatible firmware causing symptoms very close to yours, although that sounds a bit strange, so you might be just wasting all your time.

I would suggest return to AMZ for refund and look at Samsung or LiteOn @ Newegg ( link) both under $40 shipped.

 

Thanks, I see the Newegg deal. The Amazon order was actually fulfilled by Newegg, so maybe they can do an exchange.

How can Asus have an optical drive that is not W7 compatible? This was a hot deal on this forum so somebody is having success with it (maybe not combined with an Asus notebook or UL30Vt-A1). Very strange...

 

I wonder if it didn't get installed properly on the first install.
Sometimes when I use my mouse on a alternative port, it will pop up the window that says "installing device driver" however if I click/middle click it -- it will interrupt it, and give me a device driver error that is identical to yours.

I'd suggest deleting the drivers and letting the auto install initiate and complete w/o clicking it? if that doesn't work how about reverse the two usb cables and the plugs?

 

Good ideas, but I tried that (I actually uninstalled from Device Manager) and tried like 6 different port combinations, even with a different Y cable just in case the cable was bad.

There aren't any drivers I can really delete though, as the optical drive didn't come with any. There is a setup disc that includes some software, but that's for burning (and I think encryption?). I installed it anyway just to see if that would force the computer to recognize the drive, but it didn't work either. This will work if I can find Win7 compatible drivers. In the meantime, I have contacted the seller and received an RMA, so I may just give up and try a different product/model altogether.

 

I have he same drive and have not had any problems with mine. I have used it on many computers. I think you may just have a bad drive.