Vostro DVD Problem: PBDS DVD+-RW DS-8W1P

PBDS DS-8W1P: This dvd burner is not the greatest.

Media Burning: it is very particular. I had 4 types of blank dvds lying around and it would only recognize 1 of them.

Reading: It has issues reading discs burned in other drives (disks that work on all the other computers I have).

This is a frustrating problem. First major issue I have had with my Vostro 1700 (either than the actual ordering process with Dell)

There is no firmware update available anywhere. If anyone has any suggestions let us all know!

 

I'm having the same burning issues with my Pioneer burner and I've tried burning through both Nero and Itunes in XP and both times the computer gives me an error message right before its almost completed.

 

Does this problem have to do with the type of DVD drive you have?

 

Yeah since my last Vostro 1400 had the sony dvd drive and it had no issues with burning.

 

I have the same burner and its working fine.
I think you should try to use IMG burn rather than the roxio crap they are pushing with the dells.

 

I don't use Roxio. And how would the drive recognizing media have anything to do with the software? I will explain it to you... It doesn't . The only thing that will fix this is a firmware update but there are none available as of yet.

I can't get this drive to burn any DL DVD media yet even though it does recognize the disc as DL DVD+. I hope Dell gets out a firmware update cause this drive is sucking so far.

 

Yeah, software doesn't make a difference for this problem. I had the same problem and Dell is shipping me a replacement drive. But its on backorder which makes me think quite a few people are having this problem.

 

sprtnbsblplya, will they send it out without you having to actually bring in your own laptop for service? i don't want to be without a laptop because of this.

 

I'm having entirely different issues with the same drive. It refuses to play any Region 1 discs that I feed it, even though it's set as Region 1 in the device settings. It prompts me to change it to the "proper" region every time, which I have not done yet (I don't want to use up the max number of changes, especially if it's currently some silly software issue).

 

i have the same dvd drive but i don't have this kind of problem......my problem is that it ROARS when I try to watch a movie

 

Yes I have Pioneer also and it roars a lot when ever a DVD is put in. Just too much for my liking. I have not tried to burn a CD or DVD so not sure how good it is or if it has issues like some others...

 

Well, I have moved for work and decided to contact Dell regarding this issue again. I wasted 45 min on the chat support function to be referred to a firmware update for another drive.

If any one has any suggestions for a different model of drive that works well with most media, please let me know. I will try again with customer service and see how much more time that will waste...

 

I still don't see an updated firmware on Dell's site. My Vostro 1500 just recently stopped being able to burn DVD-Rs or DVD-R DLs (from Nero). It stops around 5 to 10% into the burning and throws an error every time. I've looked through the error log but it's hard to interpret. I've successfully burned both types of discs a month or two ago.

I did upgrade the BIOS just for the heck of it but no difference.

I'll contact their customer service tonight and report back when I hear from them.

 

Has anyone else had any issues with their PBDS burner? I still haven't contacted Dell support (lazy). I just un/reinstalled the device, removed some old burning software, and ran ccleaner on my system and will be trying another burn.

 

I have the same drive in my Vostro 1500, and I have problems as well. It does not read some CDs while installing programs, it can sometimes succeed after clicking retry many times. Watching DVD's are choppy most of the time (including sound) as if it is not able to read from the disc fast enough. Sometimes it can not even start showing the movie until I reinsert the DVD several times.

I contacted Dell support two days ago about this (online chat). They recommended doing a self diagnostic test by pressing the Fn button simultaneously when turning the laptop on. I did the diagnostic tests for the optical drive with a CD and DVD and it came up with some errors. I called back and reported the errors and they are now sending a replacement drive of the same brand and model. I will report back here if the problems disappear after the replacement. It should be by Wednesday next week.

 

I received the replacement drive from Dell for the problem I described in the previous post. The replacement optical drive is the same brand, model, and revision. The problem is now fixed; no reading problems while reading data CDs and no stuttering during DVD playback. Just a follow-up for the record. Cheers!

 

Hi Guys,

I have a new Dell Inspiron 1520 with a PBDS DVD+-RW DS-8W1P DVD+-R/RW DL Recorder (are all PBDS DVD+-RW DS-8W1P drives DVD+-RW DS-8W1P DVD+-R/RW DL Recorders?)

My drive works fine except with when I copy a CD or DVD with NERO 8.
Copying is quick and easy using Roxio, a program I have avoided for years, but came installed on my Inspiron 1520.

I contacted NERO and they said I need a firmware update. I couldn't find one on Dell's site although their support help tool pointed me to three or four updates for other drives.

The odd thing is that NERO will eventually copy a disk - it just takes a LONG time for the copying of the image to begin and then a long time for the writing of the image to a blank disk to begin. It took me 17 minutes to copy a music CD that has a playing time of less than 45 minutes.

 

Same Problem, But found out it wasn't hardware really at all, It had set itself to PIO Mode instead of DMA. It was set to Use DMA if available, but the device itself had set to PIO mode after reading some bad disks, and seeing errors.

Quick fix is to uninstall the IDE Channel from device manager... Not disable, but Uninstall, Then have it search for new hardware, should find it again, and reset the DMA mode on the drive.

Mine went from burning a DVD in 1hr48 minutes to burning a dvd in about 16 minutes

 

Thanks! I'll give it a shot.

 

There is now new firmware for the PBDS DS-8W1P on dell's website.

Its dated June 25/08 so its very recent.

Its version is BD1C, A02

I'm not totally sure of all the changes that were made, i'm looking into it now, they only list an improved burn compatibility using vista SP1 native burning application ... but ... i'm sure theres more to it then just that.