Blu-ray player/DVD burner on dv5

I have a dv5 1010tx (Vista Ultimate 64), which has an Optiarc BC 5500s Blu-ray player/ DVD burner combo. I have found the burner has trouble reading DVD'S it has burned, especially DL. Have tried different media, even Verbatim. My toshiba laptop seems to read these disks with ease, so I suspect it's a firmware issue. Has anyone else had this problem, & has anyone found a solution. No reply from my enquiry to HP as yet, & the firmware updates provided on the Optiarc site are said to be not compatible with drives installed by HP, Dell ect. I also note this was a problem with the BC 5600s, for which HP provided a firmware update earlier this year.
Thanks.

 

Different drives do better with different media -sometimes it takes going through a few types to find the right one. Unfortunately they're not all the same.

There is no firmware update for the Sony/Optiarc BC-5500A BD-ROM. The main issue HP had with them was that they wouldn't play newer BD's - they fixed the problem in QuickPlay (version 3.7) rather than go the Firmware update route. That's why you can find a firmware update recommendation on the HP site but no actual firmware update on the site for download. The Sony firmware update won't let you install (it'd fry your drive anyway) it - it'll recognize your drive as a 3rd party vendor unit and not a Sony/Optiarc OEM unit and shut the install down before it ruins the drive.

The most obvious problem is a dirty lens or bad burn settings - if it was a firmware issue you'd have problems with all disks and not just a few. Try using a lower burn speed setting if you can. Use a cleaning disk designed specifically for DVD units. While I don't advocate touching the lens for any reason, you should try and blow out the lens area with air. If hard dust film has coated over the lens you might need to clean it with a micro cloth and cleaner - use the stuff specifically made for a monitor screen, nothing else. It doesn't have any solvent in it. Be extremely careful with it, and only do it as a last option. BC-5500A's aren't that expensive, but you'll find if you don't get it from HP you might have driver issues. Remember that Sony OEM units aren't exactly the same as the HP units, or others for that matter - their firmware is customized for use in their particular configured units to HP's requirements.

 

DL can be a nightmare at times. First off, what program are you using for burning those discs? I use Nero for all my data stuff.. but only for DVD 5 and I use nero rom.. not the nero express etc.. DL is troublesome because of the layer break.. Many programs fail at the layer break section.. Nero has been crap on DL. At least with version seven. For data and DL I would use imgburn and use the build mode under UDF file system. Its awkward do use that but it works. For DL movie DVD use the build mode on imgburn and the iso9660 + UDF file system.. after you hit the cal button it will let you set the layer break manually and it should tell you the best ones to use.

IMO, DL is only worth using for DL DVD movies and only when using IMG burn.. Doing it that way has been fail proof.. before that, I made allot of coasters.

 

Thanks for the replies. The problem with the drive seems to be one of reading disks, not burning them. DiskS burned, DL included, can be read by other drives or players.
Also, when I looked at the firmware release by HP for the BC 5600S drive, it seems to simply be a repackaged release of the Optaric firmware update. Seems the only difference is the version number.
I hope this is resolved by HP.

 

So I guess the only way in the interim would be to connect an external dvd drive to the laptop to read them.. That definitely would bug.. I'd ride HP real hard if that were happening to me.

good luck