Sony SZ w/ UJ-852s DVD-RAM, firmware upgrade?

I have this laptop and have used it for 2.5 years with great success, besides the touchpad reversal/random clicking issues (fixed under warranty). I'm using XP SP3. I bought a spindle of DVD-Rs and they aren't recognized as being empty using ImgBurn. Same brand I usually buy, too, which has worked before with no problems or coasters.

I checked and this SZ680 has a MATSUA UJ-852S drive. Right now it has v1.01, I've searched and found/tried this:

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-download.pl?mdl=VGNTXN25N&upd_id=2891&os_id=29

But that mentions the UJ-852 and I have 852s. Either way, it doesn't work, just fails and says "F/W loader does not apply." I searched and also found: http://www.burn4free.com/matsua-mata-panasonic/mata-uj-852s-driver.htm

But the panasonic link is dead. Any ideas? I'm almost ready to put an ad out for a few bucks w/ paypal to get it updated. Thnx

 

Try uninstalling it in the device manager and make windows re-detect and re-install the hardware. If was working fine up until a certain point, then it's most likely a Windows problem.

 

If I take either of the last 2 TDK dvds out of the old spindle, each works fine. But from the new spindle, I'm told the DVD is not empty. TDK says something like "To optimise the performance of this CD you may have to upgrade your writer's firmware."

 

DVD burning hasn't had a feature upgrade in it's spec since well before this year. If your burner was burning fine before hand, then it's in the software you're using. You say TDK says this? Are you running a TDK burning software? And what type of information are you trying to burn? Disk images, or just files or movies?