DVD-RW won't work after Formatting

Ronbo wrote on 2/14/2003, 12:58 PM
I have a Sony laptop with an external Sony 500A DVD-burner (in an ADS case). Last nite I bought an external Acom 40G harddrive, all working via fire-wire. In my haste ( I tried to find a better excuse, but can't) to try it all out, I ended up clicking on "YES" to format the DVD-RW that was in the 500A. Now that particular disc won't play/record/anything at all.

It causes the 500A to just spin-up, then down, then up, then... with the activity-light to remain on for about 10 sec, then off for about one, then repeat. I also tried it in 2 other CD writers and players and get the same weird results. They never get past the spin point, to where I can take back control and do something productive with the disk. It will also lock-up the computer unless I actually eject the DVD from the unit.

I should add that I did this external to DVD-A or any other software. This was done directly thru Windows-Explorer. I had forgotten which drive letter was for which drive, and made the wrong choice.

I think the 500A still works, I've tried playing cd's and dvd's thru it, but haven't gotten brave enough to try another $$$ DVD.

Did I kill the 500A, or simply create a DVD-RW coaster? Is there a way to override whatever I did and 'erase' the DVD?

Thanks in advance!
Ronbo

Comments

JSWTS wrote on 2/14/2003, 1:52 PM
What third party burning application came with your Sony burner? You might be able to launch that program then use the program to open your burner door, insert your DVD-RW and then try to erase the disc from within the burner. You could try a quick erase first to see if that works, and then a complete erase if that doesn't.

Jim
Ronboc wrote on 2/15/2003, 8:23 PM
First of all, thanks for the suggestions, Jim. But it looks like I'd killed the DVD.

Tried everything I could think of, based on your hints. Never could get the burner to actually recognize there was a DVD in there. Couple times it told me it was the wrong format, and once even said it was "READY", but that was about all it did.

Lesson to be learned here: Never format a DVD as if it was a regular drive.

Looking on the bright side:
1) I don't have to go out and actually "buy" one of those distracting shiny plastic thingies to hang from my rear-view mirror.
2) I now have an extra jewel-case for when I step on another one.
3) I'm ready to play mini-frisbee with the neighbor kids.
4) Just like the first scratch on a new car, it's over with now and I did it and it won't be the last one, so I can get on with life.
5) If I ever get stranded at sea with my laptop and V4+DVDA (and who wouldn't want to have those?), I can use the bad DVD as a great sunlite signal mirror since it has an automatic aimer built right into the middle of it.
6) I can "carelessly" leave it laying around at the mall for some miscreant to steal (Let them figger out what's wrong).

... any more ideas?
CraigF wrote on 2/15/2003, 9:27 PM
Formatting a DVD-RW is for packet writing to the disc. This means you can drop the disc in the drive and drag files to it for backup, etc. I use this method for backing up my PC.

You don't want to format DVD-RW's that are intended for Video DVD creation. You should just drop a (non-formatted) disc in the drive, and burn your DVD with your DVD Authoring program. When it is done, it will play like a store-bought DVD. Ready to erase it? Just drop in back in the drive and burn your next project DVD to it. I've never had to "erase" the contents.

So, you may not have killed the disc, you probably just changed it's purpose. Don't get bent out of shape over it. Yes, they are "expensive" but if you check out stores like meritline.com, you'll see 1x DVD-RW media is now less than $1 a disc. In fact, I bought a 50 pack for $37.50 shipped.

Good luck with disc #2.

:)

Craig
Ronbo wrote on 2/17/2003, 12:27 PM
Thanks Craig. Now I understand much better about the DLA function. The Sony manual explanation left a lot to be desired, at least for me.

I took the disk to a friend's house to do a post-mortem on it, and he got it 'unformatted' (if that's the term), so it now seems to be working normally for copying.

Still waiting for my retail-copy of V4+DVDA, and trying to learn from here in the meantime. Thanks to everyone for sharing their trials and tribulations.

C U,
Ronbo