Sony DW-U14A

[nlk10010]

Hello All:

 

I've been trying to rely on Retrospect 6.5 Professional (Windows w/latest driver update) to do my backups but it's been tough.

 

I have a PC running Windows XP SP2 with a Sony DW-U14A DVD burner installed. Retrospect WILL NOT configure it with any DVD RW media (+ or -). With DVD+RW it simply tells me it "can't configure" the drive and with DVD-RW it sticks on "Blanking Disc" to the point where I have to reboot the machine to get the drive to stop. Other DVD software (will go nameless) has no problem recognizing, erasing, and writing to the drive, but I'd prefer to use Retrospect.

 

Now it turns out that I can SOMETIMES use Retrospect without configuring things if I use my DVD writing software to write a small file to the blank disk, then erase it. It seems Retrospect soft of likes that arrangement, but it's a pain and generally works better with DVD-RW media.

 

I understand that the DW-U14A is not listed as supported, I'm not blaming Retrospect. I understand, however, that it is the OEM version of the DRU510a, which IS listed so I was wondering if there were any of you out there using the DW-U14A (or even the DRU510a) successfully and if you had any suggestions (e.g. media, formatting DVD).

 

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

=NLK=

[natew]

Hi

 

Its a long shot but try running the ASPIINST.exe program located in the Retrospect folder. This will change the way Retrospect looks down the bus at your drive.

 

Thanks

Nate

[nlk10010]

nate:

 

I gave that a shot; Retrospect STILL won't configure a DVD+RW or DVD-RW disk. The only change is now, when it is "Blanking disc" with a DVD-RW in the tray, the machine doesn't hang; I can eject the media.

 

I managed to configure (with some difficulty) a DVD-R but I'm afraid that's about as far as it got. I'll need to decide whether it's worth it to spend $110 on an "approved" drive, use a diferent backup program or use DVD-R discs (it might be cheaper than changing drives just so I can use RW media).

 

Thanks much for taking the time to post with your info.

 

=NLK=

[keithhill]

See my post:

 

http://forums.dantz.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=51303&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

 

It might have something that will spark some relevance in your issue as I was having the same issues.

 

Good luck,

 

Keith

[nlk10010]

Well, I found the Ctrl+p+p "secret preferences", disabled all the tape options and, Voila!, DVD+RW configuration (at least Retrospect SAID it was successful: we'll see when we try to do a backup).

 

For what earthly reason would TAPE options affect CD/DVD-writer operation? For what earthly reason would these preferences be kept "secret"? I can't figure these things out so I guess we'll just have to leave them in the category of unanswerable questions.

 

In any case, thanks much Keith and Nate. Would be nice if Dantz added this to a FAQ or Knowledgebase but I guess there won't be too many of us with a Sony DW-U14A.

 

=NLK=

[nlk10010]

I spoke too soon, as I feared. Once I try to do a backup I get the same behavior (even though Retrospect is supposedly configured for my drive and DVD+RW media): continuously "Erasing disc..." and machine hangs and has to be rebooted to eject disk.

 

I'm afraid this behavior is a bit too flaky for me: I'll stick (and have my client stick) with my other Backup program for now. Perhaps sometime in the future Retrospect will get this sorted out (it's one thing to not support a drive but another to exhibit this behavior when it's supposedly been configured).

 

Of course I still want to thank you guys for posting and trying to help me out.

 

=NLK=

[natew]

Hi

 

Thanks for trying. I believe you would have better luck with a drive that has native support in Retrospect. The auto configuration tests in Retrospect are very precise. If _anything_ goes wrong Retrospect will fail the drive.

 

Thanks

Nate