CD burner not detected

[Anton]

Sorry if this has been covered.  I searched and could only find info about aspi, and I tried to update that, but it didn't help.

Why is my CD burner not detected?  It is not listed here. but there are several that are pretty close.  with the collapse of Phatnoise, is this no longer being updated?  Is there a way around it?  or a way to update it myself.  I've tried three computers, and none of the drives were detected.

current laptop drive:
HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4082N  Firmware-CG03

[sbingner]

PMM's burn function is essentially useless.  I've yet to see a burner it recognized...

[Anton]

Dang, that bites crank!

I guess I will use Nero, and the Bitburners plugin to burn flac files.

[Terry_Kennedy]

Is there a way around it?  or a way to update it myself.  I've tried three computers, and none of the drives were detected.

current laptop drive:
HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4082N  Firmware-CG03

Let me provide a little history and perhaps that will help you modify the program.

There are three basic strategies to deal with identifying the functions a burner provides:

1) You can ask it (but it might not tell the truth)
2) You can look it up in a list of drives you know about
3) You can ask it, and then modify that if it matches a drive with known quirks

Goldenhawk's CDRWin (and presumably the Phatnoise burning software) choose method #1. That was good back when there were a limited number of burners (my first burner was a Yamaha 2x SCSI one, and CDRWin was well-known already). But these days new models are coming out daily. Probably the worst offender is LG. If you look at LG burners at Best Buy, the model number changes practically every week. OTOH, Pioneer model life cycles seem to last for at least a year.

If you can identify a supported drive from the same manufacturer with similar features, it is usually possible to patch the burner program(s) to detect the new drive as an older model. That doesn't work if the new drive has features (such as double-layer DVD burning) that don't exist in the older drive - you won't be able to use those features because the program will consider the drive to be the older model. Also, if you have a drive brand that the software has never heard of (for example, Optiarc - the new NEC / Sony joint venture) you'll have a hard time picking an older drive to emulate.

Another possiblity is to cross-flash the drive to a different firmware that is recognized. For example, the Plextor PX-740A is actually a re-badged BenQ DW1640. Note that this will void your drive's warranty and if you do it wrong, you can make your drive permanently un-usable. A good source for info on cross-flashing (and drive firmware in general) is http://www.rpc1.org

Burners report their information in 3 pieces - Brand / Model / Revision.

Different software will look at various pieces of that. Most software ignores the revision information. CDRWin ignores brand and only looks at model.

Using a binary file editor, search for the model string for a drive that matches your drive most closely. Let's say your drive is a Pioneer DVR-214D (I made that up) and your software supports the DVR-212D. Using your editor, change the text in the program from "4" to "2" and save (make a backup first). Now try your software and it should recognize the drive.

[Anton]

Thanks a Mucho, Terry.  I will give it a try!

I Like the idea that I'm only changing PMM's interaction with the drive, and not the drive itself, such as firmware flashing.

[Anton]

I'm using Resource Hacker.  Would the model string for My drive be located in the PMM folder, or is it elsewhere on my system?  I thought I would only have to change the string value for the drive that PMM sees, not for anything else.

[Terry_Kennedy]

I'm using Resource Hacker.  Would the model string for My drive be located in the PMM folder, or is it elsewhere on my system?  I thought I would only have to change the string value for the drive that PMM sees, not for anything else.

I don't really know - I've never done this with PMM.

[judb]

I may be crazy but I seem to remember this coming up on the old phatnoise forums and the solution was to get a copy of winaspi32.dll and drop it in the PMM folder.. but that could be old or wrong info.

winaspi32 or maybe it was win32aspi.dll i forget now.  it comes with nero products and ISN'T part of the adaptec aspi layer files.

[Anton]

I tried installing the that aspi.dll from Adaptec, and from Nero... they are different versions.  It didn't work with either.  I read on these forum, i think, that a copy of the dll should also be placed in the dir with pmm.exe  I did this too, but it hasn't changed anything.

I found a listing in Registry Editor for my optical drive...
Hkey Local Machine
Hardware
Device Map
Scsi
scsi port 1
scsi bus 0
Target Id 0
Logical Unit Id

HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4082N

I am hesitant to change this entry... But maybe I will back up the registry and give it a try.  I can't see how it would work without a firmware change.  Maybe I'll send an email to the Dangerous brothers...