DVD ROM not reading, recognizing or playing burned CD-R's.

[Westmar]

I'm about to throw my PC out the window, so...I'm hoping someone can shed some light.

I have a 2 month old Dell Dimension 9100. It has an HL-DT-ST DVD/CD ROM GDR8163B in Drive D and a Philips DVD+/- RW DVD 8631 in Drive E.

My problem at this point is NOT with the Philips Burner, it's with the ROM Drive. The ROM Drive will recognize and play almost everything without a problem: Purchased DVDs, Purchased Audio CDs, Purchased CD ROM Video games, and even burned CD-RW cds, but for some reason it will not recognize/play any burned audio CD-R's. Not only will it not play them, it won't even recognize that it has a disc inserted in it. Something's really goofy here because these discs run fine on my other Dell, an older, Dimension 8200, with a LITE-ON LTD 163 DVD/CD ROM. AND all of the CD-R's I am trying to play on the new PC's ROM have been burned in different places on different PC's, not just with my new Philips Burner. There is nothing wrong with these cds.

Oh, and these CD-R's WILL play in the new PC's DVD+/- RW Drive with no problem. Isn't that a little weird, or is it just me?

I am running Windows XP Home Edition, 2002, SP2.
IntelR PentiumR 4.0 CPU 3.0 Ghz 512 MB RAM

And the drivers are current for the ROM Drive too, by the way.

Finally, my older Dimension DOES have the "compact disc" logo on the front of the DVD/CD ROM drive, but my new 9100 DOES NOT have this logo. I find this strange.

Oh one more thing...the blank media that refuses to be read or played in the ROM drive varies - Memorex, Verbatim...none of them work.

I hope i didn't leave anything out. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Justin42]

Odds are it's a defective drive. I don't think a DVD-ROM drive exists that will purposefully not play CD-Rs (unless specifically instructed not to, like game console drives or something). The lack of the CD logo means nothing.

I'd call Dell and get a replacement.

[Westmar]

I'm glad you think so, Justin, because I was beginning to think I might be nuts in thinking this thing was defective.

I chatted with Dell Support online twice yesterday and they kept telling me the same thing that sounded like it was coming from a book of pat-answers:

"It's a compatibility issue. Try another CD."

They weren't listening to a thing I was telling them and sure as heck weren't going to admit it might be defective.

I guess I will have to be a little more forceful when I call them for a replacement. A part of me would rather replace it with a LiteOn. I wonder if I can convince them to do it.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts!