Elusive driver.

[handcuff36]

Hello.
I just got hold of a couple of DVD-RWs, they are Sony DVD-RW DRU-842A. They will not be seen except as CD-ROMs by my W-7 machine. I get a dialog that says that I need a driver. I looked all over the Sony site . . . nogo. I can not show here a PrnScrn of this dialog as I have removed them.
Can anybody feed me a link where I could D/L this driver. Please and thankyou. JP.

[Medico]

I do not know if this will help or not. This is the Sony support site for Canada. I do not know if it will have your driver.

[Just Plain Fred]

Hello.

Can anybody feed me a link where I could D/L this driver. Please and thankyou. JP.

JP,
Hello..... Found this Sony Link Maybe it will be a help to you. Regards Fred

[CLiNT]

Internal 20X Max Multi-Format DVD Model number: DRU-842A

You shouldn't need a driver, or a firmware update.
Go into device manager, find the device, click uninstall, then boot the computer.
When the device comes back up after booting it will look for the appropriate Windows generic driver.
If the device continues to be unrecognizable as DVD ROM, get a 3rd party DVD burning program, like Nero or something.
Also ensure that DVD/CD ROM burning support has not been disabled in Windows 7

[handcuff36]

JPF, hello. I was all over that Sony address yesterday and shied away when I was asked to Register. In the end, I might have to go back there and do it.

Clint, hello to you too. What irks me is that this Sony DRU-842A is a replacement for an iffy TDK RW that when it runs, it runs fine. So, I think that all settings ought to be already done and ready for any DVD-RW to run and function as intended. This is the first time that I have faced such a Gorgian knot. Where is my sword ? The seller wrote that this drive is not W-7 compatible, oh yeah ?

I got it to run with W-7 on my Toshiba laptop but in a round-about way : I used a USB to PATA connector and was able to burn a CD, I have not yet tried a DVD. So, the device is fine, I also woke up an old XP machine and the Sony ran fine. I would then presume that it is a W-7 problem . . . which one ?

I will instal it once more and then follow all the advice here, thanks to all, I really appreciate it. JP

[handcuff36]

Well, guys, I am really at a loss here. Primo: the BIOS sees the DVD as the Sony DVD DRU-8(42A), no space left. I exit after saving the BIOS data. But it still will not use it. When I boot, it says that it is installing a new device, W-7. After a while it says that it failed to instal, " Device driver software was not successfully installed". As suggested here, I D/L'd the Device checker but it did not find it so I could not run the checker. I also ran hdwwiz and it came out blank. In My computor, it shows up as CD Device (D) but I can not open it, I can not open the Properties, well, it does open but there is no information about it. Lost !

What gets my goat is that I replaced my former DVD-RW ( a TDK ) in the machine and it is seen & used without a hiccup. Once more when I re-instal the Sony DVD device and still nogo. As a USB device, it is fine, in XP too. Go search ! I do not think that the OS being 64 bit has anything to do with this problem. Next, I will try W-8 that is 32 bitness.

I am really lost here. I wish you all a fine evening. JP.

[Browni]

The seller wrote that this drive is not W-7 compatible

Also, the Sony Site has this

System Requirements

• Hard Drive : 10GB
• Operating System : Windows® Vista, XP, or Windows 2000 Professional Operating Systems

Source Sony

Is it possible that the seller & Sony are telling the truth and it won't work with Windows 7?

[handcuff36]

Browni, I have news for you, this Sony DVD works fine in W-8. Why would it not work in W-7 ? On top of this, it is not a HD, it is a DVD-RW, runs like a rabbit in W-8 on my old P4 machine, not an hesitation at all. I plugged it in, pushed the ON button and voilà a new device found, it did not even say installing the device to then come back on screen saying that it was not installed. Once again, the BIOS sees it but not the OS, the only thing that I can do with it is a right click of the mouse and Eject, the door opens, that is it, that is all ! If the machine will not honour that device, there is not much that can be done on this W-7 machine. XP is fine. I might clone that W-8 machine back to W-7 to see if it is the OS or the machine. Enough for today, I am off to ZZZzzz !

Thanks to all. JP.

[Just Plain Fred]

"JP",
You might try to remove the GUID Upper and Lower Filters and reinstall the driver\software\ see this Link How pay particular attention to step #6...For some reason it sounds like they have been corrupted ...Regards Fred

PS: another thought... if you have the software ...make sure that your not running it in some "Compatibility Mode"..Had that happen once trying to install a "Verizion driver \software"..on my "7" and it was Checked off to run in Vista compatibility mode...and would give the "Failed to install Driver" message.

[handcuff36]

Good morn JPF. How are you ?
I followed this article instructions, it does not apply as the device is seen but not used. It is seen as a CD-ROM ! Therefor, it does not show any error code to follow up on, it only says that that it is not installed. Funny as W-8 and XP see it fine and run it fine too. Both are running in 32 bitness, I really can not understand what goes on.
My next step is to clone back this Acer to W-8 and see if it will see the DVD-RW, Sony. This is really mysterious.
Thanks for not giving up in my search for a solution.
NB: I could only find Compatibility mode as far as it applied to a programme, not for a device driver. JP.

[handcuff36]

Good news, guys ! I got it all running and with one of these elusive DVD-RW. The dummy wanted to be head-honcho on the machine, I never heard of this. I got it as Master and the clone HD as Slave and all is happy, specially me and I hope you all too. Can anybody figure this one out ? It took me a while to try this profile but I never give up easy. At the same time, I also got W-8 going and this time it accepted my video card driver, I am typing at you using this famous 1.777 ratio on 1920 x 1080, Great Scot, this is nice ! A large thank you to all from the bottom of my heart.

[Just Plain Fred]

Good news, guys ! I got it all running and with one of these elusive DVD-RW. The dummy wanted to be head-honcho on the machine, I never heard of this..

"JP"
Glad that you figured it out ..and thanks for posting your results ...Never heard of that either Regards Fred

[handcuff36]

Fred, hello.
I had changed the cable to the devices and it was one of these " select " ones, this explains why the DVD became the Master and the clone HD the Slave, but it still does not explain why it would not run before or was the first cable defective ???

Say, how do I get to do paragraphs here, when I do an Enter it does not move to the next line/margin ? You get it in your posts.
Hey, I just found it.

Have a great evening, JP.