Hello freinds.I'm in serious need of your help right now. My laptop is a Sony VAIO VGN-NR31Z/S which I bought 2 months ago, with Vista Premium installed.Everything was fine and I was able to burn dual layer dvds until the moment that I accidentaly formatted my hard drive.So I installed Vista Ultimate and everythng was apparently fine, except that I can no longer burn any dual layer discs.The Matshita dvd burner can still burn regular dvds but It can't burn anymore the dual-layer dvds as it did before.I know the problem lies with the dvd burner because I've tried 3 different burning programs and different brand dl-dvds like Verbatim and Maxell and it always fails to burn at 50%.I tried searching for firmware-driver update but I cannot find anything.Can you help me guys please?

Support Information:
Device Type: CD / DVD
Manufacturer: Matsushita (Matshita Panasonic)
Model: UJ870QJ
Interface: IDE
Operating System: Windows Vista
Age of Device: < 6 months old
FCCID:

Type of drive: dvd-r/cd-rw (dvd burner, dvd reader, &amp; cd burner combo)
Location: internal
What recording software are you using?: Other (Other: CloneCD,Imgburn,Nero)

Find it on DriverGuide (http://members.driverguide.com/index.php?action=srch&sm=b&aax=&qa6=630&qa5=3&qa7=1801&dp=0.5&qm0=UJ870QJ&jmd=and&fzz=d) | Find it with Google (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Matsushita+%28Matshita+Panasonic%29+CD+%2F+DVD++ UJ870QJ+Windows+Vista+) | Research manufacturer Matsushita (Matshita Panasonic) (http://members.driverguide.com/index.php?action=getinfo&companyid=630)

You didn't need firmware previously so what makes you think you need it now? Uninstall ALL burning software and only install the burning software that came on the pc from the factory. Then try burning at a slower speed.

I gotta ask.... how does one "accidentally format a hard drive"? That's like accidentally driving off a 100 ft. cliff. ie: not done by normal folks. Were you smoking the wrong kind of cigarette?

Of course not.I wanted to use the Live CD Gparted to make 2 partitions into an external hard drive and accidentaly I confused the exterior hard disk with the integrated one of my laptop,because the program didn't clarify what disk I was formating.Previously I didn't need any firmware because it already had the necessary things to work properly.But since I formated and because in the package there weren't included drivers and similar things,I had to improvise and install a new version of Vista,since I didn't have the original one and because I was in a hurry I may haven't installed something properly or even ommited to do something,because everything else works perfectly,except the Matshita drive which although is capable of writing into dual-layer disks it doesn't manage to do so now,after the format.That's why I need some driver update,propably.

In addition I have already tried anything else,and nothing solves the problem.And I don't see in the registry any upperfilters or lowfilters.

Optical drives never require a driver when used in Windows Vista. The OS provides all support that allows this drive to read a data or music disk and to burn a cd-r disk. It doesn't contain any support for burning dvd disks or for playing them. For those tasks, compatible 3rd party recording and dvd decoding software is required.

Laptops required specific drivers from the laptop maker as generic drivers will not work on a laptop.... they will fail installation. I've never seen a laptop that didn't come with all drivers and a method of re-installing the OS usually via quick restore cd disks or via a hidden partition on the hard drive which contains the files necessary to restore the machine to the same condition as it was when it left the factory. If you don't have these disks or restore partition files, your task will be difficult. If the restore files are on a hidden partition on the hard drive, you will need to consult the documentation that came with the notebook in order to be able to restore the file via the hidden partition. This method varies depending on the brand of notebook... that's why you need to read the documentation on how to restore the system to original condition.

If your only problem is with burning dvd disks, then the problem is the recording software your using. Reinstall the same recording software that the machine had on it originally and you should have no problem with burning dvd disks.

I have searched everywhere and still can't find anything.When I bought it didn't have any disks inside and it never occured to me that Sony was "implying": make a recovery disk on your own. I searched sone e-support and there was nothing for my problem.I telephoned the service line and a technician told me that probably there isn't an ydriver around and therefore no solution except paying for the recovery disk 50 euros, to bring back the previous os.What should I do?Is there somebody with the same problem who managed to solve it somehow?My only problem after installing the vista ultimate is that it can't burn dual-layer dvds and I need that functionality!

What application and version are you using to attempt the dvd burn that doesn't burn dual layer disks? And what did it have on it originally that didn't have this burning problem?

Are you using the same media that you originally used to successfully burn dual layer disks?

All you need to do is obtain the same burning application that came on the laptop.... and use the same media.

Laptops with Windows Vista are very particular about what software and drivers are being used. Optical drives do not require any drivers... the OS provides native support and no other 3rd. party drivers are needed (or are available). Microsoft designed Windows Vista to provide native support that allows the drive to read a data or music disk and to burn a cd-r disk. Any other task requires compatible 3rd. party recording and dvd decoding software.

I use Imgburn and Nero Burning Rom both of which worked perfectly before with verbatim dual layer dvds like now,except that they aren't burned,they reach only something like 53% when the program goes to the second layer of the dvd, it's there that it always fails.Before I used Vista Premium and Vista Ultimate.There is no other problem from what I can see until now except the inability of the driver to burn dual-layer dvds.

It's not the "driver" that's responsible for burning.... that task is handled solely by the burning software. You didn't say which version of Nero you're using so I need to ask you again. Is it a version that provides support for dual-layer burning? I realize you said it worked before but there has to be something wrong with the burning software. Are you installing it from a cd disk (or from a partition on the hard drive) that came with the machine? Do you have any method of installing the same software from a different souce?

And it's also possible the drive has gone bad... the UJ-xxx models are pretty notorious for going bad.... I've had brand new UJ-xxx models that have gone bad within an hour of first usage.

I use Nero 9 Ultra. before I used Nero 8 and it worked perfectly just like Imgburn and now whenever I use Nero or Imgburn it always fails to write in the dvd dual-layer at somewhere around 53% which means that it fails when it tries to write on the second layer.I'm pretty sure that the dvd drive isn't failing, because I just burned 3 hours ago 2 movies in one dvd. Plus I downloaded both programs from their respective locations and installed them to my laptop.

Will the UJ870 drive boot the machine? Use a Windows install disk (that's a bootable disk) and see if it will boot the machine. If you don't have the bios set to first boot device then change the bios setting to where the optical drive is the first boot device. If it boots the machine, I'd say there's only a 5% chance that the drive is bad. I just don't have any faith in Mat. UJ drives...they are just plain bad drives.

Yes it boots the machine so the dvd drive is all right. Do you know how if at all possible I can replace my notebook drive without going to sony and get a better model? I don't know what to trust...

Did you boot it with a cd/cd-r or dvd disk? If a cd/cd-r disk was used, that only proves the cd portion of the drive is ok. Now U need a dvd bootable disk to test the dvd portion of the drive.

You can find optical drives for this machine on ebay.com. They are usually listed there at just about any given time.

Thanks friend for sticking with me Jerry K:gabby: and trying to help me so far.I used a dvd boot disk and beyond that I'm pretty sure that it's not the drive's problem but the OS fault because it seems that the Sony Vista Premium OEM was apparently specially designed to cooperate for this particular drive. So I decided to pay to Sony Support :zombie: 50 euros and get the Vista Premium recovery disks and bring everything bact to what it was.Thanks again for your help, Jerry and although I may sound defeated I'm planning on recapitulating on Sony:furious: : I will find out what is associated with the matshita drive special firmware-etc,back it up and reinstall vista ultimate again because they are better without any more problems;hopefully.:hail:

P.S. This thread can be closed now