Superdrive only reads Cds, DVDs are spit out, and burning always fails.

Question

HL-DT-ST DVDRW GWA4080MA:
Firmware Revision: AE38
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW, +R DL
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media: No
this is the information about my drive. I never installed the infamous 2.1 superdrive update, so i dont know if this issue is related. My driver stills reads cds, so it isnt totally dead. Any help would be sooooo much appreciated.
"Media: No" seems like the most likely culprit, what can i do to fix that? My brother has the exact same issue with his identical model of MBP (2.33ghz C2D).

Answer 1

{quote:title=..::Tom::.. wrote:}{quote}
Thanks. Of course I meant an erase and install.
I could understand it being the battery if no discs worked at all, but why would the drive work with the apple discs and no others? Is there a way of testing the battery without opening up the case and replacing it?
Testing the pram battery? Yes, make sure your PowerBook is set to the correct date and time. Unplug the PowerBook from the mains and remove your main battery. Wait a couple of minutes then put everything back to normal and start it. Make sure you also have turned off in the date and time setup the ability to use a network time server.
If your PowerBook still has the correct date and time your pram battery is working.
Why only certain disks? As I mentioned in my previous posting if the lens is dirty this could be the problem. For example on PowerBook I just worked on it was not reading disks until I happened to put in one particular one that it read. That told me the problem was intermittent and that the drive was working to a degree. Since this laptop was quite dirty/dusty I figured it could be a dirty lens since it is fairly easy for dirt to work it's way into the drive.
Took the quick and easy way out, however if it starts to act up again I may have to pull apart the drive I use a high quality photo lens cleaning brush to give it wipe but do not use any pressure as you can damage the wiring going into the lens and of course do not do this with the hardware powered! In a worse case scenario I use a dab on Kodak lens cleaning solution on a wadded piece of lens tissue but again I don't recommend this approach unless you're really really really gentle.
There are also cleaning CD's and the Allsop one isn't bad as it has a small row of brushes attached to it that wipe the lens when it passes by, my fear is causing damage if it knocks the lens and some VRDS drives this will not work with.
Kevin