Folks, can you advise me what can be done to solve my issue?
Recently my Sony DRU500AX stopped reading either blank or burned DVD-/+Rs. Shortly before that I updated the firmware (downloaded v 2.1 from Sony Storage web site).
I had no idea what to do, went to the Sony support FAQs and there one of the answers prompted me to take a look at the region settings. I know that Sony has always been RCE II. With no disk in the drive, I launched Nero Info tool and saw what seem to be the correct region settings (RCE II, Region 1, Allowed Changes 4, Vendor 4). Then I insert one of the DVD-/+Rs I have. The drive produces little to no sound, just the light indicator stays on for a minute or so and eventually it turns off, but the disk is not recognized. I launch Nero Info tool again and to my surprise I see that it shows RCE I, All Region with N/A in Allowed Changes and Vendor fields.
I guess this might be the reason I am having trouble reading the disks but I have no idea how to rectify this situation. Any suggestions? Your help is appreciated.

Strange issue, the problem here is that your drive is not reading/writing any blank/written media even with the latest firmware upgrade? This happens also with CD media?

(in reply to TauRus)

Thanks for the reply, Emperor. No, the drive has no issues with pressed DVDs, CDs, CD-Rs. And with either of those in it it shows the RCE II settings correctly. Its only when I insert a blank or burned DVD-/+R it says the media is incompatible and changes its RCE settings to RCE I as I detailed in my previous post. Once I remove the DVD-/+R media the settings go back to RCE II. I agree its weird. I reflashed the latest firmware again, made sure I followed all the steps correctly, but it did not resolve the situation.
Where are the RCE settings stored? Is it in the firmware or in the OS? Are there any tools to edit or test region settings? For the lack of other theories, I have a strong suspicion my issues are related to the RCE.
Btw, the DVD-Rs I mentioned earlier all were from the same batch that the same drive used to have no issues with. They are Ritek G04 I believe, very good media. I did not test DVD-/+RW since I have none handy now, but I suspect they will also have the same issue as DVD-/+Rs.

(in reply to emperor)

dear Taurus, I think that the firmware upgrade u recenly did, went a little off track or sth...
maybe u should try to download the previous version(back to the one u had before the upgrade),as it clearly (to me) seems that the firmware upgrade, messed with your drive(and eventually your mind) :)
I'm not pretty sure about this, but it's the only thing that came to my mind as a solution after reading your feedback :)
hope it works out for uz and ur drive

(in reply to TauRus)

Well, fernandes, you were pretty close to figuring out the root of the problem. I eventually found an older version of the firmware (v.2.0) and successfully flashed it. Now the issues are gone. :)

(in reply to fernandes)