I have a HP a1214n media center computer, with an HP DVD writer 740b. It is a LightScribe DVD+/- writer and a CD-writer. It can read and record CDs, but is unable to recognize writable DVDs. If I insert them, I simply get a message instructing me to insert a recordable DVD.
I ran the full battery of tests on the DVD drive in PC Doctor today. It received a failure on the DVD Drive Linear Seek Test (error code DV523-1) and a failure on the DVD Drive Funnel Seek Test (error code DV523-3). I even switched out the DVDs as instructed in each of these tests, in case it was a problem with a dirty or scratched DVD, but it still failed. It passed the DVD Drive Random Seek Test and the DVD Drive Linear Read Compare Test.
When I tried to run the DVD+RW Drive Read Write Test and the DVD-RW Drive Read Write Test, it was unable to recognize the media, and simply kept ejecting the DVD over and over and asking me to insert DVD+RW (or -RW, as the case may be). So it didn't actually give me a verifiable result, as the only way to get out of this endless cycle was to cancel these two tests myself!
Can anybody shed light on what these error codes mean? I want to verify whether they are a hardware issue, because I believe my computer is still covered (for hardware only) under an extended warranty.
Many thanks for any input you are able to provide!
Giz.
