lite-on lh-18a1p = dead drive

My new DVD burner that I bought just under three months ago is now dead. Well, mostly dead. It will play DVD movies. It will burn CD-R’s, but it absolutely, positively will not burn DVD’s any longer. No way, no how.

The error I got in Nero Burning ROM is the absolute oddest thing I’ve ever seen. When I attempted to burn a DVD, the software reported Power calibration error and spit any DVD+R or DVD-R I put into it – every time.

I tried a few brands of discs and no luck. I read in a few places to disable the IMAPI server in Windows XP services. That didn’t work. I read on Lite-On’s site that the drive may not be receiving enough power(?) That didn’t work either even when I powered my box off and unplugged a few things. I upgraded the firmware. Once again, no help there either.

The drive has been buggy since the first day I got it. I thought it might have been something I was doing, but it wasn’t. That particular DVD burner just sucks.

I finally said fuggit and bought a new burner drive. It’s called a (and I’m not kidding) Mad Dog TSH652D. I installed it, booted up, and guess what.. now I can burn anything I want and have done so. This is proof positive that the LH-18A1P is a piece of shit.

If you happen to be one of those poor souls that owns one of these and it’s starting to act up – get rid of it.