billege

Okay, I've already posted my anger at my coaster burner, aka the Sony DRU 510a.
(I've created a text file w/all my relevant system specs that I will paste with all my tech questions.) Here it is:

OS
Windows XP Professional (build 2600) all current patches/updates.

CPU
1433 megahertz AMD Athlon XP (1600+)
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache

MOBO
Board: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-7VAX 1.x
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz

BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. F3 08/22/2002

RAM
512 Megabytes Installed Memory

DRIVES
110.04 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
27.47 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

LITE-ON LTR-40125S [CD Burner]
SONY DVD RW DRU-510A [DVD Multi-format Burner]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

WDC WD300BB-32CCB0 [Hard drive] (30.02 GB) -- drive 1
WDC WD800JB-00CRA1 [Hard drive] (80.03 GB) -- drive 0


OUTPUT
HP psc 2100 series on USB001

DISPLAY
RADEON 7500 SERIES [Display adapter]
Plug and Play Monitor (17.5"vis, June 2002)

AUDIO
Avance AC'97 Audio for VIA (R) Audio Controller

NETWORK
Realtek RTL8139/810X Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC

_________________________________________________
First, it burned a video DVD halfway, irk.

Then I couldn't even burn a data DVD that the comp would recognize. IRK. This thing is making me mad.
Okay, so I realize I need to get current updates. I update the drive's firmware to the most current version. From 1.0c to 1.0f I went. Great.
Then I find they're upgrading the Sonic MyDVD software for free to sony USA customers. So, I go to ver 5.2.0 from 4.5.2, great.
I also went over to Adaptec's site and added the most current ASPI layer, just in case that was important.

The damn thing still sucks.

I can burn data DVDs now, so that's solved. The problem is the Sonic software,especially when it comes to video, I think.

I can't even finish laying out the video I want to add to the DVD before the POS crashes. Just the Sonic software crashes, the computer's fine. I wanted to see if it'll burn a video DVD successfully, but I can't get even that far.

My question to you guys is this:

Is there anything I should do, upgrade wise, that I haven't done already?

Are there any *free* DVD burning apps I can get? I just paid for the drive, so my cash for toys this month is gone. I'm miffed I've got useless software with the drive, and I don't want to buy more (non-returnable - of course) software just to find out it doesn't work either.

I'm using FUJI film DVD+RWs and TDK DVD+Rs, they're all 4x media.

I've got the Gordian knot rip pack and all that, to rip and burn commercial DVDs, but I don't yet have any idea how to use it. I wouldn't be suprised if there's a video burner in there that I just have no idea about. If so, someone please tell me.

Thanks.