My DVD burner won`t read blank Verbatim DVDs

I have an ASUS Z53E series, with a TSST corp CDDVDW TS-L632H ATA device. which just stopped reading blank 16x Verbatim DVD-R. It seems to read Maxell & Melody re-writable.
I had my laptop for less than two years, & I had this problem with Verbatim DVDs before, but it seemed to get sorted after I cleaned the drive with a CD lens cleaner tha uses a dry brush. A few months later, the problem has returned.
The last time, I tried different options. I already went to device manager & updated my drives, which are all up-to-date.
I`ve been reading about different ways to clean my DVD/CD drive, & I would like to enquiry about the best methods, just in case this is the problem. I have heard of using air from a can, & dipping a cotton bud in Alcohol & clean the lens, but do I have to take the burner out of my laptop to do this or I can just clean the little lens that I can see when I open the lid? I prefer not to remove the whole burner myself.
If anybody has any more suggestions or had the same problem with Verbatim DVDs, I`d really appreciate your help.

THANKS in advance!!

Hello cosmicpeace,
If you are going to clean the lens, i would use air, you can do this without removing the drive.
The lens is coated and if you touch it, it will scratch the coating.
Also check the height of the lens from the DVD/CD and check that the sledge is OK, thats if you do decide to remove the drive.
Good luck and post your results.

How to Clean a CD Rom Drive | eHow.com

Can you read other brands or types of cd's? If so, then it is the verbatim cd problem (just the simple process of troubleshooting).

Yeah, it seems to be only with Verbatim DVDs & another cheap brand from the pound shop called "Signalex"; but it works with Memorex, & Melody re-writable DVDs. And It works with all CDs, even Verbatim.
I did clean my drive with a CD lens cleaner, because yesterday I went to a computer shop to buy a compress air can & the owner told me that he`s sure I need to update the driver`s firmware instead of cleaning my drive even more.
This is a road I`ve been down before, a few months ago, when my drive first stopped reading Verbatim DVDs, but then it started reading them again, so I never updated the firmware.
The problem I had was that I couldn`t find the proper firmware for my drive to update.
If anybody knows where I could find this firmware, I would be so grateful.
Thanks!

Funny enough, I`ve just found this page:

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Forum- Firmware download for my TS-L632H

This is a what I posted on the Asus website when I first had this problem with my DVD drive & Verbatim discs last year, but I didn`t get no answer for months!
Eventually, I seemed to have got an aswer from a new person in the Asus forum.
This seems to be the solution, Asus apparently & finally released the AS04 firmware update for my TS-L632H , which version at the moment is AS02.

I just would like to confirm with some one here on the know whether this is the right firmware for my drive, before I go ahead. I don`t wanna spoilt my drive!!

cosmicpeace said:

I just would like to confirm with some one here on the know whether this is the right firmware for my drive, before I go ahead. I don`t wanna spoilt my drive!!

Click to expand...

I don't know if its the correct driver, the only thing you can do is to try.

Anyways, if it reads other discs correctly except verbatim, that mean that your lens was working, so why did you clean it, you couldve heavily damaged the lens (those thing are very fragile).

Katokato said:

cosmicpeace said:

I just would like to confirm with some one here on the know whether this is the right firmware for my drive, before I go ahead. I don`t wanna spoilt my drive!!

Click to expand...

I don't know if its the correct driver, the only thing you can do is to try.

Anyways, if it reads other discs correctly except verbatim, that mean that your lens was working, so why did you clean it, you couldve heavily damaged the lens (those thing are very fragile).

Click to expand...

The reason why is because the last time I had a problem like this with Verbatim dvds, cleanin the lenses was the solution...now I know, only temporary.
I hear a lot of different opinions on the matter of cd lens cleaners, some people say that it scratches the lenses, some people say it doesn`t. I guess compressed air seems to be the gentlest thing, I just don`t have any around.
The last time I had this problem, Asus didn`t have a firmware update, so I couldn`t download it, but now that they have it, I have a feeling that installing this update is the best thing to do. If I install the wrong firmware, though, I was told that I would totally spoilt my drive, & no system restore would undo that. So, that`s why I wanna be 100% sure.

cosmicpeace said:

Katokato said:

cosmicpeace said:

I just would like to confirm with some one here on the know whether this is the right firmware for my drive, before I go ahead. I don`t wanna spoilt my drive!!

Click to expand...

I don't know if its the correct driver, the only thing you can do is to try.

Anyways, if it reads other discs correctly except verbatim, that mean that your lens was working, so why did you clean it, you couldve heavily damaged the lens (those thing are very fragile).

Click to expand...

The reason why is because the last time I had a problem like this with Verbatim dvds, cleanin the lenses was the solution...now I know, only temporary.
I hear a lot of different opinions on the matter of cd lens cleaners, some people say that it scratches the lenses, some people say it doesn`t. I guess compressed air seems to be the gentlest thing, I just don`t have any around.
The last time I had this problem, Asus didn`t have a firmware update, so I couldn`t download it, but now that they have it, I have a feeling that installing this update is the best thing to do. If I install the wrong firmware, though, I was told that I would totally spoilt my drive, & no system restore would undo that. So, that`s why I wanna be 100% sure.

Click to expand...

Your choice buddy.

In my experience it is usually a firmware issue when this sort of thing happens. That firmware download looks genuine enough to me but have you gone to ASUS download website and confirmed it?

That is their forum so I would give it a try.

Ex_Brit said:

In my experience it is usually a firmware issue when this sort of thing happens. That firmware download looks genuine enough to me but have you gone to ASUS download website and confirmed it?

That is their forum so I would give it a try.

Click to expand...

Oh, hello!! I`m glad you`ve seen my thread, Ex_brit!!
I don`t know if you remember, you helped me with this matter a few months ago, but we couldn`t find anything on the Asus website, so we left it cos we couldn`t find the right firmware for my drive anywhere.
It just happens that I was checking today, & this firmware update was posted in the thread I posted on the Asus Forum about my driver not playing Verbatim DVDs. Apparently, what happened is that Asus didn`t release updated firmware until a few months after I was trying to get an update.
I will go to Asus download website to confirm it. Thanks!!

Good luck., I would imagine that as that website is the Asustek forums that any downloads posted there are genuine, and the link is certainly ASUS download server so I would says it's the one you want.

I would just try to verify it from ASUS's downloads page first - like make sure it's for the UK etc.. But I would install it anyway.

if you dont have any luck try here,
Club MyCE
some of guys even write their own firmware and quite often the real tech support guys from the manufacterers (not the final brand sellers) turn up for support.
was it a new packet of discs by the way? theres often a new id for change of dye or year etc, could even be a stack of fakes.

wheelsmith said:

if you dont have any luck try here,
Club MyCE
some of guys even write their own firmware and quite often the real tech support guys from the manufacterers (not the final brand sellers) turn up for support.
was it a new packet of discs by the way? theres often a new id for change of dye or year etc, could even be a stack of fakes.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! Actually, this is the website that my computer manufacturer`s forum redirected me to, & they do have new firmware for my driver.
I will install it, & report back.
I bought this Verbatim discs a few months ago, & already tried some of them, that seemed to work fine when I first bought them. I got them all mixed together with some old verbatim dvds that used to work months ago, as well! So, it seems like my computer sometimes accepts verbatim dvds, but sometimes it doesn`t. It`s a mistery. I would have thought that the computer wouldn`t have accepted this dvds from the start ...Thanks again!

I haven`t been able to confirm the Asus firmware download on Asus website, because the Asus navigation tool don`t seem to work in my computer, & I tried to do it manually, but my drive wasn`t listed there. I guess I should just trust this download someone posted in "MyCE", as on the downloads the options for downloads were either "Global" or "Chinese". And I know this firmware update download is not Chinese, so it should be OK.
I have been busy burning a lot of CDs this week, just in case this firmware update damages my computer, so I have not done it yet. But I will report back as soon as I do.
Oh! & my drive stopped burning Memorex DVDs now. So, it doesn`t burn any DVDs at all now, only CDs.

There are 2 download servers available on ASUS Download Site - Global and China. Each server provides the same content no matter where you download from, except for the speed which you are connected.

stoneys-nutz said:

There are 2 download servers available on ASUS Download Site - Global and China. Each server provides the same content no matter where you download from, except for the speed which you are connected.

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the info!!!

Your welcome, i go to that site a lot myself . Still, you learn from your mistakes.

I installed the firmware update for my drive, but the problem persists.
It still doesn`t read any DVDs at all, not just only Verbatims. It still plays & burns Cds without problems.
So, after the firmware update, there seems to be no difference at all.
Any suggestions, please?
Thank you!!

Have you by any chance got Nero installed? If so is InCD installed? If so that could be the cause as InCD should never be installed in Vista or Windows 7 as it is incompatible with the OS's own CD/DVD handling keys.

Another thought...have you tried upgrading or even simply reinstalling the BIOS? Have you actually looked in the BIOS for clues. They all vary but often a setting in the BIOS could have been inadvertently changed.