Probs w/ HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4160B burner

[GodOfObelisk]

This is the same exact product I am referring to:

http://www.neutronexpress.com/prod_images/94/804094_IOMEGA_33067.jpg

I got it 2 or 3 years back and as of late (almost six months, so I'm using that phrase loosely) it has been giving me fail errors and sometimes I get data redundancy errors at the end of the verification process.

I am using Nero 6 Ultra Edition and the device name it is given on the Properties section is: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4160B (IOMega SuperDVD 16x burner).

I am using HP 8x DVD-Rs.

I have never updated the drivers for the device and I am pretty sure it has never been dropped or damaged, so I am not sure if I need to invest in another DVD-Burner or if I can still salvage this one.

Please let me know if I still need to provide some more information so that I can get some good advice and if you can help me I would be most appreciative.

[kiosk]

Try a different brand of media first - you might have run into a lower-quality batch of disks which aren't really up to the task and should probably be recorded at very low speeds. And yes, optic drives usually "go blind" after two to three years of usage due to laser/lens assembly failure.
Your mileage may vary depending upon the quality of the drive in question, however.

[GodOfObelisk]

I was using 8x DVD-Rs before and it never has any trouble reading discs (unless you mean that a blind DVD-Burner is one that doesn't burn, but still reads?).

Now I am having another problem with it...

It only allows me to burn 16x DVD-Rs at 4x speeds or 2x speeds (I was hoping for 8x at least so that way the disc will stand a better chance of being burnt correctly as opposed to trying to burn it at the 16x speed) and this DVD-Burner is supposed to be able to burn at 16x speeds...

Is this a list of procedures (other than re-installing Nero) that I should follow that might weed out the problem?

I don't know how I could possibly go about cleaning the lens and I don't know if that is something that just anyone can do, but maybe I could do that?

Anyone?

[mjc]

It doesn't matter if it read a certain 'speed' of disk in the past...all media are different. If this a new batch then it is very possible that the burner jsut doesn't like them.