My DVD burner issue has not improved. It's not very useful to have a DVD drive if it can't read or write files.
I'm quasi sure it's the drive itself, but I guess I can't really know unless I pop it into a different machine. I was theorizing that it was the motherboard, which I replaced a few months ago, but I don't think that's it.
Even though new drives are under $60, dual-layer even, I just hate spending money on something like that, but the truth is, I need it.
You could try one of those dvd lense cleaners. In your shoes, I'd try it in another computer. If the problem was the same, I'd throw it away and buy a new one. I suppose not everyone has a steady supply of machines to try hardware out on. Honestly, we don't find many bad cd players at work. The catch is we don't have very many dvd burners out there.
One other thought. Have you isolated it on the ide bus? Tried swapping ide cables? Tried the other ide connector (channel?) Does it look okay in the BIOS?
-Shon