All,
I posted an earlier question to this group about a cryptic error message indicating a blank DVD-R had write protection. That is the only "hint" given by Creator 2010 for the failure explanation.
The burn process aborts when this error is returned.

I thought I solved this problem by loading the latest firmware updates from Dell for the hardware in my system. In fact I burned two DVD's one with the Roxio burning software and one with ImgBurn. In both cases I used an image file (.iso) Now several days later I go to make another new DVD and the orginal error has returned. I can view my new .iso in CinePlayer so that appears to be made OK.

I just spent the morning dowloading (again) the firmware from Dell and re-installing it, thinking maybe somehow it got corrupted in a week? (yeah, and pigs have wings). I even went to the Microsoft site and updated my installation of XP to the absolute latest versions and updates of everything. I still get the same cryptic error message:

Sense: 03 ASC: 80 ASCQ: 04 (Command 2A)

Anyone have ANY suggestions on how to solve this dilemma?

Thanks
John

Buy better discs ! What brand of discs do you have? Don't use Memorex or store brands. Verbatim is good.

Contact the drive maker with details of the error code. If the 5th and 6th digit of the error code is 80 through FF, then the error code is maker unique.

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I am using DVD-R discs manufactured by Memorex. I had successfully used two of the DVD's when I originally fixed the issue by updating the firmware, so I don't think it is the media since two of them worked just fine. I searched all over the place for ANY place to get Hitachi (manufacturer of DVD burner) drivers. The Hitachi website didn't even mention DVD or CD ROM drives, maybe they don't make them anymore. The Hitachi website was of no use for the driver OR for finding out the key to the error codes. A general Google search for selected keywords found lots of sites to download driver checker software, but no actual drivers. Further Google searching did not reveal anything associated with the error codes. Going back to the Microsoft site did not show any system driver updates.

To summarize all my searching, I couldn't find any evidence of driver updates, and I could not find the key to the observed error codes.

Oh yeah, I puffed "cleaning duster air" into the drive thinking maybe some dust was blocking something, no change doing that either. I sort of randomly blew the air in from numerous directions.

This problem is beginning to really annoy me. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

What have you done that was suggested?

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I though my previous post described what I have done with the suggestions. Here is a shorter summary.

The first time I had this issue I updated the DVD ROM firmware.

I searched for drivers updates and did not find any. I could not find ANY manufacturer information on the error codes.

The media worked fine a week ago, so I don't think it is the "quality" of the Memorex DVDs.

I think that covers all previous suggestions

Read post #2 again, then go here for the best brand to buy http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/dvd-media.htm

All media in a 50 or 100 might not be ok! Borrow a different disc from a friend and slow the burn down.

The error code I mentioned above is maker specific, only they can help with it.

Did you buy the drive or did it come with the PC?

If it came with the PC contact them..

The best drivers for a CDDVD/RW Burner are in the microsoft operating system.

Firmware updates are another thing, they update the media Id's for new or more media..

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OK, I think I got this figured out, thanks to all who assisted with their ideas and suggestions. I went and purchased some TDK brand DVD's both the -R and the +R and got the same results. However the -R DVD's caused the drive to enter infinite write attempt mode, the only way out was to power down the computer.
I began to suspect the drive hardware, so I tried using the drive to play a DVD movie. No luck, it didn't even recognize that a DVD was in the drive.

The manufacturer turned out to be a dead end. I finally figured out who made the drive and entered into an online chat with their technical support folks. They had NO idea what the error codes even were, much less how to decode the ones the Roxio software was returning. Some other forums indicated that numerous other owners of this specific drive installed by Dell suffered hardware failures.

I purchased a LG 22X Internal Super Multi DVD burner and installed it. My first attempt to use ImgBurn successfully wrote the .iso file I had been trying to burn for several days. I can only guess the two discs I managed to burn with my previous drive were the last two discs that drive would ever burn. There was no hint of a hardware failure from Device Manager. I will try using the Roxio software to burn a disc too.

The silver lining is I went from a 16X DVD burner to a 22X DVD burner. Oh yeah, I also doubled my RAM from 1G to 2G trying to solve this operational issue.

Thanks again for all your help