lol this is so confusing. i went to that website and tried to install the device. i read the instructions and disabled my DVD-ROM drive. my DVD-R drive is master so it said all i had to do was download it and open it.

when i open the file it says 'Target NEC ND-3500A is not found correctly.


on the page it says this is what causes this ~~

1. If no drives are detected, click the cancel button. This error can occur if the firmware does not meet the update requirements.
2. To confirm the current firmware version see the following figures.
   Note: Current and new firmware versions and drive model will be displayed.

so i went to another website and clicked download 'Nero InfoTool which detects what you have. it shows the DVD-R and says that DVD+R DL are supported writable features.

noticed tho that it says i have E:/_NEC DVD_RW ND-3500AG

i looked on the website and it doesn't show any firmware downloads for 3500AG so i wasn't sure.

thank you for all your help i'm just very confused lmao.

According to a letter written to someone on a different forum that I found directly from NEC, the 3500A and the 3500AG are the same and use the same firmware.

yeah i just read that too idk why it isnt working.

I do believe you are right tho i was reading another forum and they said when u update the firmware it affects the compatibility of new disks. so i'm guessin that has to be it. do you know of another place i could try and download an update for the firmware

You could try the maker of your computer's website and see if they provide firmware updates. There was another website that I found that had unofficial firmware updates that you could try. Give me a few to see if I can find that site again.

thank you very much i really appreciate this

No problem. Found it - Liggy's and Dee's 3500 firmware. I would probably try either #11 down from the top which says Original NEC 3500 Firmware 2.1b or if you're in to playing multi region dvd's and want to remove the region lock you can try the one right above it.

Nero has an option to simulate burn. If this works but burning does not then it is a fault in your hardware.
I don't think it can be a power issue if it burns other dvd's.
You could try cleaning the lens.
Firmware update probably won't help unless it's a compatibility issue with the discs but it's worth doing anyway.

The drive is probably on it's way out but before you get a replacement. Do you need to burn to DL. Why not re-encode the video to 4.5gb if you can burn these discs ok. DVDShrink is a freeware app that will do just that.