I understand why it's giving the message, and if it's not the correct message, it's an error. Yes, I've tried the firmware on Samsung's site. D/L the firmware for the drive listed, opened the flashing utility, loaded the firmware, and get the message that it's not the correct drive. I'm certain that the firmware I D/L was for the same drive, so I'm stuck. I've already told him to purchase another DVD/RW, as cheap as they are, it'll be the easiest way to fix it. I thought it might be a quirk that someone had a fix to. Apparently not. thanks anyway.