Cannot open blank DVDs under 14.04

[KW]

Are you sure the CD/DVD drive supports writing DVD discs? Many older
laptops read DVD's but can't write to them.

On 09/19/2014 12:55 AM, Phil wrote:
> Thank you for reading this.
> 
> I've spent most of the day trying to install Xubuntu on a friend's
> laptop that is currently running a very sick version of Vista.
> 
> I have two laptops; one runs Kubuntu 14.04 and the other Xubuntu 14.04
> but neither will detect blank DVDs. They both will open pre-recorded
> DVDs, so the drives are not faulty. Both had version 13.04 installed
> previously and did detect blank DVDs. So either I have missed something
> obvious or 14.04 is the problem.
> 
> My Kubuntu laptop has Vista installed as well and it will detect blank
> DVDs. So I installed unetbootin under Windows, which was an exercise in
> frustration in itself, but unetbootin does not see my USB DVD drive (the
> internal drive is faulty).
> 
> My friend wants to throw the laptop into the bin but I'd like to show
> that Linux can save a little bit of landfill. So, can anyone suggest why
> both of my DVD drives cannot see a blank disc but can see a pre-recorded
> disk? One of the pre-recorded disks was recorded under 13.04 on the same
> USB disc drive.
>