Plextor 712A won't rewrite DVD-RW (why not?)

[Peter King]

I have a Plextor PX-712A DVD/RW drive, which burns CDRs and CDRWs fine with cdrecord,
and also DVD+R(W) and DVD-R(W) with growisofs. But it will not re-write DVD-RW with 
growisofs. Take an ordinary disc that has been written to as follows:

     growisofs -dvd-compat -Z /dev/dvd=image.iso

But I can't blank it or force a new format on it no matter what I try; dvd+rw-format
gives me the following errors:

user at computer$ dvd+rw-format -force /dev/dvd
* DVD±RW/-RAM format utility by <appro-6n+bmRoGAL6ci/EUP2OQSw at public.gmane.org>, version 4.10.
* 4.7GB DVD-RW media in Sequential mode detected.
* formatting /:-[ PERFORM OPC failed with SK=5h/ASC=27h/ACQ=00h]: Input/output error

user at computer$ dvd+rw-format -blank=full /dev/dvd
* DVD±RW/-RAM format utility by <appro-6n+bmRoGAL6ci/EUP2OQSw at public.gmane.org>, version 4.10.
* 4.7GB DVD-RW media in Sequential mode detected.
* blanking /:-[ PERFORM OPC failed with SK=5h/ASC=27h/ACQ=00h]: Input/output error

I get the same errors whether I run the command as root or an ordinary user, whether
the "full" option is added or not, on DVD-RW discs from different manufacturers. Ditto
for just re-running the growisofs command above with a new image.iso.

The "input/output error" made me suspicious, so I ran dvd+rw-mediainfo:

user at computer$ dvd+rw-mediainfo /dev/dvd
INQUIRY:                [PLEXTOR ][DVDR   PX-712A  ][1.04]
GET [CURRENT] CONFIGURATION:
 Mounted Media:         14h, DVD-RW Sequential
 Current Write Speed:   1.0x1385=1385KB/s
 Write Speed #0:        1.0x1385=1385KB/s
GET [CURRENT] PERFORMANCE:
 Write Performance:     1.0x1385=1385KB/s@[0 -> 2294911]
 Speed Descriptor#0:    03/1922435 R at 12.0x1385=16620KB/s W at 1.0x1385=1385KB/s
READ DVD STRUCTURE[#10h]:
 Media Book Type:       32h, DVD-RW book [revision 2]
 Legacy lead-out at:    2298496*2KB=4707319808
READ DVD STRUCTURE[#0h]:
 Media Book Type:       32h, DVD-RW book [revision 2]
 Last border-out at:    1922436*2KB=3937148928
READ DISC INFORMATION:
 Disc status:           complete
 Number of Sessions:    1
 State of Last Session: complete
 Number of Tracks:      1
READ TRACK INFORMATION[#1]:
 Track State:           complete
 Track Start Address:   0*2KB
 Free Blocks:           0*2KB
 Track Size:            1922436*2KB
 Last Recorded Address: 1922435*2KB
FABRICATED TOC:
 Track#1  :             14 at 0
 Track#AA :             14 at 1922436
 Multi-session Info:    #1 at 0
READ CAPACITY:          1922436*2048=3937148928

I notice that the INQUIRY lists the drive as DVDR, not DVDRW, but I don't know if
that's the problem -- or if it is, how to change it. DMA is turned on for the drive
and the permissions should be fine (/dev/dvd --> /dev/hdc):

   brw-rw-rw-  1 root cdrom 22, 0 2004-07-22 15:54 /dev/hdc

What gives? Google turned up nothing, and I'm more or less at a loss at this point.

dvd+rw-tools: 4.10
growisofs: 5.21

Debian GNU/Linux running Sarge: Kernel 2.6.8 using ide_cd (hence ATAPI).

Any help would be appreciated!

-- 
Peter King			 	peter.king-H217xnMUJC0sA/PxXw9srA at public.gmane.org
Department of Philosophy
215 Huron Street
The University of Toronto		    (416)-978-3788 ofc
Toronto, ON  M5S 1A1
       CANADA

http://individual.utoronto.ca/pking/

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