Sony Slimline DVD/RW burning, but discs blank

[fallout1]

I have a Dell E1505/6400 with a Sony DW-Q58A slimline DVD/RW drive.

I've got the newest Dell firmware UDS2 (the Sony firmware won't flash as the drive isn't recognised as a Sony)

I have a brand new install of XP SP3.
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The problem is as follows: I've used a variety of burning software, from Winamp, Winamp Pro, CDBurner XP, JetBee, ImgBurn,etc. and I simply cannot get data written to these discs. I'm able to add files to the project, the drive spins up, the green light blinks, data SAYS it's being written, the disc "finalizes," the drive ejects, "burn successful," but the disc shows up in the NERO Infotool, Windows, my car cdplayer, as BLANK. I'm using Plasmon media (which was rated well on Afterdawn,etc)

I have no idea what to do.
The DELL Diagnostics check out, the drive is functioning normally.

Any ideas are appreciated.

Thanks

[johnnymk]

Is it DVDRW or DVDR? If it is DVDRW, it must be formatted first.

[fallout1]

It's CD-Rs. I'm trying to burn audio cds.

[johnnymk]

Is the format of the music CDA or MP3? What brand of media are you using> Maybe try another brand.

Will the CD play on a home machine or your computer?

Also how old is the software you are using? Maybe the software is older than the burner?

[mojo]

have you tried nero? what version? nero works for my HP burner, and the sony one here at work.

when it's burning, does it have a light on the drive that indicates that it's burning (and not testing)?

when you look at the media in your burning software, does it show a capacity of 0kb? or does it show 700 or more mb (for cd)?

do you have more than one USB slot on your pc? (i have a few slots, but only one works reliably on my dell)