frustrated, what am I doing wrong?

Yes so do not Assume that your diodes are what you think they are, always be ready to have a "Lemon"
Like the supposes PHR diode i had that i thought was my 445 diode and it was wroking at 420mA for over a minute, that was cool (and i doubt that i had a 6-8-12x diode)

Ashenfang,
Is it possible that you got the IR burner diode instead of the red playback diode? I seem to recall form somewhere that you can fire up an IR (I thought it was below threshold...) and get a dim red glow (as you described). I am new here and will not be the least offended if you tell me to shut-up, get out of the way, and go away. But your description of the faint red glow ticked over some memory. Sorry you smoked your LD. Good luck next time.

Leodahsan said:

R.I.P. †LOC 16X† R.I.P.

lets wait for further information of the thread owner.

Click to expand...

I stopped by a computer repair shop and he generously gave me two dvdR drives so hopefully i have two more diodes to get this right with

Careful you don't get your mitts on infrared, could be strong enough to hurt you without realizing it.