Philips PCRW2412 problem. PLEASE HELP

Wow it's been so long since I posted here..

Anyway I have this problem and can not for the life of me figure out the solution.
I recently installed a Philips CRW2412 into a system and the damned thing just will not burn. I will recognize any media you put in that already has something on it, but when you insert a blank cd it loses it's effin' mind. It just sits there with the little "DISC IN" light blinking and you can hear it trying to read the media but after a few minutes it just gives up.
If I try to burn a cd what happens is that it says there is no cd in the drive.
Now here's the really weird part, if I put in a cd that has already been burned to but has some free space left on it I can burn to that disc perfectly fine.
I have no clue what is going on here.
I've tried it as master, slave, single, cable select.. nada help. I updated the drive's firmware to the latest version but as far as drivers go I am at a loss. My friend gave this drive to me when he got a new one and he no longer had the install cd.
I'm currently using the drivers Windows XP installed when I put it in my system. I looked online for drivers but could only find Win2K drivers and I couldn't get those to work. Said something about running setup from root next time.
I've tried Nero, Easy CD Creator (not both installed at once.. hehe I know better) and also NTI CD-Maker and they all give me the same problem.
If this is just a driver thing and someone can point me to the right drivers I would appreciate it. If it's something else for the love of god please help me.. I'm pulling my hair out over this one. :(
Thanks a bunch.

try a new aspi layer!

no luck there.. i managed to get it to start recognizing the blank cds now by trying a few different firmware versions, but now when i click burnit says the drive is already in use.. this is frustrating.. can someone point me to the actual drivers for this thing and maybe those will help. i've had no luck finding them and philips has been everything but helpful. i would appreciate help with that and any other help you guys can offer

I know it doesn't address the problem, but you can get new cdrw drives at staples or officemax for about $20. Might be worth spending the money to save your sanity.

haha yeah i know.. i just didn't want to waste what i thought was a perfectly good dirve.. i've actually gotten it to burn a cd once now.. i'm starting to think maybe it just doesn't like the media i'm using.. although it's certainly not low end.. hmmph.. oh well