PC problem

[Link Kadeshi]

Ok, I may have a possible solution... Or rather cause. I was building a computer for a friend, had a couple Sata HDD's, and a single IDE DVD-RW drive. I had this same issue, and was unable to force it to work, until I suspected that BIOS was the issue. I had not a Disk drive at that time to Flash the bios, so I made the DVD a slave drive (Also try moving it to IDE 1 as Cable Select if supported). It read the drive perfectly after that.
I do not know if it's the same issue, so give this a shot, and also try upgrading your BIOS to latest. His MB did not like having a master drive as SATA, and anything on IDE as master.

 

[iamnotincompliance]

My, that is a puzzler.

Well, time to try throwing out things people haven't mentioned yet.

You say it's an IDE drive. Have you moved the Master/Slave/Cable Select jumper to different positions? I know that has nothing to do with anything, but the "nothing to do with anything" solutions fix more problems for me than I can even begin to recount.

Also, have you tried a SATA optical drive?

 

[ShadowKatt]

I have not installed any dvd management software, nor any games, or at least no games with that in it. I've tried switching the jumpers, and I think a SATA drive might do the trick, but after two IDE drives, I don't think it's the drives fault.

 

[superbleeder12]

jumpers shouldn't be an issue.

you've said that the drivers are okay.

You've tried different drives, but are still having the same issue.

it sounds like one last thing.... the registry. *dramatic tri-tone*

unfortunately, my xp machine is currently OOC, so i can't tell you the exact place in the registry to look.

try this fix http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060 I recommend the manual fix under 'let me fix it myself'. i've used the automated fix on a few machines to limited avail.

its not for that exact issue, but a related one, which I see all the time at work.

 

[SpAc3man]

does the drive make HEAPS of noise as though its struggling to read the disk? like its going super fast but wont work? my old pc had a dvd drive that couldnt read some cds but i never had a problem with dvds

 

[cleverlymadeup]

I have not installed any dvd management software, nor any games, or at least no games with that in it. I've tried switching the jumpers, and I think a SATA drive might do the trick, but after two IDE drives, I don't think it's the drives fault.

yeah i don't think it's a sata problem. i think it's either a jumper issue or an ide cable issue

try making the jumpers on the dvd drive to say "slave" (it should be on the top of the drive how to do this)
then make sure the cable is put into the drive correctly, get a notched cable if possible, so you know it's going in the right way

i could probly fix this in about 5 mins if i was at the computer but it's a bit hard over the net

 

[ShadowKatt]

I have not installed any dvd management software, nor any games, or at least no games with that in it. I've tried switching the jumpers, and I think a SATA drive might do the trick, but after two IDE drives, I don't think it's the drives fault.

yeah i don't think it's a sata problem. i think it's either a jumper issue or an ide cable issue

try making the jumpers on the dvd drive to say "slave" (it should be on the top of the drive how to do this)
then make sure the cable is put into the drive correctly, get a notched cable if possible, so you know it's going in the right way

i could probly fix this in about 5 mins if i was at the computer but it's a bit hard over the net

Okay, I'll try switching the cables, but I'm not sure why a bad cable would cause it to ignore dvds only

 

[crimson5pheonix]

If it's a software problem, then I can't help you. But as for hardware problems, look at everything that goes into making the DVD appear on screen. The DVD drive is the first suspect, but you've already proven that's not it. Next would be the motherboard. Try swapping it with one you know works. Try and get one similar to yours and keep the RAM and processor from yours. If the motherboard isn't it, try the RAM and processor one at a time. After that, try the HDD I guess, at this point, we're just taking pot shot guesses.

 

[superbleeder12]

If it's a software problem, then I can't help you. But as for hardware problems, look at everything that goes into making the DVD appear on screen. The DVD drive is the first suspect, but you've already proven that's not it. Next would be the motherboard. Try swapping it with one you know works. Try and get one similar to yours and keep the RAM and processor from yours. If the motherboard isn't it, try the RAM and processor one at a time. After that, try the HDD I guess, at this point, we're just taking pot shot guesses.

not everyone has a spare motherboard laying around.

sounds like either a software/registry issue or possibly the laser's aperture might be stuck. there is a tiny focusing aperture on DVD drives that allow it to read CDs/DVD's because of the way data is written to either media.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

If it's a software problem, then I can't help you. But as for hardware problems, look at everything that goes into making the DVD appear on screen. The DVD drive is the first suspect, but you've already proven that's not it. Next would be the motherboard. Try swapping it with one you know works. Try and get one similar to yours and keep the RAM and processor from yours. If the motherboard isn't it, try the RAM and processor one at a time. After that, try the HDD I guess, at this point, we're just taking pot shot guesses.

not everyone has a spare motherboard laying around.

sounds like either a software/registry issue or possibly the laser's aperture might be stuck. there is a tiny focusing aperture on DVD drives that allow it to read CDs/DVD's because of the way data is written to either media.

He already mentioned that a friend of his let him borrow a disc drive, so he might be able to borrow a mobo.

 

[ShadowKatt]

Okay, took it to the store I got the parts at, changed out the motherboard. Still not working, so I think I can rule out a hardware issue. But it's still not working, GAHHHHHHH!

 

[Danzaivar]

Tried adjusting the BIOS settings? Not sure what would fix it exactly, but I know if you have a load of SATA stuff and then one thing in IDE it can sometimes screw about. You got it plugged in as a primary master or primary slave btw? I think if you only have one thing it needs to be master rather than slave.

 

[ShadowKatt]

Tried adjusting the BIOS settings? Not sure what would fix it exactly, but I know if you have a load of SATA stuff and then one thing in IDE it can sometimes screw about. You got it plugged in as a primary master or primary slave btw? I think if you only have one thing it needs to be master rather than slave.

I got it working! I got really mad and hit it, and now it works. Dunno what I knocked loose, but it's reading dvds again. It's reading burned discs and some of my games, but now it's still not reading others, namely my copy of Supreme Commander. So now that the hard part is over, any ideas?

 

[LiftYourSkinnyFists]

Do you have your data cable in the right way? and is it connected to your psu.


EDIT: sorry didn't see your "I Fixed it post"

 

[ShadowKatt]

Do you have your data cable in the right way? and is it connected to your psu.


EDIT: sorry didn't see your "I Fixed it post"

Yeah, got it working, but it's still being real finicy about what it will and won't read, but that's more likely a software issue. Still working on it.