DVD RW doesn't read anything

I just installed I/O Magic Internal 16X DVD RW and it doesn't recognize any types of disc.

I have searched all over the internet and in the process I have flashed my firmware, updated my ASPI, and run Nero's Infotool. There is nothing telling me that anything is wrong, other than the fact that no cd or dvd is recognized by the drive.

Currently I am opening up my computer to double check the physical connections, but if these were bad would the drive be showing up? I also might change the jumper settings, but I replaced a DVD-ROM drive with this drive and made everything the same.

***Update***
I just pulled out my 2nd drive. The only drive I had left in there is the DVD-RW and it is set as master. Now when I click on this drive, instead of getting "Please insert disk..." I get an empty directory. And it seems to be recognizing something because it changes from "DVD-RW" to "CD Drive" when I insert a CD.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

Thanks!

 

Hi philspiegel, welcome to the BBS.

What is your drive configuration? Sounds like you have the DVD-RW and a HDD on the secondary IDE controller. Also sounds like you have had a little success by removing the HDD and installing the DVD-RW as Master.

The DVD-RW may like running as Master. Maybe leave the other drive off the cable until you get the DVD-RW working.

Do you have the motherboard/chipset drivers installed? The IDE Controller in Device Manager should be listed as an Intel, VIA, SIS, etc Controller, not a "Standard" one. If not, find and install the (current) chipset drivers from the motherboard manufacturer's website.

Still no luck, remove the IDE Controller in Device Manager. It should reinstall the correct drivers on reboot.

To reset the ASPI Layer drivers, remove the drive (even the IDE Controller) in Device Manager. Shutdown and disconnect the drive. Do a full boot into Windows. Shutdown and reconnect the drive.

Finally, but should be first. Reseat the IDE ribbon cable at the motherboard. Maybe try another cable if there is still no luck.

PS If you get to read disks but cannot write to them, you may need to reinstall Nero.

Matt
Edit: If you have more than one burning program installed, pick one (Nero?) and uninstall the others.

 

Thanks! I don't know how soon I'll be able to try any of that out. In the meantime, here are some questions based on what I've figured out so far:

1) My drive configuration: On my primary IDE Channel I am trying to have this new DVD-RW and a Sony CD-RW. Previously I had a DVD-ROM and the CD-RW on this channel. I figure either is redundant, so if I can't get either of them to work with my new drive, not a big deal. This computer was originally manufactured by Dell, so both drives had jumper settings of C. Select. That is the first thing I tried with the new drive. After not having any success, I removed the second drive and changed the DVD-RW jumper setting to Master.

2. Good point about leaving the 2nd drive off until the first is working.

3. In device manager my IDE Controller is listed as Intel(R) 82371AB/EB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller. I went to Intel's website and tried running a chipset update utility, and it basically told me that everything was up to date. I saw on another thread somewhere that you can manually do an update, but it seemed somewhat above me. Can the utility be trusted with that information, or is the manual update the only way to make sure I have the latest drivers?

4. I will try those various combinations of uninstalling/reinstalling various drives and drivers hopefully this evening. For the latest drivers, should I be looking online and downloading them, or when XP goes hunting for these drivers is it going to turn up with current ones? Thanks!

5. Because of this install I do have multiple burning softwares. I previously had Easy CD and this came with Nero. I have uninstalled both at this point, but is it possible that the conflict here could have anything to do with the drive not recognizing discs? I assume that when things start working and I want to burn discs I will see some conflicts here that need to be resolved, but I can't think of how this would make the drive unable to even see discs.

Thanks again for all the advice. I hope to try it all out soon.

 

Hi,

I might start at #5, because it may well be the cause. EasyCD and Nero do NOT play happily together. I run (ran, actually) Nero. I upgraded Media Player and one of the options included a "burn to disk ", which I installed, it was actually EasyCD and caused havoc with my optical drives. The two programs were fighting for control of the ASPI Layer drivers. After some help from the people on the BBS, I realised what it was, reran the MP setup and removed the EasyCD...everything back to normal. You have uninstalled both, last time I uninstalled Nero I found it impossible to reinstall, hope you have more success.

#4: It sounds like you have the most current drivers. I would not fuss to much about looking for "better" ones. The thing will be to get those ones working as they should...and I think the burner programs may be why they they aren't working properly. You may need to reset the ASPI Layer drivers, so when you try the suggestion about disconnecting the DVD-RW, disconnect ALL optical drives if there are any others connected (seems like you have a few).

#3: To ensure you get the Controller drivers installed correctly, you could boot into Safe Mode and remove the current ones. When you reboot, Windows may run the "Found new Hardware" wizard, in Win98 I "Cancel" out from this and run the driver installation program from within Windows (I have reinstalled WinXP drivers, but that was a while ago and I cannot remember the details).
I don't know about upgrading/reinstalling the ASPI drivers, I use the "reset" method.

#2: I think it would be the way to go, and any other optical drives.

#1: Still not sure about your "complete" configuration. If you have the opticals on the Primary IDE, then you must be booting from a RAID, SATA or SCSI HD drive. What I was thinking of suggesting was to change the DVD-RW over to the other IDE header/controller.

Hope something here does the trick.
Matt

 

Might be exposing my lack of knowledge, but could the Nero/Easy CD conflict actually be causing the drive to not recognize a DVD at all?

It would not surprise me if I could not play or burn cd's with this software if there is a conflict, but I'm not even seeing the disc show up in windows explorer. If I insert a disc (either cd or dvd) and click on the drive, it thinks for about 10 seconds and then enters the drive as if it is empty space. I would think that if there was a software conflict between the brands that at the very least the cd or dvd would appear in explorer.

A friend of mine that I have discussed this with has suggested returning the drive to Circuit City for a replacement. His opinion, which I can't say I disagree with, is that I have tried enough things that it is worth eliminating a bad drive from the list of potential issues. If it is a bad drive I could spend days messing up my computer settings even further while continually frustrating myself without any hope of success. If I get another drive from the store and it still doesn't work, it doesn't take me much time to at least feel confident that the issue lies within my PC.

I also need a chance to be working on this during business hours, because I/O Magic support only seems to be available then. Although I have seen on forums that even when I/O Magic support is available, it really isn't very helpful.

 

philspiegel, my main suggestion would be:
Go to Device Manager and "remove" any optical drives. Shutdown and disconnect the cables to the optical drives. Restart and do a full boot into Windows. Shutdown and reconnect the DVD-RW. Boot into Windows and see if the drive starts to read disks.

After that I would agree that there may well be a fault with the drive.

I do as many "trys" as I can before returning hardware, it will probably be weeks (months?) before you see it or it's replacement again.

My suggestions are only "trys ". The main cause maybe in a completely different area. Hopefully, I would avoid suggesting something that may wreck your system and I realise it may be time-consuming. Along the way though, you may pick up some valuable information about your computer and the way it works. I agree though, that the cause maybe faulty hardware and you will never be able to repair the damage without replacement. How many "trys" is up to you. Looks like you have done some good research into it.

I cannot say for certain what the problem is, only to poke it a few times to make sure it doesn't move

Matt

 

I was hoping that if I poked at it, it might actually start moving. Technology used to be simple. If something didn't work, you pounded on the side of it. Now we have complicated stuff like rebooting.