I/O Device Type error with DVD-RAM

Hi,

I am experiencing a problem with my DVD drive. It's been going on for about 1 1/2 years now. I learned to live with it, but now I need to use it. Anyway, when I insert a disk, nothing happens. If I try to access the drive I get "D:\ is not accessible. The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error." I have scoured the internet and cannot find any solution.

...however...

There was a time that I got it to temporarily work. I changed the settings mentioned here http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=891894. Since, I have had to reinstall Windows XP (which I thought might clear up this issue), but that didn't help at all. Any suggestions?

Thanks...you are all wonderfully helpful people here!

 

Hi MicroSardine , been a while since you've been here.

The problem is getting data to/from the drive. The first thing I would think of is that the data cable connector is not properly seated. Open the case, pull out and reseat the connections to the drive (run your finger along the back of the data connector to make sure it is seated all the way).

If that does not work, I would change the configuration. If it is master, jumper it as slave, or visa versa. If it is the slave on the primary IDE, you cannot jumper it as master, a HDD needs to take that position. So...it can be set as:
slave on the primary IDE controller,
master on the secondary IDE controller,
slave on the secondary IDE controller.
(also, two drives cannot be set to the same position... so, say, two drives cannot be set as slave on the secondary IDE controller. Check if there may be two drives jumpered to the same configuration on that cable).

ALSO, there is the jumper setting CS (cable select). Most optical drives come with the jumpers set as CS. You may need to set the jumpers as master or slave (as I stated above).

Matt

 

Matt thanks for the help!

I tried resetting the cables...didn't work. As for the rest of the advice, I'm not sure how to make the changes that you suggest. Can you write out some more details or refer me to a guide on how to make the changes?

Thank you for the help!

 

It appears that I got it working! I made changes according to the link I posted above. I guess it worked the second time around....if you are still interested in working with me, do you think this could also be part of the cause of my computer being unable to burn CDs?

thanks so much!

 

The way I read that link is that is reffering to an old model CD drive that cannot run in DMA mode, only PIO mode.

The DVD drive should run in UDMA mode 2.

I still think the you may have a problem with the cable connections (maybe a bad cable itself)...or...the drive maybe jumpered as the same "position" as another drive on that cable (you mention burning, but only say that the drive is a DVD, not a DVD-RW, so I would take it that the drive is a DVD/CD reader, not a burner).

I have messed up optical drives by telling Windows to burn to a read-only (ROM) drive...although, maybe that could be termed "experimentation" . There were no I/O errors.

So...
It seems to me to be a hardware problem.

Check the cable connections.

Don't doubt that the cable could be bad.

A drive could be jumpered incorrectly.

Matt

 

After checking that all the connections and jumpers are correct, it may need to be "reset" because the drive/s could not "communicate" properly. You can safely uninstall the optical drives in Device Manager and they will automatically be reinstalled when you reboot...AND I think I would try uninstalling them in Safe Mode.

I now notice you have DVD-RAM in the subject of the post. DVD-RAM is a type of DVD "format" that mainly/specifically runs on television DVD drives. DVDrom is "read only ", so it will not burn disks. DVD-RW is a DVD burner (RW stands for read/write).
I have a "combination" drive. It is a DVDrom combined with a CD burner (CD-RW). It will burn CDs, but only read DVDs.

Let us know what type of drive it is.

Matt