DVD Drive no longer recognises DVD's

H

handlep

Geek Trainee
Hi folks, hopefully someone can help me with this.

My desktop PC (WinXP Home) has a DVD Drive. It has suddenly stopped recognising DVD's, but if I put a CD in, it operates fine. My lappie also has a DVD drive, and all the DVD's I've tried in the desktop work fine in the lappie. The desktop refuses to accept that there is a disc in the drive if I load a DVD.

It worked fine yesterday, and today it had played one of my son's CD's with no problem, but it got a bit cheeky when I put the second one in for him, it went very slow, and I did a reboot then. That CD plays fine now.

I have uninstalled the decoder, and reinstalled it, but no good (it's using Cyberlink Power DVD, v4). I have powered the PC down a couple of times, including after the reinstall of the decoder software. Before the first reboot, the drive was showing as a CD drive on My Computer, but that corrected after the boot.

I have uninstalled the drive via Device Manager, and then rebooted. The PC sees the new drive and reinstalls it, but still it does not work. I have told it to update the drivers, but it says it cannot find a better match anywhere than what I have already got.

Help? Please :-)
 
Download AIDAWARE32 Enterprise from the Download Section under System Information Tools, then find out the make and model of the drive you are experiencing problems with, now post back with the details and either yourself or we will find new firmware for your dvdrom drive which is probably the best root of action.

Other than that, try reconnecting your IDE / PSU Cables that are connected to the drive and clean of any surrounding dust.
 
Thanks ProcalX, I should also have added that the drive worked perfectly yesterday, and the PC has just been sitting still minding it's own business since then.

I ran AIDAWARE32, and this is what I get:

Device Properties
Driver Description IDE DVD-ROM 16X
Driver Date 01/07/2001
Driver Version 5.1.2535.0
Driver Provider Microsoft
INF File cdrom.inf

Optical Drive Properties
Manufacturer Afree
Device Type DVD-ROM
Speed 16x

I've got to go offline now, but I will be back in the morning. Any help you or anyone can give will be greatly appreciated. :-)
 
your cd rom side of your dvd drive uses a different laser to the dvd side so the dvd laser might be dirty you chould try a dvd player cleaning kit to see it that works. if not try downloading the most up to date drivers for your device from the manufactors website or www.driverguide.com you have to register but its free! if it not neither of them to post back and we'll try looking into it in more detail. hope this helps Dave :good:
 
You havn't changed your regional settings have you?
I had a similar problem with mine when my dvd drive was set on the wrong region.
 
Yes, definitely R2 - it doesn't even get that far, as far as the PC is concerned, there is no disc in the drive.
 
Hi, I'm new to this board. :good: But I've been having similar problems, and to some extent have solved them. The DVD Region thing is a regular pain in the a__. :mad: If you have a DVD that thinks it belongs to region 2 (possibly because you played a region 2 DVD in it while it still had the last one permitted 'region change' left**), and you are trying to play a region 1 DVD, the player will not recognise (= authorise) the DVD. You can use the DirectX diagnostics to see what's going on, or 'RUN' 'dvdrgn x' (where 'x' is your dvd drive letter) to see what region your current DVD-player and DVD-disk are. (** Region settings can be changed on most DVD players about 4 times, then you are stuck with the last region # set!!! :eek: ).
 
Noelcurrie, thanks for that - I'm positive this isn't a region thing, I haven't ever changed the region settings, so still have 4 left, and have never played anything but R2 dvd's in it.

Dave35K, sorry mate, I did read it, but didn't reply - that is something I didn't realise, thanks. I've also hunted for firmware for the Afree drive, but I can't see anything anywhere, but I have seen several posts on other forums about similar problems - so now I have ordered a new drive, an LG GDR8163B DVD-Rom, which seems to have good reviews and doesn't break the bank! I've ordered the retail version, which I think will include a driver CD, so hopefully it will solve the problem whether it's a hardware or software problem. Fingers crossed.

Thanks to all for help and advice, Happy New Year! :-)
 
It could also be the DVD drive laser has quit, and what you've done already---getting a new drive---is the only option you have.
 
I've had similar problems too, my DVD-ROM drive is quite tempramentle when it comes to DVD-R's, it worksi fine on games but when it comes to DVD-R's it wont have anything to do with them. It also refuses to play certain DVD's i get from PC GAMER.
 
Thats not what usually happens. Most of the time a DVD drive will read a DVD-R disc but not always a DVD+R.
 
hi all,
i need to copy my dvds. how do i do it and what do i need? i have copied cd's and that is all ok(real player) i have just brought dvd-r is that right.
 
Hi handlep,

I have the same DVD-ROM with similar problems.
You have to take out your DVD-ROM to get the correct vendor.
Mine turned out to be an Artec DHM-G48 and therefore there are drivers
available.
The problem with mine is due to an update on the IDE driver for WinXP home
with SP2 installed.
With the latest nforce2 driver the DVD does not wotk properly anymore.
But I am using a dual boot with my original WinXP SP1 on the same PC and
there the DVD-ROM is working perfectly but with different drivers.
So it is probably a good idea if you could relate your problems with any software
updates you did recently.
In case that you don`t have a second OS on your PC you might want to try some Linux like knoppix that you can run from CD. It comes with all kind of
programs and also some DVD player. If the DVD works here I would assume
that the IDE driver is the problem otherwise the DVD-ROM itself.
 
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