cd + dvd writer playing up

205man

205man

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ive just gone to burn an audio cd using nero and put disk in and it said disk not writable, so i try another and it says the same........these disks are new i bought them today, so i try a disk from the 2nd pack i bought and get the same message

so i try them again using my other writer and get the same????

so some how both my lg cdr writer and my philips dvd/cd writer have decided to play up at same time.

ive tried putting in a dvd movie (non copy) and it doesnt play or acknowledge it?


so come computer whizzes what gone wrong?

i had the machine open on sunday to put in more ram but ive checked to make sure cables are still plugged an all appear to be ok?
 
does it see the drive on boot up ????

I had a simular problem with my parents pc, fitted a new burner all ok used it again 1 week later and it wouldn`t find it?? traced to a bad joint on mother board :(
 
Sounds like the drives may have somehow been 'disabled' in the BIOS. Your computer may know they are there (as they still have power to them) but doesn't know how to 'talk' to them. Did you unplug the drives ribbon cables to make it easier to put the RAM in? Did you put the ribbon cables back exactly as they were?

Your BIOS determines what drives you have in one of two ways:

1) Automatically detect drives on startup (This can be very slow as your computer has to 'ask' each drive what it is and what it can do on every start-up, but it makes swapping drives around easier)

2) Pre-Determined (A lot quicker but can confuse the computer if the drives/cables have been swapped around and it doesn't get the drive(s) it was expecting on specific IDE channels. It may still know 'something' is there, but now exactly what and therefore won't let you access them)
 
Can you read from a normal CD (with info already on it)?
 
tried that still nothing

they are showing in my computer and start up whenyou put a disk in but just dont read/write them
 
If you right clink on my computer and eject do they operate?

I can't say I have ever heard of this before, have you been inside the computer at all or has anyone else?

It sounds like the IDE controller for your drives has failed in some way as they more than likely run off the same controller.

What Motherboard is in your PC? it might need an update, unlikely but worth a try.
 
Try removing the new memory o see if that makes the difference.It could be faulty or incompatible,It wouldnt be the first time.

Cant hurt to try specially as you sat at home bored,lol
 
Double check the IDE cable and the IDE devices in the BIOS as well...
 
Maybe also try changing the jumper settings on the drives to master/slave instead of cable select.
 
They are being controlled correctly then... sounds like trouble
 
lol thanks but not helpful.

i thought about reinstalling windows, but it wont let me as the version on the pc is newer than the copy of windows which i have saved on my hard drive.

and as i cant burn anything i dont want to lose file sof hard drive as not everything is backed up
 
SamDude said:
Double check the IDE cable and the IDE devices in the BIOS as well...
Click to expand...

I seem to recall saying that earlier!!

If your IDE controller was knackered you shouldn't be able to boot into Windows or right-click -> Eject the drives.

Right-click -> Eject is a very low function so its a good sign that the computer still does it and knows there are CD-ROM drives there.

Again, check the BIOS. I had my BIOS set up using the pre-determined method when I installed my 200Gb HD. At the same time I changed around the order of the CD drives (CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM/CDRW), So both HD's 17Gb + 200Gb were the master drive for each IDE channel. I nearly cried on next boot when the DVD-ROM/CDRW drive and my 200Gb HD were'nt working... Until I realised why! DOH!

Drives that have a 'cable select' jumper on the back were designed for people that have their BIOS set up to automatically detect what drive is where on startup (a little bit more 'fool proof' for the non-geek!).

If the jumpers on your drives are set to 'cable select' and you BIOS has a pre-determined list of what drives are where in the BIOS your computer is just a little confused. 'Rescan' the drives in the BIOS to see if that gets them working.

If the jumpers on your drives are specifically set to master or slave (no matter how you have your BIOS set up) and you didn't return them to exactly the way they were the computer will again be a little confused, return them to exactly the way they were or change the jumpers to reflect their new position (master/slave)

Easiest thing to do is to go into your BIOS and set it up to automatically detect drives on startup, then ensure all the jumpers on your drives are set to 'cable select' or at least correctly set up as master/slave for their respective IDE channel (when the IDE cable(s) is plugged into the motherboard the first 'plug' on the ribbon away from the motherboard is the master, the next will be the slave) this should, if its just an error in the BIOS/Master/Slave setup, get them working again but your computer will boot slower. If this does cure things go back into your BIOS and get it to 'scan' your IDE drives so it doesn't have to automatically detect the drives on startup each time (as it will already know what is where!)

There are two things that lead me to believe the above is the case:

1) If your IDE controller was knackered you shouldn't be able to boot from your HD into windows

2) If it was a hardware drivers error in Windows the drives should still, at the very least, function as plain CD-ROM drives, as even the BIOS can now read CD-ROM drives (how else would you be able to boot from CD to install a fresh copy of windows otherwise??)

Hope all of that made sense!!!!!
 
ok moved jumpers to cable select and set bios to default/auto and still nothing?

checked cable they were plugged in as normal

friend has suggested possibly registry problem?

they will be learning to fly soon if they dont start working lol
 
have u tried updating/backdating the drivers - as stupid as it sounds.

Checked for hardware conflicts too?
 
ive also just noticed that in the device manager it calling the dvd drive by the wrong name? ita philips 1640p and its calling it a philips p@dt 1440p
 
205man said:
they will be learning to fly soon if they dont start working lol
Click to expand...

lol

If you're absolutely sure everything is okay with the BIOS/jumpers (do you see a list of available devices when you first switch your computer on?) then try re-installing the drivers. In the device manager right click on the entries for the drives and select uninstall. Reboot and Windows will re-install the device drivers.
 
no still nothing,

so i tried the following i to hard drive out and put in old pc and reinstallled windows from the start, as the cd drive works on this one, then took hard drive out and put back in firt pc and now it does nothing lol.


it comes up with msi screen , then starts to boot but takes ages then just says non system disk or something like that????

i know it wasnt the cd drive as i swapped that to see if it works and its fine in old pc,

im thinking possible motherboard problem
 
ive removed all the cd/dvd drives so all i have now is one hard drive with a fresh copy of xp on it and now i get tgis message when it starts to boot up

NVIDIA Boot Agent 205.0469
Copyright (C) 2001-2004 NVIDIA Corporation
Copyright (C) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation
PXE-E61: Media test Failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting NVIDIA Boot Agent
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER


wtf???? ive searched the net but not been much use yet.

the bios finds th hard drive no problem but just wont talk to it

alan
 
Check your boot order and make sure there is nothing in the floppy drive
 
ive changed the boot order sveral times to see , trying hdd first the cd first and floppy and neither combination works

theres nothing in floppy drive,

ive took hard drive out and tried it in my other pc and it boots up fine

the hard drive and cd rom both show up correctly in the bios, it just somethings not talking
 
I'm thinking bin the board and get a new one, it sounds like it may be fully ******
 
Especially if you've checked the components in other pc's, and it booted fine previously so processor/ram are fine
 
ive not checked the components were all fine yesterday.

ive just managed to get it to start to boot from cd but then it hangs up when it gets to starting windows

i dont understand why the board should have failed, it was ok yesterday apart from not talkning to cd/dvd drives,

****** thing
 
Well assuming you dont have a SATA hard drive it sounds like the ide controller might be goosed, as some1 mentioned earlier - which would explain why all your problems revolve around dvd drives etc
 
yes i was thinking it was something to do with them, ive spent most of today searching the net and trying different things but to no avail.

and even when i maanged to get it to start booting form the cd, it starts installing xp then i get a blue screen stop error, everytime

and ive tried 3 different drives that i know that work.

i did also notice the bios couldnt remember the name of my hd drive or dvd drive, it would be right one minute then something random the next, almost like it tried to spell it then just used any characters.

so looks like ill have to buy a new board, but means ill have to buy a new processor and graphics card

as mine is athlon xp socket a, and agp slot....................more ****** money lol

thanks for your help guys
 
yes i took that out first, and ive tried installing the 2 original strips on their own and together and still get the same.

the start up screen does a memory test and it shows up ok.

strange i know i had dvd/cd drive problems but, all this happend since i removed xp service pack2, then the machine wouldnt boot, so i installed in xp using another machine but nothings worked properly since. even the bios has amind of its own, a doesnt call the drives by their correct names
 
For you:

Ames_6_Pound_Sledgehammer_Shop_Tools-resized200.jpg
 
Yep, sounds like either the IDE controller or the motherboard itself is ******. Maybe static or a bad connection when you put everything back together has fried something? Definately sounds like new motherboard time!
 
might have a dryjoint on the board if you are intending swapping it it might be worth heating all the joints up with a soldering iron.

I got away with just packing that area away fron the case with my mum and dads pc lol
 
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