New DVD drive don't

[KA9VQF]

Alright here is my sad story.

I recently went to Wallyworld and bought a LITEON brand DVD +R/+RW ReWriter drive for my machine here.

After I installed the drive and turned the machine back on I was forced into a ‘HP Recovery mode’ screen. I couldn’t convince the machine to do anything else.

I unplugged it and restarted it again. It went directly to the HP recovery thing again so I let it run.

This returned the HD to the “new out of the box” condition.

It took me a few days to get the service packs downloaded and reinstalled.

This new drive came with NERO basics software to run the thing and I have it installed. I uninstalled it and reinstalled it but it still don’t work.

Naturally when I go to windows device manager it tells me the drive is working just fine thankyouverymuch.

Now, I can burn music and data disks but the DVD bit don’t work. The original HP CD/RW drive had been connected with the drive designation jumper set to ‘cable select’ so I put the new one with the same designation.

When this didn’t work I changed it to ‘master’ and it still didn’t work. I have changed it back to cable select and it still don’t work.

I’m wondering if the drive is defective. I have e-mailed the LITEON company but haven’t heard back from them yet.

Any of you got any ideas while I wait for information from liteon?

[AB8SG]

I've had many Liteon drives, never had a bad one out of the box. Mine are set up as "slave" and "master" rather than cable select. That might be one issue to check. I have mine set up on IDE port 0, as master and slave. (one CDR, the other the DVD burner). My hard drive(s) are all SATA drives. I would go into windows device manager and delete the device for your DVD burner. Uninstall the nero software,then shut down the computer. When it is down, change the jumper on the DVD burner to master, or slave if there is another master device on the same IDE port. (If your hard drive shares the same data cable, it must be jumpered to master, the DVD drive to slave.)When you turn on the computer, windows should find the new device and install the drivers for it automatically. Once windows properly recognizes the drives, then install the nero burning software.
73

[WD8OQX]

First thing that comes to mind is - will your computer support this DVD drive. Read the spec & see. (found out some older ones won't when I tried to get one for my older machine)

second is - bad drive, take it back & try another.

[KA9VQF]

The system requirements are within what my machine has to offer. I actually have about twice the ram required and plenty of spare hard disk space.

HP offered a DVD RW drive for this machine I just didn’t want to pay the extra $ when I bought this one. I have two standalone DVD players as it is.

Some time has passed since I got this one and you can buy a new computer that has the DVD RW built in and you get a LCD screen for the same money. Maybe I should just get a new computer and save myself all this hassle.

I really didn’t need the DVD capability its just that the original CD/RW quit working and I felt the need to have one again. This device was at a really good price so I got it instead of a genuine HP device.

I have also discovered it doesn’t burn music disks as well as I thought. My daughter burned the first on it and it seemed to play fine on the machine here but when she got home it only played about half way through then it is really light and skips a lot.

I’m leaning more and more toward having gotten a lemon. Generally I don’t get a bad one of anything. Guess my luck may have changed.

And AB8SG, I have already tried changing the jumper to all the different configurations I have available. I did try uninstalling all the software and letting the computer find the right software for me. Even connected to the internet so it could search for the newest and bestes.

I suppose after the holiday someone at Liteon will get around to sending me some information. They may have a whole data bank full of ‘how to’s’ stashed and be able to fix me up.

It still is probably operator error instead of mechanical error but since it really doesn’t even burn a CD properly I’m thinking mechanical problem more than not.

[KC4RAN]

Do you mean that it won't play DVD movies?

[KD6NIG]

Some DVD burner drives won't burn some blank DVD's without current drivers for some odd reason.

Make sure you have the latest and greatest drivers for it.

Also, don't buy cheap burnable DVDs. DVD format writes data much tighter than regular CD-you'll notice more problems on cheapo DVDs than cheapo CD's.

Make sure you're not doing much else with the computer when you're burning too-unless you have a mondo machine, you don't want it going max out 100% CPU with a lot of other stuff running-you'll get video with the sound running a few seconds behind, and getting worse as it encodes.

I personally have a USB external LG DVD burner. When I'm burning, I shut down all other active programs. CPU runs about 90-95%, but as long as you don't see massive 100% peaks, the sound works right. RAM is good, but available CPU seems to be the benchmark for good DVD burns.

So far I've imported all of my old 8mm camcorder stuff into the computer and made them into DVDs. I learned after the first one about closing everything down and dedicating the computer to it when doing it. Though it sounded funny, someones lips moving then the sound 3 seconds later wasn't good quality http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[KA9VQF]

Quote[/b] (KC4RAN @ May 28 2007,12:25)]Do you mean that it won't play DVD movies?
Bingo! you nailed it.

When I open the DVD playing software and put a disk in it the drive makes a bunch of spinning noise and the software tells me the drive is busy then after the noise quits it tells me there is no disk in the drive.

I have put several different DVD disks in thinking the one I had at first was somehow defective. All the disks play fine in my standalone DVD player hooked up to my TV.

I have some JVC burnable DVD media here but haven’t bothered even loading it since the drive isn’t working right.

[KC4RAN]

I would first try only commercial video DVDs first - get it working with that. Second, try a few different pieces of software, not just Nero. You may only have Nero Burning Rom, which may or may not include the DVD playback module.

[ad4mg]

Quote[/b] (KA9VQF @ May 28 2007,18:13)]Quote[/b] (KC4RAN @ May 28 2007,12:25)]Do you mean that it won't play DVD movies?
Bingo! you nailed it.

When I open the DVD playing software and put a disk in it the drive makes a bunch of spinning noise and the software tells me the drive is busy then after the noise quits it tells me there is no disk in the drive.

I have put several different DVD disks in thinking the one I had at first was somehow defective. All the disks play fine in my standalone DVD player hooked up to my TV.

I have some JVC burnable DVD media here but haven’t bothered even loading it since the drive isn’t working right.
Sounds like you're machine doesn't have the decoder necessary to play DVD's. For the Windows Media Player, several "codecs" ... coder/decoder for the mpeg3 format used on DVD's are available for purchase on the MS web site.

There is a free GNU video player available at

VideoLAN VLC Media Player Here (http://www.videolan.org/)

I downloaded and installed it recently on a machine that I added a DVD drive to. Works terrific ... just as good as the one on our XP Media Center OS equipped machine.

If the problem is a missing codec, this will fix that problem!

Good luck!

73,
Luke

[ad4mg]

Quote[/b] (KC4RAN @ May 28 2007,18:15)]I would first try only commercial video DVDs first - get it working with that. Second, try a few different pieces of software, not just Nero. You may only have Nero Burning Rom, which may or may not include the DVD playback module.
I have Ahead Nero 6.33, and it does not include the decoder for playing DVD's. They also offered it for purchase.

Some high end video cards ship a decoder on their installation disc. Nvidia is one that I've seen include codecs on their installation CD's.

Take the easy way out ... the GNU application I listed the link for is an excellent piece of software ... many features ... and it's free, which is best of all!

73

[AB8SG]

Every Liteon drive i've bought included winDVD or some player software that must be installed to play DVD's. If yours didn't, I'd return it to Walmart and get a refund. Newegg.com.
You don't have to "pay" MS anything for codecs, they are available free. Most video cards come with DVD software as well. www.dvdhelp.com is a good guide to sorting out what you need.

[KA9VQF]

The people at Liteon guaranteed that my machine and the Nero 7 essentials software should have let me watch a commercially made DVD they also gave me a list of tasks to perform including changing the cable select, master, slave jumper to each of the settings available.

I don’t think the machine has been restarted so many times in just a few days ever in its life.

It was a fairly lengthy list and I needed to also reload the drivers for my printer to print the list so I wouldn’t have to down load it again. I hadn’t even thought that that software would have been wiped when the HP recovery screen did its thing.

I have done all the stuff they suggested and it still won’t play a commercial DVD let alone let me record one. It also still only burns about half a music CD in the clear. The rest sounds as if you had an old phonograph with a lot of dirt on the needle and it skips and the sound is not full.

I found my receipt from Wallyworld and have the drive out of the machine at this time. I’ll stop in the morning after work and get another.

[KA9VQF]

And the dramatic up date is….

The new replacement drive don’t work either.

The folks at Liteon have sent me a long list of good things to do to try to fix it again.

Well, it doesn’t completely not work, it works as well as the other did. It will read some of the CD’s I burned before and will burn about half of a new blank when I put one in but no joy at all with a DVD disk.

Now I’m wondering if maybe the computer has some kind of fault. I took the original HP CD/RW drive and put it in my old PII HP computer and it will burn and read disks just fine in it.

The only reason I was replacing that drive is because it had stopped functioning in the new computer.

Perhaps I should take the Liteon drive out of the new machine and put it in the old one to see if it will work in it.

[ad4mg]

Quote[/b] (KA9VQF @ June 02 2007,05:13)]And the dramatic up date is….

The new replacement drive don’t work either.

The folks at Liteon have sent me a long list of good things to do to try to fix it again.

Well, it doesn’t completely not work, it works as well as the other did. It will read some of the CD’s I burned before and will burn about half of a new blank when I put one in but no joy at all with a DVD disk.

Now I’m wondering if maybe the computer has some kind of fault. I took the original HP CD/RW drive and put it in my old PII HP computer and it will burn and read disks just fine in it.

The only reason I was replacing that drive is because it had stopped functioning in the new computer.

Perhaps I should take the Liteon drive out of the new machine and put it in the old one to see if it will work in it.
It sounds like your secondary IDE controller is failing. The secondary controller is typically where the CD drives are installed.

Try this ... configure the jumpers on your DVD drive to "Slave", then confirm that the hard drive on the primary IDE controller is set to "Master", and run both off the primary controller.

If this works, it would confirm the failure of the secondary IDE controller. If it doesn't, you may have issues in the BIOS, but the fact that the original CD worked indicates a controller issue.

Note that daisy-chaining a CD or DVD on the same controller as your hard drive will work, but it is definitely not a permanent solution. It would no doubt cause numerous buffer underruns when burning discs, and some will claim that data errors could result!

Hope you get it figured out!

73,
Luke

[W4INF]

Try a new cable, let me know how it turns out.

HTH,
Andrew

[WA9UAA]

VQF,
I went through this with an HP dvd840 drive I added to my system. System (Dell) already had a CD r/w. What I had to do was mount the DVD drive so it was first inline on the cable from the mother board. (Top Slot) and the CD r/w was last. Solved my problem. Oh, I did set the DVD combo to master with the jumper setting. GL HTH
73,
Rob WA9UAA

[KC2ESD]

Check if your DVD driver Program is working or Disabled.
I bought a new DVD drive for my computer, loaded the cd that came with it with Nero software and it played DVD movies ok for two months. Now it will not play, you know why? Because the DVD driver progran EXPIRED! It says to get the DVD going again I have to BUY the driver online for $24.99. Screw them I can go to Microsft and get a driver for $14.99. Computer Greed at work. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[KA9VQF]

And now for the shocking finally, the third DVD/CD-RW works fine.

Its jumper is set for slave and I have a different cable scrounged from one of the old computers in place of the original HP cable.

The computer I robbed the cable out of has the original HP CD-RW in it with the original HP cable and it seems to be working fine.

No, I’m not gonna reswap the cables. I’ma gonna leave well enough alone.

And ESD, the Nero software wants me to purchase the full version every time I put a disk in the drive it gives me a countdown of when my sample copy will expire. I’m not happy with this. I agree that since I bought the drive and plan to have it until it dies so should the software.

My little sister says she has a registered set of DVD software that I can have. I’m not sure what will happen if I load her purchased software into my machine and connect to the web guess I’ll find out.

She says she has the same software in her laptop and her tower at home and has had no problems using either.

We shall see.

Probably the tech police will kick my door down and take me away even if I’m screaming all the time that I’ve never even seen a computer.

Maybe I’ll just down load some of the freeware for DVD’s or god forbid actually purchase some. If I do buy some it sure won’t be from Micro$oft.

[W4INF]

Quote[/b] (KA9VQF @ June 09 2007,12:11)]....and I have a different cable scrounged from one of the old computers in place of the original HP cable.
See my post above. Your welcome. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[KA9VQF]

Ah yess but. the different cable did no good when I tried it with the first and second drive. Only with the third replacement.

Probably the original cable would do as well now too.

I don’t understand why the original CD/RW quit working in this computer and works fine in the old one either.

Maybe somehow it got some kind of strain on it and removing it and putting it in the old machine reset the connection to the edge board connector or something.

I don’t quite see how it could have gotten a strain on it since no one gets inside and moves stuff, the pins on the drives were nice shiny and clean looking and I could see no physical stress where the wires go into the connector.

Stranger things have happened though.

[KD6NIG]

Quote[/b] (KA9VQF @ June 12 2007,06:29)]Ah yess but. the different cable did no good when I tried it with the first and second drive. Only with the third replacement.

Probably the original cable would do as well now too.

I don’t understand why the original CD/RW quit working in this computer and works fine in the old one either.

Maybe somehow it got some kind of strain on it and removing it and putting it in the old machine reset the connection to the edge board connector or something.

I don’t quite see how it could have gotten a strain on it since no one gets inside and moves stuff, the pins on the drives were nice shiny and clean looking and I could see no physical stress where the wires go into the connector.

Stranger things have happened though.
Could be also that there was something over the reading eye, or in the motor preventing proper rotation, and suddenly by moving it a bit, you jarred it loose or moved it.

Most of those drives fail due to grime and stuff like that.

But, then again, I've also seen drives get eaten up because someone put one of those cleaner discs in them (used) and the fibers got into the drive and gummed stuff up too.

Sometimes I think they are made like microwaves and VCRs (or DVD players) nowadays, where the mean time between failures has been lessened because of shoddy construction on purpose.

What better way to ensure job security-if you have to buy a new one every 5 years or less http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[AB8RU]

lets see here

One : try removing the cards installed and reinstall them

Two : Check your Device Manager to see if it reconizes everything and you have no conflicts #a Modem and a DVD card using same IRQ for one

Look for System Properties. in printers and other hardware in Control panel.

( yeah I reversed it got you guessing ! )

[AB8RU]

Also if all else fails Have Your Reciept they will exchange it.

Also BTW PC Techs will tell you that sometimes a bad card connector & also clean contacts on card , try another spot.

also did you double check your drive cable colored stripe is PIN no. 1 #1 Tech problem reversed connector may solve many times over.

BTW someone from WM corp also visits this site FYI and I know a story of someone put feet in mouth and later destroyed chance for asking for help down the road, only his greed got in way and still has not yet even offered anything in return not even an appology or met the terms, and someone else got the opportunity and humilated at the same time. dude is a person not affiliated with this site as well has no clue in getting a license.

[KA9VQF]

Just when you thought you had heard the last of this it becomes an ongoing saga.

It seems that not all factory burned DVD disks are the same. Even though I bought these disks some of them will not play in my liteon drive.

I have paid the exorbitant fee to Nero and have a year of their support yet the thing won’t work even with some commercially made disks.

Oh well I guess. The folks at Nero are not real fast at answering my questions.

I did download the GNU software that AD4MG posted the link for above but it won’t play certain disks either.

I do have lots and lots of stuff saved for backup purposes now though and that was really the main reason for putting the DVD drive in here in the first place, well that and the fact that the CD burner had quit working.

Thanks to all who responded and bothered to read this.