Mafia2020

I've installed Windows XP SP2 Fresh after I had some other hardware problems. Everything seemed to work fine until I managed to get into Windows. The OS refuses to read ANY dvd/cd that I put inside. If instead, I boot to Safe-Mode, the DVD-RW works fine. Of course I tried to switch the DVD-RW with another one but the results were the same.

My system specs are:
My guess is that it's a software/windows problem since NO DVD-RW or DVD-Rom works unless I am in safe-mode. I've spent almost 48 hours googling for a solution but with no luck. For instance some guys were suggesting to regedit something related to an uninstall of burning software (but since I'm on a clean install it doesn't apply); or others were suggesting to "uninstall" the dvd and let windows recognize it after a reboot (tried but didn't solve it), others again suggested to install Chipset's drivers of my MoBo (did it but didn't work), or to upgrade the Bios to the latest version (did that too, but nothing changed). Also I did all the hardware suggestions I found (like try another cable, invert cables, mount units one by one etc... but still everything work everywhere BUT in windows normal-mode)

Something that was strange though is that I installed Windows from CD flawleslly:/

I am pretty much lost but I am so close to the solution, I can feel it.

Any one can enlighten me?

Regards.

Girderman

First thing, those "guys" that recommend using regedit are not always trustworthy. I've seen some hair-brained "solutions". Unless other more common causes are ruled out, I'd stay away from messing with the Registry as you could crater the thing and wind up re-installing XP.

The DVD is a "basic" device and my guess is that it's drivers are included with those in Safe Mode, so my theory is that some other hardware that loads in Normal Mode is conflicting with those. Meaning it's not the DVD you should be looking at, but rather something else that only comes in on Normal Mode.

Like USB devices, maybe.

Or possibly your CD/DVD burning software. Or a virutal drive like Daemon.

Check Device Manager in Normal Mode and see what it says. Also cruise Events Viewer and see if it mentions any problems with a device during Start or Exit.

Use Selective Start-up (via MSCONFIG) to turn off programs and see if you can identify the cause that way. (When the DVD starts working, you've found the problem.)

Mafia2020

Thanks, this explanation makes definitely sense, it can be a path..

Not really since I'm on a clean Windows XP Install so I didn't install yet any burning software nor virtual drive stuff.

Could you be a bit more specific on this? I've never did this selective start and I am a bit lost I'm afraid...

I checked EVENT VIEWER and noticed several errors on CD-Rom, digged a bit and got this:

The point is that I replaced the cable several times but STILL I got my problem. Also, I'm wondering, if it really was a cable, how comes in SafeMode still works fine? :/

Girderman

Good Question. Perhaps it has to do with data tranfer rate ? I'm weak on this, but I do know that IDE drives are catagorized in terms of "DMA", "UDMA", ATA100, etc...

Maybe it's only supposed to run slow in Safe Mode.

Here's an idea. Do you have an 80-conductor cable and not a 40 ? The 80 has real thin conductors compared to the thick 40 ones. Many people use the wrong kind of cable, and perhaps this is what happens.

I'd also be looking at several things. Jumpers on the device and placement on the cable. Also think about trying another IDE plug on the Motherboard. Maybe the board has a bad one. I've seen this once, where one IDE channel was bad, so I had to run both the HD and the CD-RW off the same one, on the same cable.

Switch the device around on the cable, and change the jumpers appropriately. If you are using "Cable Select", try a "Master" or "Slave" configuration, or the other way around. Whatever you are doing, try something different.

The other thing to keep in mind is that if the Error Message suggests a bad cable, you are going to feel really, really stupid if after hours of looking at other causes, it turns out the cable was bad after all. Make sure it is firmly seated, too. Look for bent/broken pins on both the device & the M/B.

Also, maybe Power ? Is your PS adequate for the load you've go on it ?

Good luck and don't give up. Sleep is for the weak.



Girderman

Mafia2020

I will try out your suggestions and let you know regarding this cable thing, what about the selective startup anything I should try to disable in particular? Or any special procedure I have to follow?

I've used the asus cable shipped with my motherboard, then I replaced it with an identical cable (shipped with my brother's identical motherboard), honestly I don't know wheter it's an 80 or 40 pin cable..

Not an option unfortunately my MoBo, an ASUS P5LD2 has just ONE IDE channel available plus two useless RAID IDE channels that I can't use for other purposes..

Currently it's set in such fashion that the HDD is on Master and the DVD-RW is on Slave, should I invert?
I got a 500W PS that should be fairly enough, even considered the fact that I removed a faulty HDD 250 GB SATA and replaced it with a small 40 GB IDE.

Thank you for giving me hope and for your patience, hopefully I'll see the light in this tunnel...

Girderman

I checked out the M/B and it looks like theres some confusion.

http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=515&l1=3&l2=11&l3=185

Now that I think of your on-board RAID, did you run the motherboard's driver installation disk ? Then did you update those drivers at the Asus support site ? Maybe there is some conflict there.

Yes, and also play with Cable Select. But I would push this down on the list, and only try this when you run out of other options.

On a new system ? Or a new Install ? I get very suspicious when multiple problems happen simultaneously and I start looking for a single, common cause. The PS sounds good. Is this a new (hardware) system ?

Navigate there by "Start>Run>MSCONFIG"
You are only concerned with the "Services" and "Startup" tabs. Click off the MS Services under the Services tab for clarity, as there is no point to disabling any of those.

In General, the idea is to use the ability to turn off Services in order to (hopefully) determine which (if any) of them is causing the problem. Again, hopefully.

Strategically, what I would do is turn ALL of them off, and reboot. If the CD-ROM starts working, start turning things back on. In order of "most likely to be the cause" and you can do 2,3 or 4 at a time. However you decide makes most sense.

Hopefully, first establish having them all off makes your device work properly. Then establish having them all on makes it not work properly. Find the point where the device stops working, and your problem is localized and (hopefully) ready to be solved.

I need a report on Hardware Manager yet (unless I missed it somewhere).

dai

if you install the ite driver from the m/b setup disk and set the bios to see it as ide
you can connect your drive to the raid port
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320553/en-us

Mafia2020

I installed ITE drivers from asus support site prior to open this post, my guess is that they support 4 HDD in 2+2 Raid mode since I tried to put a single HDD there and it wasn't recognizied.

No the system is not new, I had to change 2 parts due to faulty hardware but I don't think I increased power drain, changes were as follow:

my 7800 GT was broken and I changed it with a 7900 GT.
my HDD 250 gb Maxtor SATA was broken and I replaced it with a Maxtor 40 GB.

Also my PS is an enermax so I don't think it's his fault.

Still have to follow your instruction on selective start and report.

As for this, I am unsure if I can convince the system to use RAID ports to IDE ports (never seen such an option), and regarding the MS link that you posted it's not really my case since it's not that the system don't see my DVD-RW, it sees it but it don't read anything that I put inside.

Side Note: The cable is 40 PIN I think.

dai

you also have to set the raid ports to run as ide in the bios as well as install the ite driver

Mafia2020

Okay, I went thru the cable changing thing, I found and replaced the 'old' cable with a third new one and STILL it says Faulty Cable (Event Viewer) so I am pretty sure that's not the answer :(

ITE drivers were mounted already, the funny thing is that my brother whom has a similar config and the same motherboard has NO issues (he has HDD eide on master + dvd-rw on slave), so I feel a bit lost, now I'm gonna try the selective startup thing, wish me luck...

dai

are you using an 80 wire cable and master on the end plug and slave in the middle
with the plug going into the drive with the line down one side alongside the power plug

Mafia2020

Now THAT is depressing. I tried the selective start-up thingie, disabled ALL services and ALL startup items, and the DVD-RW **STILL** doesn't work...

Mafia2020

The cable is 40pins, the colored line is in the power side, anyway

here i'm doing just the opposite, is it mandatory that the slave device should be in the middle?

(I'm trying to make things your way though in the mean time)

dai

yes when set to master /slave
all ide plugs are 40 pins but the ones with 80 wires use different coloured plugs
blue end to the m/b
black end to master
grey middle to slave
dvd drives for the last couple of years require the 80 wire cable

Mafia2020

Okay, it's official, it's becoming distressing.

I put the slave DVDRW in the middle part of the cable and the master HDD at the end of the plug, nothing changed, at all.

I put: blue end to the mobo, grey to the dvd (slave) and black to the hdd (master) and no changes. did I do things right?

Mafia2020

Moving on to the next thing on the list you guys provided me.

I setup the HDD in master alone on the working IDE port. And the DVD-RW alone on the ITE/RAID port (then I setup the bios to run it as IDE instead of Raid), the bios identify my HDDs, the ITE controller identifies my DVD-RW, but when I boot up in windows my DVD-RW doesn't exist at all...

Also, my guess is that the DVD-RW gets identified as a "Mass Storage Device" since it suddenly appeared into my device manager screen.

I tried the "restore missing CD/DVD fix" thingie, with no luck.

dai

you checked the jumpers were correct on the back of the drives
check that you can see them listed in the bios

dai

swap them over h/d on the raid port and dvd on the ide port
both with 80 wire and set as master on the end plug

Mafia2020

Also, if I set the HDD on master and put it on the ITE controller I get a new thingie "no IDE hdd master detected"

dai

that's because you don't have one connected to the ide