DVD rom drive wont read blank discs and more bizarre things

benmat_rox · 08-28-2009, 06:38 AM

Hi all. Ive been having this problem for SOME time now, and ive finally decided to stop evading the situation and come to terms with the fact that i need this ******* fixed. Its been driving me insane for months now. Anyway, down to the problem

First of all, if i insert a blank dvd-r into my dvd drive, there is no auto-run. Usually a window pops up asking what i'd like to do with the freshly inserted blank dvd-r - Doesnt happen on this computer.

Secondly, if i go to my computer, and right-click on the dvd drive, "My computer" freezes and im forced to end-task via task manager.

Third, once a disc has been inserted I CAN NOT eject the blank disc. I am forced to restart my computer, and during the bootup i have to repeatedly press my eject button for the drive to eject the disc and give it back to me. If i dont eject the disc after restart, usually the computer will freeze on boot up.

This is a very strange problem and ive never experienced anything like this before, and im not sure what the cause could be.

My pc specs:
E8400 CPU
ASUS P5N-E Sli mobo
Gigabyte GO W1616B Dual layer DVD burner IDE IDE IDE IDE IDE IDE drive.
Im running windows XP Pro SP3
That should be about all the specs that involve the situation, if not let me know and ill post whatever else is needed.

I'd also like to add that ive updated the Nvidia nforce ide drivers, ive removed them completely and tried using the original microsoft ones. Ive gone through many different methods of getting this burner to work. Ive swapped out the burner to a different one from another computer but similar symptoms occur, not exactly the same, but similar - Either way the other burner wont burn either, which lead me to the conclusion that its something to do with my OS or my motherboard/drivers etc etc.

Something that also needs to be added is that this burner will actually burn occasionally. Very rarely, but SOMETIMES it will work. Most weekends i burn movies to take around to my friends house (Movie piracy...Its a crime i know :D but thats not the point). Most weekends i ATTEMPT to burn some stuff, but 4/5 times it wont work. Basically the methods ive used to actually get it to work is to insert a blank disc as soon as windows starts up, this sometimes gets an auto-run then i can open nero and start burning. Another method was i open nero and set up a compilation, press the burn button, then finally insert a blank disc ones nero prompts me to insert burnable media. This sometimes works, but this weekend i finally got fed up with how much ******* around (pardon the language) i have to do, just to watch some movies with some friends.

So yea, any help would be greatly appreciated, and any info that i may have left out or extra info thats needed to help, just let me know and im happy to provide as much as necessary.

Thanks all,
Matt.

EDIT: Update on the situation. My dvd drive is on the lowest disc tray available, and theres about 3 clear spaces above it where the panels have been taken out of the case. I stuck my hand inside there and ******* smashed the drive as hard as i could when i put a disc in, and it read auto-ran the disc! Hazzah! Who would have thought that a little caveman style would actually work on fixing high-tech electronic equipment. A moment of silence for all the departed cavemen...

Second EDIT: It appears the caveman tactic wasn't what fixed it, but it helped find the cause of the problem - The IDE cable! It stopped working again after caveman attempt, so i stuck my hand in again and jiggle my ide cables and it started working again. Ill replace the cables ASAP and hopefully that will be problem solved. until then, thanks for nothing TSF! (Jokes! haha)

**Tyree** · 08-28-2009, 10:31 AM

You have all the classic signs of a failing optical drive.
Try the drive in another PC/try a different drive in your PC.

benmat_rox · 08-29-2009, 01:55 AM

See thats what i dont understand, i already tried another dvd drive in my computer which works (as far as i know) in its original pc, and it did very similar things to my one. I havn't gone to the effort of trying mine in another pc yet but ill give it a crack later on when i can be bothered with it. Thanks.

08-28-2009, 06:38 AM	#1 (permalink)
benmat_rox Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 49 OS: Windows XP SP2 My System	DVD rom drive wont read blank discs and more bizarre things Hi all. Ive been having this problem for SOME time now, and ive finally decided to stop evading the situation and come to terms with the fact that i need this ***** fixed. Its been driving me insane for months now. Anyway, down to the problem First of all, if i insert a blank dvd-r into my dvd drive, there is no auto-run. Usually a window pops up asking what i'd like to do with the freshly inserted blank dvd-r - Doesnt happen on this computer. Secondly, if i go to my computer, and right-click on the dvd drive, "My computer" freezes and im forced to end-task via task manager. Third, once a disc has been inserted I CAN NOT eject the blank disc. I am forced to restart my computer, and during the bootup i have to repeatedly press my eject button for the drive to eject the disc and give it back to me. If i dont eject the disc after restart, usually the computer will freeze on boot up. This is a very strange problem and ive never experienced anything like this before, and im not sure what the cause could be. My pc specs: E8400 CPU ASUS P5N-E Sli mobo Gigabyte GO W1616B Dual layer DVD burner IDE IDE IDE IDE IDE IDE drive. Im running windows XP Pro SP3 That should be about all the specs that involve the situation, if not let me know and ill post whatever else is needed. I'd also like to add that ive updated the Nvidia nforce ide drivers, ive removed them completely and tried using the original microsoft ones. Ive gone through many different methods of getting this burner to work. Ive swapped out the burner to a different one from another computer but similar symptoms occur, not exactly the same, but similar - Either way the other burner wont burn either, which lead me to the conclusion that its something to do with my OS or my motherboard/drivers etc etc. Something that also needs to be added is that this burner will actually burn occasionally. Very rarely, but SOMETIMES it will work. Most weekends i burn movies to take around to my friends house (Movie piracy...Its a crime i know :D but thats not the point). Most weekends i ATTEMPT to burn some stuff, but 4/5 times it wont work. Basically the methods ive used to actually get it to work is to insert a blank disc as soon as windows starts up, this sometimes gets an auto-run then i can open nero and start burning. Another method was i open nero and set up a compilation, press the burn button, then finally insert a blank disc ones nero prompts me to insert burnable media. This sometimes works, but this weekend i finally got fed up with how much *** around (pardon the language) i have to do, just to watch some movies with some friends. So yea, any help would be greatly appreciated, and any info that i may have left out or extra info thats needed to help, just let me know and im happy to provide as much as necessary. Thanks all, Matt. EDIT: Update on the situation. My dvd drive is on the lowest disc tray available, and theres about 3 clear spaces above it where the panels have been taken out of the case. I stuck my hand inside there and ***** smashed the drive as hard as i could when i put a disc in, and it read auto-ran the disc! Hazzah! Who would have thought that a little caveman style would actually work on fixing high-tech electronic equipment. A moment of silence for all the departed cavemen... Second EDIT: It appears the caveman tactic wasn't what fixed it, but it helped find the cause of the problem - The IDE cable! It stopped working again after caveman attempt, so i stuck my hand in again and jiggle my ide cables and it started working again. Ill replace the cables ASAP and hopefully that will be problem solved. until then, thanks for nothing TSF! (Jokes! haha) Last edited by benmat_rox; 08-28-2009 at 06:51 AM.

08-28-2009, 10:31 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tyree Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: May 2009 Location: Illinois Posts: 5,566 OS: XP Pro-7RC-Mandriva My System	Re: DVD rom drive wont read blank discs and more bizarre things You have all the classic signs of a failing optical drive. Try the drive in another PC/try a different drive in your PC. __________________ Posting your PC specs will help us to help you quicker and more efficiently.

08-29-2009, 01:55 AM	#3 (permalink)
benmat_rox Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 49 OS: Windows XP SP2 My System	Re: DVD rom drive wont read blank discs and more bizarre things See thats what i dont understand, i already tried another dvd drive in my computer which works (as far as i know) in its original pc, and it did very similar things to my one. I havn't gone to the effort of trying mine in another pc yet but ill give it a crack later on when i can be bothered with it. Thanks.