XP and DVD Drive Problem, Help

Dut1979 · 11-13-2006, 10:08 PM

Hi I am having a problem with my DVD drive and am running out of ideas of how to fix this and am hopeing someone here might know what I need to do or might a least have some suggestions that I have not thought of or found on forums.
The Drive is a Matshita UJ-831Da DVD/CD combo drive on a Sony Vaio VGN-FS550 running XP SP2.
Here is the problem(s) I am having,
1. If I start up my computer with the dvd drive empty after the bios startup the dvd drive starts spinning and all I get is a blinking cursor in the upper left of the screen.
2.If I have a disc in, I end up with an all black screen and no cursor.
However if I press the eject button on the drive before the bios start and leave the drive open XP starts up just fine. I then can close the drive and everything runs fine. If I then put a dvd in, the dvd plays fine in XP, but
3. I cannot eject dvd by pressing the eject button or if I right click the dvd drive in my computer to eject the disc it freezes up the entire computer.

I recently tried useing the Ubuntu desktop CD that "allows you to try Ubuntu without changing your computer at all" and immediately started haveing these problems after checking out ubuntu, so I think this is was the initial cause of the problem. I previsously did not have any issues.

Here's what I've tried so far to correct the problem.
-Complete System Recovery, I thought this would have solve the problem.
-Uninstalled and Installed the DVD drive(r)
-Tried change my bios to read the hard drive before the optical drive at start up.
I contacted sony support and they gave me no support at all, just to uninstall and then restart the computer, I told them I already did that and they said to send the computer in for service, meaning I would be out several hundred dollars and a laptop for about 3 weeks.
I really do not want to resort to doing that but I want a properly functioning dvd drive so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank You

chauffeur2 · 11-13-2006, 11:37 PM

Hi Dut1979, and Welcome to TSF!

Having quickly read about your issue, a couple of things spring to mind...

First of all, have you change the BIOS back to its 'default' settings?..If not, Please do so.

The other thought is,

Go into the 'Device Manager'..by doing this:...

Right click on "My Computer" > Properties > Hardware; then, > View > show hidden devices...now have a look and tell us if you can see any Yellow exclamation marks [!], or Red X's in here.

Report back if there are or are not any present.

Dut1979 · 11-14-2006, 07:26 PM

Hi thank you for the suggestion.
I i think I have resolved this issue.
So far my drive is functioning properly.
If this post will be left for future reference this is what I did to correct the issue in case others encounter this same problem.
I had to create an XP Start Up CD ROM.
I followed the instructions in the link below to do this as you can only download floppies from microsoft which are of little use if you dont have a floppy drive.
http://tips.vlaurie.com/2006/recover...ut-an-xp-disk/
I then rebooted and ran the repair tool and ran FIXMBR.
And my problem appears to have been solved.
It appears the Ubuntu live CD created a non standard boot record and FIXMBR changes it back to the standard record for XP.
After doing this my drive has been working properly since then.

chauffeur2 · 11-14-2006, 10:59 PM

Hi Dut1979,

Thanks for the reply, and handy little tip.

Glad you go it sorted.

11-13-2006, 10:08 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dut1979 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 2 OS: XP	XP and DVD Drive Problem, Help Hi I am having a problem with my DVD drive and am running out of ideas of how to fix this and am hopeing someone here might know what I need to do or might a least have some suggestions that I have not thought of or found on forums. The Drive is a Matshita UJ-831Da DVD/CD combo drive on a Sony Vaio VGN-FS550 running XP SP2. Here is the problem(s) I am having, 1. If I start up my computer with the dvd drive empty after the bios startup the dvd drive starts spinning and all I get is a blinking cursor in the upper left of the screen. 2.If I have a disc in, I end up with an all black screen and no cursor. However if I press the eject button on the drive before the bios start and leave the drive open XP starts up just fine. I then can close the drive and everything runs fine. If I then put a dvd in, the dvd plays fine in XP, but 3. I cannot eject dvd by pressing the eject button or if I right click the dvd drive in my computer to eject the disc it freezes up the entire computer. I recently tried useing the Ubuntu desktop CD that "allows you to try Ubuntu without changing your computer at all" and immediately started haveing these problems after checking out ubuntu, so I think this is was the initial cause of the problem. I previsously did not have any issues. Here's what I've tried so far to correct the problem. -Complete System Recovery, I thought this would have solve the problem. -Uninstalled and Installed the DVD drive(r) -Tried change my bios to read the hard drive before the optical drive at start up. I contacted sony support and they gave me no support at all, just to uninstall and then restart the computer, I told them I already did that and they said to send the computer in for service, meaning I would be out several hundred dollars and a laptop for about 3 weeks. I really do not want to resort to doing that but I want a properly functioning dvd drive so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank You

11-13-2006, 11:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
chauffeur2 Manager Emeritus Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Adelaide, South Australia Posts: 10,180 OS: Xp Sp3 with all updates + Vista™ Ultimate SP1. My System	Hi Dut1979, and Welcome to TSF! Having quickly read about your issue, a couple of things spring to mind... First of all, have you change the BIOS back to its 'default' settings?..If not, Please do so. The other thought is, Go into the 'Device Manager'..by doing this:... Right click on "My Computer" > Properties > Hardware; then, > View > show hidden devices...now have a look and tell us if you can see any Yellow exclamation marks [!], or Red X's in here. Report back if there are or are not any present. __________________ Dave T. Submit New Articles If it works, Don't fix it! Especially if Bill Gates had anything to do with it!!

11-14-2006, 10:59 PM	#4 (permalink)
chauffeur2 Manager Emeritus Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Adelaide, South Australia Posts: 10,180 OS: Xp Sp3 with all updates + Vista™ Ultimate SP1. My System	Hi Dut1979, Thanks for the reply, and handy little tip. Glad you go it sorted. __________________ Dave T. Submit New Articles If it works, Don't fix it! Especially if Bill Gates had anything to do with it!!

11-14-2006, 07:26 PM	#3 (permalink)
Dut1979 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 2 OS: XP	Hi thank you for the suggestion. I i think I have resolved this issue. So far my drive is functioning properly. If this post will be left for future reference this is what I did to correct the issue in case others encounter this same problem. I had to create an XP Start Up CD ROM. I followed the instructions in the link below to do this as you can only download floppies from microsoft which are of little use if you dont have a floppy drive. http://tips.vlaurie.com/2006/recover...ut-an-xp-disk/ I then rebooted and ran the repair tool and ran FIXMBR. And my problem appears to have been solved. It appears the Ubuntu live CD created a non standard boot record and FIXMBR changes it back to the standard record for XP. After doing this my drive has been working properly since then.