CD ROM Drive and Mobo

[thenewa2x]

Is there a way to force your motherboard into supporting a cd burner drive that it originally did not? Here are the two pieces of hardware that won't work properly together:

MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum
Plextor 712-SA Burner

I would like this $100 piece of work to get working. I've had it for about 5 months and the only things I could do with it was read CDs and DVDs. When ever I try to burn I get strange error codes.

---------------------------------------

http://www.visualactive.net/

 

[ski]

Did you try uninstalling and reinstalling the burning software, try different burning software, or check the drive manuf's site for any patches and/or firmware updates?

 

[garebo]

Does bios or bootup report any drive. Some bios will show the optical drive in the black and white bootup info. Does the optical drive show up there?
Does windows recognize the burner?
Is it listed in device mgr?
If the burner is listed in dev mgr in the ide controller section, try right click and set it to "dma if possible"
or "ultra dma mode 5" if possible.
If its not listed in dev mgr pardon me, im not sure where its listed and where it isnt. I am guessing it has to be listed somewhere in order for you to use it as a cd reader.
Far as i know windows sees these as optical drives and its the software that does the burning that sees it as a burner. I could be wrong on that.




Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[thenewa2x]

The drive is SATA, it works normally except that it will not burn.

The drive that I'm using does not support the motherboard I'm using. I think I'm lucky I can read off it.

As for software, not related. I did however update firmware and it did not do anything.

---------------------------------------

http://www.visualactive.net/

 

[ski]

Looks like it may be time to shop for a new burner.

 

[rvnguy]

thenewa2x,

The drive that I'm using does not support the motherboard I'm using

I have to take issue with your statement.
If your mobo has support for SATA then it supports the interface for this drive. The MSI board does support SATA.

Plextor is noted for excellent drives and this is one of the first to offer a quasi-SATA optical drive. It actually has an onboard converter to PATA but the outside interface is SATA.

You have not provided any information on the OS you are using, the burner software you are using, the error messages that you are recieving.

Also, don't know how you can state "As for software, not related.". This is a definite software issue. The burner software might not recognize the relatively new SATA optical drive as most poll the IDE channels for devices.

As you can use it as a player the drive is functioning. Player software is a different app than the burner software.

As we here are trying to assist you with the information you provide, please do not blatantly disregard what might be an issue with just a statement. If you have reasons that lead you to believe that software please provide this reasoning here.

Please post back with some of the particulars requested and we can all continue from there.

rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all

 

[thenewa2x]

@ski: I was hoping not to

@rvnguy:

Sorry, here's the info.

Windows XP Pro SP2

I used multiple burning software packages including Plextor's own Plextools:
Nero 6
Plextools
Alcohol
MagicISO
CloneCD

I upgraded the BIOS and still nothing. I did have a lot of problems reading the drive before upgrading BIOS. More often than not, Windows would not see a CD in the drive or the contents of the CD would not be refreshed when I replaced the disk.

Any and all help is appreciated, thank you.

---------------------------------------

http://www.visualactive.net/

 

[rvnguy]

thenewa2x,

aT this point, I would remove(uninstall) Alcohol. it is known to produce these types of problems.

If it is already removed, and you are still experiencing difficulties, uninstall all but the Plextools. I suggest this as if any software should recognize the drive it should be this.

If there is still no joy. I would try the Plextor tech help. For one they have a vested interest, and are generally very good at supporting their products. Be prepared to provide detailed information to them. Possibly an app like Belarc, or Sandra would collect the information for you.

I suggest this as you have not had this drive that long and with an explanation that it has never worked they should be more than helpful.

Please Post back with what you find and if you have to contact Plextor or not.

rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all

 

[thenewa2x]

I tried what you said about removing all apps but Plextools, no good. I tried the customer support, they got tired of me and never replied again.

I'm going to sell the drive and replace it with something like a Pioneer.

If anyone has a suggestion for a very good burner, please advise! Thanks for your help.

---------------------------------------

http://www.visualactive.net/