DVD drive seen by system but won't read anything 1

[tranbok]

I'm running XP Home on an under 2 yr. old Compaq with separate built in Samsung DVD SD616E reader and a CD/RW. The DVD was working a month ago. Now it is still seen in Explorer, etc and in Bios, but it will not read any DVDs or CDs. Tried Driver update from Windows (no update found) and from Samsung- new Firmware matches the model and version number but when attempted to install, receive message that it is not right for hardware. I've looked at the possibility of missing drivers, but can't identify what may be missing. Attempting to restore Windows to an earlier point receives an "incomplete restore- no changes have been made" message, although changes had been made. Since there is no installation disk and the DVD is not found in Compaq application restore, I have not wanted to uninstall and attempt to reinstall.
Registry modifications I've seen apply to both DVD and CD together and I don't want to risk losing the CD too.
I would certainly appreciate any help or suggestions before I spend $100+ for an external DVD. Thanks in advance.

 

[vacunita]

Do you get an error message or does it just simply not recognize that there is a CD or DVD inside the drive?

Optical Drives like CD and DVD players and writers don't require drivers. you should be able to just uninstall it, and have Windows redetect it.

Maybe the lens is dirty try using some compressed air and blowing inside the drive.




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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[cdogg]

I agree with vacunita. Firmware contains the necessary driver information that Windows relies on. That's why DVD/CD drive manufacturers always offer firmware updates. You never see a driver download for this type of hardware.

So assuming the drive is still interacting with the PC properly, uninstalling and rebooting should result in the drive getting reinstalled on its own. If that doesn't help, try the drive in another PC if that's an option.

Also the point about using a can of compressed air to clean out the inside of the drive is a quick and effective way to clean the laser lens. Just be sure not to use long bursts of air, for it is possible to damage the drive.
Avoid using cleaning discs that you can buy at the store as well. The concept behind making contact with the lens is never a good idea. I know a handful of drives that were ruined by them.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[tranbok]

Thanks to both for the suggestions. Unfortunately, they didn't solve the problem. There is no error message, just the message to insert a disk. Device manager shows the drive as working properly. I uninstalled and on reboot, Windows found the hardware and reported it successfully installed. I also used the compressed air with no change in results. The light flashes, it sounds as though it is trying to locate the start point, but nothing happens. "Eject" works from My Computer and other software. Should I conclude a dead laser?
Now I have a new problem. I put a CD in the CD drive and received some strange messages and now it is stuck. Can not eject it. I don't find an emergency release spot and nothing in the manual deals with that.
The messages were:
1. (in a DOS-type black window) - C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe
Detecting OS-Ver - Windows 2000 (I have XP)
Search Desc 3.1 copyright 2002ASTAware Tech. inc.
Desktop Edition
Waiting for the Client's request
2. Windows has blocked Java, etc.
I told it to unblock.
Then the opening screen of the CD appeared in a Firefox Window which was not running at the time.
There have been so many reports on web sites of CD/DVD problems recently. Is it possible there's a virus,etc. that's causing it?

 

[vacunita]

That sounds like the the CD you inserted started to run its autorun feature. So we can conclude it did read that CD (what CD did you put in?). The fact that you can eject the drive from My computer tells me that Windows is interacting properly with the drive.

On to the problem at hand: do you see a tiny hole on the front of the CD usually near the eject button? Take a paper clip, straighten one tip, and carefully insert it into the tiny hole and push. this should release the tray just enough for you to pull it out.



----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[firewolfrl]

I posted this fix in a thread not to long ago

http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=1291877

This is just copied from the other thread so ignore what doesn't apply to you


Unless the drive is still under warranty I pull the drive apart and clean the laser lens and the track bars with a Eyeglass cleaning cloth with one corner dampened with eyeglass cleaner. its amazing how well a drive works after that.

BUT,

I don't think a dirty drive is your issue

it's either a burned out laser or dead drive

or


Try this first... test another working CD or DVD drive and see if it works...if it doesn't then you may have the issue below....

you have a corrupt filter driver registry entry

here is a couple of fixes.

http://searchwincomputing.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid68_gci1040195,00.html

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/133595

and this may or may not work too

http://dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/xp_cd_dvd_fix.htm

here are some other links:

http://www.mcse.ms/message721100.html

http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpcd.php#problems

http://searchwincomputing.techtarget.com/tip/0,289483,sid68_gci1040195,00.html

 

[cdogg]

A good way to take Windows out of the equation is to use a bootdisk with CD-ROM support. The Win98SE boot disk works great on systems that still have a floppy drive. If you don't have a copy, you can grab it at

http://www.bootdisk.com

Boot your PC using this disk which will take you to a DOS prompt. Switch to the CD drive (probably drive E. Make sure there is a data CD in the drive and type the dir command to see if the contents of the CD can be read. If not, then you have a hardware issue and the problem has nothing to do with Windows.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884