DVD-RW drive will not read DVDs, but reads CDs

[chameleon35]

D:\ is not accessible
The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error."
I have a Toshiba Satellite P-15 S479 running XP Media Center edition

I've had my Toshiba Satellite P-15 S479 for over a year now, and have had no problems with my DVD-RW drive. Last Saturday, Feb 25, I successfully burned a DVD. In the interim period, I ran Norton System Works, and used Win Doctor, which fixed a few problems directly from the CD (I didn't load it onto my computer--just ran Windoctor directly from disk). I also dowloaded Sony's music program from connect. I also used InCD (another program) to successfully burn a data cd the other day).

Anyway, when I tried burning a dvd yesterday, the drive wouldn't read the dvd. I treid several other dvds that I have used before--none of them worked. They all worked on another computer and my dvd player when I tested them. However, my computer dvd drive has no problem reading Audio cd's and data cds. I uninstalled the Sony progma, and also used XP's system restore to restore my computer to the Thursday before I successfully burned the dvd. none of that worked. I now get the following message when trying to play a dvd (cds still read fine):
D:\ is not accessible
The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error.

Please help. Thanks.

 

[cdogg]

There have been a lot of threads on this recently in other forums, and one of the following have seemed to help in most cases:

1) Run the autofix tool:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...B6-E8FA-45C4-A171-1B389CFACDAD&displaylang=en

2) Uninstall/reboot/reinstall Nero

3) Remove the drive from Device Manager, shutdown, disconnect the drive and any other device (assuming this is the secondary channel) from the IDE cable. After booting back up, shutdown again (this gives Windows a chance to see that the IDE channel is empty). Reconnect the drive and turn on the PC. Go back into Device Manager and the properties for the IDE channel. Verify that it's using DMA under the Advanced Settings tab.

4)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321641/en-us

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
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[chameleon35]

cdogg--thanks for the tips. I tried all the steps (1-4) that you recommended. The drive is now able to play both dvds and cds. However, I'm still having trouble burning dvds. I am able to use Nero to read and encode a dvd, but when the actual burn process (on a blank dvd) starts, I get a message saying "burn failed."

Any tips?

Thanks.

 

[cdogg]

Is the drive using DMA (from step 3)?

Also, if you installed any software that uses virtual drives (such as ISO mounting software like Alcohol 120%), uninstall it. That's been known to cause problems. Also, try updating Nero out on their site.

If that still doesn't do it, also consider using another application to make a DVD as a test. Go here to find freeware or trialware:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools?s=16#16

We need to rule out Nero as the problem.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
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[satrow]

Have you opened a new pack of blank discs since the 25th? Check that the blank DVD's you have are compatible with the burner - is the burner a + or a - (or both)?

Have you tried a disc from a different pack/brand?

 

[chameleon35]

The Nero Update didn't help. I will try the other programs and get back to you. That's a great page. Thanks for the help. Oh, and Satrow, I have a - burner and am using - disks, so it's not a compatability issue. I'm using the same brand of disks that I was using before I started having this problem (Verbatim).

 

[1Bullet]

I'll give you something to check, right click my computer open manage ,then open device manager expand and open IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. Assuming your burner is on the secondary check out your DMA. If you show (Ultra DMA 3 ultra 44)change to (ultra dma 2 ultra 33)and uncheck let bios select transfer mode if you see it. I had same problem running with two burners. Windows trying to be to smart was selecting the wrong Digital Memory
Allocation. This change happened as a result from a recent windows upadate. I am assuming something with the DRM with windows media.

 

[cdogg]

1Bullet,

You just described the steps for someone who has an Nvidia Nforce chipset on their motherboard (and has installed the necessary chipset drivers).

If chameleon35 doesn't have that chipset, he/she is not going to see what you described. MOST only have the options to select PIO or DMA, that's it.

Here's a screenshot of what I'm talking about:

http://www.helpwithwindows.com/WindowsXP/howto-05.html

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
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[mikelwood]

I have the same problem as chameleon35 had originally, everything works, but the dvd drive acts like it is empty. I tried steps 1-4 above and still no luck. I had gone into the DMA area, and like cdogg just mentioned, the primary IDE is forcing 'Ultra DMA Mode 5' and the secondary IDE (which runs the DVD drive) is stuck on 'Ultra DMA Mode 2.' Also, both of them are under Device 0, rather than putting one under Device 1...
Since the above four suggestions didn't allow my drive to see any dvds, could this be my problem? And how can I force to whatever I need the DMA to show and the device to choose for correct Digital Memory Allocation?
By the way, on step 1 above, the autofix tool, the response for both the Legacy AutoPlay Event and Autoplay V2 Event was: 'Result: This AutoPlay setting cannot be fixed. Either the device is malfunctioning, or the wizard cannot determine the problem.' Everything else checked out as normal.

 

[cdogg]

mikelwood,
Unfortunately, the only real good option for you (unless you want to spend many more long hours troubleshooting), is to pull the drive and place it into another PC.

Doing so will change many of the factors in play - IDE cable, power supply, Windows conflict, etc.

If it still has problems in another PC (and all you did was move the drive onto an empty IDE channel using a different cable), then you might have a hardware failure my friend. Sometimes a firmware update helps, so visit the manufacturer's website and look for one.

~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

 

[1Bullet]

I have found on more than one mothermother board windows selecting DMA 3, I have not yet, found a DVD burner that will function in DMA 3, above post was Nvidia chipset but, I have found this problem on other chipsets as well.You will have to check the DMA setting chosen by windows. But do not diasable any DMA to the harddrives as I posted earlier . You need to know whether your burner is on secondary or primary IDE cable. It usually on secondary. Unless builder saving on IDE cables.

 

[1Bullet]

I have to clarify above post, That is (ultra dma 3). another example is asus P4S553 with a SIS chipset. Windows loaded ultra DMA 3. Windows then found new hardware and loaded a raid driver for the DVD burner???????. The burner will now be found under raid controllers which it should not. This again was caused by windows sellecting ultra dma 3.

 

[cdogg]

Autodetect should work in 99% of all cases. Windows is reading the firmware on the optical device (CD/DVD drive) to determine what UDMA modes are supported. It is rare that the wrong one will be listed.

Usually, the problem is when Windows selects PIO Mode after incorrectly reading the firmware, which should never be used for a burner (although many older CD-ROM drives and some newer DVD-ROM drives use it). UDMA mode 2 is the equivalent of ATA/33. The max transfer rate is 33.3 MB/s, which is more than fast enough for any optical device. DVD drives, for example, cannot transfer faster than 21MB/s (16X).


1Bullet,
You might find this an interesting read:

http://www.ata-atapi.com/hist.htm

quote: "[blue]ATA-3 introduces some new features of questionable value: SMART and Security. Note that ATA-3 does NOT introduce any new (faster) PIO or DMA data transfer modes[/blue]"

As for transfer speeds of each mode, look here:

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/modes.htm

~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

 

[cdogg]

I take that back. UDMA Mode 3 did appear to raise the maximum transfer rate from 33MB/s to 44MB/s. Here's the correct link for pcguide that shows this:

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/modesUDMA-c.html

However, as I said before, UDMA Mode 2 is fast enough for all burners on the market today.

~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

 

[mikelwood]

Well, after putting my dvd drive into a different cpu, it did the exact same thing, cds and cd-roms played fine, but dvd acted like nothing was in the drive at all. It surprised me that I could have hardware failure for dvds but not cds. Oh, well, hey, thanx for all your help!

 

[cdogg]

Yeah, if you can't even read a DVD's contents in Windows Explorer on two different PC's, then the drive is the problem. The good news is that they're cheap to replace these days.

http://www.newegg.com

has some pretty decent prices right now (less than $40 for an NEC burner is a steal!).

~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

 

[mikelwood]

Well, sir, I bought me a new Sony DVD RW DRU-810A, I install it, and everything works great...for about 2 weeks. Yesterday, for no reason, the CD drive stops reading/recognizing cds, cd-roms, cd-rs, but now the dvd drive is fine! This is the opposite of what was going on before.
I originally had no dvd reading ability, even when I put the drive into a different CPU, now this new one, after working fine for 2 weeks, the cd will not read. I really can't imagine that it would be possible to have a new drive do that to me that fast and be so similar. Any last depserate thoughts?

 

[cdogg]

You need to really scrutinize the type of applications you are installing/using. Even if you move the drive over to another PC that you've customized, you could be using an app that is causing the conflict somewhere in the registry giving the "appearance" that something is wrong with the drive itself.

For example, Alcohol 120% was a popular program a while back that caused problems like you've decribed.

If you can't pinpoint the app causing your problem, I suggest you throw a spare drive into your system and do a clean install of Windows to see if that's the issue. You can also try a 98SE bootdisk (

http://www.bootdisk.com)

to test the CD-reading capability outside of 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

 

[bugmenot1]

chameleon35 what exactly did you do to get it to recognise cd's and dvd's again? I have the same problem as you, exept for the burning. My dvd drive won't read any cd's or dvd's either

 

[cdogg]

bugmenot1,

He replaced the drive!

~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