SAMSUNG SD-612 DVD drive

[pebe]

I have a Fujitsu Xpert with 600MHz Athlon, 64M ram,WinDVD,
Windows 98,on board 16 bit sound, and 18Mb 3D AGP Graphics.

The original NEC DVD drive failed and was replaced with a Samsung SD-612 under warranty. Result is garbled sound and no picture when I try to play movies. Fujitsu say it can't be the drive because it will read CDs and audio.

Are they right?

Pebe

 

[teknoguy]

Do you have your SPDIF cable hooked up(digital)?

 

[Guest_imported]

Yeh, I had a simialr problem when I enabled DMA mode. So I switched back and it was fine. Try going to Control Panel > System > Device Manager, Click on the + by CDROM to expand the tree and double click on your drive. Click on the Settings tab and make sure DMA is unchecked.

Just an idea, but it's worth a try.

Try also changing you DVD playing software. I use mediamatics, but there's loads of other out there (try Downloads.com or Tucows.com)

Good luck!

 

[pebe]

Thanks teknoguy and handy-hints.

If the digital plug has 3 wires then, yes, it is fitted properly.

I've tried disabling DMA but it still won't work.

Ah well - back to Fujitsu I suppose, and try again to persuade them.

 

[brendanhedges]

----------correction----------

to enable smooth playing of dvd discs DMA MUST BE ENABLED.
when dma is not enabled the signals are processed by the cpu, (they dont need to be). processing takes up a lot of resources and generally the cpu cant keep up with the demand on it, even a modern powerful one will struggle to cope.i have a 1gig athlon and it makes the machine jump like crazy if DMA is not enabled, so enable dma for your dvd drive.

i wouldnt worry about the digital connection at ths stage its proberbly not that.

i would start by disconnecting the drive completely from the pc. then restart and remove all the software from the machine. if there is an entry in device manager for the drive remove it. then power down the pc.

take the new dvd drive and ensure the jumper settings on the back are set to master. (this is usually the default factory setting)

reconnect the dvd drive. most dvd drives usually have three cable connections to them.
1, power lead
2, ide cable,
3, audio cable

connect the three cables, the power lead and audio leads will only connect one way round, so you should be ok, but dont force them. ensure that the individual wires in the connection are secure in the plastic block,( i have come across these sometimes where they push out and dont make a proper conection).
it may be possible to get the IDE cable connected around the wrong way,(some have locating slots, some dont). remember the edge of the ribbon cable marked with a red/black trace refers to pin one on the connection. pin one should be clearly marked on the dvd drive. connect the IDE cable and ensure that it is securly connected to the mobo as well. if the cable has become disconnected the same rule applies, red trace to pin one on the mobo.

most mobos will usually have at least two IDE channels, ensure that the IDE cable from the dvd is connected to its own IDE channel (HDD on one, dvd on one).

ok so you are all connected up.

restart the computer and wait to see what happens, if all is well win 98 will detect and install the driver for it. (dont worry most dvd drives only require the generic driver supplied by windows, its proberbly already stored in your winsys directory).

all you need to do then is reintall your software to veiw your dvd films.

if you need it win98 has its own basic software player stored in cab17.

i hope this helps,

brendan

 

[teknoguy]

The SPDIF acually fits on a 2 pin connection

 

[pebe]

Thanks for the info everyone.

The 3 pin plug I mentioned I've found to be the audio lead. There is no digital plug in the harness, so I assume the original NEC DVD didn't need one.

Brendan. I've checked the connections as you suggested and they are all correct and firmly connected - and the drive reads CD Roms and Audio CDs. When you say remove all software, did you mean Win 98 and audio and display drivers as well? or just the WINDVD? Do I read you right that Windows should be able to play DVDs using its own drivers - ie. without WinDVD?

 

[brendanhedges]

pebe,

no dont remove windows, audio or video drivers. just your dvd software.

windows doesnt need a specific driver to operate the dvd player, it sees it using its standard cd drive driver. this is all it needs.

no to read dvd (data) dics you dont need any software, but to read dvd movies you will need a dvd player. i use a program called 'dvd express'. but there is a free player stored in cab file 17 on the win98 cd.

 

[pebe]

Thanks Brendan. It reads DVDs ok, but not DVD movies. So I'll try cab file 17. Thanks again for the info. I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[brendanhedges]

pebe,

it just occured to me, if the dvd drive can read dvd data dics, such as you get on the front of magazines but not movies. you may have the region codes set incorrectly for the dvd player software. be carefull if you play with these settings, as on most players you only get 4 adjustments, then it locks you out.

might be worth concidering

brendan

 

[pebe]

brendan,

I found Regions in WinDVD folder and it's set to 2-Europe which is correct.

Before I found it I looked in My Computer(right click), then properties-device manager-CDRom-Samsung. I Selected properties and the screen showed 'Samsung DVD Rom SD-612S'

General tab shows 1. device type is 'CD Rom'
2. manufacturer (standard CDRom device.
and 'device working properly'.
Settings tab shows (under options)
1. box is checked for 'disconnect'
2. unchecked 'Sync data..'
3. checked 'auto insert...'
4. checked 'DMA'
Driver tab shows 'driver provided by Microsoft'
'date 4-23-1999'

So it looked as though WinDVD had not been accepted. So I pressed 'update driver' and this led me through the proc to reinstal WinDVD. So I have now reinstalled it.

It has not changed the above, and a movie will still not play. By the way, I have tried 2 known good movies (they play on a friend's eqipment).

Is there a clue there somewhere?

Thanks, Pete