DVD/CD Driver stopped working

I am having a problem with the DVD/CD Drive on my HP Laptop (model dv2845se). A few weeks ago, my DVD/CD drive stopped responding. It would not read any disk that I put in. I tested the disks on other computers, and they worked just fine. So, I contacted HP and they said I should get a replacement DVD/CD drive. I bought the replacement and installed it. It updated the driver when I turned on my computer – but when I went to put in a disk, it still would not read it.
Again, I contacted HP Support and they told me to check the registry to delete upper and lower filters. I checked the registry, but the upper and lower filters were not there.
Finally, the guy at HP said that it might be a problem with my IDE controller or motherboard. :cry
I was just wondering if anyone knew how I could fix this – or how I can diagnosis the problem. The laptop is no longer under warranty, but it is still a great computer – it’s fast and I’ve managed to keep it fairly clean. I would hate to have to go out and buy another one. So, if anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you!

 

Greetings, April.

First of all, try this Microsoft fix.

What operating system and service pack # are you running, and was the replacement optical drive the same as the original?

Hang in there, and welcome to Major Geeks. :major

 

I am running Windows Vista Home (64-Bit). I am not sure about the service pack - I think it's the one that came with the original computer, but I will have to double check when I have a chance to look at my laptop.
The optical drive was the exact same make/model as the original...I was so bummed when it didn't work.
The guy at HP said something about IDE Controllers and the motherboard. *sigh*

 

Ok - I'll do some digging at HP for chipset drivers - do try that MS fix when you get a chance.

 

Thank you so much! When I get home, I will be sure to run that MS fix - I will let you know what happens. Hopefully I will have some good news.
I really appreciate your help.

 

No problem - keep us posted.

 

I checked to see what service pack I have installed for Windows Vista Home (64-bit) - it says that I have service pack 1 installed.
I tried the ms fixit, but it came back saying that there were no problems.
Someone else had recommended that I try a program called Driver Whiz in order to diagnosis what might be wrong.
It came back by saying that the fellowing drivers are out of date:
NVIDIA MCP67M
Ricoh Memory Stick Controller
Ricoh xD-Picture Card Controller
NVIDIA nForce System Management
NVIDIA nForce System Management Controller
USB Human Interface Device - Port_#0001.Hub_#0001

It states that the following drivers are not found on my device:
USB Cable Modem - Port_#0002.Hub_#0001
USB DFU Device - Port_#0005.Hub_#0002

The following Drivers are my system drivers:
Sdietqpe DVD A DS0A1H ATA Device - Channel 0, Target 0, Lun 0
Sdietype DVD A DS0A1H ATA Device - Channel 0, Target 0, Lun 0
Sdimtype DVD A DS0A1H ATA Device - Channel 0, Target 0, Lun 0
Slimtype DVD A DS8A1H ATA Device - Channel 0, Target 0, Lun 0
Slimtype DVD A DS8A1H ATA Device - Channel 0, Target 0, Lun 0
Slimtypm DVD A DS8A1H ATA Device - Channel 0, Target 0, Lun 0
CENTON DS Pro USB Device
Slimtype DVD A DS0A1H ATA Device
FUJITSU MHZ2250BH G2 ATA Device

I am not quite sure what all of this means, or how I might go about fixing it - but I am hoping that you might be able to offer some advice about where to go from here...or if it is just completely hopeless.
I really do love this computer - and I am especially upset because I have Adobe Photoshop CS3 installed on this computer - I don't know of anyway to transfer the program onto another computer without the original Installation CD's...my mother got overzealous one night and threw away a bunch of stuff without bothering to see if I needed it. *ugh*
So, hopefully there is some type of solution out there.
Thank you!

 

Ok - more questions: is the drive recognized in BIOS?

Is the drive showing up in Device Manager? If so, are there any flags for the device?

Have you tried booting to a disk with the drive?

Does the drive operate mechanically (tray opens and closes, lights come on, media spins)?

 

Yes, the drive is recognized in BIOS.
It shows up in the Device Manager and does not have any flags for that device.
The drive does operate mechanically - the tray opens, light comes on, and the media spins...probably why it's so frustrating that it doesn't work.
I have not tried booting to a disk with the drive - how do I do that and what type of disk do I need? The computer came with windows already loaded, so the only thing that I have are the recovery disks that I made when I bought the computer.

 

I'd bet that at least one of your recovery disks is a bootable disk, probably the first - try putting the disk in the drive, restart, enter BIOS and set your boot order to CD first. Ok out of setup, and see if the machine will boot to the disk. If it does, while you're in Recovery, see if there's a way to restore drivers. I wouldn't actually do any restoration at this point, however, because of the following:

All that stuff bothers me: obviously has to do with your drive, but I have no idea if there's something wrong. Hopefully, some of the gurus here will check them out.

Another shot in the dark: any way you can get your hands on an external optical drive?

 

Try going into device manager expand DVD/CD-Rom drives double click the drive this should bring up the properties, do you see any error codes in there or is it saying 'This device is working properly'?

Also try right clicking on the drive and hit uninstall let windows re-find it and see if it spews up any error codes.

 

Good point about the uninstall/reinstall, though - worth a shot.

 

I tried putting in my recovery disk and asking it to boot from the CD. It did boot from CD - it took me to a screen that was trying to repair windows. It asked me if I wanted to try to restore the computer, but at that point, I said no.
As far as uninstalling/installing the drive from the device manager, I have tried that before with no success.
So, I am not sure where to go from here. On one hand I am happy it booted from the CD; on the other hand, now I have no idea what is going on. So, any suggestions? I do appreciate all of your help thus far.

 

Agreed - the fact that it booted from the disk pretty much confirms that the optical is working, so we must be dealing with an OS problem.

Try booting into Safe Mode, and see if any symptoms change.

 

I booted the computer in safe mode - nothing changed. Still could not get a CD or DVD to work.
The optical drive not working seems to be the only symptoms that I am experiencing. Everything else on the computer runs fine...which is probably why this is so frustrating.

 

And yet it can boot to a system disk - strange.

No luck with an external drive? With an external, we might be able to verify the HP support theory of an IDE problem.

 

I've just had a vista computer here with no DVD drive showing in my computer or any where else in the OS. I tried starting the machine off a boot CD and it was fine.

I opened regedit to remove the limits but they were not there so I tried uninstalling the relevant IDE channel in device manager this did not work but when I went back into regedit I found there was an upper limit this time so I removed that restarted the machine now the OS can see the drive and is happy with it.

It could be that your having a different problem so don't get your hopes up.

 

April,

Please clarify what you mean by not working. Is it the auto run/play that isn't working? Can you insert a CD/DVD then open My Computer, click on the drive and view the disk's contents?

Do you have any burning software installed? If so, it could have become corrupted and would/could cause the symptoms that you have.

 

The IT guys at work were nice enough to lend me an external drive for the weekend. So, when I get home I will be able to hook it up.
What do you suggest I do in order to figure out what is going on?

 

I hooked up the external CD/DVD drive to my laptop. It works perfectly - I can play CD's, DVD's and it will also boot my games.
Knowing that the external drive works, do you think that there is a way to get the internal drive to work? I know it will boot from the internal drive, but for some reason, when I go into my computer it does not recognize that a disk is in the drive.
If I can't get the internal drive to work, I can go out and buy the external drive - but, it makes me wonder about the stability of the computer. I just want to make sure that the computer is running safely and securely.

 

Almost looks like a firmware problem, which is extremely rare, especially since the drive just 'stopped responding'.

Agreed: bad IDE/SATA cables can perform pretty strange tricks.

As noted before, do you have any 3rd-party burning software loaded? And, check the registry again for any filters that may have appeared.

If not, I'm leaning towards the chipset reinstall again, a firmware reinstall, or even a BIOS flash. The fact that the external works would indicate that at least part of the southbridge is working, but something funky is sure going on with the onboard IDE.

 

Unfortunately, the only download on this page that seems to be related to the problem would be the BIOS flash - I'd suggest exhausting all other possibilities before trying this (even though it's a WinFlash, which makes it easier).

 

Unfortunately, the computer is not under warranty anymore.
The computer came with Power2Go, which I am having problems uninstalling. When I try to uninstall it in the control panel it doesn't respond. I've also tried to use CCleaner to uninstall it - it still won't respond, but the program works.

 

Would you by any chance also have Itunes installed?

 

Halo,

If it is a hardware issue, why would it boot from a restore/recovery CD/DVD?

 

Halo,

Point well taken! The only reason that I asked about iTunes is that I ran across it causing problems in Vista several times while researching the problem.

 

I do not have Itunes installed on my compupter - I did have it installed when I first set up my IPOD, but I am not a huge fan of Itunes, so I removed it from the computer.
I will try to install the chipset drivers - I would also like to try to remove Power2Go, seeing as how I never use it anyway. I think I keep it on the computer just in case one day I needed it, but it is quite a big program.

 

The sigh of relief here is the proof that an external drive will work. Not only did that check the media paths, but good and reliable externals are valuable tools - you might consider purchasing one no matter what we find.

I didn't realize that Power2Go is a disk burning utility, and the symptom of not being able to uninstall it lends credence to Novice's suggestion in post #18, maybe for the same reasons that iTunes is being found as a problem.

Like you said, April, it's still a good machine - I just hate that we have to hang a bag on the side.