The case of the disappearing DVD

Hi All

recently my DVDRW (Liteon SHM-165H6S) has started disappearing randomly
from device manager etc

It just does not show up

This happens about 4 out of every 5 startups
when it does detect it works fine - no problems at all.

I have waited till it detects, uninstalled it through device manager,
shutdown, disconnected the IDE, restarted, shutdown, reconnected the IDE
and windows XP sp2 has automatically reinstalled default drivers.

This has not remedied the issue.

The problem started when i tried to read an old disc which was formatted using Adaptec DirectCd.

Any help will be appreciated

 

Dood-
I am not a guru; in fact, I'm scouring the board in an attempt to find an answer to my own problem. However, what you're talking about sounds similar to something I came across here:

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

I have no idea if this will work for you - caveat emptor, get what you pay for etc - so its on you as to whether you care to give it a shot or not - I just saw the "0 replies" to this post and figured I'd share what I found.

Good luck, mate.

 

Thankyou - I mean it !

Its not much fun getting no replies at all !
i had already given up on getting a reply

I have just tried it
as my problem is intermittent it will take a little while to confirm if it has worked

Thanks again mate

 

thanks anyway toolio
but, it didnt work - d'oh

 

Easy cd creator cause some problems , like this too.
I believe the format of the discs used corrupts windows drivers.
If you run sfc /scannow with the XP disc in the drive, it might well correct it.
Otherwise-----These links might help.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;314060

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;320553

 

Thanks,

Youre right it is definately linked to adaptec one way or another

I will have to experiment with your suggestion a little bit

What I havent mentioned is that I have a CDRW working fine on the same computer

So I will try your suggestion through that drive, Im guessing that will work

Otherwise I will have to wait for the DVDRW to work to try it out

BTW: its 9am Sunday morning here, so my thought processes are not on line yet !

I will wake up and then have a look at your links

 

three cheers for baklogic

it worked (sfc /scannow)

pain that it was - took an hour and a half and asked for the disc to be inserted every 5 minutes - clicking retry worked every time.

thanks a lot
keep up the good posting :wave

 

Note to microsoft: If I open a saved webpage on my desktop, I expect it to open as a new page, not to take over another page I am currently using.
Hope you are listening Billy boy.

I'll try again (if thats okay with you Mr Gates ?)
--------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry baklogic your 15 minutes of fame is up

it worked fine for 3 startups
on the fourth startup the problem has reappeared

still a very handy tip for the future - thanks

of the microsoft kb's
one of them isnt fully relevant to my situation as when it is gone it is gone
nothing in device manager concerning the dvdrw at all, it is like it never existed at all.

the other one mentions a key - no problems finding that
but the values supposedly contained within the key (upperfilter & lowerfilter) -not on my computer.

I have just uninstalled nero
so I will try reinstalling it and see if that helps (unlikely)

then its reinstalling windows

after that it is reformatting the hard drive (fixes everything - guaranteed)
although I will have to wait for the DVDRW to be working to back everything up rolleyes

Ahh.... the joys of computing

 

Hi shanemail, shame that it did not solve it, we try all ways to keep Old Bills' operating system going.
I found a possible remedy, which has worked, for someone, but no guarantees.
Check which company built your drive
and download the exact same driver files from your favourite drivers site, like - driverguide.com - the ones that were listed as the dvd drive
Reboot XP in safe mode, delete the original files and replace them, one by one, with the downloaded files.
They are mostly located in the system32/drivers directory.

Replacing ONLY the redbook.sys file - appears to work.
If you want to try this out, remember that you have to do it in safe-mode,
because otherwise XP will override/ignore your changes in the WINDOWS-directory.

 

I have not tried sfc /scannow in safe mode, but it could be worth the time, in case windows is overwriting the changes.

 

There is a lot of informative work, and Microsoft links here----
http://www.pcbuyerbeware.co.uk/CD-DVD-DriveProblems.htm#cddvdkb

 

I reformatted my OS partition
it appeared to work for about a dozen restarts

Then I completed microsoft updates - it be stuffed again

ahh too funny rolleyes

so I am on my way, (not sure where to) to try and find out if there is knowledge of an update issue

after that I will try your safe mode 'redbook' theory

 

I have posted on microsoft communities
hopefully I will get a reply

Had a look at driverguide, they had no drivers for my liteon dvdrw (as far as i know there arent any) it just uses windows default drivers.

there appears to be at least 3 similar threads at the moment, although the symptoms are not identical. I believe it is to do with microsoft updates.
but finding info on them has eluded me so far.

 

As I said on the other chaps problem, I know ther was an update that caused it, and I am sure they gave another download to repair, but I cannot find it,.
Hope the other links have helped.
As you updated then found the problem , again, it seems to confirm it.
From what I can see Easy CD Creator (Roxio), and Nero seem to be amongst an incompatabilty problem

 

It may be fixed (again)

I uninstalled "Ulead straight to disc SDK" as per advice from
microsoft communities
http://www.microsoft.com/communitie...date&mid=fcf719df-ea1f-497b-b7bb-2324c21a758f

Thanks to Michel Denie :wave

As I mention in that post, Im not even sure how or why it was installed in the first place
(still think it may have something to do with a microsoft optional update)
so time will tell if it reappears.

It is often the simple things that we overlook

Thanks again to baklogic and toolio20
you guys rock :dood

Never underestimate the impact you have on others just by taking the time to help :wave

Cant believe I reformatted, what a twit

 

I am so pleased, - hope that stays fixed - incompatability with another writing software.

 

Yep,

still not sure how/why it was there

Initially when I got the dvdrw it came with nero

Nero would not allow itself to be installed with the adaptec software already on the system (fair enough)

Since I only reformatted last week I know exactly what i have installed
so I still think for some strange reason it was installed by either windows xp sp2 itself or microsoft updates.

But, no matter, if it happens again i know how to fix it.

Thankyou

 

:tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas
:tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas :tas

Wheres Poirot when you need him

turns out this just will not stay fixed

I think the DVDRW is anti-social and just wants to be left alone
Well so be it, Im not talking to it anymore :neener

 

Cannot let it beat us.
I will have another scout around this afternoon, and see if an Einstein equivelent has finally found the answer.
:tired
When you get stuck like this, it can drive you mad, but I just sleep on it, and start again .
Did I remember you saying you had Malware/Trojan, or Virus that caused you to format, originally ?
Probably daft question, did you use Root kit virus remover? Majorgeeks list of tools is good, and perhaps there is something linking to mbr.
I am a bit of a clean it dead merchant, and the only time I did get done, I did just that, I overwrote the drive with zero's, and f's, and rebuilt mbr, then formatted fat 32, then foramatted NFTS, and (fingers crossed), I have not been done again.
I will keep looking ,though - I hate to be beaten , and like to know the answers .
See you later

 

No big deal, would like to know whats happening though !

No malware (that I am aware of)
Been malware free since I got rid of Nortons a couple of years ago

Both Win XP and IE7 are fairly secure too (IMO), compared to Win ME and IE6

I reformatted to try and get rid of this issue.
Some would consider this extreme, but I do it every 6 months or so anyway
If you are continually downloading software it eventually bogs the system down.

RE: Rootkits - not a stupid question as I dont even know what a rootkit is
(something to do with trees, perhaps ?)
will check it out

Ran Hijack this about a month ago- all good (maybe thats what did it rolleyes)

I have almost ruled out MS updates after checking my update history for the last week or so.

Gotta be something

 

Have a look at the BETA VERION FROM AVG
http://www.majorgeeks.com/AVG_Anti-Rootkit_d5249.html

 

Thanks for the link baklogic

Im rootkit free

so that wasnt the problem - still good to know
(did the full search - b.t.w.)


there is a possible pattern forming, doesnt make any sense to me though

the state of the DVDRW seems to alter only when the computer is shutdown for a period of time (an hour or so)

ie: if it isnt working and I restart it - no change (and visa-versa)
if it isnt working and I shutdown/restart after a couple of minutes - no change (and visa-versa)
if it isnt working and I shutdown/restart after an hour or two - it works (and visa-versa)

this is probably coincidental (and just clouding the issue even further)
but is just an observation (and probably not always the case anyway )

I would assume there is no difference beween restarting and shutdown/restarting ?

thanks - as always

 

I seem to remember you saying you also had a cdrw, and that worked o.k
Logic - sometimes the obvious eludes us - Have you tried your DVD in another computer - Have you tried another dvdrw in your computer - if so, what was the outcome -same, or, ??

 

It is most likely something obvious

I have swapped the IDE cable ends over, so the one that was on the CDRW is now on the DVDRW

The DVDRW was bought in August of last year, I hooked it up and stuffed my hard drive. (so they tell me!)
Cant remember the details exactly
All you do is plug the IDE in, plug the power in, start the computer and let it auto-instal the drivers, not exactly rocket science.

According to the computer shop I took it to, (first time in the six years Ive had this computer that Ive had to take it to a shop)
this was because the hard drive had never seen a DVDRW before.
Im assuming they meant it corrupted the MBR - really not sure.
So they sold me a new Hard drive & recovered most of my data (even longer story) I was due for a larger hard drive anyway
It sounded a bit strange then, and now that I know a little bit more, it sounds like an even stranger excuse / reason.

This tends to make me somewhat cautious with using other peoples computers parts

Maybe it is a hardware problem
Its just that I know it happened because of something to do with
Adaptec Direct CD (at least I think I do )

If I buy another one, I will have one more than I need and no guarantees of it working anyway

I still have the options of deleting everything with UDF in its name
in the nero and system32 directories
and
trying to change the Ultra DMA from 4 to 3 or 2 (through the registry I'd imagine)
as suggested to me on microsoft communities
http://www.microsoft.com/communities...b-2324c21a758f


One of these days I will write a short post - just not today

 

It was only a thought - I meant like any dvd rw,not buying one.( borrow, cannibalise)
Usually you will not get much problem, if you know it works in another pc.
The only other obvious thing is is the DVDRW set to Master, or, the CDRW? Iknow, that was one I stumbled with in the early days (setting both as Master really confused Windows)

 

just an update....

have not had any issues for the last week
the only thing I have done in this period is update the firmware for the device

Strange thing is, I have previously updated to this version
not quite sure how or why it rolled itself back
and whether this was the cause of the issue or a direct result of it.

Either way it is working............. for now

 

Great, I hope it stays fixed fror you.
I think it is possible that the writing software that appeared to be a problem may have corrupted the firmware confused
At least it is worth remembering, as there have been so many DVD problems floating about.

 

:wave

Ive only had issues a couple of times in the last fortnight

But, the last couple of times I have shut down the computer
the read light on the DVDRW turns on and stays on confused
this may have been happening the whole time and I didnt notice it

Mondo bizzaro

When I restart the computer the light turns off
and then as it goes through the boot sequence the light flicks on for a second as per usual, and then stays off (as it should)

Stranger than fiction
looks like a hardware problem (or possession :dood)
as the computer is definately shut down - the lights are on but nobodys home

 

I will have a little think about that, as I remember the dvd staying on when I was building a computer. I've seem to remember it being a connection problem- psu 4pin to dvd.- It was some time sgo, but you know how those plugs can be :crap at times.

 

Cheers, will check that and the IDE next time I shut down.

Doesnt make sense to me though, I would have thought a slightly dodgy connector would be more likely to not power it up at all.

But, you never know (well I dont anyway )

It wont actually open while the computer is off, it just has its own night-light for some reason. So I wouldnt say it is on, its just not off

 

Sounds like you are getting a feed back from latent supply, like - modern computers still have power , unless you pull out power plug.
Can you try the dvd in another computer?

 

Generally i would
but this dvdrw supposedly killed my hard drive when I first installed it.
so I am not going to risk it killing again - its already got the taste of blood.

No big deal anyway - its working
hopefully theres no way of this causing damage to the board
since I bought a 2.8GHZ 400MHZ FSB CPU
7600GS AGP Graphics Card
and another 512MB of RDRAM
last year.
if the board goes they were all basically a waste of money

 

Unusual for a dvd to kill a motherboard, might have always been iffy. A DVD writer is so cheap now, but not worth changing, unless the reasons for these anomalies are found.
Your last purchases are never wasted, if they are socket 775, there are dual motherboards around, that they can be transferred into, if/when the time comes.
I mean, a budget asrock dual vista (775), takes many cpu's, P4 to even conroe's and has dual channel, and ddr + ddr2 slots, so your purchases can still last a while, yet.

 

The rdram might be the problem.