CD-Rom missing even from the Device Mangaer list

Hi all, So I have been to many sites that talk about fixing missing cd-rom drivers. :eek They talk about registry fixes. Microsoft's FixIt, and a host of other logical (install/reinstall the physical drive....screw is still sitting on the table) sequences. The Drive is still NOT showing up on the list of device managers. It is however "looked" to when I restart the computer as the BIOS wants to try to start from CD-Rom in the boot order. This computer is an HP Pavilion dv9815nr notebook. I had this problem once before and took it to GeekSquad as I had purchased the service package. That was about 7 months ago. I actually don't know when it stopped working again as I did not need to use it for a while; then at the beginning of the new year I got a new cd to update a program that I use and it is not working. It spins up so I know it is getting power. I am not sure what to do about getting a fresh driver for this because all the resources that I have found so far have said what to do if the driver is listed in the device manager. Any ideas other than what is listed for fixes by hp and microsoft will be welcomed. KSB:wave

 

I did try to uninstall iTunes and of course it would not...I did the MG reccommended Window installer update, CCleaner (first). it is still showing up somewhere and I did a search on Memories Disc. I don't think I have that. The only thing that came close was a file that has "memory" wire in it (for jewelry I make). Maybe I have not done things in the correct sequence? If the CD Rom was not working, it would not even spin up, right and it does on reboots.
I don't like getting computers from box stores that don't give you the Microsoft OS disk. Cause I can't explore it and do a disk wipe and start over. UGH
So if you could list a sequence that I should follow with the itunes to really take it off the computer, that would be great. Having said that when I did a reinstall of iTunes, it would not finish because it could not find a "burning device". BUT then it opened anyway. After it said it could not. so it is open right now but since I don't have cd-rom of course I am not going to even try to burn anything. Oh well. Any all help is appreciated. now over to iTunes site to see if they have any ideas. (don't you know they will want iTunes on the Laptop for sure) :lol. KSB

 

Hi there I am running Vista SP2. From what I can get out of HP this is a tough one. NOTHING about an optical disc drive is showing up in Device Manager. When I run the Bios it does list a cd-rom as a boot order possibility. It does not list the type that "Internal CD/DVD ROM Drive" though. Thanks for helping. Kat

 

I think the listing for CDROM in the boot order could be a permanent object and not be related to whether or not the CDROM is actually detected.

If you use F10 to go into BIOS on the Main menu do see any listing for the CDROM? As in this picture there is a CDROM listed as 2nd Drive:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf-JAVA/Doc/images/c02704674.gif

 

OK I will do this....give me a bit of time tho. I see what you mean. and I am not sure I will see a second drive. this I don't remember. I suppose I will have to "photograph" the bios page for you as I am not sure "print screen" will hold all the way through the bootup. That doesn't sound like it is possible. So I will ahve to upload a pic of it before I accept and move on to the bootup. As I am thinking about it. When I load up. I have it set to show me the devices that are being loaded. But of course it scrolls too fast. I remember in DOS (before your time maybe) that a switch \P would pause it for each screen. Don't know how to do it with WISIWIG. That way I could get pics of what drivers are loaded, so I would know. Kat

 

BIOS is before windows is loaded. So we are not worried about a driver. We just want to see if BIOS recognizes the CDROM at all. It is possible that the CDROM is bad and not recognized by BIOS yet still gets power.

If it does not get listed as a device in BIOS then Windows will never even see it. BIOS is run each time you start your computer and it looks around and says "what devices do I have here"? "I see a keyboard, a monitor, a hard drive, some memory etc." then it passes that information to Windows. If it doesn't find the CDROM then it won't be on the list that it passes to Windows. So Windows won't ever see it or be able to work with it. If BIOS doesn't list the drive then it probably has to be replaced.

Your screen may look slightly different than that picture but you should see a HD and CDROM listed somewhere under the main menu.

 

Take a screenshot helped by your mobile my friend !! :wave

 

Easy for you to say. While I have a cell phone with picture taking capabilities. I don't get a signal in the house, so how do I get the photoshopped photo to you guys?
I see it wants a http:/ site....I don't have one. just picts from my camera to my computer in Photoshop CS. Now what?
by the way thanks for sticking with this. and Sach2 might be on the right track with this. I just don't see how it could go out in 7 months after BestBuy's GeekSquad had it and the same problem. The drive LOOKS like the original, but who knows. Kat

 

You just upload a photo to mediafire and post the link here in the forum. You don't need to set up an account just copy the link and paste it your reply.

Or zip the photo up so that the zip file is less than 2mb and you can use the Go Advanced option in your Reply and attach the zip file to your post. http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=86880

 

HEE HEE I think I did it. And this should tell you a bit about my ability with computers/programs, cause if I did not get this, then you guys would have to help more than you bargained for, eh?
http://www.mediafire.com/?7ol6bigg168bqrm,po016tsnfb29eaa
Let me know what you see/think. I was talking to HP support and they said I probably need a new unit/part. Great...for a 4 year old computer, I don't know, got to see how much they cost first and where is the best place to buy them from. At least I have a part number to look up. Thanks again guys/gals kat

 

Those photos are small enough they can be uploaded to the thread. (When I saw Photoshop, I thought they might be huge. Less than 99kb will show directly.) I'll attach them in case anyone has a tip on navigating HP BIOS.

It looks like HP has dumbed down your BIOS. It still should show some information about your devices. If you go to System Configuration and then Boot Order it should list your devices. Something like Notebook Harddrive etc.
Does Internal CDROM not show on that list? Something like this: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/image/...49473892CB/image-size/original?v=mpbl-1&px=-1

If you highlight Notebook Hard drive using the arrow keys and then hit enter, does it give you information about the hard drive such as capacity or model number?

If it does give more information but Internal CDROM is not on the list then I think the CDROM is not being recognized and may be bad..

 

Wah WHOOOOOOO I love it when I can do something new. This working out , but If my eyes don't deceive me, I don't have the drive listed in the "boot" tab. Just the "c" drive...where is my D drive or is that not listed because of safety? Is this where you wanted me to look? Did I understand it right?

http://www.mediafire.com/?970gkcs8606obrk

 

Hi I looked further into the bios and found this. Does this give you any useful information?
http://www.mediafire.com/?7c8c4d5db99nd7b
Kat

 

On this screen if you go down to Laptop Hard Drive and hit <enter> does it give you information about that drive? Such as a model number?

What I am trying to figure out is where in BIOS it lists specific information about your devices. So if you do the above I want to know if it can tell you that you have a Hitachi 320gb laptop HD (or whatever brand/model or size). If it can tell you something specific like that about the hard drive, then I want to know what it can tell you about the ATAPI CD/DVDROM if you highlight it and select <enter>.

 

These are snapshots of what I have. I can't dig deeper than this as when I "highlight" a part it just scrolls to next page. What I can "enter" I did and took a photo. Best I can do. SO my big question is what computer do YOU guys use, laptop-wise? Cause for sure the next laptop purchase is going to be a bit wiser! Kat

http://www.mediafire.com/?6du1m4c48...sdqpwp3nrqtg2,ia8z1af7r7a8bjq,xcdrdg28y6auq4c

 

What happened to my thread? I posted last night and this morning it was saying a "pid=1&gid=1" answered my thread and curiosly when I got to "User CP" the link was gone.
Why did that happen did someone "close" the thread? I also lost the welcome thread but did not receive a msg saing it was closed, I just assumed the suject had run it's course. Does one have to post in a certain amount of time?
Kat

 

Whoa, I just opened the Everest report and it is 107pages!!!! I guess I won't be taking a picture of that. Or cut and pasting the whole thing. Just let me know what part you want to see. Kat

 

This is what I saw this morning when I checked my emails.
and when I got here both links were gone. Just wanted to know what was going on as i am relatively new to the forum. Thanks Plodr.
This thread is located at:
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=255445&goto=newpost

Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
pid=1&gid=1
***************


There may be other replies also, but you will not receive any more notifications until you visit the forum again.

 

From what I see in those BIOS pictures is that your CDROM is still recognized by BIOS. I don't really know if that is true but the fact that it shows in the Boot Order as a SATA (ATAPI) device seems to indicate the hardware itself is seen according to HP. http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...3689893&softwareitem=ob-60993-1&sw_lang=#N521

I just wanted to verify that much, I don't really have a fix to get Windows to see it. Maybe try this MS fixit http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/.../go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9740811&lc=en&cc=us I'm not sure how it differs from the one David gave earlier but it is suggested by HP.

 

Ok I have been to both those sites and have done all they asked. Problem being it does not show up in Device Mangager with an explaination mark or anything else for that matter; Just saying.
OK I have a thought. Silly but let me run it by you: this compter get VERY HOT. too hot to touch with bare hand sometimes. I don't know what all is running that makes it do that. BUT could the heat have warped a component in the physical ODD and it is making just enough contact but not enough contact if you follow me?
Just a thought as when I removed it from the laptop, it itself was very hot. Just thinking out loud.
I might just have to buy a new one as HP has next to nothing on the actual driver for the ODD. They probably just want to sell new computers and components. Not that I have anything against HP, just that is the way of the industry and being a realist. Kat

 

ODD pretty much use a generic driver installed by Windows. So HP wouldn't have one specifically for your model.

ODDs and me are like oil and vinegar. I have no patience for them. When mine start acting up I replace them to alleviate aggravation. On a desktop that is only about $30 and good for two years or so. Well worth it to me. Other people get years out of them but that has never been the case for me with home or PC CD/DVD players. New ones play anything, old ones get too picky for my stress levels.

I don't know what to tell you. If you want to go ahead and troubleshoot, you could verify that another OS would see the drive or that you could boot from it. That would mean either trying to boot from a bootable CD you already have or creating one on a working computer and seeing if the laptop will boot from it. That will only tell you the hardware itself is working but you still will have a problem with your current Windows installation. (It may also be possible to try to boot to a Linux OS installed on an empty USB flash drive and seeing if it can see the ODD.) It is a matter of how much time you want to put into the problem or if a new ODD makes more sense to you.

 

See that is what I thought....sorta a plug and play device right? So it should be seen by windows at the least when I push it in after a clean reboot (with out the device) that was the sequence I was talking about earlier, too. UGH, I might just get another one. I did find a reseller of genuine HP parts on line just did not follow through with purchase as we were still trouble shooting. BUT you have put way lots of "free" effort into this and I do appreciate it. I will be keeping you up to date on what goes on, but if you want to close this thread, FINALLY, I understand. Thanks for ALL your help, all of you. Kat

 

I'm pretty sure it would have to be connected before you boot the computer. That way BIOS sees it and then passes the information to Windows that it exists. I don't think Windows would recognize it if you connected it after the computer was already started.

I'm not 100% sure that replacing the drive will fix your problem. If it is being seem by BIOS but not by Windows then it could be a problem with your Windows installation that will carry over to a new ODD.

If it were me I would try to boot the computer from a bootable CD to be completely sure whether the drive is registering in BIOS or not. That HP link indicates it is but I would want to know for sure because that would point to a Windows problem rather than a bad ODD.

 

I am glad I just saw this post, because maybe windows is corrupt as when I looked at boot order and devices even though the ODD was out of the comptuer, it looked the same. It showed a SATA etc. just as the pictures I sent. Now What?
We bought an external ODD and hopefully that will help....all this for one disk I want to play....and I did try loading that disk onto a "stick" and that did not work. Just letting you know I tried other things, too. Kat

 

I'd be interested if the USB CDROM works. It should.

As far as the internal it is probably bad. If you have a blank CD you could write a LIVE Linux CD to it and see if the laptop will boot from the internal ODD to the disc. That would tell you if the ODD is actually recognized by the BIOS. If it boots then you know it is a Windows problem. Puppy Linux is about 150mb and the ISO file could be burned to a blank CD using imgburn's "Write Image File to Disc" option. http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=61

Alternatively, you could put Puppy on a USB drive and boot to it. Then put a CD in the internal CDROM and see if puppy can read the disc. That again would tell you if it is only Windows that has a problem with the CDROM.
This program could put Puppy on an empty USB flash stick to make it bootable.

It is up to you if you want to further troubleshoot. You will be fine using the USB ODD for almost all practical purposes.

 

Will let you know when we get it and what happens.

 

Sach2 Getting back to you:

Just to let you know. We received the External disk drive (ODD) and it worked right off first time, got my program loaded and now you get to ponder what could have happened to the "internal" drive. Of course I am not buying a new one of those. BUT you were curious to know if the new one would work and it has.
Kat thanks you for alllllllll your hard brain power :major

 

I'm glad to know the external is working for you. No need to replace the internal.