Drive will not open discs

[alphachannel]

I've searched a great deal but I simply can't find an answer to this issue.

Here's the deal: I'm running XP with two hard drives (master & slave on the primary IDE) and a Pioneer A04 (master on the secondary IDE). I can't open any data CDs or DVDs. I know the drive works because I reloaded XP and the system will boot from the DVD Drive.

Thus far I have:
Upgraded the firmware
Exchanged the 40 pin cables for 80 pin cables
Uninstalled & re-installed the device and the IDE drivers
Disabled the disc burning service
Turned off Auto Play.

The DVD drive shows up in My Computer but if I double click, the system hangs. Bizarre thing is the drive will open an audio disc (with .cda files) but nothing else.

Since the computer will boot from CD, but not open the CD once windows starts, I assume the problem is with XP (I'm running SP1). Any guesses? Im absolutely frustrated with this.

[TCAS]

Click on my computer then right click on on your DVD drive when window open click on eject funtion, you should have the drive door open if not then you have a conflect win window xp.

[ETP]

Also boot in bios and check your setup for your IDE cables and DVD/CD devices. Make sure your jumpers on the back are set. If you just have one DVD drive then the jumper should be on master. If that all fails boot in safe mode and go to device manager and delete extra stuff you don't have or need. If it is an older computer that you have installed and removed alot of hardware then it could be hosed in device manager or resources. Then go to XP update and do a custom (driver )update. Flash your bios with the latest FW. Flash your drive with the latest FW.
I had an A05 on XP and it worked fine. Can't speak for an A04.
Your system could be out of resources! Some devices will not share. How much stuff do you have on your computer?
Some PCI slots share with other built in system harware on some MOBOs.

[alphachannel]

Thanks Guys!

First I'll do the eject test. You're right this is an older -- ok an OLD computer that's seen better days. It's an Aptiva with an AMD K6II that was my main system years ago. Now I only use it for MIDI programs and media storage.

The jumpers and BIOS are correct and I already flashed the DVD drive, so I'll proceed to cleaning out the device manager and doing a driver upadate (I assume you mean simply downloading drivers from the Microsoft site).

I think I'm finally on the right track!

[ETP]

Keep us posted! we need a sucess story! LOL

[alphachannel]

I haven't cleaned the device manager yet but I started the computer in safe mode and the DVD drive works! First thing is to back up all those media files and then I'll do some experimenting. I'll keep eveyone posted...

[alphachannel]

I checked the device manager for installed devices that I don't need, but I didn't see any unnecessary entries. I'm only running the basics on my computer (no printer, no USB devices, no scanner nor internet connection).

I have no idea what to do next. At least I can use the DVD drive in Safe Mode so I shouldn't complain...

[alphachannel]

After some massive detective work I finally solved the problem. All I needed was to change the setting on DVD's IDE from DMA to PIO. I'm not sure why this is needed, but everything works now. Thanks everyone for all your help!

[TCAS]

After some massive detective work I finally solved the problem. All I needed was to change the setting on DVD's IDE from DMA to PIO. I'm not sure why this is needed, but everything works now. Thanks everyone for all your help!

I don't believe your problem has been resolve, setting the DVD drive in Pio is not a right thing to do and shows the system is not operating in a proper and correct manner. You have to look for a real solution not just temporarily one.