So, I went out and bought my fourth (and last) legit copy of XP pro, upgraded my hard-drives to two 400GB SATA 2 drives in RAID 1, got a 7600GT and I'm getting another to put in SLI this wednesday. But, after I installed windows without a hitch, I try to pop my bf2 cd into my Lite-On SHM-165h6s DVD+RW drive, and won't read it. Turns out it won't read any commercially made cd (anything with a silver bottom) but it will read burned discs without a problem, and it will burn discs no problemo. So I RMA it, but the next one doesn't work either. I try using both in other computers and they work, but not in the one I need it to. I updated the firmware, delete and re-install drivers, the whole nine yards. So I give up and go to google. It turns out I'm not the only one with these kind a problems and even the guys on cdfreaks.com couldn't help me. It also seems like others have had problems like mine, and on different brands and models, so I think it may be a windows driver (deleting the driver in device manager did not work either). Any thoughts suggestions etc? This is really pissing me off as it worked before I re-installed...

Bad cable, or use another drive. Check bios settings.

i have to agree, doesnt sound like a software problem at all

What mobo, and which port is the drive on? Anything else on the IDE cable? Jumper settings on drive set correctly. Did the driver install, check the version. Other software on the machine? Are all the MS patches done? Is Services properly configured, check. Check event viewer for error messages, system and apps. Windows time set?

this was the same problem with my dad's old computer, we never figured out the problem, although it wouldn't install certain games or anything or read certain Cd's. I'm not sure what to tell you, except the solution to the problem only came after we upgraded to a new motherboard/processor.

Posted by Kbasa this was the same problem with my dad's old computer, we never figured out the problem, although it wouldn't install certain games or anything or read certain Cd's. I'm not sure what to tell you, except the solution to the problem only came after we upgraded to a new motherboard/processor.

Was .NET Framework 1.1 installed? Something you were doing was causing that behavior. XP Pro has a lot of diagnostic tools.


It sounds like Sinister Crayon has a newer mobo as it has SATA2 ports. Force 4 chipsets will do really strange things if the bios/hardware isn't set up correctly. On A8n-SLI mobos never load with plug&play enabled, it will fuck up the load. HDs need to be zeroed out, completely. Mobo bios needs to be correct, and for RAID drives the right drivers are needed. Sometimes some of the chipset drivers don't update after loading, and have to be manually loaded. The list goes on, but set up right it's stable, and runs like a bat from hell with a vendetta.

• I'll try and replace the cable, but I don't know if it will help.
  
• I can burn CDs and DVDs and read burned CDs but I cannot read any type of DVD or read commercially made CDs.
  
• It worked fine before I re-installed windows but now it no longer works.
  
• Windows keeps telling me that the device is working fine until I try to load something then it says the disk is corrupted (when a cd is loaded, I get a disc is corrupt error. DVDs give a I/O device error).
  
• My motherboard is an ABIT AN8-SLI with the nF4.
  
• All drivers are installed, bios is the most recent one.
  
• Jumpers are set properly, drive won't even work as a master, or by itself.
  
• The master drive which is a plain dvd-rom works 100% though.

Posted by Sinister Crayon I'll try and replace the cable, but I don't know if it will help. I can burn CDs and DVDs and read burned CDs but I cannot read any type of DVD or read commercially made CDs. It worked fine before I re-installed windows but now it no longer works. Windows keeps telling me that the device is working fine until I try to load something then it says the disk is corrupted (when a cd is loaded, I get a disc is corrupt error. DVDs give a I/O device error). My motherboard is an ABIT AN8-SLI with the nF4. All drivers are installed, bios is the most recent one. Jumpers are set properly, drive won't even work as a master, or by itself. The master drive which is a plain dvd-rom works 100% though. Oh, and after I installed SLI I got this while trying to play BF2, very annoying. The vertical bar on the left with the green thing should not be there....

What do you mean reinstalled? Did do a hard reset of the mobo cmos before the reload? This is almost certainly a corrupt HD (because it wasn't zeroed out first), driver(s), bad bios setting, or corrupted MS system files. Did you change hardware on the IDE, or SATA ports between now and then? Force 4 can be a real bitch if you don't load it right. Never load the Nvidia firewall.

If you have a 3 pack of XP, and bought it legit, and complied to the EULA, but MS won't activate it...DEMAND a refund for the new OS, and product key for the 3 pack or refund. If they refuse, file a complaint with your state attorney general, and the FTC. Don't let MS steal from you.

Remember to always use ESD protection when handling the mobo, and components. How many watts is the power supply? Let me know.

I bought two brand new 400 GB SATA 2 drives, reset CMOS, slapped em in RAID 1, then installed windows. I bought one last copy of XP Pro (only ran $137 this time) and now I am done paying for MS software for at least 5 years. Only things changed out were the two old HDDs for the two new ones. I never use the Nvidia networking BS or their firewall because they both suck. PSU = 550W.

The entire install ran smooth, the computer runs smooth, but it's that damn dvd-rom.

Oh, and I installed two 7600GTs (one at time of install, and one tonight).

Posted by Sinister Crayon I bought two brand new 400 GB SATA 2 drives, reset CMOS, slapped em in RAID 1, then installed windows. I bought one last copy of XP Pro (only ran $137 this time) and now I am done paying for MS software for at least 5 years. Only things changed out were the two old HDDs for the two new ones. I never use the Nvidia networking BS or their firewall because they both suck. PSU = 550W. The entire install ran smooth, the computer runs smooth, but it's that damn dvd-rom. Oh, and I installed two 7600GTs (one at time of install, and one tonight).

This isn't the cause, but did you enable SATA 2 on the HDs?

Pull the one vid card for now.

Any other devices on the IDE ports? Make sure the device is set as master in bios, and by jumper, and is on the end connector of the cable. Make sure PATA is not enabled in mobo bios, double check all the bios settings.

Try another cable, and then if that doesn't fix it, another player if a test one is available.

When did you first notice the problem after the reload? Another program may have corrupted a system file(s), or the registry. Check with the DVD manufacturer, and do a goggle search for that symptom.

Inductive coupling can happen around the mobo mount screws. Check for this and any metal object that is too close to the pcb traces. Always ground chassis, and use a ESD wrist grounded to the chassis (make sure it's unplugged!).

Controllers can fail on mobos, but this is unlikely.

Sounds like a problem with the cdrom filters in the registry since the drive works in other PCs. What burning software and / or games have you installed? (A game may have installed some kind of copy protection driver) Probably something is conflicting in there.

Download a linux live CD of some kind and boot it up in your other drive. Then test the problem drive with every type of disk you can and see if it fails to read anything. If it fails in linux then you'll know for sure it's hardware, else it's something in windows that's causing your problem.

Posted by Washu Sounds like a problem with the cdrom filters in the registry since the drive works in other PCs. What burning software and / or games have you installed? (A game may have installed some kind of copy protection driver) Probably something is conflicting in there. Download a linux live CD of some kind and boot it up in your other drive. Then test the problem drive with every type of disk you can and see if it fails to read anything. If it fails in linux then you'll know for sure it's hardware, else it's something in windows that's causing your problem.

If the hardware checks out, reload, and checking for function after reload. Then add programs, one by one.

If you create a Raid 1 (mirror) array, load the OS and activate it, and then pull the power from one half of the mirror, you can "reuse" the mirror image again, again for trouble shooting.

The Force 4 controller will then allow you to morph the one drive image into a stripe array across 2-4 HDs! It works, my system's OS is backed up like this. Way cool trick.

Check to see if Data Execution Prevention is enabled, and for what. Right click My Computer>advanced tab>Data Execution Prevention tab. Try disabling it temporarily. What players did you load, and which games? It may be easier to reload, and do it over, but the same thing will probably happen. It could easily be a driver; any software with the player loaded? Anything loaded on this OS that was not on the other?


Did you zero fill the HDs completely before loading? This is mandatory, even with new HDs. Never skip this step. At the very minimum do a quick fill. Always use the HDs manufacturers zero out utility to do this. Not doing this can cause all kinds of problems with Windows problems, data corruption, and outright crashes.

Posted by blackhawk Check to see if Data Execution Prevention is enabled, and for what. Right click My Computer>advanced tab>Data Execution Prevention tab. Try disabling it temporarily. What players did you load, and which games? It may be easier to reload, and do it over, but the same thing will probably happen. It could easily be a driver; any software with the player loaded? Anything loaded on this OS that was not on the other? Did you zero fill the HDs completely before loading? This is mandatory, even with new HDs. Never skip this step. At the very minimum do a quick fill. Always use the HDs manufacturers zero out utility to do this. Not doing this can cause all kinds of problems with Windows problems, data corruption, and outright crashes.

Tried the data execution stuff previously, even went in to msconfig and disabled the IMAPI and Light-Scribe shit. Still didn't work. New cable did nothing either. Stripped the system down the the bare bones, still no success. I have one last trick to pull though (throw an IDE-SATA converter on the drive and hope it works).

HDDs were zeroed-out, I think its either the firmware, or windows. I've updated the firmware (It won't let roll back to previous ones) and I am fucking sick of windows, I had three of their Reps hang up on me the other day when I was trying to get one of those new install ID's (after talking to that stupid fucking computer that you can't bypass). Finally got a new one from some guy named Roy.

Sinister Crayon _{cannot wait for a different OS that he game on without being locked out of his computer for installing a new GFX card.}

I. Give. Up.

Posted by Sinister Crayon Tried the data execution stuff previously, even went in to msconfig and disabled the IMAPI and Light-Scribe shit. Still didn't work. New cable did nothing either. Stripped the system down the the bare bones, still no success. I have one last trick to pull though (throw an IDE-SATA converter on the drive and hope it works). HDDs were zeroed-out, I think its either the firmware, or windows. I've updated the firmware (It won't let roll back to previous ones) and I am fucking sick of windows, I had three of their Reps hang up on me the other day when I was trying to get one of those new install ID's (after talking to that stupid fucking computer that you can't bypass). Finally got a new one from some guy named Roy. Sinister Crayon cannot wait for a different OS that he game on without being locked out of his computer for installing a new GFX card. I. Give. Up.

Call the player manufacturer tech support, they may be helpful.
Try putting the plater on the other mobo controller. It still could be hardware, but sounds like a windows issue. It may not be MS's fault if so. Poorly written software can overwrite system files, and damaged the registry. If that's the case reloading is the easiest solution if a SFC Scannow doesn't restore it. Try it, purge the cache, and try it, but I don't think it will work for this. I always do this after a install.

Did the problem start after the bios flash?!!

If you reload try my mirror trick, it should work, but I never tried it on that mobo. That way you'll only reload once more, but make sure you load everything right!(PM me if you want to know how if your not sure) Leave the bios in all default settings except what you need to change for now, and again do a hard reset. Zero fill the HDs. Once loaded (load only mobo, vid, audio drivers, and see if the player is fully functional. Do not load any game programs, etc. If it's not working, try MS updates, if not working it's probably one of the drivers you have loadaed, bad setting, or hardware. If it is working start loading one program at a time, checking after each one.