DVD-ROM Trouble / DVDDecrypter Causing Trouble?

[TenaciousJP]

I had a new DVD-ROM drive installed a few weeks ago. Everything's been working fine. I backed up one of my DVDs earlier today, and was about to back up another. I loaded the DVD in the DVD-ROM, and then opened DVD Decrypter. It seems like it is starting to load the DVD, and then it freezes on "Getting Profile." Also, the processor light on the front of my computer (flashes whenever the computer is working/busy/etc.) starts lighting up and stays permanently on until I turn off the computer. I have to turn off the computer by holding down the power button when this happens.

I've run virus and spyware scans (came up clean), defragged the computer, restarted several times... and I am still having this problem.

I've tried other discs, and all of them seem to give me the same problem now.

The DVD-ROM drive has been working fine. The only odd thing I've noticed is that sometimes I have to reboot to use it, after it has read a few discs. Kinda hard to explain, but if I am using a disc, and then put another in, and then another... after 3 or 4 different discs, it won't seem to want to read a new disc.

I have no idea what kind of DVD-ROM drive this is. I didn't install it, and it just comes up as IDE DVD-ROM 16x.

I hope someone is able to help me with this. Thank you.

[TenaciousJP]

Tried ripping in safe mode... freezes up when DVD Decrypter does the "Searching for SCSI/ATAPI" deal...

DVD burner seems to rip fine. However, the reason I have a DVD-ROM drive is so that I won't wear out the burner by using it to rip.

Should I maybe try a new ripper? What would you all recommend? Anything as good as DVD Decrypter? And free?

[TenaciousJP]

OK, this is very odd.

The disc I've been trying to backup is a DVD-R of some home movies. I just placed one of my regular / factory pressed / storebought DVDs in the DVD-ROM, and Decrypter seems to be working fine.

I wonder why my DVD-ROM doesn't like DVD-R discs anymore. I've ripped / backed-up my home movie DVD-Rs before on this drive without problems. Also, the drive reads and plays back DVD-R discs without problems. It just seems to have trouble when I try to rip the disc (if it is a VIDEO_TS / movie DVD-R).

A minor annoyance, I know, but I'm still curious as to why the drive is acting funny when it comes to ripping.

I was able to copy the disc using RecordNow's Exact Copy function, placing the original DVD-R in the DVD-ROM and a blank DVD-R in the DVD burner.

[TenaciousJP]

Now RecordNow seems to randomly not want to load and freezes up when I open it.

I'm pulling my hair out. This is weird.

EDIT:

I'm thinking of any possible reason why this isn't working properly. May sound stupid, but could the fact that I disabled autorun when I got my computer back be the culprit? Although, it wouldn't explain why it just started happening now.

[TenaciousJP]

Information on my drive, thanks to Everest:

Device Description: IDE DVD-ROM 16x
Manufacturer: Afree
Device Type: DVD-ROM

Reading Speeds: DVD-ROM 16x



I have never heard of this Afree company. Maybe it's a crappy drive? I was thinking that maybe there's some updated firmware or such out there that may solve my problem, but I can't find anything.

[TenaciousJP]

Still having trouble. If anyone has any idea what's wrong or what I can do to fix things, I greatly appreciate your help.

[Denvers Dawgs]

The dvd-r disc may have errors on it that's why the dvd-rom drive can't read it? Try running the disc through dvdinfopro and do a error check on it...

Also you could try isobuster to try and get the info from the disc

[TenaciousJP]

The DVD-R discs seem to be error-free and such.

I think I might just use my Restore discs and wipe the computer clean, starting over. If I have problems the next time around, then I am taking in my computer to be serviced.

Also, I was wondering... if you do a format/restore, do you have to upgrade your DVD burner's firmware over again?

[parallax1]

Who installed the drive? Can you be sure that they knew what they were doing? They may have the jumpers set wrong, the cables wrong...who knows?

[TenaciousJP]

Who installed the drive? Can you be sure that they knew what they were doing? They may have the jumpers set wrong, the cables wrong...who knows?

It was installed by a computer technician at the shop where I bought the computer and have it under warranty.

Also, some other questions and information I have...

I had downloaded the 1.10 Firmware update for my burner from the support page for my computer:

http://esupport.sony.com/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=PCVRS720G&UpdateType=Updates


After searching Pioneer's site, I found this page for the model of my DVD burner that came with the computer, the Pioneer DVR-108:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/article/0,,2076_4249_138551420,00.html


It says that it is a firmware update to Version 1.20B.

Is it safe to use the Pioneer firmware update for my burner, or is this just for a Pioneer burner that you buy in the stores and install yourself?

I'm backing up my files just in case something happens with the firmware upgrade.

Why am I thinking of upgrading my firmware again? Well, the burner doesn't seem to operate at the right speeds, and I'm getting a lot more coasters now for some reason. And I am using high-quality media (Sony, TDK mostly).

[budz]

TDK isn't high quality dvd media in my opinion. Those SONY dvd media you have is the MEDIA CODE TAIYO YUDEN? If they are then that is good quality dvd media.

As for upgrading your PIONEER 108 drive it should be okay as long as your dvd burner is a 108 drive. Make sure you flash the drive correctly. If the flash fails you could ruin the burner. If the burner isn't operating at the correct speeds check to see that DMA is ENABLED. Here's a link on how to check it:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7625

[TenaciousJP]

TDK isn't high quality dvd media in my opinion. Those SONY dvd media you have is the MEDIA CODE TAIYO YUDEN? If they are then that is good quality dvd media.

As for upgrading your PIONEER 108 drive it should be okay as long as your dvd burner is a 108 drive. Make sure you flash the drive correctly. If the flash fails you could ruin the burner. If the burner isn't operating at the correct speeds check to see that DMA is ENABLED. Here's a link on how to check it:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7625

Yeah, I have the good quality media.

It is a Pioneer DVR-108 drive. That's what it shows in the Device Manager.

Followed the instructions in that link that you gave me. Seems like DMA is enabled for both the primary and secondary channels. However, something is odd: I had two listings for Primary. Is that possible/normal?

[budz]

TDK isn't high quality dvd media in my opinion. Those SONY dvd media you have is the MEDIA CODE TAIYO YUDEN? If they are then that is good quality dvd media.

As for upgrading your PIONEER 108 drive it should be okay as long as your dvd burner is a 108 drive. Make sure you flash the drive correctly. If the flash fails you could ruin the burner. If the burner isn't operating at the correct speeds check to see that DMA is ENABLED. Here's a link on how to check it:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7625

Yeah, I have the good quality media.

It is a Pioneer DVR-108 drive. That's what it shows in the Device Manager.

Followed the instructions in that link that you gave me. Seems like DMA is enabled for both the primary and secondary channels. However, something is odd: I had two listings for Primary. Is that possible/normal?

Your HARD DRIVE is probably be on IDE 1 PRIMARY MASTER & the SONY DVDROM could be on IDE 1 PRIMARY SLAVE.

[psx_pirate]

Go back to the store and ask them to swap out the dvd-rom drive for a different manufacturers drive ... i had the same problem with an afree dvd-rom drive that i installed on a system that also had a plextor cd-rw drive ... i found that after removing the plextor the afrree worked fine but as soon as the plextor was reconnected the problem reappeared ... i tried the afree on a friends pc that had a different cd-rw drive (can't remember make/model) and it worked fine so i sold him the afree and bought a different make/model which solved my problem .... however my friend later replaced his cd-rw drive with a pioneer 108 dvd-rw drive and hey ho he was now having this same problem (he threw the afree in the bin)

[classfour]

While it is likely a problem with the drive: I would give dvdfabdecryptor a try. I had to use it the other day on a problem disc - got to 99% and hit a snag decryptor couldn't get past. While it sometimes takes awhile to rip with dvdfabdecryptor, it usually gets to the end of the disc.

Also, some drives read better than others. For whatever reason, the ancient Panasonic LFD521 drive that I have will read (to completion) virtually every problem disc that I've ever had. I've even installed it in a portable enclosure so I can drag it out when needed. The NECs that I've installed and used are great burners, but have trouble reading some discs - ditto for the Plextors that I've used.

Afree isn't a brand that rings any bells with me. If your computer tech has to pull it out under warranty (hopefully), he'll likely switch to a better drive in the future. I've had excellent luck with an ASUS dvdROM drive in my duplicator.

[TenaciousJP]

Go back to the store and ask them to swap out the dvd-rom drive for a different manufacturers drive ... i had the same problem with an afree dvd-rom drive that i installed on a system that also had a plextor cd-rw drive ... i found that after removing the plextor the afrree worked fine but as soon as the plextor was reconnected the problem reappeared ... i tried the afree on a friends pc that had a different cd-rw drive (can't remember make/model) and it worked fine so i sold him the afree and bought a different make/model which solved my problem .... however my friend later replaced his cd-rw drive with a pioneer 108 dvd-rw drive and hey ho he was now having this same problem (he threw the afree in the bin)

Really? You had the same problem and it was because of the Afree drive? In that case, I'll remove the drive and replace it with something else.

Could I possibly put another burner in that space where the Afree DVD-ROM was?

[budz]

Could I possibly put another burner in that space where the Afree DVD-ROM was?

Yes you can put another burner in its place.

[TenaciousJP]

Yes you can put another burner in its place.

Sweet. I figure that if I'm going to have to buy a new drive, I might as well spend the extra few bucks and get another burner.

Looks like I'm off to NewEgg (since the local shops don't have much, or any good deals for that matter). What should I get?

EDIT: A friend of mine at Best Buy will let me use his discount, so I think I'm going to pick up this Pioneer burner that is on sale.