CD and DVD+RW drives problem

[edong]

The two drives are properly listed in Device Manager and in My Computer but both won't read anything. They are assigned D & E drives. I do not think they are broken because if I restart, they can read fine BUT go back to the problem when I eject the media.

Before that, the computer won't see the drives at all. I deleted the upper and lower filters and the drives appeared but won't read any media. I checked the jumper settings. Changed the ribbon cable. I even installed only one drive. I also falshed the BIOS.

I'm not sure if this is related to Service Pack 2 I installed last week. But I was able to use the drives at least twice before tonight's problem. Anybody knows the solution? Thanks.

Dell P4 2.2 Ghz, 512 MB, 30 GB, XP 2

[Bjs]

And the drive's are made by who ? ... and models are ? ... would be handy too know .

Make sure cable that connects unit's to motherboard has not been installed in reverse ... the end with the middle connector closest too it gose to the drives ... ie

(mother board here) ====...........................................=== =.........==== (drives here)

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To save time ... make sure all drives are set to cs only ... then check them again to see if they work .

This also save's time on explaining how to setup master / slave issue's .

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Firstly ...

Boot into SAFEMODE only
Go to device manager , and remove ALL listed optical drives ... and the parent object as well
Reboot pc ... and it will redetect them ... after , retry testing them

If all is well ... stop and enjoy

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Dell's are fickly things when it comes too cables ... the forum mentioned to temporary disable the onboard network in the bios when carrying out this test .

Try 1 unit connected first ... if success ... then repeat test by removing this unit from system , and install the other ... if fail ... you found issue with one of the drives .

If both found to function fine when individually tested ... then get hold of a brand new cable to connect the drives , and retest ... dell cable's are a heap of junk ... when they playup ... they really do screw you about .

Should problem return with both drive's connected on new cable ... then there is an incompatability issue between the unit's ...

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Bad bios update ... NEVER ever flash the bios of a working system unless it is ABSOLUTELY required .

While the problem is extremely rare ... it can appear at any time ... if pc is working fine ... then dont do it unless the benefits you may recieve out weigh the minimal risk of a bad bios update occuring .

Basic hardware failure , software issue's are easy enough to test for ... but throw in a bios update can make change's that are unexpected ...

[Nelson37]

Order on the cable does not matter unless it is a CS cable, and the CS jumper can ONLY be used with a CS cable.

Make certain the cable is on completely on both edges of the connector, and on both sides. It is very unusual that it will work until ejected, then not work until a reboot. This tends to indicate a problem in the change line which is located at one edge of the ribbon cable. Hence the suggestion to make sure the cable is snugly seated.

I would disconnect one drive and troubleshoot thoroughly. Often two drives have an incompatibility which could cause such an issue. Simplify the situation. Also test with commercial, pressed CD and not a burned disk or a DVD. Simple data read.

Deleting and reinstalling as suggested a good idea. Check DMA settings.

[edong]

Thanks guys.

I've used this PC for around 4 years with no Upper & Lower Filters problem. Even that did not fix it. It only made the drives visible but not to read data. Only when I updated it to SP 2 last week that this thing happened. I am going to reformat and install the original XP SP1. I ran out of ideas. Hopefully it is the problem although I am aware that other people have SP2 and happy with it.

[edong]

After many hours of research, I found something that may be the cause. During SP2 installation, I might have ignored the warning about the "atapi.sys being used" and continued the SP2 update.

My problem now is how to undo it without the need for fresh OS installation because at least one person said he uninstalled the SP2 along with the erring softwares then reinstalled it but still has the problem. Another one also did not have any luck in copying a downloaded atapi.sys file. So reformatting is the way to go for me unless anyone read this and come up with a quicker solution.

Actually, if not for that bugging popup saying SP1 will not be supported anymore, I would not install SP2. Thanks.

[edong]

Just an update. For those people who might have a similar problem. Before you decide that your drive already failed, test and research more. There is no use buying a new drive immediately because I did replace the drives with working ones to no avail.

I finally reformatted and did a clean install of XP SP1. Both drives are working fine again. I did not dare to update to SP2 again. Just not worth it. It's unfortunate that I am not one of those lucky people who installed SP2 without a problem. Though I do not think that problem is unique to me because there are similar posts in other forums.