dvd and motherboard issue ?

[BeginnerSeb]

Hy, I'm not very familiar with the computer issues, and I'm have a problem that I do not understand at all...
I purchased a new dvd +/- Rw super multi speed LG and mounted it on IDE secondary ...
all worked fine for 1 month, afther that it was unable to recognise any type of disk ...
ok, I purchased another one dvd rw of the same kynd, and replaced the "oldest " one... the symptoms were identycall ...
then I purchase a new Sony dvd rw +/_ Ide and replaced again ... There was the same symphtoms, but afther 2 months ...
Now I can't read and recognise any type of disc...
I do not overwork with dvd/cd's, only read one or two in one week ...
What should I do, I have two new dvd units(the ones that the dealer replaced my faulty ones , that were in warranty)...
The system is AMD XP 1800 based , 1 Gb Ram and running xp sp3 ....
Should I suspect a motherboard failure ? Everything else works fine. Afther the first failure, I mounted a new power source and harddrive ... and I am at the end of ideas...
Please help...

[hech54]

Should I suspect a motherboard failure ?

Absolutely NOT. Start by dong some simple computer maintenance and cleaning.
CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) is my personal favorite.

[wtsinnc]

Hello BeginnerSeb.

First, do as hech54 suggested. If that action doesn't fix the problem, here are
two possible remedies;

1) Go to device manager and find the IDE controller listing.
If you see a yellow icon next to it, you have a problem with a driver.
Uninstall the driver and reboot. This process will reinstall the driver
and should correct that issue.

2) You could have a defective IDE cable or a loose connection involving one
of the IDE connectors. Reconnect the IDE cable to the motherboard and both
burners.
If that doesn't fix the problem, try another cable and be sure that you are using a
40 pin, 80 conductor cable. The newer drives require that for proper operation.

Good luck, and please post back to let everyone know if the problem has been fixed
or remains.

[Bjs]

Three items.

1: Update the firmware for the drives.
2: Replace the ide data cable as they can cause these problematic issues when failing.
3: For test purpose only have one optical drive connected and set pin on back to master, connect to end of ide data cable and use imgburn in simulation mode prior to actual burn mode.

An optical drive with genuine issues can cause other units to develop similar faults when chained on same data channel.

Only issue with 40pin vs 80pin cable is the 80pin cannot be reversed.

[BeginnerSeb]

Many thanks to all for suggestions ...
Meantime, I replaced the IDE cable with a new one, I reinstalled the OS, and mounted a new single-master optical drive on his IDE channel...
Shortly I'll update the firmware of the optical drive and motherboard bios...
I hope to have success in this direction ...
The problem was equally developped before even afther installing again the OS(the same version with the one who generated this issue )... Now I purchased a new one, supposing a bug in ide driver or something ; And , off course, an updated driver for the mainboard
...even the IDE cable was replaced by me afther the first failure... true, I replaced with a used one, but still functional ...
But I never dared to update the Bios and the firmware ... it is a delicat operation for me, but ... since it is the only idea who is on my "try" list ... I'll do it
The good part is that now I have a functional optical drive... don't know if it will last more... I'm so curious...
Another good part , and more important, is that here I found friends to help and support me ... Thank you all and the best of my wishes

[fritzi93]

The symptoms you describe could also have been caused by conflicting filters as described here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060/EN-US/

Either the drive itself is missing or discs are not recognized, same cause. A re-install of the OS would of course solve the problem.

At any rate, be careful about installing multiple burning programs, especially if you use Nero. :P