Very odd dvd writer issue

[The Stinger]

Ok, let me start by saying I have dealt with PC hardware for many years but this issue just boggles me.

I bought my brother a Pioneer DVR-108. When we install it, we see that the bios sees it, so all is good there. Then when XP is loaded we see it recognize it, but then odd thing happens. It won't see it as a DVD drive in Nero, in Shrink, in decrypter, it won't see it as a DVD drive in Windows Explorer. It sees it as a CD drive. Now this is the second drive we have gotten. I have uninstalled and reinstalled it. Reinstalled Drivers, switched IDE channels on the Mobo, and all kinds of goofy Sh!t. Even reimaged the hard drive to make it work and same thing. Made sure it was Master and the other drive was slave. The only thing I can think of is maybe his hard drive is what is causing the problem. But I have never heard of a hard drive doing such a thing. Anyway his hard drive is one I have never heard before....Quantum fireball? Anyway, before we bought this drive he had a single bay case. I don't get what is going on...Any ideas?

[thecoalman]

I had a similar situation, when I first purchased my computer it had a Plextor writer that just came on the market. They sent an older version Roxio with it that didn't support the drive. I couldn't do anything with it but burn CD's. I mean it wouldn't work for anything until I got the new software.

[ViRaL1]

Quantum isn't really around anymore. Try putting a DVD in the drive and seeing what it shows up as in Explorer.

[The Stinger]

I tried a new version of Nero, no go. It won't work in nothing...When I put a dvd in the drive it still sees it as a CD drive. Really odd. I have never heard of this. He had Anydvd installed, but when you reboot, usually Anydvd will recognize right away, but it says no DVD drive installed. Can a hard drive effect a DVD drive like that? And another odd thing is hardware device manager has it listed as DVD-RW. And windows installed the drivers. I don't know, it sure is odd though. Also, it will read CDs ok, music, data. It works fine. But if I try to put a DVD in or open a DVD app it won't see it as a DVD drive.

[ViRaL1]

But it's still reading data on a DVD?

[The Stinger]

It will read DVDs and I am able to watch them, but that is if only I eject the disc and let it auto launch and I have power dvd open. Otherwise if I just try to open Powerdvd and press play it won't see it. It's really odd cause nothing sees it as a dvd-rw. I would think since device manager lists it as a DVD-rw, than you would think that Windows Explorer would say the same. But it doesn't. It says CD-r...and correct me if I am wrong but if it was the IDE channel on the mobo that was causing the issue, than windows would see any drive at all right? Another odd thing is Nero would see the other cd drive but not the DVD drive. So I decided to unplugg that IDE cable so the only drive that windows would see would be the DVD drive. But then when I open Nero it only has image drive. So it won't see it even if it was the only drive there. Very odd......And its pissing me off!

[smearbrick1]

My PC doesn't list my DVD-+R/RW drive as a DVD-+R/RW drive, it lists it as CD rom drive also. Although, this doesn't affect the usability of the drive(s) in any way. It doesn't sound like you are having an issue using the drive as you can play dvd's on it. It sounds more like an asthetics issue than an actual hardware problem.

...and as far as just clicking on PowerDVD to play the dvd and nothing happening... join the club. I've stopped even trying to get PowerDVD to play dvds months ago. It seems to have taken a huge crap after the installation of SP2. No big thing... I don't watch dvds on my PC, but if I did, there are several other software players more than capable of doing the job.

[The Stinger]

My PC doesn't list my DVD-+R/RW drive as a DVD-+R/RW drive, it lists it as CD rom drive also. Although, this doesn't affect the usability of the drive(s) in any way. It doesn't sound like you are having an issue using the drive as you can play dvd's on it. It sounds more like an asthetics issue than an actual hardware problem.

...and as far as just clicking on PowerDVD to play the dvd and nothing happening... join the club. I've stopped even trying to get PowerDVD to play dvds months ago. It seems to have taken a huge crap after the installation of SP2. No big thing... I don't watch dvds on my PC, but if I did, there are several other software players more than capable of doing the job.

I have seen this before too, where it will see it as a CD-R and it still works ok. The issue I am having is that Nero or any other DVD software won't recognize it. That is what I am having an issue with. I pull up Nero, or Decrypter and it doesn't have the burner listed.

[thecoalman]

Have you tried putting it on a stump and smashing with an axe.... works evertime. I've used this technique before and it has worked everytime.

[The Stinger]

Have you tried putting it on a stump and smashing with an axe.... works evertime. I've used this technique before and it has worked everytime.

I did that with the last burner before we sent it back and it still didn't work. Newegg is good about taking stuff back even if it is a bit banged up.

[thecoalman]

Have you tried putting it on a stump and smashing with an axe.... works evertime. I've used this technique before and it has worked everytime.

I did that with the last burner before we sent it back and it still didn't work. Newegg is good about taking stuff back even if it is a bit banged up.

One last suggestion... Do you have the latest updates for Nero. As the new drives come up they add support for them.

[The Stinger]

Have you tried putting it on a stump and smashing with an axe.... works evertime. I've used this technique before and it has worked everytime.

I did that with the last burner before we sent it back and it still didn't work. Newegg is good about taking stuff back even if it is a bit banged up.

One last suggestion... Do you have the latest updates for Nero. As the new drives come up they add support for them.

Yep got the latest updates from Nero, decrypter, clone dvd, and everything else I thought of trying. I don't understand what is going on. I asked other IT message boards and no one has any idea of what is going on. It makes me sick, nothing sees it as a DVD drive. It's almost like its a mobo issue, but then the mobo wouldn't see it even as a cd-rom. I would like to call some type of IT help, but don't know who to call. Asus for the motherboard or Pioneer for the burner. I would say Pioneer but again this is the second brand of burner that this same issue happened with, so I doubt it's the burner.