I/O Error with dvd drive

[xtreemman]

my set up is my dvd burner is my master and my cdrom is my slave, and my problem is that my dvd drive wont play dvds, an I/O error pops up instead of playing the dvd, also it wont even load software. i changed the ide cable thinking that was the problem but it wasnt. i get the same problem with my cdrom drive.

i have an abit nf8-v motherboard and like i said 2 optical drives that are connected to the ide 2 slot on the mb, and 2 harddrives connected to the ide 1 slot. i obviously have no problems with the hard drives. so can anyone help me out with this problem i dont know what to do. thanks

[Craig Tucker]

If both drives are crapping out and you have changed the cable, it could be the IDE channel on the motherboard is faulty. I have had this happen once. You could try a PCI-IDE adapter card to connect your optical drives to.

[xtreemman]

could it be the drives too or how i have them set up( i have the master(dvdr) on the first connecter on the ide cabel then the slave(cdrom) on the next one, cos i had this same dvd burner in my other tower and when i went to get stuff off of a cdr it would take for ever to transfer to by hard drive, and some times it would freeze. all the files on the disc showed up but it would either transfer really really slow or freeze.

is there any way to test ur ide channel is bad? or could i plug the hard drives into ide 2 and the optical into ide 1? also the ide cable is a bit twisted in the tower is that ok?

any suggestions or help is appreciated, thanks again

[Craig Tucker]

Try a hard drive on the channel that your optical drives are having problems with, if it workd ok then you can eliminate that as the problem. Do you have your jumpers set correctly on the optical drives

[xtreemman]

yea the jumpers are set correctly, i also put my optical drives on the ide 1 channel and my hard drives on ide 2 channel and the hard drives work but the dvd burner still doesnt, but the cdrom drive which is on the same ide channel as the dvd burner does.

[xtreemman]

does this mean my dvd burner is done? its only 6 months old. also does it matter where the master and slave drives are on the ide cable, like does the master have to be the end then the slave on the 2nd link?

[Craig Tucker]

Yes the master goes on the end connecter and the slave on the middle one. Or you could set your drives to cable select, it then does not matter where you put them. If the CD is now working and so is the hard drive, does sound like a problem with the DVD burner.

[hellbringer]

i have a plextor drive that has done the same thing, i messed with the cables then i messed with the jumpers then i messed with all the drivers and firmwares. finally i determined it was the drive.

but i lucked out somewhat, and u should try this and see if it works.

right click on my computer then properties then go to device manager and then locate your ide channels or controler. rightclick then properties. then find the transfer mode for the drive that isn't working and put it in PIO MODE. reboot and see if your drive works. it will be slower if it does but it will maybe at lest work. let me know what happens please im curious.

also what kind of drive u got?

[xtreemman]

yes hellbringer the drive works now that its on PIO Mode, whats that mean?

it is an I/O Magic 16x dual format dual layer dvd burner

[hellbringer]

i think your drive is broke but it will work in that mode only, which is like really slow you'll probly be burning at 1x. when u watch dvd's they might be jerky. same with games that rely on the cd's, just depends.

what u need to do is find out what kind of warrenty you have on that drive and how long u have had the drive for.

with plextor i have 1 year warrenty and i just call them proof its not working. then send it to them (i pay shipping) then they send me another drive(they pay shipping).

goodluck

[xtreemman]

ok i have a one year warrenty ill call them up, thanks for the help hellbringer and Craig Tucker

[budz]

xtreemman use this guide on how to set your drive in DMA MODE.
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7625

Use the microsoft ide drivers instead of the nvida drivers that came with your motherboard.

Use this guide if you can't enable to DMA MODE:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6645

I wouldn't recommend using a PCI CONTROLLER CARD for dvd burners unless you use a SIIG PCI CONTROLLER CARD. Most dvd burners are not compatible when using a CONTROLLER CARD.

[xtreemman]

where do i get these drivers from and how do i go about installing them, do i have to uninstall the nvida first?

[budz]

where do i get these drivers from and how do i go about installing them, do i have to uninstall the nvida first?

when you delete the IDE CONTROLLER where your dvd burner is and reboot your pc, it will reinstall but you should have a choice to install the microsoft drivers or your nvida. choose the microsoft drivers.

[xtreemman]

i just want to be sure im gonna do this right to delete the nvida drives do i go to divice maganer and right click on the nvida nforce 3 250 parallel ata controler and then click on uninstall, then reboot the computer?

[budz]

Is your dvd burner hooked up to your PRIMARY or SECONDARY IDE? just uninstall whichever one it's hooked up to.

Here's a pic of what the IDE CONTROLLER looks like:

[xtreemman]

here is something for ya i decided to change the transfer mode to Ultra DMA 2 - Ultra33 or Ultra DMA 3 and my drive worked no problem but when i went back to Ultra DMA 4 - Ultra66 i got the I/O error again, does that make any sence to u.

[hellbringer]

i jerked around with my drive forever and i tried everything possible, including reinstalling aspi drivers. my best guess is that your drive is broke and cann't work at its top speed. if i were u i would just rma it because u shouldn't have to do all this just to get the drive to work there is something wrong with it and make it the manufacturers problem not yours.

my first drive was working fine then it went back so i rma'ed it. the drive i recieved did not work when i put it in so i went threw all the stuff your going threw or about to go threw and trust me its not worth your time.

[budz]

the manufacturer will ask if you've done this and that so he might as well do it anyway. no manufacturer will RMA a drive unless certain things have been done to make sure the drive is DEAD. just my 2cents!

[hellbringer]

well i think he should call to find out what all has to be done before doing it, because he's told me enough to know its dead in my opinion based on my own experience, i got a drive in my case right now with exact symptoms just havn't got around to rma'in it because ive
worn myself out so much trying to find out what i did wrong only to realize i have been wasting my time because of a manufactor messed up. im so sick and tried of opening my case that im not sure if i will even rma it.

[budz]

well i think he should call to find out what all has to be done before doing it, because he's told me enough to know its dead in my opinion based on my own experience, i got a drive in my case right now with exact symptoms just havn't got around to rma'in it because ive
worn myself out so much trying to find out what i did wrong only to realize i have been wasting my time because of a manufactor messed up. im so sick and tried of opening my case that im not sure if i will even rma it.

hellbringer i am assuming the drive you're talking about is a Plextor drive. xtreemman hasn't told us the brand of his dvd burner. every dvd burner is not the same therefore the RMA process could also be different as well. with Plextor drives the tech support will ask you to do certain things before they consider the drive dead. you are only basing your experience with your drive. too many variables to name when it comes to dvd burning which could be hardware/software conflicts.

xtreemman it would be helpful if you post the brand of your dvd burner.

[xtreemman]

yes hellbringer the drive works now that its on PIO Mode, whats that mean?

it is an I/O Magic 16x dual format dual layer dvd burner

[budz]

yes hellbringer the drive works now that its on PIO Mode, whats that mean?

it is an I/O Magic 16x dual format dual layer dvd burner

Your I/O MAGIC 16x DVD BURNER could either be a REBADGED BENQ 1620 or a BTC burner. If you look at the drive itself it could say BENQ on it or go to DEVICE MANAGER to see if it says BENQ or BTC or ADAPTI 16X.......so forth. If it says the ADAPTI 16X and so forth the drive is a REBADGED BENQ 1620 if it says BTC then it's a crappy BTC drive......I/O MAGIC uses REBADGED DVD DRIVES....they don't manufacture their own which is why I asked what brand.... :P

[hellbringer]

oh im curious what speeds your drive works at in dma 3 or other one. u might try firmware updates there pretty quick and easy. worth a shot but probo won't help

[xtreemman]

budz:
the sticker on the drive says magic spin idvd16dd, under device manager it says DVDRW IDE 16x.

hellbringer:
im not sure how to check the speed of the drive, but if u can tell me id be happy to tell you, all i can say is that it burns a whole dvd disc in about 20 minutes in DMA3

[budz]

xtreemman wrote

budz:
the sticker on the drive says magic spin idvd16dd, under device manager it says DVDRW IDE 16x.

Sorry to say but it sounds like you have a REBADGED BTC DRIVE. What firmware is on the dvd burner? This is easily done by using programs DVD IDENTIFIER or DVDINFO PRO or CD/DVD SPEED. If the firmware is something like G7M9 or B7M9 then it's a REBADGED BENQ 1620. The box that the drive came in if it says DL DVD+R 4x speed then it is indeed a BTC drive. The I/O MAGIC REBADGED BENQ 1620's boxes will say DL DVD+R 2x speed which is how to differentiate between them.

[xtreemman]

here is a pic of the box it came in
http://www.iomagic.com/Products/show_all_results.asp?ProdID=idvd16dd

the firmware is A087

[budz]

here is a pic of the box it came in
http://www.iomagic.com/Products/show_all_results.asp?ProdID=idvd16dd

the firmware is A087

sorry to say but your drive is a BTC which is crappy. you can check out the BTC FORUM at cdfreaks.com for more information. return the drive for a refund then go purchase a BENQ 1620 OEM drive for $39.99, if you want the retail drive go to computergeeks.com during their sizzling sunday or greenlight specials the retail 1620 is $39.99.

[xtreemman]

are all drive now a days able to go to dma66? or do they have a cut off point?

[macrovision]

Just try changing all drives to master settings....I know of this same issue with HD's and putting all on master settings worked....Try it. BTW I use an NEC ND-3500AG...Rip's 4.7gb in 7.5 mins.....Burns 4.7gb in 9 min... USB drive....If it were direct IDE it'll be even faster