Re: cd/dvd question



David M. wrote:
"Bob Williams" <mytbob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:PVAbf.18863$bo.11320@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


David M. wrote:

"Bob Williams" <mytbob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:Rmjbf.17823$bo.997@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


David M. wrote:



"Monty Bonner" <mdbonn21@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:11mq3e7ap1fiq71@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



On thing to check if it's a windows box is this. I am assuming you are running Windows 2000 or XP, if it's some older operating system. Don't waste time fixing it, purchase a new system, make sure you get a good one. Don't buy HP, Compaq, or Gateway or E-Machine. I refrain form Levineo because that takes dollars away from the US and that leaves the Mom and Pop outlets, building your own or Dell. We use dell at my place of employment. I have not made up my mind on them. They just announced certain models have the bad capacitor issues but are not issuing a recall. That problem has been around for the last 5 years and will continue to be around.

Here is what to check. Right Click My Computer icon, go to "manage", choose device manager, click on the plus next to "IDE/ATA/ATAPI controllers, then right click on the Primary IDE channel and go to properties. You will see a window with several tabs at the top, choose the "advanced Settings" choose that tab and make sure that DMA if available is chosen for the Transfer Type. Do this for all the IDE Controllers listed. Change any that are not DMA to DMA, etc.

If it still will not burn CD's the Drive is bad most likely, or the system has toasted the driver. Plextor as it's the best, with Pioneer right along side. The pioneers are faster, and Plextors seem to be made a tad better. Your choice. www.newegg.com is the place to compare prices, good customer service and lots of choices.

Monty


OK, My primary and secondary IDE channels seem to check out alright. There is a third entry under "IDE/ATA/ATAPI controllers, called "Via Bus Master IDE Controller" that does not have an advanced settings.

Since you (and Marvin) seem to be knowledgeable and sympathetic :-) let me just tell you my tale of woe, and maybe you can recommend a course of action.

My PC is about 3 years old. Athlon 2400 processor, 1GB RAM, decent harddrive, still a pretty good machine. I got it from a local computer store, so maybe they don't use the highest quality parts. (One constant annoyance is that the fan is really loud.). A couple of months ago, the machine started acting bad. The machine wasn't as performant, and I think some apps started acting weird. So, I figured it was time to format the disk. I was not able to format the disk. Using two different Windows XP Pro disks, the OS install failed (!!!!!!). I bring the machine to a local (not the same company I bought it from) repair shop, and they repro not being able to install with the OS disk I have them, but they are able to install the OS with one of their disks. Not the resolution I was looking for, but what the heck, I'll take it. I install my software and restore my data and everything is swell.

Now, I'm a dummy and for some reason I was using Nero to burn my CDs. Don't ask me why, someone just told me to use it. I never used the Windows burn feature. A few weeks after my newly formatted is up and running, I decide it's time to burn some pictures to CD. I install Nero and it seems that right after I installed Nero, the weirdness I was having with my machine returns. And now, I am unable to burn CDs. The machine still works for mail and the other usual apps (I'm using the machine to access this newsgroup) but I can't burn CDs. I even tried using the Windows burn feature and the burn still fails.

Any suggestions (besides buying a new computer)?

Try uninstalling NERO. If it is an early version or a lite version,
it may not be fully capable in Win Xp.
Also scan your computer for viruses.
I ran into trouble with Nero once. I never did figure what the problem was. I finally uninstalled it and got EZ CD/DVD Creator V.6
All was well again.
With Nero gone, Windows' built in burner may work again.
Bob Williams



I uninstalled Nero and attempted another burn, which failed. The error I see is the CD Writing Wizard dialog box, which says "There was an error in the writing process. The disc you have attempted to write may no longer be usable."

I forgot to mention another weird symptom of the computer. When I turn the machine on, it commonly hangs at the device display portion of the startup (before Windows splash screen). I have to CRTL+ATL+DEL and the computer almost always starts the second time.

I guess I'll try disconnecting the CD write drive from the machine and see what happens then. 

It's a long shot but it's very easy to try......Try a NEW CD disk.
It may be that the disk itself is scratched or somehow corrupted.
I have had this happen with bargain CDs right out of the box.
Are you sure the disk is a CD-R and not a CD-RW or a DVD



A new CD disk? I'm not sure what that means. I am using write once CDs. FYI, I bought a batch of 100 Mitsui blanks a year or so ago, and have worked though about 1/3 of them, making data disks with .jpg, .mov, and .wav files (of my baby) and CDs of song files that I down load from MSN Music and Napster. Until the recent weirdness. I have had four write failures in a row now.

I figured that perhaps you were just trying to use the same disc time and again, assuming that an "out of the box" disk must surely be OK. Sometimes they are not.
I took the old CD writer (a Liteon) out of the computer and I was able to start the computer without any hangups on the device screen. So, that was nice, although there is still a slowness to my machine that makes me think I am not out of the woods yet.
Slowness make me think "VIRUS".....Have you run a virus check on the system?

I went to Costco today and picked up a Toshiba 16x DVD Writer Double Layer, internal drive. If I can't write to a blank CD with this device, I will likely just return the drive to Costco and get a refund, and buy a new computer, because I've had it with this one and I just don't get all that much enjoyment from trying to fix the thing.

I hear you!
These screwball problems sometimes take the joy out of playing with a computer. OTOH, I have geeky friends who seem to derive pleasure and satisfaction out of solving these esoteric problems.

That said, I did roll up my sleeves and remove the computer cover. I read the install instructions on the Toshiba drive and I would like to ask some follow-up questions here

Question 1
The Toshiba comes with Nero. Is Nero necessary to burn jpg, .mov, and wav files to CDs and DvDs (not to mention .wma files)? Can't I just use the Windows XP utility? If Nero is not necesary for this, what is the advantage to using Nero?
Nero or any other software is not NECESSARY to burn CDs. You can do it with Windows Xp's built in burning utility. (Don't know if Windows can burn to a double layer DVD). Howerever, Windows' burning utility is a lame, stripped down piece of software. Toshiba gives you Nero because it is more versatile.

Question 2
The Liteon CD write device was not installed when I bought the computer. I picked up the Liteon a year or two ago. The computer came with, and still has, a CD/DvD reader. Is it OK for the computer to have both a CD/DvD reader and a DvD writer? 

Yes.

The main reason I want to keep the CD/DvD reader
is that I cannot figure out how I would connect the audio cable from the Toshiba DvD writer to the mother board. (I guess all this assumes that the Toshiba DvD writer can also act as a CD/DvD reader, eh?) I mean, I do not see an audio cable from the CD/DvD reader. So, I think I would prefer to just steer clear of the whole subject. (Unless an audio cable is not really needed to get audio on CD/DvD playback.) Is an audio cable optional for burning?

Question 3
Here's the ugly question: jumper settings. The Liteon CD writer (the device I am having trouble with) was on the same IDE cable (secondary IDE port?) as the CD/DvD reader. When I removed the Liteon CD writer, I saw that the jumper was set to Slave. When I poked my head into the case, I saw that the CD/DvD reader was set to master (assuming standard jumper configuration on such devices). When I install the Toshiba DvD writer, is it OK to make it the slave and keep the CD/DvD reader as the master? Or should I swap those settings?

It SHOULDN'T make any difference, but some manufacturers do specify how they want their optical drives connected.
What is on your primary IDE cable besides your C:/ drive?
Setting Toshiba as slave on your primary IDE may also be an option.
Bob Williams

.

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