Optical Drives are not working

[RKS]

Need help with optical drive issues.

My computer:

XP Pro SP2 (and partial Vista install on a seperate HDD)
Intel 915PBL W/ 3.0 Preshott Antec TP 480 6600 pci-e
2 SATA HDDs attached to the motherboard
1 PATA HDD attached to a controller card
2 optical drives attached to the mobos single IDE slot
floppy drive


I burnt a dvd early in the morning and that evening neither optical drive was functional. The cdrw (lite-On) is detected in the BIOS and in Windows but does not recognize any media. There seems to be no conflicts in Device Manager.
The DVDRW (NEC) is not detected in the BIOS or Windows.

I think I have ruled out the IDE cable or the IDE port on the motherboard since I attached a HDD by itself and it was detected and was properly functional.

The only thing that I think may have caused this issue was my attempt at setting up a dual-boot with XP Pro and Vista (on a seperate HDD). For some reason the install did not work (1 problem at a time for me please) and I left it hanging. I just boot into XP Pro and it boots without any issues.

I have reset the BIOS using the jumpers on the motherboard but that did not help.

Please give me some other suggestions. I have even contemplated buying a SATA burner but the only one available (Plextor) seems to have some compatibility issues and is just a IDE with a SATA contoller board.

ANY help is appreciated.

 

[Willoughbyva]

Try one drive at a time and see if it works. You could go to hardware manager and delete the controller and let windows pick it back up during boot. I think there used to be a problem with XP and optical drives, but I think they might have fixed it. I could be thinking about windowsme, so I am uncertain.

Good Luck

Perry

 

[RKS]

Tried them seperately in a different pc, deleted them in Device Manager and allowed XP to re-detect all with the same issues. The DVDRW is not recognized, the CDRW is found but unable to see any media.

Any other suggestions? For them to die at the same time seems kinda odd.

As a side note even though these drives are over a year old and not covered by Newegg I purchased them with my Amex which doubles the warranty.

edit:
looks like Amex is going to re-imburse me for my purchases. With my $170 credit I think I should be able to buy a nice new DVD burner.

 

[Willoughbyva]

For $170 you could probably buy 2 new burners if you wanted. Sorry I couldn't come up with any better answers to fix your problem.



Perry

 

[stevty2889]

It's unlikely since they were previously working, but double check the jumpers, make sure one is master and one is slave, or they are both on cable select. Also try using differant power connectors, what do you have for a PSU?

 

[RKS]

Originally posted by: stevty2889
It's unlikely since they were previously working, but double check the jumpers, make sure one is master and one is slave, or they are both on cable select. Also try using differant power connectors, what do you have for a PSU?

Tried them in both variations as Master/Slave and then both as CS and tried then individually.
I have a Antec True Power 480 so that shouldn't be the problem since I was able to run a HDD instead of any optical drive, without any problems.
They were both functional in the AM and both were out that evening.
I did try different PSU connectors but I also tried them in a different PC with the same prblems.

 

[RKS]

Originally posted by: Willoughbyva
For $170 you could probably buy 2 new burners if you wanted. Sorry I couldn't come up with any better answers to fix your problem.



Perry

thanks for the suggestions. I figure $45 for the newest NEC DVD burner and the rest for a new Antec P180 case.