Member Avatar for jazstonecutter

Hi
my DVD re-writer after a couple of years of loyal service has stopped reading dvd's and only reads cd's, in fact in the properties of this drive it comes up as a cd drive. I bought a new dvd writer ( HP dvd740 Internal 16X DVD Writer ) but my it also has the same problem.
I thought that it might of been a virus so I did format of hard drive and reinstalled windows, but alas this also failed, whats going on?
Any help would be greatly appreciated as i really miss being able to burn DVD's.

Cheers
Jaz

running a p4 2800 using windows xp, serv2

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Chaky

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Summary of likely causes and focused triage (software vs hardware)

The symptom — DVD media not recognised while CDs still work, Windows showing the device as a "CD" drive, and the same behaviour with a replacement HP dvd740 after a clean XP install — points to either host-side detection/configuration (BIOS/IDE-SATA controller, cabling, registry/filters, or chipset drivers) or a repeat hardware/factory fault. The following short diagnostic sequence isolates the problem quickly and narrows next steps.

  • Check firmware/BIOS and POST: confirm the optical drive model appears in the motherboard POST or BIOS device list. A model string shown there indicates the controller/cable and the drive firmware are talking at a low level.
  • Boot from a known-good DVD (Windows install disc or a Linux live DVD). Successful boot/read from that DVD proves the drive + connection can read DVDs independently of Windows; failure at this stage points to hardware, cable, or BIOS/controller mode.
  • Swap the drive to a different PC or attach it externally via a USB-to-IDE/SATA adapter. Same failure on another machine -> likely faulty drive (RMA). Works elsewhere -> host configuration/driver issue on the original machine.
  • For PATA (IDE) systems: inspect jumpers (master/slave) and cable position (end/middle). For SATA systems: try a different SATA port and check controller mode (IDE/compatibility vs AHCI) — XP often needs the controller in compatibility mode for plug-and-play detection.

Windows-specific items to try when hardware tests show the drive itself is OK: uninstall the optical device in Device Manager and reboot so Windows redetects it, and back up the registry then check the class GUID key at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} — remove any UpperFilters/LowerFilters values only after a registry backup and system restore point are created.

On the optics question raised by and : pickup designs vary, but DVD reading requires finer focus and tighter tracking than CDs, so optical/align/contamination issues can allow CD reads while failing on DVDs. Given two different drives showing the same symptom on one machine, host-side causes should be exhausted before concluding both drives share the same mechanical fault.

Recommended Answers

All 6 Replies

Member Avatar for mechbas

"comes up as a cd drive", did you try to remove/delete the drive entirely and reboot?
" HP dvd740 ", did you check for a firmware update, new drivers?

Member Avatar for zandiago

ensure that your driver's are ok for that hardware.

Member Avatar for cguan_77

hi, try booting to cmos setup check the configuration if your system can read it correctly as dvd, if your your system doesn't read it correctly, try using other data cables..

Member Avatar for Chaky

I had a similar problem, only it was solved by reinstalling Windows and my "CD drive" was able to read DVDs (as they were 4.8 Gig CDs). I had no autoplay functionality in a sense of playing Audio CD's or DVD Movies. Only data CD/DVDs worked normally (autoplay). And it also registered as CD drive. I found that part of the problem was with windows registry regarding CD protocols. It was missing a service called "red book". ("Red book" is a name for audio CD standard) That is why I had to reinstall the windows.

You should have in mind that DVD drives have 2 sets of lenses. 1 for CDs and 1 for DVDs. It is possible that DVD lens is not working, got dirty or something, so your drive (old one) is being able to read CDs only. New one might be ripe for RMA if the case is the same.

If you have Nero at your disposal, there is a little utility called Nero Info tool. I believe that it is available for download as standalone program. It will display all of the capabilities of your drive, among other things, plus it bypasses windows drivers and settings.

Also, there are drivers (ASPI drivers - responsable for all CD/DVD reading and burning) that tend to get corrupted (overwritten) by some media player installations. There are tools (forceASPI, fixASPI...) that can fix those, but you would have to know your ways around PCs to be able to use most of them.

Member Avatar for shouvik.d

You should have in mind that DVD drives have 2 sets of lenses. 1 for CDs and 1 for DVDs. It is possible that DVD lens is not working, got dirty or something, so your drive (old one) is being able to read CDs only. New one might be ripe for RMA if the case is the same.

Are u sure about the above fact. I have never heard so. the read assembly has only one lense. I have a laptop with a push in DVD Writer only one lens is there.

For troubleshooting any optical drive problems please refer to
http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?guid=&bJumpto=true&Isfrm=IN&article=articles/webonly/techsupport/ref1101/26r01/26r01.asp&ArticleID=40421

DVD.pdf (121.82 KB)
Member Avatar for Chaky

Well, that's what I've picked up while troubleshooting my problem. Maybe the lens itself is universal, but the technologies are too different to be compatible with single lens + optics. Allot of people have faulty DVD part of the burner, and they still can use CD part without any problems whatsoever. That is typical symptom of bad DVD lens (or something).

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