Strange dvd rw problem

[No.72]

I have a Liteon SH-16A7, this Overclockers Online

and for whatever reason my computer cant detect any disks in it. The BIOS detects the drive as well as windows, and windows even opens the tray asking me to insert a disk! I have tried it in another computer but its the same. Is it dead or is this dead or maby some sort of strange copy protection thing?

[Thorsson]

Sounds like the controller is working but something is wrong on the physical side of things.

[2Cold Scorpio]

I had a similar problem the other day when I was in my Vista installation (although it happened briefly in XP once too but corrected itself). In my case, in My Computer, it would show a disk icon and the name of the disk in the drive, but when you double-clicked on it it asked if you wanted to format a blank disk, and if you tried to Explore, it showed it being empty.

THis is what I did to correct it:
First, verify your drivers are up to date.
Second, go to Device Manager (right-click My Computer, it'll be there), and go under 'DVD/CD-ROM Drives'. Check and make sure Device Manager says the device is working properly.
If so, as it did in my case (but obviously it wasn't lol), right-click on the drive that is giving you problems, click Disable, wait a minute or so, and right-click it again and click Enable. After this, see if the drive works now (Mine did instantly after re-enabling the drive). If not, try a reboot and try the drive again. If the above steps don't work, the drive could be broken.

Note: the above disable/enable trick sometimes works on other hardware too (I've used it with my network connection several times over the years). Hope this helps!

[Hunain]

Yes, you could perhaps check the Drivers, or did you try a bootable CD? It would help to see if the drive reads a bootable CD before entering into windows, if yes then its a problem with drivers, if no, the drive needs physical inspection. Do let us know how it goes.

[No.72]

Yes, you could perhaps check the Drivers, or did you try a bootable CD? It would help to see if the drive reads a bootable CD before entering into windows, if yes then its a problem with drivers, if no, the drive needs physical inspection. Do let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the help, no the drive doesn't read bootable disks . I think I might pay maplin a visit and see if they charge under £30 for one.

I also tried the devise manager trick but didn't work.
I even updated the BIOS and that didn't do it.

[Skinleech]

Is the power cable tio your drive plsiced with anything, like a fan power cable? I had a similar issue a while back - my Pioneer 108 was playing up, but it was a few years old, so no big deal. I replaced it with a 111 that I had lying around, which had been used 5 or 6 times to read DVDs and maybe to burn one disk.

It exhibited the same issue - I could burn some types of blank disk, but I couldn't read any retail cds or dvds. I ended up buying a Pioneer 112, and it still gave me the same probs. I was at the end of my tether, when I realised the issue.

The molex cable went into a fan power cable, which must have been faulty. As soon as I detatched the fan cable, and plugged the molex straight into the DVD drive, it worked fine and dandy.

[Thorsson]

Good point about the power cable. It might also be worth swapping over the data cable - as a bad cable or loose connection might cause this problem.

[2Cold Scorpio]

I can't believe I didn't think to say to check the cables... lol

[No.72]

The drive is duff, I bought a Samsung writemaster and it works with the same cabels. Thanks all.

[Hunain]

Ya, the Drive not reading bootable CDs meant there was something wrong with the drive itself, anyways, good luck with the new Drive, may it last long

[Thorsson]

Ya, the Drive not reading bootable CDs meant there was something wrong with the drive itself

Um, no. Try unplugging your data cable and see if your ODD "reads" a bootable CD.

[Hunain]

Umm, what I meant was that if its not reading a bootable CD, then its a not windows thing, to be fixed with the task manager etc, its most probably something hardware, physical, the drive or cables etc.

[Hunain]

Umm, what I meant was that if its not reading a bootable CD, then its a not windows thing, to be fixed with the task manager etc, its most probably something hardware, physical, the drive or cables etc.

[Blitzen]

I had a similar problem the other day when I was in my Vista installation (although it happened briefly in XP once too but corrected itself). In my case, in My Computer, it would show a disk icon and the name of the disk in the drive, but when you double-clicked on it it asked if you wanted to format a blank disk, and if you tried to Explore, it showed it being empty.

THis is what I did to correct it:
First, verify your drivers are up to date.
Second, go to Device Manager (right-click My Computer, it'll be there), and go under 'DVD/CD-ROM Drives'. Check and make sure Device Manager says the device is working properly.
If so, as it did in my case (but obviously it wasn't lol), right-click on the drive that is giving you problems, click Disable, wait a minute or so, and right-click it again and click Enable. After this, see if the drive works now (Mine did instantly after re-enabling the drive). If not, try a reboot and try the drive again. If the above steps don't work, the drive could be broken.

Note: the above disable/enable trick sometimes works on other hardware too (I've used it with my network connection several times over the years). Hope this helps!

Good advice for a IDE drive but the OPs drive is SATA