Kira Posted October 30, 2011 Report Share Posted October 30, 2011 GRRRRR!!! Having just gotten Company of Heroes and looking forward to multiplay with a fellow DangerDog, I discovered that my DVD-RAM drive won't read this brand new disk. It won't even display that there's a disk in the drive after humming along "attempting" to read it. I did the usual, open/close drive several times trying to get it to auto-read, and manually opening it in My Computer, etc, but no luck. It won't even acknowledge the fact that there's a disk with anything on it in the drive for this disk; it's just blank, yet it asks if I want to write to disk... but doesn't show anything like I've come to expect from blank CDRWs in the imaging. Odder and odder. Then I had a think. I wondered "Why is it that my original Battlefield disks (5 if not closer to 10 years old) work fine, yet my ArmA 2 disks aren't recognized by this drive?" A quick search revealed that the Battlefield disks are CDs while the ArmA 2 disks are DVDs. It appears that my DVD drive has gotten stubborn, a little long in the tooth (old), or both, and refuses to read DVDs anymore. But that's not the case, either. IL2, LOMAC, Silent Hunter 4, and ArmA (the first one), all DVD disks, read just fine. So what's going on here? Truly selective reading, so it seems. Hummmmm.... I've attempted updating firmware, no luck. My next guess due to research is multiple media (movies) reading programs in conflict. This sounds possible, but I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to start looking for these programs, assuming I even have multiples (or any, for that matter) installed, which I doubt, as I don't recall installing any the last time I did a complete OS (Win XP) reinstall. I also pulled the manual connection to power and SATA data link to CPU, cleaned and replugged them in. No luck. After a chat with the few (where the heck are all you guys, anyway???) people on Saturday afternoon/evening coops, I narrowed down a far more likely issue, that, come to think of it, makes the most sense. Quite simply, the drive is old and has likely had a partial failure. It'll read some, but not all disks, weather CD or DVD, it's choice. Sounds like the only viable solution is a replacement DVD-CDRW drive. Thought I'd post here just in case anyone had any more ideas before I went that route. System Stats: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ 3.01GHz, 3.0 GB DDR2 RAM Win XP Home SP2 (ver 2002) Nvidia GT 240 DVD drive: Lite-On DVDRW LH-20A1S The drive is approximately 4 years old, but it gets moderate to heavy use. Thanks for any thoughts, suggestions, etc. Kira Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1. DDz Quorum Pooka Posted October 30, 2011 1. DDz Quorum Report Share Posted October 30, 2011 Maybe try it on a friends computer see if his optical drive gets it to work. I had a hell of a time with CDs and DVDs on two brand new computers but thats another long story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kira Posted October 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2011 Thanks, Pooka. I thought I'd had that, apparently just thinking about it, but didn't write it. I did install the program successfully on another computer, so the DVD is working just fine. Was in the process of moving it piece by piece to this one, and ended up deleting it manually. That computer runs Vista, which I'm not very familiar with. When I tried to reinstall, it told me the game was already installed (typical when you don't run the program's integrated uninstall feature), and setup crashed. There's got to be a bit or piece somewhere other than the folder I installed it to, I'd think, but not being familiar with Vista, I have no idea where to look, nor what such a file might be titled. Research on Vista tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1. DDz Quorum B16Enk Posted October 30, 2011 1. DDz Quorum Report Share Posted October 30, 2011 Check for a firmware upgrade for your DVD drive, most manufacturers have updates and utilities, these often resolve read issues with DVDs. Re: vista and uninstall/re-install. Installs are tracked in 2 places, registry and an installation tracking directory under c:\program files\common\ There was a utility that will clear out this stuff but has been discontinued by MS, MSICUU2.exe, and you may be able to get a copy from the web - use at own risk! A regcleaner will fix the registry aspect, and I would recomend that course.. A search of the hard drive for files containing the product name may reveal the installer DB location, moving any files found to a safe location may re-enable a re-install. You should NEVER manually remove a program, always use the uninstall utility to prevent these issues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kira Posted November 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 I've done some research, and the results are not promising. I was thinking about going with the same drive, a LiteOn LH-20A1S, since this old one lasted almost four (five, three?) years without fail. First problem was that I couldn't seem to find it at "local(ish)" vendors. Second was that the "replacement", the newer version, with all but identical capabilities (LiteOn iHAP122, and iHAP422), had mixed reviews, but the cons seemed ugly. Basically that they had the same issue I'm having with mine (failure to recognize DVDs, CDs, anything at all), but right out of the box. Then again, it's a cheap drive, and one gets what one pays for. What are you all using, as a point of comparison? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1. DDz Quorum FoolTrottel Posted November 2, 2011 1. DDz Quorum Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 Comparison? A few years ago, I spent a silly amount of money on a Sony DVD DL drive... it worked. And it broke down. Nowadays, I just by what the shop has. As cheap as possible. And those work too. Initially, they all work fine, and yes, depending on how much you use 'm, they all wear out and brake down. So, I'm going for availability first, then cheapability... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1. DDz Quorum B16Enk Posted November 2, 2011 1. DDz Quorum Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 Last item on this page claims to be the firmware updater utility for all LiteOn DVD drives: http://www.liteonodd.com/en/service-support/download/cat_view/44-software-tool/54-utilities http://www.liteonodd.com/en/service-support/download/doc_download/22--smartpack-firmware-auto-upgade-program-for-optical-storage-products Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2. Administrators Jabo Posted November 2, 2011 2. Administrators Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 I use a pair of LG DVD-RAM drives for a few reasons 1) They're SATA 2) They're reliable 3) They're cheap(ish) 4) They come with a black bezel so match the rest of the case. 5) And two in case one breaks down I try and alternate between the two drives to even out the wear. Jabo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kira Posted November 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 And Jabo gets the prize! I happened to be upstate today, in an area that actually has decent stores with decent stuff for sale, and figured I'd pop in to a computer place just to see. Ended up leaving with an LG GH24 CDRW etc reader/writer multi-drive and ARMA 2 Reinforcements (British Armed Forces and PMC combi-pack). No more than 10 min of setup later, and I'd started ARMA 2 loading up successfully. It now runs without the slightest hiccup, OA currently uploading. Yee-Haw! And the like. Methinks it's going to be a late night! Thanks to all who posted advice/support/whathaveyou. Much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2. Administrators Jabo Posted November 6, 2011 2. Administrators Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 Oooo, a prize? What do I get? Glad to hear its working for you m8 Jabo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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