Problems with cdrw/dvd drive

Hi

I have a Dell Dimension 2400 which has a Samsung CDRW/DVD SM-352F Drive
installed.

This was working fine for months but suddenly when any type of disc is put in
it simply isn't recognised. The drive itself is recognised but no discs. The
drive light flashes briefly but it doesn't "power up".

I've tried to uninstall and reboot but this doesn't help. The Dell support
centre is utterly useless and doesn't bother to reply to my emails - UK and US
sites. I've run through the help and diagnostics but it just says that it's
operating ok?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Rgds,

Brian

Your next step is to try booting to a bootable CD, such as:
windows 98SE full install,
W2K, WME, or WXP.
Other excellent options are Dell resource CDs and Dell reinstall CDs.
FIRST, TEST the CD you have chosen by using it to BOOT SUCCESSFULLY to
another computer.

Here's the point:
IF you *can* boot to a CDROM, *then* the problem is in your software.
If you can *NOT* boot to the CDROM, you must examine your bios settings, the
cables, the drive, and the motherboard.
These are longer stories I'm not gonna go into right now. Either way, you've
narrowed down your issues by 50%.

Dick Silk -- The Computer Tutor
http://personalpages.tds.net/~rcsilk
for rates and online chat

- Gotta run. My neighbors just sighted Elvis making crop circles.



"RannochPine" wrote in message
...

Hi

I have a Dell Dimension 2400 which has a Samsung CDRW/DVD SM-352F Drive
installed.

This was working fine for months but suddenly when any type of disc is put
in
it simply isn't recognised. The drive itself is recognised but no discs.
The
drive light flashes briefly but it doesn't "power up".

I've tried to uninstall and reboot but this doesn't help. The Dell support
centre is utterly useless and doesn't bother to reply to my emails - UK
and US
sites. I've run through the help and diagnostics but it just says that
it's
operating ok?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Rgds,

Brian

I have a Dell Dimension 2400 which has a Samsung CDRW/DVD SM-352F Drive
installed.

This was working fine for months but suddenly when any type of disc is put
in
it simply isn't recognised. The drive itself is recognised but no discs.
The
drive light flashes briefly but it doesn't "power up".

I've tried to uninstall and reboot but this doesn't help. The Dell support
centre is utterly useless and doesn't bother to reply to my emails - UK
and US
sites. I've run through the help and diagnostics but it just says that
it's
operating ok?

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Rgds,

Brian

I have a customer with the exact same problem twice now. The first time,
Dell was able to give me instructions (outlined in
http://support.dell.com/support/topi...t?DN=TT1055094)
to resolve the matter. Removing the upperfilters and lowerfilters keys from
the registry did the trick the first time her machine broke.

You might want to give that a try - it did work for her for a few months but
now, the machine is exhibiting the same problems and this time, Dell service
has been really bad - the call center could not help at all - just
frustration because the person on the other end is just relying on some
computer troubleshooting scripts that do not have this problem fully solved.
To their credit, they did send a repair person (after much threatening by
the owner) out to replace the drive but that was not the problem.

The bad news is, Dell has no solution other than reformat and reinstall
Windows.

I do suspect that it is an interaction between the Dell controller hardware
and Windows XP SP2 since her problems started after SP2 installed itself via
the auto update feature.

If anyone has a fix for this, I'd be interested too before I do the big
backup and reformat procedure.

Hope this might help ...

PMK

Many thanks for this - I'll give it a try. Unfortunately Dell have been no help
at all!

Appreciate it,

Brian

I have a customer with the exact same problem twice now. The first time,
Dell was able to give me instructions (outlined in
http://support.dell.com/support/topi...b/en/document?
DN=TT1055094)
to resolve the matter. Removing the upperfilters and lowerfilters keys from
the registry did the trick the first time her machine broke.

- The link doesn't work - "not available or doesn't exist". Would you mind
posting the text if you have it? I'm afraid I don't know enough to remove the
keys you describe. I have been into the registry to make changes but only by
following instructions.

Incidentally, this happened to my PC previously (before XP SP2 was installed).
The drive started working again, apparently of its own accord! It has now gone
again.

I posted on the Dell community forum and received the following from a helpful
chap:

""If deleting the IDE channel and your burner from Device Manager doesn't help,
open the Registry (Start - Run - Regedit) and open the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Class \
{4D36E96A-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Within this key you will find several subkeys. Most likely you will see the
following:

0000 (for the IDE controller)
0001 (for the Primary IDE channel)
0002 (for the Secondary IDE channel)

Each of these subkeys has a named valued called "DriverDesc" that will make it
clear to you to which component they correspond. Open the subkey corresponding
to the channel on which your troublesome drive is located. Then, if the
troublesome drive is the master, delete the "MasterIdDataChecksum" named value.
Or, if the troublesome drive is the slave, delete the "SlaveIdDataChecksum"
named value.

Reboot. The OS will redetect the device DMA capabilities after reboot.

Note that for many older CD-ROM drives DMA can not be enabled in Windows
2000/XP, so be sure to check the capabilities of your particular drive if you
continue to have problems.""

Unfortunately it didn't work for me but it may in other cases.

Brian

I have a customer with the exact same problem twice now. The first time,
Dell was able to give me instructions (outlined in
http://support.dell.com/support/topi...b/en/document?
DN=TT1055094)
to resolve the matter. Removing the upperfilters and lowerfilters keys
from
the registry did the trick the first time her machine broke.

- The link doesn't work - "not available or doesn't exist". Would you mind
posting the text if you have it? I'm afraid I don't know enough to remove
the
keys you describe. I have been into the registry to make changes but only
by
following instructions.


Here you go ... (from the Dell website):

--------------- start of pasted text -------------------

I Am Unable to Access My CD or DVD Drive or I Am Receiving Code 31 Error
Messages After Removing Roxio (Adaptec) Easy CD Creator Versions 5.01 and
Earlier or DirectCD Version 3.01 or 3.01c.

Overview

After removing the Roxio Easy CD Creator versions 5.01 and earlier or
DirectCD version 3.01 or 3.01c from your computer, you may be unable to
access your CD or DVD drives from My Computer, and may receive error
messages within the Device Manager.

To correct this issue, perform the following:

Edit the Windows Registry

Click the link above for detailed instructions.

Additional Information



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

Edit the Windows Registry


NOTICE: The following procedure contains information about editing the
Windows registry. Dell does not guarantee success or support these actions.
Any use of the information provided herein, is performed at your own risk.
You should make a backup copy of the registry files prior to executing any
of the following steps. Incorrect use of the registry editor and editing the
registry files can cause serious problems that may require a complete
reinstall of your operating system. Dell assumes no responsibility,
expressed or implied, regarding the consequences of any action taken as a
result of the information provided herein.



To begin editing the Windows Registry, perform the following steps:

Click Start and then click Run.
The Open: box appears.

In the Open: box type Regedit and then click OK.
The Registry Editor window appears.

Click the plus (+) sign next to each of the following keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SYSTEM
CurrentControlSet
Control
Class
{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}


In the right pane, click to highlight Upperfilters, right-click Upperfilters
and then click Delete.

In the right pane, click to highlight Lowerfilters, right-click Lowerfilters
and then click Delete.

Click OK.

Close the Registry Editor window.

Click Start, Shutdown, Restart, and then click OK.

NOTE: If the method above does not restore access to your CD drive or you
still see the code 31 error message, and you have Windows Media Player 7.0
installed, uninstall Windows Media Player and install the latest version.


To uninstall Windows Media Player 7.0, perform the following steps:

Click Start, point to Settings, and then double-click Control Panel.
The Control Panel window appears.

Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon. The Add/Remove Programs window
appears.

Click Media Player 7.0.

Click the Change/Remove button.
The Confirm File Deletion window appears.

Click OK.

Click the Close button.
The Control Panel window reappears.

Click x in the upper right corner of the window to close the Control Panel.

Click Start, Shut Down, Restart, and then click OK.

After the system restarts, the uninstall of the Windows Media Player will be
complete.


NOTE: To obtain the latest version of Windows Media Player, refer to the
Microsoft Windows Media website:

"http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/default.aspx"

----------------- end of pasted text ------------------

Hope that helped ...

PMK

I have a customer with the exact same problem twice now. The first time,
Dell was able to give me instructions (outlined in
http://support.dell.com/support/topi...b/en/document?
DN=TT1055094)
to resolve the matter. Removing the upperfilters and lowerfilters keys
from
the registry did the trick the first time her machine broke.

Hope that helped ...

PMK

Tried it but no difference. Thanks for taking time to reply and if you do find
the answer please post. You'll certainly be one ahead of Dell if you do!

Anyone want to buy a hardly used 2400???

regards,

Brian

"RannochPine" wrote in message
...
I have a customer with the exact same problem twice now. The first time,
Dell was able to give me instructions (outlined in
http://support.dell.com/support/topi...b/en/document?
DN=TT1055094)
to resolve the matter. Removing the upperfilters and lowerfilters keys
from
the registry did the trick the first time her machine broke.

Hope that helped ...

PMK

Tried it but no difference. Thanks for taking time to reply and if you do
find
the answer please post. You'll certainly be one ahead of Dell if you do!

Anyone want to buy a hardly used 2400???

regards,

Brian


Brian,

Before I sold it cheap, I'd back up data, wipe the sucker, and consider
buying a new combo drive ($40?) and install Nero (which if you choose
correctly, could be shipped free with the new combo drive).

But that's just me.


Stew

I have a customer with the exact same problem twice now. The first time,
Dell was able to give me instructions (outlined in

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...b/en/document?
DN=TT1055094)
to resolve the matter. Removing the upperfilters and lowerfilters keys
from
the registry did the trick the first time her machine broke.

Hope that helped ...

PMK

Just to sign this off - Dell sent a new cdrw/dvd combo today, I fitted it and
to my surprise it works. So it was a hardware problem in the end. Very helpful
woman on the support line too - actually called me back a couple of times.

Thanks to those who gave advice.

Brian