DVDs are not playing or recognized

G

Guest

Hi,

I recently upgraded my system and I have 2 DVD drives that do not recognize
DVDs. One is an older (5 years) Compaq DVD - ROM DV 5700B and the other is a
Sony DVD RW DRU-700A (a little more than a year old). Both played DVDs before
the system upgrade. I had a Western Digital HD that was a few years old and
when I upgraded the other hardware in April I did a fresh install on that HD.
At that time I had Nero suite 6 from the CD that was included with my Sony
DVD drive and I installed that software and discovered the problem. I updated
version 6 and that did not work and just for the heck of it I downloaded
version 7 to see if there would be any change and there wasn't. I also had
the IDE SW drivers installed from Nvidia but for this latest install I left
them out to see if that might be the problem.

My newly upgraded system Abit KN8 SLI MB, 2048 Ultra PC 3200 DDR Ram, 2
GeForce 6600 Graphics cards, Ultra X-finity 600w PSU, and just recenlty (this
week) 2 Seagate SATA 160 GB HDs. I have a fresh install of XP Pro SP2 with
all updates, I have Nvidia drivers all updated, I installed the Nvidia video
decoder so I could use WMP and I did not install Nero because... it did not
work before.

I can play, burn, and rip CDs but nothing with DVDs, and I have tried
several different types of media. The lights will come on for a few seconds
and then the drive stops and reads like there is no disc. I upgraded the
firmware for the Sony DVD RW drive and I used Sony's read and write test from
the web. Apparantly it does not test for DVD read or write capabilites. Today
I reinstalled Windows again (I had some other issues) and the Sony Drive
actually spun and attempted to read a DVD for over 1 minute... that is the
most action for a DVD since April.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
G

Guest

I have the same problem I only noticed it when I tried to burn a film to a
dvd with wm2. The drive will only recognise cds but not dvds.

Any help much appreciated

Johnmc
 
C

Cari \(MS-MVP\)

That's by design, Windows Movie Maker will NOT burn DVDs. You must use a
third party application... Nero, Roxio, WinDVD Creator, PowerDirector...
hundreds of them available.
 
C

Cari \(MS-MVP\)

If you cannot read or write to the DVD drive, would suggest the DVD laser
has died. The DVD side uses a separate laser from the CD side.

I've had drives last a few years and then I've had them last a day or so
longer than their year's guarantee.

The one good thing is that a new DVD-RW drive will cost you an awful lot
less than it used to, and do a whole lot more much quicker.
http://shop1.outpost.com/search?cat=-47392&pType=pDisplay

I'd post a link to a couple of drives at newegg.com that I just purchased
and am very happy with but their site is apparently down today, or at least
I can't get to it. I got the Pioneer DVR111 and for hubby's PC, a
LightScribe Unit (very cool, even if the disks are a lot more expensive)
which is a Samsung SH-S162L. They replaced two older Pioneer units which
were just too slow for me!!!
 
J

John Inzer

Cari said:
If you cannot read or write to the DVD drive, would
suggest the DVD laser has died. The DVD side uses a
separate laser from the CD side.

I've had drives last a few years and then I've had them
last a day or so longer than their year's guarantee.
Click to expand...
=========================================
It happens...I had one that didn't work when it was new...

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Making Good Newsgroup Posts
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
 
G

Guest

Thanks for the info.

I have 2 DVD drives... one is RW. Are you suggesting that both DVD lasers
died at relatively the same time as I upgraded my system? That seems a little
too coincidental... but I suppose stranger things have happened. The Sony
DRU-700A I purchased soon after the double layer capability was released and
you know I paid back then what I can pay for 3 (or 4) of them now. :) Ahh
technology.

I thought I might try the RW drive in anothe machine just to see if it is my
current system, although I don't see how it could be, but......

Thanks again, will post back with my resolution.
 
G

Guest

Well, after completely reinstalling Windows XP Pro with all updates etc
etc... I seem to be able to play some DVDs.

First, I did connect the Sony DVD RW drive to another computer and installed
Nero 6. I tried a different DVD from my library and it worked. So I
reinstalled the DVD drive and Nero 6 in my XP Pro machine and it does work...
but not with certain DVDs... like the Matrix... which is supposed to work in
a DVD Rom drive because it has some special features you are supposed to be
able to access. So I tried some other DVDs. Some work, some don't. I had
previously tried several DVDs but evidently each one I chose to play were of
the currently unplayable variety. Both of my DVD drives do seem to work after
all. My apologies.

The question still remains as to why only certain DVDs work? Anybody?
 
G

Guest

Hi,

Thanks Cari for your help and information.

Still there are some DVDs that do not have the interactive features... "Last
of the Mohicans" is one of the many... it is an older movie and yet I still
can't get it to work in the DVD drive.

What gives?
 
G

Guest

Please help,

Can someone please tell me what the missing link is?

The DVDs that I have tried in my desktop machine (those that work and those
that don't) all work in my Dell laptop. So far it seems random that the discs
don't play.

The region code is set properly, the DVD drives work just fine (on some
DVDs). I have tried the Nero 6 software and WMP 10 with the Nvidia decoder
and still get the same results. Some DVDs play and some don't. The ones that
do not play read "no disc in drive" or the drive is empty, take your pick.
There has to be an explanation... can some one point me in the right
direction?

Thanks.
 
W

Wojo [MVP]

Ok Rob lets try to start over here since there seems to be some
misinterpretation.
The discs do or don't play at random. Does this mean that the ones that
don't play will later (tomorrow or whatever) play or these ones NEVER play?
Is it that the menu doesn't come up or you can't get past the menu or you
just can't access the special features?
Do ALL these DVD's play on your home DVD player?
Have you tried letting the DVD's install the Interactual DVD player and used
THAT to view the DVD?
--
Wojo
MVP - Windows Digital Media

Wojo's Web: www.wojos-web.co.nr
Also please visit:
www.remember-christopher.dostweb.com/christopher
 
G

Guest

--
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.


Wojo said:
Ok Rob lets try to start over here since there seems to be some
misinterpretation.
The discs do or don't play at random. Does this mean that the ones that
don't play will later (tomorrow or whatever) play or these ones NEVER play?
Is it that the menu doesn't come up or you can't get past the menu or you
just can't access the special features?
Do ALL these DVD's play on your home DVD player?
Have you tried letting the DVD's install the Interactual DVD player and used
THAT to view the DVD?
--
Wojo
MVP - Windows Digital Media

Wojo's Web: www.wojos-web.co.nr
Also please visit:
www.remember-christopher.dostweb.com/christopher
Click to expand...
 
G

Guest

I spent some time writing a response earlier only to have all the info
mysteriously deleted, but my signature posted.

Anyway...

I apologize for my lack of clarity... just frustrated from spending a lot of
time searching and trying different things with no resolution.

Originally thought I had a problem with all DVDs because I only tried 4 or 5
and they were all newer. After reading some troubleshooting on different
sites I thought I would try more of the DVDs from my collection. It appears
that the majority of the ones I am able to play are older, I use the term
majority loosely because I can only play a select few.

Symptoms: When I insert certain DVDs the drive spins and the little light
comes on for about 15 seconds or so, then the drive just stops. Nothing
appears on screen, no program attempts load, nothing. When I check the drive
properties (while the disk is in the drive) from "my computer" the general
information reads as if there is 0 bytes but the disk picture reads as full
(all blue). In WMP 10 when I attempt to play it reads as no disk in drive.
When I used Nero I would use the infotool and that would also display
information as no disk in drive. This happens on both drives. Certain other
DVDs work just fine in both drives. Some of the DVDs that do not work in the
drives don't have interactual loaded, and like I said, even if it is on the
disk I don’t even get the option to load it because nothing happens after the
drive stops. I have no way of telling which DVDs will work or not.

All the DVDs work in my home DVD player and on my Dell Laptop.

Attempted solutions: Fresh install of XP Pro SP2 with all critical updates
installed. Upgraded firmware for the Sony DVD RW drive. Tested the Sony drive
with their read and write test and the drive passed. Installed and
uninstalled Nero 6 from CD and installed Nero 6 upgrades from their website,
also tried Nero 7. Removed drives from device manager. Disconnected drives
from computer and installed individually. Installed software while only one
drive was connected. Completely removed Nero software and attempted to use
WMP 10 with only the Nvidia video decoder installed. Checked region code. All
with the same results, no change or solution to the problem.

Any help, information, or direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


--
Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.


Wojo said:
Ok Rob lets try to start over here since there seems to be some
misinterpretation.
The discs do or don't play at random. Does this mean that the ones that
don't play will later (tomorrow or whatever) play or these ones NEVER play?
Is it that the menu doesn't come up or you can't get past the menu or you
just can't access the special features?
Do ALL these DVD's play on your home DVD player?
Have you tried letting the DVD's install the Interactual DVD player and used
THAT to view the DVD?
--
Wojo
MVP - Windows Digital Media

Wojo's Web: www.wojos-web.co.nr
Also please visit:
www.remember-christopher.dostweb.com/christopher
Click to expand...
 
G

Guest

Hi,

Thanks.

Yes, that has been suggested. I have two DVD drives as is noted in my
original post.

"One is an older (5 years) Compaq DVD - ROM DV 5700B and the other is a
Sony DVD RW DRU-700A (a little more than a year old). Both played DVDs before
the system upgrade."

The symptoms are identical in both DVD drives. They each play the same DVDs
and don't play the same DVDs. Does that sound like a hardware problem?

I suppose I could buy another DVD drive so that I could eliminate that from
this process, and if it did work I would be amazed.
 
J

John Inzer

Sorry, I don't have the answer. Maybe a different
decoder like Power DVD or InterVideo WinDVD
Recorder would work but personally, I would try
replacing the drive. It will be interesting to see
what the fix turns out to be.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Making Good Newsgroup Posts
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
 
G

Guest

Hello again,

Well, upon the advice of John (thank you!) I installed Power DVD 7 trial
version. I put in another DVD and the Compaq DVD Rom drive acted the same
way, but the Sony DVD RW drive actually spun for over 2 minutes, so something
was going on with communication, in the end though I received the same
result. This time I tried playing “The Last Samurai†and the DVD movie did
not work, however on a whim I decided to try the “special features†DVD. It
started right up the very first time. I got to the first menu and then
clicked on the special features went to that menu and was able to choose and
play any of the special features that I clicked on. I restarted the computer
and tried again just to see what would happen. The disk with the actual movie
on it still would not play but the interactual install program came up when I
tried the special features disk and I was asked if I wanted to install the
interactual program, I declined because the DVD special features played
without it.

I am pretty well convinced at this point that there is some type of software
or maybe a (root kit) stopping those certain DVDs from playing otherwise why
would I be able to view the special features and not the movie. Obviously the
drives are able to play DVDs.

Anyone got any ideas about this???

Thanks again.
 
J

John Inzer

I had an aggravating issue similar to yours
when my computer was still new...I tried
everything I could think of and sometimes
my Samsung DVD burner would work
sometimes it would not.

Finally, I took it to the dealer for warranty
service and they replaced the drive...bingo!
problem solved.

When you find a solution to your dilemma...
please share it with this newsgroup.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Making Good Newsgroup Posts
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
 
G

Guest

OK, OK,

I get the message. I might be a little stubborn. :)

I will order a new drive ASAP and let you know what happens.



Thanks John!
 

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