DVD which doesn't read DVDs

[Nuclear Krusader]

One of my clients called me today saying me his Creative 5x DVD doesn't read DVD discs. It reads CD-ROMs OK but no DVDs.

What can be wrong with it? His system is: PC Chips mobo, PII @ 233, onboard sound and video (SiS), 160MB in RAM, Creative Dxr2 decoder card, and he's running Win98 FE. He also has a LiteOn 40x burner, an IBM web cam and a digital cam (which he doesn't use).

I'll be checking the system tomorrow, I think; but I would want to go prepared, that is why I'm asking for help. I sure hate when I check out a machine and have no clue as to what could be wrong.

TIA

[catch23]

What kind of DVD discs is he trying...?

[Nuclear Krusader]

Uh?

[DilLy]

First, find out what happens when he puts a dvd in and attempts to read it...

[mike breck]

I suppose you won't find out till tomorrow whether he's trying to read data DVDs, movie DVDs, or burned DVDs.

Check out the pass thro cables from the video card>decoder>monitor.

You could also try updating his Creative DVD software.

Isn't that DVD drive getting on a bit?

[Doobie]

Dont you have to install the DVD player software (ex. PowerDVD) to watch DVDs... Did he install it...

[Nuclear Krusader]

Well, I haven't checked the drive yet.

He is trying to read movie DVDs. And he has installed the Creative Player software.

Thanks for your input.

[hobey19]

what is his os. i know when i upgraded to windows xp, i had to donload new software drivers from microsoft for my dvd player to work. there should have been a message saying that he needed to download something, if indeed that was the problem.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Win98.

[hobey19]

you may want to check to make sure he does have a valid dvd decoder. something may have happened, and he may have lost it. was he ever able to watch dvd's before? somewhere on microsoft website, there is a place to download new decoders, and i know it is in another thread somewhere. i will try to find the page, becuase it is worth a shot.

[hobey19]

now granted this applies to xp, but ti should still get you to the page.

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=42621

couldn't find the actual website on microsoft, i have school tomorrow, so i have to go to bed. will look in study hall and post if i find it. hope this helps in any way.

[gladiator]

hey guys
hey hobey did you ever get your DVD working

[hobey19]

you know, oddly enough i had to roll back to windows ME for a couple of other pieces of hardware bc i didn't feel like droppin the money (almost $100) for all the software i needed. but yes it is working now just fine. i am looking at making a new computer, getting a new laptop, and i have to get a car, so money is pretty tight. thanx for askin. o, nuclear krusader, i tried running those intstructions from that post and i think it only woks on xp. i can't find the website, but i will keep on looking.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Well, I checked the machine. If you put a DVD into the drive it won't even display its contents in My PC or Win Explorer.

What bothers me is that the drive was working just fine before I reformated and reinstalled Windows 98.

All the cables are properly connected and all the SW and drivers are correctly installed.

BTW, the disc I tried to read is a movie DVD. I have no data or burned DVDs to test with.

[mike breck]

Is the drive still detected in the BIOS?

A different IDE cable?

Can you access an ordinary CD in the drive if you boot from a bootdisk with CD-Rom support.

Try it in another PC and see if it works just as a CD-Rom drive.

It may just have died.

HTH

[Nuclear Krusader]

Hi there,

Well I tried the drive in my PC with a different IDE cable and it does the same. It reads CDs but no DVDs.

What could have caused this? Since last time I opened the machine to install a burner, I think the client is suspicious I messed it up. "It was working perfectly before you came" was what he said.

Also, in his machine, I installed another 128 MB of RAM, for a total of 192. Turns out that when I checked it yesterday only 128 megs were recognized. After taking out the RAM and installing it again, it worked fine, 192 MB were properly recognized.

I'm very very puzzled with his PC.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Just thinking: is it indeed true that DVD drives have different lasers for CDROMs and DVDs? If it's true, could it be the problem that the DVD laser just stopped working?

[mike breck]

Yes it is and it might be.

Try a lens cleaner.

You really have to try a DVD data disc to see if it reads it. If it reads the data disc and doesn't play DVD movies, then that may point to a sofware/driver problem. If it doesn't, read the data DVD, then that suggests a physical fault with the drive.

Try reloading the DVD software.

Check the Region code is set correctly.

Check DMA is enabled for the drive.

The stick of ram you added might be bad or incompatible with the original stick. Either might work on their own, but not together.

Try booting into Safe Mode. When booting into Safe Mode, Himem.sys will check the memory and throw up an error if it finds a fault. If it doesn't show a fault, then we're back to incompatiblity again.

HTH

[Nuclear Krusader]

Thanks, mike.

Just one more question: is there a chance that this could be my fault? I don't know, perhaps a static shock from my clothing or something like dat. Altho I'm very cautious when doing my work, accidents happen.

[Byte 2.0]

Any luck with that DVD. I have a creative that is just over a year old, 12 X i bet i have only used the DVD part a few times actually only used the drive it self installing programs. One day I went to use it it was just dead. Will not read CD or DVD. They do sometimes just die. I can't remember where i brought my DVD from, how old it really is. So trying to return it for warranty in my case is tuff, which thinking about it, should be less then a year old. BTW a cleaner didn't help mine Seems like mine died after I moved.
It is possible something happened during transport to and from your shop.

[mike breck]

If you grounded yourself properly Nuke, then it's very unlikely ESD was an issue.