Add new hardware wizard....

[pam123]

I've just installed a CD-RW drive into a Windows98se machine.
As far as I can tell everything should be fine.
The drive is recognized in both the bios and Windows and DMA is enabled.
The drive letter is E and the usual info that Windows does not require a driver for the device shows.
But every time Windows starts the " add new hardware wizard" opens and demands a driver.
What is going on here ?
Nero installed with no trouble but I haven't tried to use it.

[Cricket]

Hi pam123,

Make sure the IDE cable is installed properly and that the jumper is set correctly for the type of IDE cable used.

Try burning a CD-R to see if the drive is working properly...it could be defective.

Cricket

[pam123]

Thanks Cricket.
Will check machine over later today and let you know what happens.

[reboot]

There's a little thing called an "aspi layer", actually a driver for CDR's. If your's is corrupted, and/or missing, you can get the error.
Check around www.roxio.com for the "aspicheck.exe" and download and run it. On the same page, you'll probably find "aspiupdate" or "forceaspi". Grab those at the same time.
Each file comes with a short description of what it does.
Nero doesn't always update the aspi layer when it installs, and if you try to run Nero, it will tell you that you can't burn a CD, but you can create a virtual image. That's when you know you have to update the aspi layer.

[pam123]

Thanks reboot but life just got stranger.
This morning the CD-RW was recognized in Device Manager, this afternoon it isn't. As of 4:30 pm it no longer exist DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT IS RECOGNIZED IN THE BIOS.
Following Cricket's advice I checked connections and they're solid so that's not it. It's ATA 33 on a 40 cable and is jumpered to slave. The DVD master is recognized in both bios and Windows Device Manager.
It's a problem with Windows 98se.
But why?
It recognized the drive previously and it went through the reboot after I'd enabled DMA and still recognized it. Now, nothing.
I'm sure the error with " new device" points to something but what?

[Cricket]

Hi pam123,

Check device manager for yellow or red exclamation marks next to the IDE controllers.

Besides the CD-RW and burning software, did you install anything else or update any drivers?

Have you checked your ASPI layer?

I remember a problem similar to this where people would visit the Windows Update site and mistakenly installed a INTEL Mass Storage Driver on their VIA based computers. This would make their CD-ROM, DVD and CD-RW disappear from their computer. Do you think something like this happened?

Cricket

[pam123]

Hi Cricket,
That's the most baffling point, there are no exclamation points the only drive now listed is the DVD. As far as 98se is concerned there is, now, no CD-RW( and how is that possible? ). Never mind this morning.
No nothing else has been installed except the drive and the burning software.
What is the ASPI layer and how do I check it?

[GaryRouth]

Hi all

pam - did you try reboot's Nero software suggestion? And check Cricket's idea for Device Manager and the IDE controllers?

If I'm remembering right, Nero replaces the Win98 aspi with it's own - so that might well be it.

There's also a setting that sometimes causes drives to "disappear" mysteriously' - some registry settings called "UpperFilters" and "LowerFilters" - when these are present and not needed, they can cause trouble. I don't have the exact procedure with me right now, and I have to pick up my 7 year old from school, but I can check back in later & see if I can find the info. Basically it involves removing those from the registry.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[Cricket]

Hi pam123,

Go here to download ASPI Check and Force ASPI. Run ASPI Check first and then Force ASPI (it has instructions in HTML).

Webopedia: ASPI

Cricket

[pam123]

Okay guys,
As things stand now. I've done the following: All cables and connections have been checked and are correct and secure.
Reboot I figured you meant Nero instead of Roxio, so that's where I went (If I've been boneheaded about this tell me, I'll live.). I did not find anything ASPI.
I've also e-mailed QPS tech-support but that's a wait and see.
The Nero version I have is: 5.543 .Any problems with that one ?
I'll be reading Cricket's Webopedia link now but there will be a pause.
It's dinner time around here and life is about to intervene so I'll be using Cricket's link for the download later this evening, about 8:30pm.
I'll be checking back here before I do it so any more info will be taken into account.
Thanks guys, you're really something !

[Cricket]

Hi pam123,

The latest version of Nero is 5.5.9.17. You may want to upgrade to it as it has some nice improvements.

Cricket

[pam123]

One comment before dinner.
I'm all for improvements , but I'm still to dumb to get basics to work.
Will check out latest version.

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

Finally double-checked the "UpperFilters" thing: it was a registry value added by Roxio software, and mostly only applied to earlier versions running on Win2000 and WinXP ---> so that's not a problem on your system.

Anything show up with the ASPI check?

If you download/install that latest version of Nero, it might well set things right. Leave the version you currently have installed when you begin the upgrade, that way it will be free (because it will detect that you have a version already), and Nero should offer to uninstall the older version before it fully intalls the newer - all as part of the downloaded package.

Was any other brand of CD-RW or CD-recording software in the machine before what's on it now?

. . . Gary

[reboot]

Good point Gary. If you try and put Nero over top of EZCD (roxio) you can get no end of troubles. You must uninstall one, to install the other.

[Dan]

If I remember correctly, Nero won't install if it detects any Roxio (or Adaptec) software onboard. The worst case scenario is when you try to install Roxio over Nero...it installs but makes you wish it hadn't. I would highly recommend searching the registry for Roxio or EasyCD Creator if this is the case, and deleting any and all entries (of course remember to backup any time you edit the registry)....

[pam123]

Sorry for the delay guys.
A minor household crisis wiped out the rest of my evening and part of this morning.
Here's what I'll be doing.
First I'll put the drive on IDE2 by itself as master. If I still get the same problem I'll rma it.
If that works then I'll try the DVD as the slave.
I'll run the ASPI check now.
This computer had no burner before and no burner software so I doubt it's a conflict. It is possible that somethng didn't install as it should have though.
I'll keep you posted.

[Dan]

Hi Pam
good idea to move the position of the drives. I used to have a Hewlet Packard CDburner that only wanted to run as the master... I wouldn't be surprised if this makes a big difference.
I don't know much about QPS, the Plextor that I have has always run flawlessly.

[pam123]

First off I thank you all.
I used Cricket's link and got the following message:
ASPI is not properly installed. One or more components have been replaced with older versions of the software.

I'm not sure if this is ineptitude or some sort of scam. Why would you release a perfectly good drive with software that would cause it not to work? Do they like RMAs?
I'm off to get the update at Nero and to ponder these questions.

[pam123]

I've solved one problem and gotten another.
The burner needed a software update and it needed to be master.
Now at start up the ATI multimedia center does not load the system tray remains empty and the computer has slowed to a crawl.
What am I missing here?


One more thing, the computer cannot shut down properly as it will not respond when start is clicked and I will have to turn it off by using the power switch. I'm surprised it let me go on-line .

[Dan]

Pam,
The conflict may be due to the multimedia center's cd launch buttons.
I try to have as little going on at startup as possible. I also don't like having much running in the system tray all the time.
You can always open the ati interface manually when you need it.
I would go to start/run and type msconfig.
On the startup tab uncheck the ati launchpad and reboot.
(if the start button doesn't respond, try right clicking it and choose open)
I hope this helps.

[pam123]

Oh what a mess.
I click on Device Manager and find windows thinks it has 5 CD-RWs. I remove them all and let windows find the drive all over again.
I've also removed the Nero software. At some point the burning program and upgrade must have caused major trouble. Since the upgrade can also be used as a demo I'll install it when I need to make some copies when I switch to XP ( as soon as the new video card comes so that's in about 2 weeks ).
I've disabled the ATI launchpad just on general principles, should have done it long ago. Thanks Dan.
This has definitly been an adventure.
Thanks to all of you for your help.

[Dan]

Hi Pam
Just for the heck of it, you might consider a different burning program when you decide to reinstall.
Roxio puts out another program called WinonCD latest is 3.8.
I was never impressed with Nero....

[GaryRouth]

I looked around the forums over at CDfreaks.com, just to see what kind of trouble folks were having with Nero versions in general (those Cdfreaks mean business with burning - they really give their drives and software a workout). . . and the consensus seems to be that on 90% of the systems, Nero works great. There doesn't seem to be any trouble at all with the Win2k and WinXP crowd. On Win9x, though, about 10% of the folks report trouble - and it seems to be related to a file called "nerocd95.vxd": which seems to get involved in more than its fair share of conflicts (the support site on ahead even has a small text that reads "disable or rename nerocd95.vxd if it causes trouble" in one of it's troubleshooting pages. [found it on Google] Ahead says the file is used mainly to disable autorun and for what I believe is the InCD or DirectCD sort of packet writing (where you write to the drive as if it were a hard drive, using CD-RW as your medium). This file seems to conflict especially when there are SCSI devices around.

Funny thing is: Nero usually works fine without the file there at all. That file might hold the record for the most grief caused for the least benefit.

I actually enjoy Nero, though I use other burning software as well(on other computers = seems best to have only one burner program around). And I've been lucky enough never to have had any trouble.

One other tip I noticed popping up several times over at CDfreaks, was that some posts mention using the "Full Install" download instead of the "Upgrade" version when faced with BSODs after the "Upgrade" version was installed - and by golly, they had no problems when the "Full" version was subsequently installed. [though I've always used upgrades myself!] One possiblility is the the "Upgrade" versions work best if the versions aren't too far apart.

Never a dull moment?
. . . Gary

[reboot]

You've definitely covered the Nero spectrum Gary.
At one time or another, I've used probably every burner program there is.
Here's my humble opinion on each:
Nero, the best (in 90%) of all cases. A little too geeky for some.
Roxio, aka Adaptec. Platinum 5 is good, with the cd label/cover maker, but too much like bloatware for me.
NTI CDMaker Pro. Another excellent program, steep learning curve, not cheap!
WinOnCD. Does what the others do, fair.
CDRWin. See above.
Fireburner. Difficult to use, but it works.
Clone CD. Nice. I only use it to clone CD's and nothing else though.
Sony CDExtreme. The simplest to use. Very dependable, and recommended for the novice.
Blaze. Nice for music, not much else.
DatanetBurner. Excellent for burning direct from the net. Nothing else.
MP3CDBurn, again, only for MP3's, as are all the following:
1step, Accoustica, Absolute, Ashampoo, EasyAudio, Papyatech, EZCD4ME, Quickburn, Recordnow.

Pam (and others), if you're interested in any of these, and cannot find links for download, let me know.

[pam123]

Reboot, hold that thought I may need a few links.

Versions not too far apart?
That certainly sounds like a possibility.

The after effects of tangling with Nero continue.
For some reason the shutdown screen insist on restart. This seems to come and go but I have had to uncheck restart every time I click on shutdown and then hit cancel and start all over again. If I do this 3 or 4 times in a row the computer will shut down, and not hang or restart, when I finally click Okay after, once again, clicking on shutdown.
The disappearing system tray at load up continues but that is also a sometime thing, usually fixed on restart.
In short, if I didn't need to get some data off this computer, I'm ready to write my mp3's off, I'd format for XP now.

I tried Systems File checker and found that Mapi32bak.dll is corrupted but my attempt to repair it with the 98se disk hit a wall.
I'm actually not sure what I may be doing wrong here so I would welcome instructions. It's possible that I've got more problems then I know, though I don't see how.

One more oddity, though this seems like a bad joke. The rage3d website, I'm keeping track of the 9500pro, locks up my computer after about ten minutes. It's unfailing. It appears to be the only site that does it though.

[reboot]

I wouldn't worry about mapi32bak.dll
SFC can't replace it, because it's a file that's generated as a backup when mapi32.dll is updated by a program, probably Nero (tho I'm not sure). Ignore it.

Can you not burn your MP3's to CD (you'll get at least 70 of them on one CD in MP3 format) and then format, and go with XP?

The biggest problem with the rage3d site, is their version of "slap the monkey". Likes to hang, especially if you have questionable video drivers.

[pam123]

Thanks reboot,
It's good to know I can forget about the dll file. And given the way the computer's acting it's no wonder I have problems with rage3d.
Later this afternoon I'm going to check out Roxio to see if they have a burning demo I can use. I'll also take a good look at all the others you listed. Until I put XP on this thing I'll have to stay away from Nero. It seems I'm one of Gary's 10%.

[GaryRouth]

Hi all

Pam - you might want to run a search for that nerocd95.vxd file with Windows Explorer, just to make sure it's gone. I've heard of occassions where it doesn't uninstall with the rest of the Nero software. I think it usually is in C:\Windows\System\Iosubsys, but you can just have Explorer search your hard drive.

Impressive how much damage one little program can do, huh. - And there's always the angle of renaming that file, if you feel experimental today.

. . . Gary

[reboot]

I don't believe that Roxio has any demos. I may be wrong, but if you're going to go with something other than Nero, let me know. I recommend SonyCDExtreme, which is actually made by NTI, and is FREE!

[pam123]

Gary,
Dear god, the ghost in the machine.
Thanks for the heads up. I'll start my search and destroy mission before I try a new program.
* and there's always the angle of renaming that file, if you feel experimental today.*
Gary I love you but your sense of humor borders on the demented!