DVD Rom no worky

[YellowDart]

I've got a LiteOn JLMS-XJ-HD 166S 16x DVD ROM drive. This morning it decided to take a dump on me. :mad:

It seems really sluggish when reading a CD. It seems to be ok reading CD ROMs. It won't recognize any DVDs or audio CD's at all. I've even downloaded a new DVD decoder software package. Still no worky.

I dl'ed the latest firmware from LiteOn. The flash went off well. I'm still experiencing the same problems. I've turned down my case fans and listened to the drive when I put a disc in. It sounds like it's not spinning up properly. It sounds like it starts, but then stops spinning and makes a sort of clicking sound, starts spinning, starts clicking. You get the idea... it cycles though this for 10-30 sec or so and then stops.

When I try to open the drive's contents through Windows Explorer, I get an error stating that there isn't a disc in the drive. I can, however, load something from the disc manually. I can put my Halo game cd in, and open Halo from my desktop (shortcut). The game loads very slowly. It hangs @ the splash screen for several minutes, and then finally, loads the game. It has the same problem w/ audio cd's that it does w/ a DVD.

I'm running out of ideas here. :-/ I've considered reinstalling WinXP (possibly a "Repair" install). I'm figuring Windows may not be the problem for once. :rolleyes: Do you think the drive may be dirty? Would one of those CD/DVD drive cleaning kits work? Or should I just RMA through newegg.com???

[Th0r]

Send it back and get another one, sounds like a damaged lens or something...

[ptwearnhardtfan]

Yeah geez, the price of a cleaning kit is half the cost of a new drive. That wouldn't be the route I would take.

[YellowDart]

I dunno... I might try one of those drive cleaning dealies first. They're not that expensive. I figure the cost of the cleanser is worth it if it takes care of the problem... Besides, I'd like to try any easier option, to avoid any inconvenience of having to ship something back to the manufacturer...

[don256us]

It sounds like it's not spinning up properly. It sounds like it starts, but then stops spinning and makes a sort of clicking sound, starts spinning, starts clicking. You get the idea... it cycles though this for 10-30 sec or so and then stops.

This is the lens trying to focus. Of course, you already figured that part out. The question is then, why is it not focusing? Could be dirt on the lens. Could be a scratch. It could even be that the drive is toast. It could also be that your CD(s) are bad.

[YellowDart]

Originally posted by don256us


This is the lens trying to focus. Of course, you already figured that part out. The question is then, why is it not focusing? Could be dirt on the lens. Could be a scratch. It could even be that the drive is toast. It could also be that your CD(s) are bad.

Yep... all good points. I'm prolly going to pick up one of those drive/lens cleaning kits. I'd imagine you can prolly pick one up @ Office Depot or something for a decent price. I tried several disks. The CD ROM's were all clean, new disks. Those were readable to the drive, but it was very sluggish. I'd try to load BF1942, for example, and it would hang @ the splash screen for a good 3-4 min or so before the game would load from the cd. Some older data CD's won't even read. DVD's seem to be out of the question too. Although, I've only tried 1 disc. I'll give it another shot tonight.

Is there some possible way that Windows could have configured the drive wrong??? In explorer, under the details view, it says "CD Drive" next to my DVD player. Shouldn't it say "DVD Drive"??? Or is the "CD Drive" just a generic term from Windows recognizing it as an opitical drive...

[don256us]

I don't think that it matters how Windows sees it. (Note the word 'think'.) It is a possibility that the drive is not DMA enabled. More precisly, the IDE channel may not be DMA enabled. The device manager would have that option. I would guess that it would not make THAT much of a difference but it is worth a try.

The lens cleaners are about $10. One is good to have for all of your drives. I got mine from Wal-Mart or some other fool place. The ones that are labled for CD are the same as the ones labled for DVD. Don't be fooled and pay and extra $5 for that little mistake.

[YellowDart]

Originally posted by don256us
I don't think that it matters how Windows sees it. (Note the word 'think'.) It is a possibility that the drive is not DMA enabled. More precisly, the IDE channel may not be DMA enabled. The device manager would have that option. I would guess that it would not make THAT much of a difference but it is worth a try.

The lens cleaners are about $10. One is good to have for all of your drives. I got mine from Wal-Mart or some other fool place. The ones that are labled for CD are the same as the ones labled for DVD. Don't be fooled and pay and extra $5 for that little mistake.

LOL... thanks for the tip. I'll prolly check out WalMart or Target this week.

I'll take a look @ my DMA settings for that drive. They may have gotten all wonky, since I reformatted/reinstalled WinXP last week. I don't think I've double checked any of my DMA settings since I did that...

[YellowDart]

Looks like DMA is enabled on all my IDE channels through Windows. I'll grab a cleaning kit, and see if that helps...