Can't browse CDRW drive in explorer!

[Alex Johnson]

Hi,

Sorta long story so grab a cuppa joe or something...

So I have this ancient Kenwood drive that's too fast for it's own good.  I was recently installing UT2004 (6 CDs!) and the thing was reading so hard that the vibrations kept corrupting the install.  I ended up having to rewire the cables and reset the jumpers for the cd-drive and hard-drives so that they would be outside the case during the install, and thus, not subject to proximate vibration...  While that worked, it's gonna be a major pain if I have to open up my case and screw around every time I install a piece of software.

In other news, a friend of mine happened to have this old HP cd burner that he couldn't sell, so he gave it to me as a free replacement.  I went home, plugged the thing in and Windows XP detected the device on bootup, FOUND DRIVERS, installed them, and now it shows the drive and CORRECT model number in device manager.  However, the thing refuses to autoplay (even though Windows is properly configured to allow it), and even though the drive is showing in Windows explorer, clicking on the associated drive letter shows absolutely nothing on any CDs.  (after an excruciatingly long floppy-driveish wait)  I CAN alternate click the drive and command it to eject, I CAN play audio cds through music programs (no distortion so I don't suspect a read head malfunction), I AM showing proper power to the drive, and I DO hear and feel the drive spinning.  I've temporarily reinstalled my old drive to verify the integrity of the IDE cable, and I have the darn thing on the proper jumper setting.  One more bit of wierdness...  When I stick a data CD into the drive, it acts like it's going to read it for a minute or two and then remains silent for another 3 minutes or so at which time it decides to eject the CD with absolutely no prompting on the screen.  I am absolutely paranoid when it comes to trojans/viruses/spyware so I don't suspect a "joke program" (yes I read your archived posts).  My computer isn't even connected to the internet (I'm absolutely broke so I can't afford a new drive, let alone a simple dial-up connection).  I've also tried browsing for driver and firmware updates from HP to no avail.  I don't even care about the burning functions of the drive right now.  I just want it to work!

The owner of a local computer store doesn't have a clue what's going on, and my limited experience isn't helping either.  Right now I just want a drive that works and I was hoping maybe one of you would have some sort of godsend answer for me!?  I don't know what you need but here's my system info if it helps:

20gig 7200rpm wd hard-drive with win xp pro
*40gig 5400prm wd hard-drive with programs and data
*(same IDE cable as problem CD-Drive)
athlon xp 1900+ (palomino core)
512mb ocz pc3200 (ddr400) memory
a7v8x motherboard (kt400 chipset)
radeon 9700 pro (128mb vram)
350w enermax psu
system NOT overclocked and everything running cool

What I know tells me it's a dead drive, but anything anyone might be able to do would help!  I'll have internet access again on Wednesday so I'll just have to chew on my nails until then

Thanks for your time and patience,
Alex

[chade]

Alex,

Wow.  That's long enough to be one of my posts

Anyway, you're right in that the problem is not straight forward.  There are a number of solutions I can suggest:

Using the old drive

There are programs available to limit the speed your CD drive can operate at.  I don't really have the time to Google for it and answer this post - I believe I have a copy of one at work - I'll post the name when I get to work (and remember to do so).  This should solve your vibration problems.

Using the 'new' drive

It's hard to tell straight out what the problem is with the drive.  Clearly, it's not working correctly on some level.  If it plays musics CDs OK, then the hardware is also working correctly in some other ways.  If you're using an audio cable (from the back of your CD-ROM to your soundcard, or motherboard in the case of onboard sound) I'd be suspecting some kind of issue with the IDE interface on the CD-ROM drive itself, or perhaps the way Windows is interpreting the signal from the drive.  If you have some kind of bootable CD-ROM (whether it be your WinXP disc, or even better - Knoppix Linux distro), insert that and reboot (of course you may need to adjust the boot order in your BIOS - I'm assuming from your technically proficient post you know how to do that).  If that works - then you've pretty much narrowed it down to a Windows-related problem.  If it is Windows related - your next steps would be to access the Device Manager (Control Panels > System > Hardware Tab > Device Manager Button) and see if Windows reports a properly functional device.

Can't think of anything else at the moment to get started on the problem...so go get started!

[chade]

CD-ROM Speed Limiting program is called CD-ROM Tool (funnily enough) and is available at:
http://cdromtool.hopto.org

[Alex Johnson]

Thanks a boatload!

I downloaded the winxp version of CD-ROM Tool and will try it out tonight!

If that fails I guess I could always subject myself to a month long top ramen diet so I could afford a shiney new plextor drive

[Alex Johnson]

YAY!

Just thought you might want to know that the old drive works reliably now.

Thanks again for the link!

[chade]

No worries Alex.

Glad to help.