+20 minutes to Rip a CD on new computer

[Charrey]

Just received a new computer. The specs:

Dell 2305 All-in-One
Windows 7 64-bit
8 gb RAM
AMD Athlon™ II X4 610E processor
Blu-ray combo drive (Optiarc DVDRWBD BC-5504H)

Everything works fine except the time it takes to rip my CD's. Using Windows Media Player or Media Center on my other computer, it takes about 2 minutes. On the new Dell, my computer temporarily freezes after ripping the first track, and then will take at least 20 minutes to complete.

I've talked to several techs at Dell. Their response: as long as the combo drive will play a CD, it's not their problem.

But it's not a software problem!

I've done lots of research on the web, and this forum. All the answers say to be sure that DMA is enabled in Device Manager. But my problem: under the heading of IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers, there are no channels listed. So I can't enable DMA. The only thing listed is "AMD Sata Controller".

Is this a problem with the AMD controller drivers? I've installed the latest from the Dell site. Should I uninstall the AMD controller driver and try to install the Windows 7 drivers instead? And how do I do that?

Thank you for any help. I'm so frustrated by Dell's unwillingness to help.

 

[Maguscreed]

It is possible, though not very likely given dell's limited bios options that you can enable the ide option for your cd/dvd drive in the bios of your computer. I don't have any personal experience with your particular model though.

 

[Rhammstein]

You need to convince them it is 'their' problem, period. Call them back and complain until they give in, what nonsense.

A drive of that type playing an audio cd is hardly considered functioning in my book, I can think of a dozen metaphors to go along with that comment but I shall restrain.

Anyway, BS, call them back.

 

[Charrey]

I have checked out the BIOS. Yes, it's very limited so couldn't find anything there.

And once I have another couple of hours free, I was going to try again to reach Dell Tech Support. Just getting past the language barrier is tough. And I did try with 3 different people yesterday. They only gave me 2 solutions: return the computer or pay money for Dell Technical Solutions, since my problem wasn't under warranty. I was outraged and furious, but could get nowhere.

 

[Rhammstein]

In the meantime, what happens if you just try to copy a cd/dvd/bd from the drive to your hdd, what speeds do you see under details, and does it behave the same or normal?

Edit: So everything else works fine, except ripping an audio cd? If so it may be a software issue, especially if the above copies normally.

Make sure you aren't running any other audio or general media type applications in the background, I dunno if Dell ships anything.

You can also try watching your processes when this happens and see what exactly happens when it freezes, this could help identify the issue. I'd have a look at your logs also; Control Panel>System and Security>Administrative Tools: look under and select view logs, or select and choose Event Viewer.

Most of the time there's some type of compatibility issue causing this. I'm not too concerned with your hardware config because it should have shipped normal and probably closed out.

 

[Charrey]

Rhammstein-

Thank you for your advice.

The drive copies and burns disks just fine - I just did a check. And as I said, plays cd's with no problem. Tried to rip a CD again in Windows Media Center (it's just the program I've always used without problems). The program quickly rips the 1st track of a CD, and then there is about a 2 minute time period where the image indicates "100% copied" before the next track starts. Again, takes about 20 minutes to rip a CD.

Another thing... when I put the CD in the drive, I'm asked if I want to play it in Windows Media Player. I say no. But I did as you requested, and checked the Event Log. Here's the info:

Faulting application name: wmplayer.exe, version 12.0.7600.16667

So it appears that both Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player might be trying to rip the CD at the same time, right? I've never had this problem before with any other computers when I use Media Center.

I guess I can try another program to rip the CD, to see if Windows Media Player starts up on its own.

Further frustrations with Dell: when they told me it was a software program, I said that the only software I was using was pre-installed by Dell. They said they don't support the software, I had to call Microsoft. Of course, Microsoft's answer was that I had to deal with Dell. Oh so maddening....

 

[Rhammstein]

Making sure both programs are closed, try ripping using WMP but don't use the autorun. Just open WMP with the disk already in the drive and see if it does the same. I doubt the two are competing but I guess anything is possible.

It sounds like it's narrowed down to a simple software, or still possible config/driver issue, rather than a hardware issue, which is good; you can fix it.
In WMP's settings for ripping, make sure you have unchecked: Make audio copyright protected, and also try MP3, if you're using the default WMA. MP3 is better because it's more common, also I think I recall MP3 allowing a higher bitrate, of 320, which is all I use myself.

Also have you tried more than one audio cd? Some audio cd's have autorun programs on them that can launch automatically, this can happen without your knowledge and run in the background conflicting with the drive, as it, and WMP, fight for resources. This is why I suggest putting in a disk, make sure you don't autorun anything, and then from within an app try to rip.

 

[Charrey]

I had previously made all the setting changes you suggest in Windows Media Player. I never autorun anything; I like to be asked first. And I always rip to MP3 (although I did test at .wma to see if it changed the speed of ripping, but it didn't). And I've tried at least 10 different CD's, but there has been no difference.

So instead of using Windows Media Center, I opened Windows Media Player. Chose to rip the CD. Just like WMC, it took at least 20 minutes, pausing for at least 2 minutes after copying each track. But the weird thing, while the first track was ripping, Windows Media Center opened! So there is something weird going on between these 2 programs. Doesn't matter which one I use to rip, that action causes the other one to open.

I've never seen this happen before in all the years I've used either program. But you've sure helped me narrow down the possibilities. Guess I have to figure out what is causing both programs to open.

 

[Rhammstein]

Sounds like you found the issue, you need to set WMP as the default program for these tasks, which is very easy. Start>Programs>'Default Programs'

If that doesn't fix it, I'm not sure exactly how to do it manually, well to at least prevent one or the other, via the registry, but I'm sure someone else here does. I don't have much time but I'll stop by later on.