DVD Drive doesnt read disks

[whest]

WAA soo many suggestions... i'll do them in order and tell you which ones work.

I have windows XP on another hard drive, and i have been able to install from disks. This would probably rule out dirty lenses, too i guess.

Since the drive works in XP, i dont think its in the connections, and its on CS and is the only device connected on its cable.

As for Shutups qs, ill answer in number form (yaaay):

1. Yes, I also have the option to boot from CD, which is what i did to install XP after I installed 7

2. Yes. In device manager it sits there triumphantly, no worries.

3. Yes. When i put a disk in, it just spins the disk.

Might need a little explination about the sata jumpers... only ever had to fiddle around with IDE jumpers

Thanks for all your help guys.

Never mind the jumpers. You mentioned it works in XP, so it should work in W7 too.

One more question.

When you have inserted a disk, and you go to the explorer, when you doubleclick on it, does it open the disk's folder?

If yes, that means the associations are messed up, but that is solvable.

If no, I'm out of clues for now.

Unfortunately, no. When the disk keeps spinning, if i double click the drive, explorer locks up, and does absolutely nothing. I think after leaving it for 20 minutes or something, i can get into the files, but i cant open any of them. i just get a win32 error or something. Ill do it now to confirm

Here is the W7 forum search results that might help if you have some spare time in between replies :
Windows 7 Forums the biggest Windows 7 discussion forum, friendly help and many Windows 7 tutorials that will help you get the most out of Microsofts new Windows 7 Operating System. - Search Results for DVD Drive doesnt read disks

 

[aDuck]

Bout time... since last post i tried to start reading a setup program on a DVD.

When i get into the DVD, it shows the files, but the icons dont show up.
When i start the setup program, it gives me the error:
"E:\ is not a valid Win32 application"

Not sure of its relevence, but I have Windows 64 bit.

Any ideas?

Thanks whest for the time killer.

 

[CommonTater]

Never mind the jumpers. You mentioned it works in XP, so it should work in W7 too.

That may not be entirely true... If it's on Cable Select and Win7 is looking for Master... XP doesn't appear to care about the jumper... but that may not be the case in Win7.

Simple test... set the drive to Master and see what happens... He can always put it back.

 

[MadMaxData]

And if you should happen to mess around with SATA jumpers, be sure to check the drives documentation at the manufacturer web site. Some drives [SeaGate I know for sure] has a jumper setting for running it in SATA-1 mode [5400 RPM] as oppossed to SATA-2 mode [7200 RPM]. Always be sure what the jumper settings are for first. Some Western Digital drives even have a jumper setting for technicians to access the firmware. In other words, be careful, and read the documentation for that specific drive. SATA's are a little more tricky that IDE drives, when it comes to jumper settings.

 

[CommonTater]

And if you should happen to mess around with SATA jumpers, be sure to check the drives documentation at the manufacturer web site. Some drives [SeaGate I know for sure] has a jumper setting for running it in SATA-1 mode [5400 RPM] as oppossed to SATA-2 mode [7200 RPM]. Always be sure what the jumper settings are for first. Some Western Digital drives even have a jumper setting for technicians to access the firmware. In other words, be careful, and read the documentation for that specific drive. SATA's are a little more tricky that IDE drives, when it comes to jumper settings.

Just to remind you... we established earlier that it's an IDE drive.

 

[MadMaxData]

Just to remind you... we established earlier that it's an IDE drive.

OOPS! Okay, so I'm a dope. Can we just chalk that up to a future reference thing? LOL

 

[aDuck]

Ok, changing to master hasnt worked...

 

[aDuck]

Just made a summary on the 1st post on whats going on and what doesnt work.

Thanks again for your help guys, still plugging away for solutions

 

[whest]

Bout time... since last post i tried to start reading a setup program on a DVD.

When i get into the DVD, it shows the files, but the icons dont show up.
When i start the setup program, it gives me the error:
"E:\ is not a valid Win32 application"

Not sure of its relevence, but I have Windows 64 bit.

Any ideas?

Thanks whest for the time killer.

Here's a interesting bing search result for the above error :
Not a valid Win32 application.

all results :
E DRIVE is not a valid Win32 application - Bing

 

[MadMaxData]

Okay, I just re-read the entire thread. I didn't see where you went into Device Manager [while in Windows 7, not XP, obviously] and uninstalled the device. Then immediately reboot, and allow Windows to reinstall the driver. Have you tried that already?

 

[aDuck]

"Hardware incompatibility
If you're getting this error during the installation of a program it's also possible that the CD-ROM drive or the drive you're installing the program from is not compatible with Windows or has drivers that are not compatible with Windows."

O dear... please dont tell me that i cant use my DVD drive on windows 7...

On the other hand, MadMax said he had the same drive on his Windows 7 computer...

 

[aDuck]

Yeah, I uninstalled the driver, and it Installed it upon restart (even told me it was installing for the 111D). Still have the same problem though, dang it.

 

[MadMaxData]

Yep, I have the exact same optical drive you have, and it works perfect in Seven. I wonder if maybe your driver software is corrupt, and when you install you get no joy because of that. Can you list the driver specs from device manager so I can compare it to mine? I think we are getting onto something now, Bro.

 

[aDuck]

Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 21/06/2006
Driver Version: 6.1.7600.16385
Driver Signer: Microsoft Windows

Driver Files:
C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\cdrom.sys
C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\GEARAspiWDM.sys

File Version: 6.1.7600.16385 (win7_rtm.090713-1255)

Thats everything from the driver, the rest of the info is microsoft stuff

 

[whest]

Are you running gear software for burning, as it comes up a positive in search - one of my previous suggestions was to uninstall any software related to dvd burning or updating it.

Heres the link and it has downloads through the support link :
Link:
GEAR Software - CD / DVD Burning Software :: GEAR compatibility with DVD and CD recorders
Driver:
Driver updates - GEAR Software
Downloads:
Index of gearsoftware.com/downloads/

 

[whest]

Note - This release of the x86 & x64 GEAR drivers contains a revision of GEARAspiWDM.sys driver that now supports Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2

 

[aDuck]

Unfortunately, no. I didnt have GEAR, but I have un-installed alcohol 50% and DVD Shrink, with still no results...

Would this be a question to ask microsoft? Because I am completely stumped. This problem occured when I first installed Windows 7. As soon as it was installed, I couldnt use the DVD drive, so software shouldnt be an issue, unless it is software Microsoft put into Windows

 

[MadMaxData]

This problem occured when I first installed Windows 7. As soon as it was installed, I couldnt use the DVD drive...

Sorry I had to leave you hanging there momentarily. However, your really not going to like what I have to say. The very first time I attempted to install Windows 7 my DVD drive took a crap on me...completely gone...as in DEAD! So I thought okay, no big deal, that drive had about a bazillion burning hours on it anyway. So I got my money's worth for sure. Unforunately, that is the exact same drive we are now discussing in this thread. I've since bought two new Pioneer DVD/RW's [DVR-216D SCSI, and DVR-117D ATA].

Sorry man, I figured this out when I went to retrieve the driver software for you to try out. At least your drive isn't completely dead, and I'm sure it was probably a coincidence that it crapped out on the Windows 7 install. However, I wanted you to know this, and I feel kinda' bad I had you thinking I was currently running that drive model error free in Windows 7.

 

[whest]

Try and Update the gear driver firstly -its installed on your system. Set up a restore point firstly.
YES you both could be correct - you could try the above or go for a new drive as MAX suggests - i dont think microsoft would install the driver so you have to go with it being installed by alcohol or shrink.

 

[MadMaxData]

Umm, I wasn't suggesting that he buy a new drive at all. I merely explained I made an honest mistake in telling him I'm currently running that model with Windows 7.

aDuck, if you want to try the driver I'm using in the 117D I'll attatch the software to my next post. I'm currently running that drive in the 32-Bit version though.

Or you can go with what whest is telling you. Both options are pretty much up in the air at this point in the game.