DVD Drive doesnt read disks

[whest]

He has this on his system - whats he do with it ? - C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\GEARAspiWDM.sys. This may be a problem if he does get a new drive - he could just follow the path and delete it - setup a restore point firstly - i think w7 keeps a shadow copy of all the system files and deleting it maybe a waste of time - im lost here - is anyone seeing this as a problem?

 

[whest]

Im stunned, i thought i had it solved - oh well I guess some of these problems are just too trying - you want to be solved, and overlook something - ughhhh!

 

[MadMaxData]

Well, let's take a break and try another go at it tomorrow. Sometimes you just need to walk away for a bit, then it will hit you. Besides, I'm so tired right now I can barely see straight. I'll be back in about 10 hours guys.

 

[CommonTater]

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.

Actually the first step, I would think, would be to uninstall the GEAR driver. It does not appear on my driver list (Liteon drive imported from XP) and it might be an orphan causing errors when the drive is accessed.... Your suggestion about updating is good, but maybe we should get the darned thing working *at all* first...

 

[CommonTater]

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

Hey look at the stuff we've been into the last couple of days... I'm flatly amazed any of us is keeping track of it...

 

[CommonTater]

He has this on his system - whats he do with it ? - C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\GEARAspiWDM.sys. This may be a problem if he does get a new drive - he could just follow the path and delete it - setup a restore point firstly - i think w7 keeps a shadow copy of all the system files and deleting it maybe a waste of time - im lost here - is anyone seeing this as a problem?

Yep... it's a possibility for sure.

He should also check his Services list and see if there's a service installed for that same file...

In the mean time he might be able to rename it "GearAspiWDM.sys.NULL" so that it's not found on the next reboot and see what that does... the rename is totally reversible, so it's a harmless thing to try.

FWIW... WDM drivers generally refer to XP drivers.

 

[CommonTater]

"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...

That might well be the case... New drives are not terribly expensive and you can always look for the W7 logo on the new box...

Newegg.com - dvd burner internal

Just don't be buying an LG drive... I've had such a horrible time with them that last summer I went around to the machines under my care and replaced about 30 of them with Liteon drives, free of charge.

However... that Gear driver concerns me... It might be the problem and Win7 just might reinstall it with a brand new drive! I'd say you'll have to get that out of there and test the drive before you do anything that actually costs money.

 

[aDuck]

sweet as, ill try to uninstall the GEAR drive, and see what happens

 

[aDuck]

Now i have located the files, but i'm not sure what to do with them. Would deleting be sufficient?

 

[neo101]

Aduck

Download and run Nero "Infotool"

'Snip' & bare all

I strongly suspect your drive is too old to read some of the newest DVD's ie laser incompatability.

Reason is coz Win 7 DVD's are written in +R or -R (can't remember which) and my older Asus DVD drive (first version) wouldn't support either + or - which caused the slow reading/lock-ups/non response.

Couldn't update the firmware coz Asus DVD player was the first rev. and didn't have ability to update onboard chipset/laser.

 

[CommonTater]

Now i have located the files, but i'm not sure what to do with them. Would deleting be sufficient?

Rename them as I described, with a second extension...

Original name ... Fred.sys
New name ... Fred.sys.old

That way you can very easily put them back.

 

[aDuck]

Theres the txt file showing all of the drivers and such, i did see the GEAR driver and its listed as a CD DVD filter

 

[aDuck]

Now i have located the files, but i'm not sure what to do with them. Would deleting be sufficient?

Rename them as I described, with a second extension...

Original name ... Fred.sys
New name ... Fred.sys.old

That way you can very easily put them back.

ah, sorry about that.

Restarting now to see what itll do.

 

[aDuck]

ok, renaming the GEAR files stops me from seeing my drive.

I get an error in Device manager, but it tells me that the hardware is up to date.

Checked the device list and it was the same as before, except without the GEAR driver.

Cannot uninstall then install the DVD drive without it returning an error.

changed all the names back, and its the same as normal, except it still doesnt work.

 

[CommonTater]

Theres the txt file showing all of the drivers and such, i did see the GEAR driver and its listed as a CD DVD filter

In your text list, about half way down I see that the Gear Driver can be uninstalled via your Programs and Features control panel dialog...

Maybe you should just dump it and see what happens...

 

[neo101]

Theres the txt file showing all of the drivers and such, i did see the GEAR driver and its listed as a CD DVD filter

Thought you said your dvd drive was 5yrs old! seems right up to date from your 'infotool' results!

Have you tried swapping ide 0 to ide 1 socket?

 

[aDuck]

Theres the txt file showing all of the drivers and such, i did see the GEAR driver and its listed as a CD DVD filter

Thought you said your dvd drive was 5yrs old! seems right up to date from your 'infotool' results!

Have you tried swapping ide 0 to ide 1 socket?

Up to date, maybe, but the hardware is 5 years old.

The IDE socket shouldnt matter, considering i can get the thing to work in XP... unless the drive is intentionally making me angry.

 

[aDuck]

Theres the txt file showing all of the drivers and such, i did see the GEAR driver and its listed as a CD DVD filter

In your text list, about half way down I see that the Gear Driver can be uninstalled via your Programs and Features control panel dialog...

Maybe you should just dump it and see what happens...

Dumped the driver, still the same old problem

 

[CommonTater]

Theres the txt file showing all of the drivers and such, i did see the GEAR driver and its listed as a CD DVD filter

In your text list, about half way down I see that the Gear Driver can be uninstalled via your Programs and Features control panel dialog...

Maybe you should just dump it and see what happens...

Dumped the driver, still the same old problem

Well... as much as I hate to admit defeat... methinks it's time for a new drive. There appears to be some fundimental incompatibility between W7 and that drive.

If you have a spare SATA port this is your chance to dump the IDE stuff as well.

 

[neo101]

Theres the txt file showing all of the drivers and such, i did see the GEAR driver and its listed as a CD DVD filter

Thought you said your dvd drive was 5yrs old! seems right up to date from your 'infotool' results!

Have you tried swapping ide 0 to ide 1 socket?

Up to date, maybe, but the hardware is 5 years old.

The IDE socket shouldnt matter, considering i can get the thing to work in XP... unless the drive is intentionally making me angry.

Win 7 insists on starting my monitor (8mnths old) @ 59Hz instead of 60Hz making the text appear smaller on screen!
Works perfect @ 60 hz on XP!

Effing annoying! - No solution - poxy programming.

Have you tried shorting "cable select" for your DVD drive?
How about in Bios set as 'PIO' initially