[thearabianmage]

Hey y'all

Random problem with my laptop's internal CD/DVD drive - it's not recognised by my computer!

Here are the facts - a mate gave me a tablet and CS3 software. The disc was read fine, but a problem during installation prevented the program from completing, so I plugged the tablet in, Windows found it, successfully downloaded drivers, and I was away drawing. 2 hours later, I went to watch a DVD, but it didn't work. Then I find that the drive isn't found in 'My Computer' OR Device Manager.

After a restart, I open DM up again, and pressed 'scan for hardware changes' and voila!, the drive was found. DVD in: nothing. DM back up: drive not found. Checked online for solutions, they said 'delete Upper and Lower filters' in the registry, so I did that: no luck. Another popular forum said to copy some programming into Notepad and double-click it, and that should've re-written some parts of the registry, but for some reason my computer won't let me 'Merge' or execute the FIXCD.REG to do whatever it is that it's meant to do.

I was recommended by someone at the other forum to restart my computer and go into BIOS to see if the computer can recognise it then, but again, he said that would only prove if the drive were faulty or not. . . but it worked before - I just don't understand what could've have caused it to go faulty in such a short time.

I've got a Hiren's bootable disc, but don't know which software would be useful, if any. I haven't tried booting from the disc, yet.

They're stumped, and I'm way beyond stumped at this point! I've included a couple pictures that may be of help, or may not. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Cheers

Joe

P.S. - That malarky about Code 19 in the device manager was like that before I did anything to the registry. (in fact, the 'upper/lower filter' fix is what came up when I Googled 'Code 19')

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Broni's canned speech:

One of these may help:
1. Uninstall the drive through Device Manager.
Restart computer. The drive will be automatically reinstalled.
or...
2. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060
Restart computer.
or...
3. Download, and run Restore Missing CD Drive patch
Double click on cdgone.zip to unzip it.
Right click on cdgone.reg, click Merge.
Accept registry merge.
Restart computer.
or...
4. Go to Device Manager, click a "+" sign next to IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.
You'll see two items:
- ATA Channel0 (or Primary Channel)
- ATA Channel1 (or Secondary Channel)
Right click on each of them, and click Uninstall. Confirm.
Restart Windows. They'll be automatically reinstalled.
5. Go to Microsoft's site http://support.micro..._drive_problems and follow the steps.
6. Try the guide at this link http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982116

Thank's to Broni for the instructions

[rshaffer61]

Broni's canned speech:

One of these may help:
1. Uninstall the drive through Device Manager.
Restart computer. The drive will be automatically reinstalled.
or...
2. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060
Restart computer.
or...
3. Download, and run Restore Missing CD Drive patch
Double click on cdgone.zip to unzip it.
Right click on cdgone.reg, click Merge.
Accept registry merge.
Restart computer.
or...
4. Go to Device Manager, click a "+" sign next to IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.
You'll see two items:
- ATA Channel0 (or Primary Channel)
- ATA Channel1 (or Secondary Channel)
Right click on each of them, and click Uninstall. Confirm.
Restart Windows. They'll be automatically reinstalled.
5. Go to Microsoft's site http://support.micro..._drive_problems and follow the steps.
6. Try the guide at this link http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982116

Thank's to Broni for the instructions

[thearabianmage]

Thanks for your reply! Wow, that's quite a list. I've had a hectic week at work, so I'll be spending most of weekend trying to sort this out. Thanks for the info and I'll post back over the next couple days with an update! Cheers

[rshaffer61]

You should be able to fix it with one of the steps. If not the issue may be a hardware then.

[thearabianmage]

Broni's canned speech:

One of these may help:
1. Uninstall the drive through Device Manager.
Restart computer. The drive will be automatically reinstalled.

The drive is not present in Device Manager, see pics

2. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060
Restart computer.

Link dead?

3. Download, and run Restore Missing CD Drive patch
Double click on cdgone.zip to unzip it.
Right click on cdgone.reg, click Merge.
Accept registry merge.
Restart computer.

Downloaded fine, etc. but I read the ReadMe and the find that the file is over 10 years old? I don't want to question your advice, but please understand my apprehension of changing the registry with a file older than some kids in grade school.

4. Go to Device Manager, click a "+" sign next to IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.
You'll see two items:
- ATA Channel0 (or Primary Channel)
- ATA Channel1 (or Secondary Channel)
Right click on each of them, and click Uninstall. Confirm.
Restart Windows. They'll be automatically reinstalled.

Haven't tried this yet.

5. Go to Microsoft's site http://support.micro..._drive_problems and follow the steps.

"We're sorry, but the diagnostic solution you have requested is not available at this time"

6. Try the guide at this link http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982116

Haven't tried this yet, either.

Again, thanks for the post - although, not to sound rude - but it looks like it may need to be updated a bit.

In any case, I'll try the other steps and see if there's any luck and post back. Thanks again!

Cheers

Joe

Edited by thearabianmage, 11 December 2010 - 08:48 AM.

[rshaffer61]

Step 3 the age of the file has no bearing as you are not installing a program but simply modifying a line in the registry to be able to identify the optical drive.
I understand you apprehension but please understand that using your theory then we would not be using commands like chkdsk, format, fdisk, restore since they have been around since windows was created.
Some instructions though old still work with today's software and hardware.
The cdgone has proven to be a invaluable patch even with Win7 now so I don't believe you will have any issues with it. Even if it doesn't work (very rarely) it does nothing more then add a line or modify a line in the registry.
2 and 5 I just checked and they are the same instructions. I had no problem getting to either when I clicked on them from your post above.

Uf tou still have no luck then we will work on the belief the problem is hardware related.

[thearabianmage]

Thanks for your reply!

Step 3 the age of the file has no bearing as you are not installing a program but simply modifying a line in the registry to be able to identify the optical drive.

Fair do's, just wanted to make sure

2 and 5 I just checked and they are the same instructions. I had no problem getting to either when I clicked on them from your post above.

This is very strange, because they still do not work for me. The link in #2 just says that MH&S could not find the page I requested, and the #5 link goes to the page, and when I click 'Run now', takes me to a page with the above quote. Twilight Zone stuff here. . .

If you still have no luck, then we will work on the belief that the problem is hardware-related.

This is what really stumps me, though. A lot people suggest the problem may be hardware-related, but it worked fine before I plugged in the tablet? And it has worked fine for the past 2 years. . . How could it be hardware-related and what could have happened to the drive in the space of two hours, max, that could render the drive faulty? I just don't get it :/

Cheers

Joe

[rshaffer61]

The timing is just coincidental with plugging in the tablet.
I'm not suggesting that is the issue and without testing the drive by putting it in another system there really is no other way of seeing if it is indeed faulty.
The other option is to try a known working optical drive in your system to see if it is seen. If so that would show a faulty device also.

[thearabianmage]

The timing is just coincidental with plugging in the tablet.

Ah, but before I plugged in the tablet, I inserted a CD and could browse/download its contents.

I may have been a bit vague, but my Lamen's Guess is that the 'temporary drivers' or whatever it is that makes the tablet work without using the installation disc is interfering with the CD drive (based on research that suggest these problems tend to occur due to hardware changes).

I'm not suggesting that is the issue and without testing the drive by putting it in another system there really is no other way of seeing if it is indeed faulty.

Fair do's

The other option is to try a known working optical drive in your system to see if it is seen. If so that would show a faulty device also.

I think my lack of understanding of computers has caught up with me once again. . . The only other optical drive I can think of is the hard-drive, but how can I test it? Or is there a different optical drive?

Would trying some sort of boot disc help? If the computer boots from the disc, then at least that proves that the drive works at a fundamental level, which means the interference comes from some process during the OS startup, right? Again, lamen's guess. . .

Cheers

Joe

[thearabianmage]

The RegEdit didn't work, so I have gone to the step involving deleting particular devices in the Device Manager. Oh yeah, what about the 'Unknown device' in Device Manager? Should I try uninstalling that, too?

[rshaffer61]

Oh yeah, what about the 'Unknown device' in Device Manager? Should I try uninstalling that, too?

Yes windows will attempt to install it on the next reboot.

I think my lack of understanding of computers has caught up with me once again. . . The only other optical drive I can think of is the hard-drive, but how can I test it? Or is there a different optical drive?

Sorry Optical drive is technical term for a cd or dvd drive. Since it uses a optical eye to read the data unlike a hard drive.

[thearabianmage]

Ok, the Device Manager option didn't work, either, and the 'IDE Channels' have come back as 'ATA Channels' 0 and 1. I ended up just uninstalling the unknown device, anyway, and that hasn't come back either. . .

It's looking pretty dire. A friend suggesting even physically disconnecting the drive and reconnecting it, saying this acts as a 'hard restart' for the drive and can fix various issues. Is this recommended?

Sorry Optical drive is technical term for a cd or dvd drive. Since it uses a optical eye to read the data unlike a hard drive.

Oops, sorry, I could have sworn that some hard-drives read and write to an incredibly delicate disk using an optical eye. Learn something new everyday


Cheers

Edited by thearabianmage, 11 December 2010 - 11:35 AM.

[thearabianmage]

Just tried the boot disc, and it doesn't boot from that, either. It makes some pretty awful noises on startup, it sounds like it's trying to do something, but failing. . . Same thing when I put a disc in. It starts revving up, then makes a couple of those nasty noises, then runs very quietly for about a minute before revving down.

So that's it, the entire list, exhausted. (regarding the link in #6, I was prompted that the file could not run because it was for XP, not Vista)

I'm running Vista 32-bit sp1 (can't get to sp2, don't know why, and all these cursed updates from Windows have slowly been deteriorating my system)

What now? I'm trying to find something that detects bad/missing drivers, but a malware-free/safe/trusted program is proving impossible to find. Any recommendations?

Cheers

Joe

Edited by thearabianmage, 11 December 2010 - 12:15 PM.

[rshaffer61]

Sounds to me with you attempting to boot to the boot disc and the noise you heard the drive has failed.
The cost of them now has dropped and being a laptop it would take a 2.5 inch drive. The best option may be to contact the manufacturer of the laptop about purchasing a replacement drive. This may not be the most cost affective method but it would assure the drive will be compatible with your system.
The other option is to purchase a external dvd\cdrom drive that would connect via USB.

[thearabianmage]

Exactly what I did NOT want to hear :'(

Nevertheless, c'est la vie. I've found out that the CD drive is a GSA-T20n - would I need one that came out a similar laptop, or does it matter (I can save £5 the latter way)

Cheers

Joe