TheTechGuide Forum
General Category => Hardware => Topic started by: Khalil on October 19, 2003, 10:22:58 AM
-
I have a Samsung SW216-B CD-RW running on a Windows 2000 IBM PC with over 500+ MB of Ram. It works pretty well; no complaints.
However, in the past week I've had severe cd reading problems.
1. The CD-RW doesn't even respond to the eject button; I have to get a straight pin and use the manual eject.
2. Once I do that, the CD-RW doesn't even light up indicating it's reading the CD. Nor does Windows indicate a CD is in the drive.
3. None of my cd-reading applications can detect a CD is in the drive. But Windows 2000 sees the CD-RW drive.
What the?
So I figure absolutely nothing is wrong with the Samsung drive. Windows sees that it's there--it just says the cd bay is empty.
I even update the driver for Samsung, try different settins in Device Manager (taking auto-run or disabling reading CD's digitally)--all to no avail.
Then it hits me--like a rocket! I just purchased 4 new CD's...3 of which are from BMG. It all hits me because I'm at Princeton and a grad student recently figured out that holding down the shift button while loading certain copy-written CD's can disable the driver. Unfortunately, this procedure isn't quite working on my computer.
It's odd because eventually the CD-RW will start reading CD's again. But if I put one of these copy-written CD's in the drive:
1. Windows does not recognize it.
2. I have to manually eject it.
3. My eject button no longer works.
4. And the CD-RW fails to recognize non-copy-written CD's (audio or data).
What I'm searching for are ways to play my non-copy written CD's, because now it's a nuisance to get them to work. I don't feel like re-starting my computer each time (nor should I have to). And that doesn't even work. It takes 6 or 7 tries of manually ejecting and loading non-copy-written CDs, There has to be a way to disable some driver that is rendering the CD-RW useless.
Any thoughts?
-
Just to double check cables and try another IDE cable. Try a cd lazer cleaner. See if their is a firmware upgrade for that samsung drive and if so upgrade it. When you first boot up (black screen) is the CDRW in the list of installed drives?