AS 6920 - unable to use dvd drive

when i insert a dvd into the drive, the drive tries to read the disc and the yellow led turns on, after a few seconds it finishes reading and when i go to open it in computer, double click on dvd drive, there is nothing on the dvd. i tried a couple of different dvd's, but the same thing happens.

One thing that makes me think that the problem is software, is my ability to boot from disc. i can boot the recovery disks, windows xp, linux... whatever.

i've updated to bios v1.14 from 1.10, but the problem persisted. i always tried removing upperfilters & lowerfilters and even restoring to factory default settings. nothing worked. i remeber that this happened to me about 5 months ago, and that suddenly it was fixed, but two weeks ago it returned.

what should i do?

Regards

 

Another hardware malfunction?
You can try re-installing your driver. Download your DVD rom driver software from Acer Official website.

 

i couldn't find the drivers you talked abt on the site.

 

acer euro ftp. Try it.

 

I do not believe there is a "DVD driver" - that usually comes from Microsoft itself as part of the operating system.
Since the drive reads other DVDs just fine outside of Vista, it does sound like an OS issue. Go ahead and use Google for solutions that aren't Acer-specific.

 

it's not vista related. i tried installing xp, same issue

 

Very high possible that your DVD rom is defective.
It is not a total malfunction as you mentioned, sometime it works and sometime it's dead. However, this is very annoying.
If you have your warranty, why don't go after ACER?

 

Hi, if it is the same with both OS's on a fresh install then it points to being hardware related, however you could try running this 'fixit' on this page http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060 I know it's not quite the same error but it may be worth trying. If not then it could be either the drive or the connector or the motherboard that is at fault...
Chris

 

but how is it able to boot always in a fine manner (installed xp, and used recovery disks) from a dvd/cd?

edit: should i try downgrading the bios to 1.07 or 1.06 (which one is the original??)

 

bump! any ideas why the dvd drive boots just fine from any disc, but when it comes to reading dvd's inside windows, it just doesn't work?

also as i mentioned before what's the original bios that comes with the AS6920G? and is it okay for me to downgrade to it from 1.14?

 

Of course you can downgrade it.
But I can't ensure that the older BIOS can revive your DVD rom.

 

what's the original bios?? 1.06 or 1.07? the default one that ships with the laptop?

 

Hi, is it just DVD's, if so what kind?
Chris

 

dvd's (i've only tried single layer) and cd's.

 

Hi, all I can suggest is that work your way through here http://www.google.co.uk/search?sour...+blank+dvd's&btnG=Google+Search&=lr=&aq=f&oq=
Chris

 

it also doesn't ready full disks! it doesn't read any disc when it enters the OS. But in boot time, it's fine.

even the bootable disks that work in boot time don't work inside the OS.

 

So why not restore the computer using the bootable recovery discs?
Backup your personal data just in case (it'll wipe out the C: partition, but keep the D: partition safe), and try that.

Why do you suspect it's a BIOS issue? Did the problem start occurring IMMEDIATELY after a BIOS flash?

 

dude read my first post. as i said, i did restoration to factory default settings, plus i even tried installing xp. but the problem persisted in both scenarios.

that's why i think it's a bios issue. i'm not sure when the problem started because i occasionally use my dvd drive.

and would someone please answer my question, what's the original BIOS version that comes preinstalled 1.06 or 1.07?

 

1.06 on my system, but I can't know for certain whether it's the same for you.

 

Don't know about the bios.
Windows vista can stop DVD/CD access as part of group policy (not so easy on XP usually requires a service to do this). I take it you have not connected to a corporate network that might want to stop you using removable media?
Have you tried checking the device manager to see if the device has been recognised by windows and has no issues.
While there you should try removing the driver and then forcing a reboot to redetect and re-install the driver, if you have not tried this already.
Have you checked the event logs to see if windows is reporting any issues there?
Autoplay contention can have similar effects, this could be fixed by sorting out autoplay customisation if any has been made.
Can you read CD/DVD disks immediately following a clean install/restore or does the problem manifest itself immediately?

 

-i'm not connected to a network
-i checked the device manager, it is recocginzed by windows and has no issues
-i tried removing the drive & re-installing it
-i checked event logs, no issues
-it manifest itself immediately

i haven't selected a dvd region, could that be it? should i select one?

 

Unlikely to be the DVD region, this should happen automatically the first time you play a DVD movie disc.
Assuming you have already followed the fixit link posted earlier I can think of a couple of other things to try. You could try locating the CDROM IDE channel in device manager (under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers) if you find the right one remove it and reboot to get it redetected. You could try using F8 on boot to get into safe mode to see if in safe mode you get at least basic CD functionality. Other than that I am running out of ideas...

 

Looking back at your original post i have noticed the line " HEXE ZKHEVG1AZGXE SCSI CdRom Device". Is it possible that the device is being wrongly detected. This might happen as a result of SATA controller configuration in the bios, though i have no direct experience of it myself.

 

the safe mode part doesn't work.
also, the "HEXE ZKHEVG1AZGXE SCSI CdRom Device" is virtual dvd drive (using daemon tools). so the pioneer one is the dvd drive.

if i right click on dvd rw drive in my computer and select properties, it says file system: unknown. is that okay?
also, the dvd drive is on Location 0 (Channel 0, Target 0, Lun 0), and so is the disk drive. in the device manager, there is one ide channel controller on 0 for dvd drive, and one ide channel controller on 0 for dvd drive. should i try disabling DMA for the dvd drive?

and as i said before the dvd region tab in the dvd drive properties says that Current Region = Not Selected. are you sure that's okay?

 

I am personally running out of ideas.
I realise the problem manifests after a clean install but I would uninstall daemon tools (not always easy depending on the version), just to be sure that is not adding to your problems. You should not need to disable DMA though it could self disable if issues were detected in data flow.
You should not need to set the region to see CDs or data DVDs, this is only required if you want to watch a movie and should happen the first time you put a region specific DVD in, however if you want to rule it out go ahead, you get 5 chances in total.
Saying "filesystem: unknown" suggests either there is no disc in the drive or as it suggests it cannot read it so it is not okay, unless the disc is damaged in some way or never been written to.
I am not quite sure what you are saying regarding the controller channels.
Have you checked for chipset driver updates?
When checking the event log you are lookng at both system and application?
Other than that if it is not a hardware fault or loose connection, I can think of no other suggestions I am afraid.

 

so it worked again.. really weird case!

 

So what was the last thing you did to try and fix it?

 

okay, so i wanted to burn a video dvd, so i thought to try the dvd drive again. I inserted a blank dvd, and it saw it! then i removed the empty disk, and inserted the dvd's/cd's that didn't work, and now they worked! so i believe it has something to do with me inserting a blank dvd.

i wish there was some kind of optical drives engineer that would explain this situation.

 

now it doesn't work i haven't made any recent changes.