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    Optical Drives undetected.

    Discussion in 'Sager and Clevo' started by sagebrush, Jul 5, 2006.

  1. sagebrush

    sagebrush Notebook Consultant

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    Over the weekend both of my Optical DVD-ROM drives became uninstalled, and I have no idea how to get my notebook to re-detect them.
    Neither appear under My Computer, and Adding New Hardware won't detect them. If I stick a disc into either drive, everything seems to function properly (ie lights flash, rotation, etc...), but the computer does not detect the drives. They are GONE!

    Any ideas. I already have a problem with my 80GB SATA Drive reading at merely 4MB/s. If I can't fix this... I guess I'll be sending this computer back to Sager for some warranty work.
     
    sagebrush, Jul 5, 2006
    #1
  2. Gophn

    Gophn NBR Resident Assistant

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    sagebrush,

    1.) Download: XP_CD-DVD-Fix.exe - Restore CD/DVD Drives to Explorer
    -You may need to reboot for the change to take effect.

    -OR-

    2.) try to go to (Microsoft's site) this: CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive appears to be missing after you install Windows XP

    -OR-

    3.) if that doesn't work, then:
    Sounds like your IDE channels might have dropped to PIO mode, instead of DMA. (This is a "feature" in WinXP.)

    Go into device manager and look at the Primary and Secondary IDE channels. Under the advanced tab, see what mode you're in. If it says PIO you'll need to uninstall the drives and let Windows find them again (resetting it to DMA if available won't do it).

    If WinXP has trouble reading a disc more than a couple times it permanently lowers the mode to PIO. Uninstalling and reinstalling the drives is the only way to get a fresh start. Once the drives have been re-detected, you may have to go back and manually set the "DMA if available" option.



    Hope this helps,

    -Gophn
     
    Gophn, Jul 5, 2006
    #2
  3. ikovac

    ikovac Cooler and faster... NBR Reviewer

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    Gophn said it all. - PIO/UDMA is a big issue.

    Ivan
     
    ikovac, Jul 6, 2006
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