Need help with Bizarre CD-R playing issue.....

[phillygolf]

Hello, this seems bizarre to me....

I have a Dell 4400 (XP) and NEC 7900a burner. I am now unable to play CD-R's. But I am able to play a manufactured CD. The other thing is, I cant play a CD-R that I burned and played on my burner a few weeks ago. I havent updated any hardware or drivers, and I rolled back system update to the day before I was able to burn the cd's and play them (in case a microsoft update jammed me up).

I dont have my original cd handy to reinstall the drivers, hoping someone has more suggestions. The other thing is, it seems bizarre I can play a normal cd, but not a burned one - especially since I burned it with recorder.....I am thinking maybe driver issue, but just doesnt make sense.

Thanks in advance.

-patrick

[ccb056]

try reinstalling the channel the device is on via device manager
make sure dma is enabled
switch ide cables, make sure its an 80 pin and not a 40 pin

if that doesnt work, maybe your drive is fubar'd.

[CDRecorder]

Can your drive still burn CDs? If so, do those CDs work in the burner?

[phillygolf]

It wont read a cd-r at all now, but will play a regular cd. But the thing is, two weeks ago I burned that exact cd-r and played it on that same system!!!!!!!!!

I think the answer really lies in if there is a difference in how the cdrom reads a cd-r and how it reads a cd (professional music manfuctured) ....if the difference is drivers, then I believe my issue lies there.

Thanks - any more suggestions welcomed.

-Patrick

[CDRecorder]

That doesn't sound like a driver problem to me; your drive has probably gone bad.

CD-Rs and pressed CDs are read in exactly the same way, but CD-Rs are slightly less reflective than pressed CDs. I think that possibly the laser has probably gotten weaker due to a defect, so the drive is no longer able to read CD-Rs.

[ccb056]

thats what im thinking also.

[phillygolf]

I think you guys answered my question!

If they are read the same way, then maybe the laser is dying...or is dirty. I am going to clean it tonight - removed the drive, etc. Then just for kicks update the firmware (in process of trying to determine if it will update drivers as well - but agree with you, makes sense wouldnt be the driver). Finally, do one more uninstall-install of the hardware.

I'll let you know what happens. Thanks for the info, appreciate it.

Patrick

[CDRecorder]

You're welcome; I hope that helps. Let us know what happens!