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My 5 yr old Desktop has a LiteOn DVD+-Writer CD-Writer IDE drive which I depend on for backups to CD.
Recently it has stopped recognising and reading CDs although it will read all DVDs (film & software). For the last few months it had in its jaws a commercial music CD which might be slightly faulty but it played last time I tried it.
Any ideas? Drivers reported up to date.
Or should I just bin it and find a replacement on eBay?
Anyone know the difference between - LiteOn SHM-165H6S (that I have)
- LiteOn SHM-165P6S
Only diff I can see is mine has LightScribe Technology.
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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Guess you've uninstalled the driver, rebooted and it still wont read a CD?
On time I had to unstall the IDE ATA/ATAPI controller driver and reboot to get Utlra DMA Mode 5 back from PIO Only mode (that was with XP) - too many CD/DVD drive errors forced PIO Only mode and read/write speeds became very slow. Although your drive can still read DVD's....
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What is Utlra DMA Mode 5 / PIO Only mode and where do I see it?
This is XP.
I do see Utlra DMA Mode 2 under Primary IDE Channel for both devices. I have another DVD/CD Reader that reads both DVDs & CDs.
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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I had a couple of Samsungs do this, in fact one would write a CD but then wouldn't read it, this was just after a couple of years. Sent one back under 3 year warranty and got a refurb which eventually went the same way.
Ended up binning the Samsungs and getting two Sony-Liteons hope they dont go like yours. Running XP too but as soon as I plugged the Sony's in they were good to go and no read problems. So far still working after two years.
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Sony makes LiteOns. does it?
Look like I better do the same.
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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If I uninstall the drivers & reboot, where will it find the drivers again? Have no discs.
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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If you see only Ultra DMA Mode 2 that's fine - I saw "Current Transfer Mode: PIO only" and had to use this fix http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=90043 because some data CD's couldn't be read and write speeds became very slow
Sounds like you need a new drive for sure if DMA is enabled and it's OK with DVD's - what annoys me about XP is sometimes it will say a device is working properly when it most definitely ain't!
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I quite often encounter problems with CD/DVD drives, which for one reason or another wont read discs, and 9 times out of 10 uninstalling the driver and rebooting fixes the problem - it's a Windows driver so the OS reinstalls (enables) it on start-up.
Actually currently have a problem with a drive which often refuses to open from the tray button and I have to use the GUI to open it (or a paper clip!) - uninstalling the driver and rebooting hasn't helped with that though 
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Ugh! Just discovered that drive has corrupted all (3) CD-RWs I tested it with , but CD-Rs are OK.
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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It writes to a cd-r and then I guess it can read what it's written...
Funny that it corrupts rewritables - trying to salvage corrupted cd-rw's and dvd-/+ rw's has probably wrecked a couple of my drives...
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No, I didn't read the CD-Rs on the offending Writer drive but on my Reader only drive, which couldn't read the 3 CD-RWs I used for testing.
I guess cuz the CD-Rs are writable ONCE and so couldn't be corruptly written to again, whereas the CD-RWs are writable MANY times.
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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What does Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer > System and Application say about these cd problems? Sometimes I've had a virtually uncountable number of errors when messing about with cd's, dvd's and drives which tend not to be very healthy...
There can sometimes be an issue with finalizing a disc which can stop it being read on another drive - normally I work with multisesson writes onto cd-r's and cd-rw's (also dvd-r and dvd-/+rw) using Nero and keep the disc on the one drive until it's finalized. Then if I want to use a writable again I'll eraze it completely on the same drive, if possible, with Nero. In fact sometimes I've tried to use erased re-writables on a different drive and the disc has not been recognised.
Dell always used to say that the drives fitted to their machines may not read discs written on other drives...
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Maybe I didnt make myself clear. It wont read any CD incl. prerecorded CD ROM so its not a matter of finalisation or drive incompatibility. I first noticed the pattern when I realised that MS Works was on DVD not CD unlike other software like XP SP2 or MS Office.
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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My final test on these devices, when uncertain, is to move the drive to another PC which is uncorrupted as far as CD/DVD work - that shows whether the fault is with the hardware (which it usually is).
Derek
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Not a peep in Event Viewer!
As it's OK on DVDs, I suspect it is the hardware, not drivers; probably the CD laser is faulty resulting in corrupt writable CDs. Do they have separate lasers for CD & DVD?
Just going to try re-seating it in bay before I look on eBay (it's gonna be a 2nd hand one I guess).
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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Sorry don't know about the lasers, but for sure that could certainly be the problem
If there is nothing showing in the event viewer then you are probably correct in believing it to be a hardware issue, i.e. nothing is being read.
Do you have auto play set on that machine? If so does it even ask you what to do with a blank cd in that drive? Sometimes I've had cd's and dvd's that are actually full of data yet Windows still sees them as blank when using some drives.
Best of luck with re-seating the drive but as it reads DVD's that may not be the problem?
Been looking on Amazon myself for a SATA DVD drive (due to current tray opening button problem) - nice and easy return policy if bought from Amazon direct 
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Been looking on Amazon myself for a SATA DVD drive (due to current tray opening button problem) - nice and easy return policy if bought from Amazon direct But harder for IDE
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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But harder for IDE
Sure - but best of luck with an ebay used item
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Just thought of something, obvious question really: have you tried cleaning the drive's lens with a cleaning disc?
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Just thought of something, obvious question really: have you tried cleaning the drive's lens with a cleaning disc?
Or using cotton bud on lens, worked for me
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Or using cotton bud on lens, worked for me
That's easy with a laptop drive...
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Have you tried updating the firmware. This page may be a bit slow to load.
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have you tried cleaning the drive's lens with a cleaning disc? Yes, but as it won't recognise CDs at all it wouldn't play. Tho' I expect it spun a bit.
Will try cotton buds when I take it of bay.
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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Post deleted by XRaySpeX
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Don't suppose you have a dvd lens cleaner which might work?
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I reckon I'd be safest replacing like with like. So it looks like choice between: - New, I think, Liteon from PCUpgrade.co.uk @ £34
- Used Liteon from eBay @ £10.50 +
- New Sony or HP from Amazon @ £25 - £27.50
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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Sony makes LiteOns. does it?
Look like I better do the same.
Oops sorry got it wrong Sony-Optiaric. The drives are Badged externally as Sony but using the SysInfo Nero tool they are noted as Optiaric. Sorry got mixed up.
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My experience says that these drives can just fail as you describe. (next step is replacement).
I now run with all my computers having external USB drives which are only powered up when needed and never left with a disc in - (they then last much longer).
Line One:- Zen - DrayTek Vigor 2600VG
Line Two:- EntaNet (Aquiss) - DrayTek Vigor 2600
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Your thread spurred me into replacing my SATA DVD drive because of it's dodgy tray button - got a cheap and cheerful LG from Amazon, fitted it this evening and it seems OK
Will try and fix the old SATA Sony Optiarc at some point - may just need pulling apart and clearing any dust out...
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Well, I've replaced the drive with a new HP IDE one as my PC is HP and it seemed similar in spec to the LiteOn original. The new LiteOn i found before was listed wrongly and the used ones on eBay were different models that looked like they had more buttons & what looked like a volume control, so I thought it safest to go with the HP.
It, of course, successfully reads and writes CDs (& DVDs) which confirms the problem was not with drivers or anything else in the PC , but with the drive hardware itself.
The old drive had corrupted 4 of my CD-RWs, but after an eternity of accessing it I have managed to initialise & write at least 1 of them. Once written it is accessed fast.
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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Nice one
Funny how the old drive read DVD's but not CD's though...in terms of writing, I had a drive once that wrote to CD's OK but the last GB of data on a single layer DVD, where the surface speed near the outside of the disc is much faster, would often be poorly written.
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Not so funny - the CD and DVD use different laser frequencies, most often implemented as different laser devices which happen to use the same final lens system to get the beam to the CD/DVD.
With the dual-purpose devices I've had and fixed for other people, most start by failing one disk type while the other carries on working (for a while).
Derek
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As a backup for the future have you considered using a caddy and a external SATA drive.
I use one of these for my netbook and it means I can use it on any of my PC's if I nned to in a hurry.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ziboo-ZIPAD1-Netbook-enclosu...
That enclosure takes a laptop drive and has space for a laptop HDD as well and isn't a bad price.
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No, that's no diff from an internal IDE; both can fail in the same way.
Particularly as dandnsmith has finally confirmed that these drives have dual lasers that can fail in the way I experienced.
No. I can always back up to a USB Flash Drive as a fall-back.
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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Probably the simplest way to check this would have been to try booting from a CD.
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... Well, I've replaced the drive with a new HP IDE one as my PC is HP and it seemed similar in spec to the LiteOn original. The new LiteOn i found before was listed wrongly and the used ones on eBay were different models that looked like they had more buttons & what looked like a volume control, so I thought it safest to go with the HP....
As long as you buy a replacement with the same connection imterface, brand etc doesn't matter. As far as Windows itself is concerned, you'll only see minor and temporary problems if a different interface type (IDE-SATA/SATA-IDE) is used. I'm not sure how some burning software would react in this case though.
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Probably the simplest way to check this would have been to try booting from a CD. Unlikely, as it would not read any CD! Anyway did try Hiren's Boot CD.
Yes thanks, I know all about IDE/PATA vs. SATA. I was more interested in compatibility of ancillary features, like disk labelling.
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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Unlikely, as it would not read any CD! Anyway did try Hiren's Boot CD.
If it wouldn't read a CD from boot, it had failed. That proved, there's no point in messing about in Windows with transfer settings or uninstalling drivers etc.
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Never did! Anyway it's all over now
1999: Freeserve 48K Dial-Up => 2005: Wanadoo 1 Meg BB => 2007: Orange 2 Meg BB => 2008: Orange 8 Meg LLU => 2010: Orange 16 Meg LLU => 2011: Orange 19 Meg WBC
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