DVD-ROM reads CDs but not DVDs

This is an extremely old problem that I had long given up hope of finding a solution for. I simply dont watch movies on my Pc, but with more software such as GTA:San Andreas being released as DVD-ROM instead of CD-ROM the issue has come back to haunt me.

Simply put, the DVD-ROM drive wont recognize DVD media. All CD media works fine, (CD-ROM, CD-R etc.) When a DVD is inserted into the drive, the autoplay starts as the disk icon shows for about 5 seconds then stops. Trying to open the drive results in a "please insert a disk" message.

The only oddity that I have been able to find is its properties under general tab, shows its type as a CD drive. If it should be listed as DVD type then this most likely is the cause but I have no idea how to manually change its type.
http://img139.echo.cx/img139/4059/dvdrom7eg.jpg

My system has had many performance "tweaks" made to it such as disabling "unnecessary" services per the advice of "experts", so if reading a dvd depends on a particular service being enabled this could be it as well though ive yet to find it.
The CD and DVD drives have also been reassigned letters a few times, to the point that I forget their defaults. Currently my HD is C - floppy is A - CD is D and DVD is E. I've tryed a few combos with no success.

Any help would be appreciated in solving this 1 age old problem ive had.
If any additional info is needed for determining the cause, it can be provided.
Thanks!

How is the drive listed in Device Manager? Does it mention DVD or just CD?

As Listed in the device manager
Pioneer DVD-ROM DVD-116

Device Type: DVD/CD-ROM drives
Manufacturer:(Standard CD-ROM drives)
Location: Location 1 (1)

It should also be noted that under the details tab, "compatible ids" only has GenCdRom listed.

Go into device manager and remove the dvd. Reboot and windows should pick it up as a new device then ID it and install the correct drivers for it.

Let us know if that is done or not.
Also post your Operating System. I am guess it not 98 or XP

Sorry about the OS. It is XP Home, its just in classic view.
Ok I uninstalled the dvd drive, rebooted, it was detected and it still wont play dvds.
Only 1 thing has changed. Its location went from location 1 to location 0. My other CD drive is in location 0 so I uninstalled it as well, rebooted and it still placed it in location 0. So now both of my drives are in location 0. ???
Thanks for all the help so far!

All DVD drives are listed as "CD Drive" in the Properties>General tab, it's just normal WinXP behaviour. This sounds to me like the DVD laser has failed (CDs and DVDs use different wavelegths of light). Unfortunately there is nothing you can do except replace the drive. The good news is that DVD drives (or even DVD burners) are now extremely cheap.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SuperSparks

All DVD drives are listed as "CD Drive" in the Properties>General tab, it's just normal WinXP behaviour. This sounds to me like the DVD laser has failed (CDs and DVDs use different wavelegths of light). Unfortunately there is nothing you can do except replace the drive. The good news is that DVD drives (or even DVD burners) are now extremely cheap.

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Whoa!
And here I was dreading a firmware update or something. If thats the case then this drive was a piece of junk considering it stopped recognizing dvds in less than a year. Any way to know for certain?

Unfortunately no, though the symptoms of it always reading CDs and never reading DVDs are very indicative of laser failure (or the lasers associated electronics).

Alright, thanks for the help!
I always thought it was because I upgraded from ME to XP, tweaked my systems services to no end, or because I was pounded by trojans back in my 1st year online.

Are the DVD's your trying to play commercial movies? If so,and they have copy protection,this could be why your drive is shown as CD only and your getting the 'please insert a disk' message. Will it read a DVD disk that is 'home grown' with just data or personal video on it?

Yes the DVDs are commercial, however the same dvds always worked prior to the problem. A 'homegrown' dvd has never been in the drive as I dont have a dvd burner or even the need for one. I dont even know anyone who does have a dvd burner as to borrow one to test.
In any case, this was a problem that happened not long after XP home was first released, which goes to show that I had long given up on finding a solution. I thought I give it one last shot before scrapping it.

Could be old age has caused it to go south. I would give a 'laser cleaner' a shot before junking it tho'. Get one that is 'wet/dry' so you can use the cleaning solution such as the 'GE Laser Lens Cleaner'. Should be able to find these where DVD disks and players are sold...

It wasn't that old when it failed.
Between 6-8 months.
Thx for the replies.

you might try reinstalling your dvd software. without a decoder you won't be able to read comercial dvd's.

I had the opposite thing happen to my Samsung DVD-ROM drive about a year ago. It stopped reading CD's and would only read DVD. Cleaning with a cleaning disc didn't help. I put up with it for a few months and just used my CD-rw to read CD's untill I got tired of not being able to make disc to disc copies. I just ordered a new one from some vendor on pricewatch.com they are cheap enough, only 25 bucks or so.

Yup, what you got was the CD laser packing up. In each optics unit there are two laser diodes, using common lenses, one for CD's (780 nm), and one for DVD's (650 nm). If one or the other fails then you get the inability to read one type of disc or the other. Cleaning the lens is unlikely to help, as the same lens is used for both lasers, though it never hurts to try.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by J A L

you might try reinstalling your dvd software. without a decoder you won't be able to read comercial dvd's.

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Ive tried many different decoders, none worked.
Thanks for all the replies, Im just going to get a new drive soon.

Not soon enough.

I was in my bios menu and noticed that:

The hard drive is the primary master
My CD drive is the Secondary Master
My DVD drive is the secondary slave

I know weve decided my laser is toast but could this setup have any ill effect on dvd recognition?

None whatsoever. It would have an effect on drive recognition, but as long as Windows can see the drive then it won't make any difference to recognising the media.

my dvd player just stopped playing dvds and only plays cds everyone tells me to get a new decoder but i have a dvd burner thats connected to my computer and it will play the dvds just fine any help


Thanks

I ve faced this identical problem when the drive would read cds but no dvds.
It has gone dead, pls dont waste money on any drive cleaners. NOthing would help ! Telling you this by my experience.

Yep, I agree, just replace the drive, especially as they're so cheap these days.

my pioneer drive did the exact samething a while ago, but I wasn't reading DVD's at the time so I never got around it fixing it...; I did spend a few hours trying different disks are uninstalling, ect. but no dice.., nothing worked..

well, I put it into an old computer for use as a CD-ROM drive and for whatever reason the drive worked on that computer.., *shrug*, got a DVD-/+RW no.., so it really doesn't matter...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SuperSparks

Yup, what you got was the CD laser packing up. In each optics unit there are two laser diodes, using common lenses, one for CD's (780 nm), and one for DVD's (650 nm). If one or the other fails then you get the inability to read one type of disc or the other. Cleaning the lens is unlikely to help, as the same lens is used for both lasers, though it never hurts to try.

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I love how "experts" always assume it's a hardware failure. So... what you're trying to say is that without testing the unit in another machine you've positively identified this as a hardware issue. Awesome.

Never mind that it could be any one of a number of software issues. Easiest way to tell... other than testing in another machine... is to try to boot off a bootable dvd I.E. Win Vista or 7. If it will boot off of the dvd then your problem is most likely a corruption in your os. I've seen viruses that will do this.

Unfortunately there is no one easy fix if it is software related other than os reload. It could be, but not limited to: a filter not set right, a bad/incorrect group policy setting, registry corruption, or conflicts with burning software.

Not trying to through anyone under the bus here, just wanted to point out that when dealing with pc problems, hardware failures do occur, but the issue more likely than not resides in software.

Good thing your quoted him...Cause after FIVE YEARS he probably forgot he posted in this thread;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by callme_charlie

Never mind that it could be any one of a number of software issues

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Do please explain how a software issue would prevent the computer from reading DVDs, but would still happily allow it to read CDs?

And another thing, while we're at it, perhaps before having a dig at ancient advice given in a period when laser failure was quite commonplace, you should search through some of my other posts. You might find that quite often I am the one suggesting that a problem isn't hardware related, and might be software :rolleyes: