# DVD-Rom works ONLY in Safe-Mode, how to fix it?



## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

I've installed Windows XP SP2 Fresh after I had some other hardware problems. Everything seemed to work fine until I managed to get into Windows. The OS refuses to read ANY dvd/cd that I put inside. If instead, I boot to Safe-Mode, the DVD-RW works fine. Of course I tried to switch the DVD-RW with another one but the results were the same.

My system specs are:


> Motherboard: ASUS P5LD2 (with latest Bios 1503)
> CPU: P4 EE 3.73 Ghz
> HDD 40 GB Maxtor Eide (Master)
> Pioneer DVD-RW 110D (Slave)
> ...


My guess is that it's a software/windows problem since NO DVD-RW or DVD-Rom works unless I am in safe-mode. I've spent almost 48 hours googling for a solution but with no luck. For instance some guys were suggesting to regedit something related to an uninstall of burning software (but since I'm on a clean install it doesn't apply); or others were suggesting to "uninstall" the dvd and let windows recognize it after a reboot (tried but didn't solve it), others again suggested to install Chipset's drivers of my MoBo (did it but didn't work), or to upgrade the Bios to the latest version (did that too, but nothing changed). Also I did all the hardware suggestions I found (like try another cable, invert cables, mount units one by one etc... but still everything work everywhere BUT in windows normal-mode)

Something that was strange though is that I installed Windows from CD flawleslly:/

I am pretty much lost but I am so close to the solution, I can feel it.

Any one can enlighten me?

Regards.


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## Girderman (Oct 22, 2006)

First thing, those "guys" that recommend using regedit are not always trustworthy. I've seen some hair-brained "solutions". Unless other more common causes are ruled out, I'd stay away from messing with the Registry as you could crater the thing and wind up re-installing XP.

The DVD is a "basic" device and my guess is that it's drivers are included with those in Safe Mode, so my theory is that some other hardware that loads in Normal Mode is conflicting with those. Meaning it's not the DVD you should be looking at, but rather something else that only comes in on Normal Mode.

Like USB devices, maybe.

Or possibly your CD/DVD burning software. Or a virutal drive like Daemon.

Check Device Manager in Normal Mode and see what it says. Also cruise Events Viewer and see if it mentions any problems with a device during Start or Exit.

Use Selective Start-up (via MSCONFIG) to turn off programs and see if you can identify the cause that way. (When the DVD starts working, you've found the problem.)


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

Girderman said:


> The DVD is a "basic" device and my guess is that it's drivers are included with those in Safe Mode, so my theory is that some other hardware that loads in Normal Mode is conflicting with those. Meaning it's not the DVD you should be looking at, but rather something else that only comes in on Normal Mode.
> 
> Like USB devices, maybe.


Thanks, this explanation makes definitely sense, it can be a path..



> Or possibly your CD/DVD burning software. Or a virutal drive like Daemon.


Not really since I'm on a clean Windows XP Install so I didn't install yet any burning software nor virtual drive stuff.



> Check Device Manager in Normal Mode and see what it says. Also cruise Events Viewer and see if it mentions any problems with a device during Start or Exit.
> 
> Use Selective Start-up (via MSCONFIG) to turn off programs and see if you can identify the cause that way. (When the DVD starts working, you've found the problem.)


Could you be a bit more specific on this? I've never did this selective start and I am a bit lost I'm afraid...

I checked EVENT VIEWER and noticed several errors on CD-Rom, digged a bit and got this:



> Details
> Product: Windows Operating System
> Event ID: 11
> Source: Cdrom
> ...


The point is that I replaced the cable several times but STILL I got my problem. Also, I'm wondering, if it really was a cable, how comes in SafeMode still works fine? :/


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## Girderman (Oct 22, 2006)

> The point is that I replaced the cable several times but STILL I got my problem. Also, I'm wondering, if it really was a cable, how comes in SafeMode still works fine? :/


Good Question. Perhaps it has to do with data tranfer rate ? I'm weak on this, but I do know that IDE drives are catagorized in terms of "DMA", "UDMA", ATA100, etc...

Maybe it's only supposed to run slow in Safe Mode.

Here's an idea. Do you have an 80-conductor cable and not a 40 ? The 80 has real thin conductors compared to the thick 40 ones. Many people use the wrong kind of cable, and perhaps this is what happens.

I'd also be looking at several things. Jumpers on the device and placement on the cable. Also think about trying another IDE plug on the Motherboard. Maybe the board has a bad one. I've seen this once, where one IDE channel was bad, so I had to run both the HD and the CD-RW off the same one, on the same cable.

Switch the device around on the cable, and change the jumpers appropriately. If you are using "Cable Select", try a "Master" or "Slave" configuration, or the other way around. Whatever you are doing, try something different.

The other thing to keep in mind is that if the Error Message suggests a bad cable, you are going to feel really, really stupid if after hours of looking at other causes, it turns out the cable was bad after all. Make sure it is firmly seated, too. Look for bent/broken pins on both the device & the M/B.

Also, maybe Power ? Is your PS adequate for the load you've go on it ?

Good luck and don't give up. Sleep is for the weak.
:tongue: 


Girderman


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

I will try out your suggestions and let you know regarding this cable thing, what about the selective startup anything I should try to disable in particular? Or any special procedure I have to follow?



Girderman said:


> Here's an idea. Do you have an 80-conductor cable and not a 40 ? The 80 has real thin conductors compared to the thick 40 ones. Many people use the wrong kind of cable, and perhaps this is what happens.


I've used the asus cable shipped with my motherboard, then I replaced it with an identical cable (shipped with my brother's identical motherboard), honestly I don't know wheter it's an 80 or 40 pin cable..



> I'd also be looking at several things. Jumpers on the device and placement on the cable. Also think about trying another IDE plug on the Motherboard. Maybe the board has a bad one. I've seen this once, where one IDE channel was bad, so I had to run both the HD and the CD-RW off the same one, on the same cable.


Not an option unfortunately my MoBo, an ASUS P5LD2 has just ONE IDE channel available plus two useless RAID IDE channels that I can't use for other purposes..



> Switch the device around on the cable, and change the jumpers appropriately. If you are using "Cable Select", try a "Master" or "Slave" configuration, or the other way around. Whatever you are doing, try something different.


Currently it's set in such fashion that the HDD is on Master and the DVD-RW is on Slave, should I invert?


> Also, maybe Power ? Is your PS adequate for the load you've go on it ?


I got a 500W PS that should be fairly enough, even considered the fact that I removed a faulty HDD 250 GB SATA and replaced it with a small 40 GB IDE.



> Good luck and don't give up. Sleep is for the weak.
> :tongue:
> 
> 
> Girderman


Thank you for giving me hope and for your patience, hopefully I'll see the light in this tunnel...


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## Girderman (Oct 22, 2006)

I checked out the M/B and it looks like theres some confusion.



> Not an option unfortunately my MoBo, an ASUS P5LD2 has just ONE IDE channel available plus two useless RAID IDE channels that I can't use for other purposes..


http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=515&l1=3&l2=11&l3=185



> Intel ICH7R Southbridge:
> - 1 x UltraDMA 100/66/33
> - 4 x Serial ATA (3Gb/s)
> - RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and Intel Matrix Storage technology.
> ...


Now that I think of your on-board RAID, did you run the motherboard's driver installation disk ? Then did you update those drivers at the Asus support site ? Maybe there is some conflict there.



> Currently it's set in such fashion that the HDD is on Master and the DVD-RW is on Slave, should I invert?


Yes, and also play with Cable Select. But I would push this down on the list, and only try this when you run out of other options.



> I got a 500W PS that should be fairly enough, even considered the fact that I removed a faulty HDD 250 GB SATA and replaced it with a small 40 GB IDE.


On a new system ? Or a new Install ? I get very suspicious when multiple problems happen simultaneously and I start looking for a single, common cause. The PS sounds good. Is this a new (hardware) system ?



> I will try out your suggestions and let you know regarding this cable thing, what about the selective startup anything I should try to disable in particular? Or any special procedure I have to follow?


Navigate there by "Start>Run>MSCONFIG"
You are only concerned with the "Services" and "Startup" tabs. Click off the MS Services under the Services tab for clarity, as there is no point to disabling any of those.

In General, the idea is to use the ability to turn off Services in order to (hopefully) determine which (if any) of them is causing the problem. Again, hopefully.

Strategically, what I would do is turn ALL of them off, and reboot. If the CD-ROM starts working, start turning things back on. In order of "most likely to be the cause" and you can do 2,3 or 4 at a time. However you decide makes most sense.

Hopefully, first establish having them all off makes your device work properly. Then establish having them all on makes it not work properly. Find the point where the device stops working, and your problem is localized and (hopefully) ready to be solved.

I need a report on Hardware Manager yet (unless I missed it somewhere).


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

if you install the ite driver from the m/b setup disk and set the bios to see it as ide
you can connect your drive to the raid port
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320553/en-us


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

> - 2 x UltraDMA 133 support four hard drives
> 
> Now that I think of your on-board RAID, did you run the motherboard's driver installation disk ? Then did you update those drivers at the Asus support site ? Maybe there is some conflict there.


I installed ITE drivers from asus support site prior to open this post, my guess is that they support 4 HDD in 2+2 Raid mode since I tried to put a single HDD there and it wasn't recognizied.



> On a new system ? Or a new Install ? I get very suspicious when multiple problems happen simultaneously and I start looking for a single, common cause. The PS sounds good. Is this a new (hardware) system ?


No the system is not new, I had to change 2 parts due to faulty hardware but I don't think I increased power drain, changes were as follow:

my 7800 GT was broken and I changed it with a 7900 GT.
my HDD 250 gb Maxtor SATA was broken and I replaced it with a Maxtor 40 GB.

Also my PS is an enermax so I don't think it's his fault.

Still have to follow your instruction on selective start and report.



> if you install the ite driver from the m/b setup disk and set the bios to see it as ide
> you can connect your drive to the raid port
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320553/en-us


As for this, I am unsure if I can convince the system to use RAID ports to IDE ports (never seen such an option), and regarding the MS link that you posted it's not really my case since it's not that the system don't see my DVD-RW, it sees it but it don't read anything that I put inside.

Side Note: The cable is 40 PIN I think.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

you also have to set the raid ports to run as ide in the bios as well as install the ite driver


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

Okay, I went thru the cable changing thing, I found and replaced the 'old' cable with a third new one and STILL it says Faulty Cable (Event Viewer) so I am pretty sure that's not the answer 

ITE drivers were mounted already, the funny thing is that my brother whom has a similar config and the same motherboard has NO issues (he has HDD eide on master + dvd-rw on slave), so I feel a bit lost, now I'm gonna try the selective startup thing, wish me luck...


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

are you using an 80 wire cable and master on the end plug and slave in the middle
with the plug going into the drive with the line down one side alongside the power plug


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

Now THAT is depressing. I tried the selective start-up thingie, disabled ALL services and ALL startup items, and the DVD-RW **STILL** doesn't work...


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

The cable is 40pins, the colored line is in the power side, anyway



> master on the end plug and slave in the middle


here i'm doing just the opposite, is it mandatory that the slave device should be in the middle?

(I'm trying to make things your way though in the mean time)


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

yes when set to master /slave
all ide plugs are 40 pins but the ones with 80 wires use different coloured plugs
blue end to the m/b
black end to master
grey middle to slave
dvd drives for the last couple of years require the 80 wire cable


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

Okay, it's official, it's becoming distressing.

I put the slave DVDRW in the middle part of the cable and the master HDD at the end of the plug, nothing changed, at all.

I put: blue end to the mobo, grey to the dvd (slave) and black to the hdd (master) and no changes. did I do things right?


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

Moving on to the next thing on the list you guys provided me.

I setup the HDD in master alone on the working IDE port. And the DVD-RW alone on the ITE/RAID port (then I setup the bios to run it as IDE instead of Raid), the bios identify my HDDs, the ITE controller identifies my DVD-RW, but when I boot up in windows my DVD-RW doesn't exist at all...

Also, my guess is that the DVD-RW gets identified as a "Mass Storage Device" since it suddenly appeared into my device manager screen.

I tried the "restore missing CD/DVD fix" thingie, with no luck.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

you checked the jumpers were correct on the back of the drives
check that you can see them listed in the bios


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

swap them over h/d on the raid port and dvd on the ide port
both with 80 wire and set as master on the end plug


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

Also, if I set the HDD on master and put it on the ITE controller I get a new thingie "no IDE hdd master detected"


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

that's because you don't have one connected to the ide


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

Yes I know, but it doesn't go through, if I press F1 to continue and choose "start windows normally" or "start in safe mode" it freezes


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

tap f8 as it boots and if it lists the drives to boot from choose the h/d
tap f8 as it lists the ite and choose last known good configuration


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

I managed to boot in by reinstalling windows over itself and repairing, latest report on suggested way of config: as always. DVD-RW is there, correctly identified, but it doesn't work, at all, unless in safe mode.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

remove the upper and lower filters
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320553/en-us


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

dai said:


> remove the upper and lower filters
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320553/en-us


I've seen this already, but is it necessary on a clean install as well? I've checked for that reg entry yesterday but I couldn't find it, is it something that gets there on clean install as well?


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

if you have installed any burning software uninstall and reinstall


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

I didn't install any burning software yet, should I?


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

Anyway it doesn't work, also, my dvd-rom in device managed does NOT have any questions marks, it correctly identifies, but won't work. Not mentioning that I dont have any upper lower filters to remove..


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

check the burning is turned on in sevices


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## Girderman (Oct 22, 2006)

Specifically, the IMAPI CD Burning COM Service.

I'm stuck at why Safe Mode allows the device to "work", but having all the services turned off in Diagnostic Mode they do not.

What's the difference between the two ? I always thought they were the same. And how does that difference apply to the CD-ROM device.

Also, let's define "work" a bit. Do you mean is displayed in Windows in "My Computer", able to read media in the drive, or able to write ?

I am assuming by "works" in Safe Mode, you mean able to read media, but it will not read media in Normal Mode. Please correct this if it is wrong.

Also, navigate to Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Storage, Disk Management and verify the device is displayed and nothing looks "odd".

Can't remember exactly why or what, but I "sort of" remember this area of XP is useful; can't remember if it's for diagnostic or repair, but take a look a report anything unusual.

Another weak area I have is that of the ASPI layer, but as I recall that only applies to burning, not reading media. Can't say much else about it, only that it's involved in some way with CD/DVD devices and may be a possible cause.


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

Girderman said:


> Also, let's define "work" a bit. Do you mean is displayed in Windows in "My Computer", able to read media in the drive, or able to write ?
> 
> I am assuming by "works" in Safe Mode, you mean able to read media, but it will not read media in Normal Mode. Please correct this if it is wrong.


Ok, so here are facts:

- No matter if in normal or safe mode, the DVD-RW is correctly detected and device manager states it works correctly.

- In safe mode it reads media, of any kind.

- In normal mode it doesn't read any media of any kind. I put the whatever inside, light flashes, everything get stucked and my computer identify the whatever as an empty CD-Rom. As soon as I remove the media things get back to normal.


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

dai said:


> check the burning is turned on in sevices


I got problems reading media in first place, burning is a step I didn't manage to see yet, anyway what's the name of the service I should check for?


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## Girderman (Oct 22, 2006)

> Specifically, the IMAPI CD Burning COM Service.


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

Girderman said:


> IMAPI etc...


The service was not active, I activated it but nothing changed.

Note, in disk management the unit is displayed as:



> CD-Rom 0
> DVD (E
> No Media


Another side note, this afternoon, straight after I updated the firmware of the DVD-RW to the VERY latest it was working for a few minutes. I tried again an hour afterwards and it begun not working as always again.


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## Girderman (Oct 22, 2006)

Well, if it's not the motherboard, cables or device it's GOT to be the drivers.

Have you tried unisntalling the device drivers in Hardware Manager and then running "Scan for hardware changes" ?
Also, while there, enable hidden devices on the chance that something hidden has a conflict.


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

What you mean exactly by "drivers"?

Anyway I tried to uninstall the unit, scan for hardware changes, it redetects it right, but doesn't work.

I enabled hidden devices and a lot of things popped out, two of them have an exclamation mark, but they are the serial and the parallel port (that I previously disabled them on BIOS since I don't need them).

Also, I remember back in Win98 there was a way to see which IRQ a peripheral was using (and so to spot conflicts), is there any way to do that in Windows XP?


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## Girderman (Oct 22, 2006)

> What you mean exactly by "drivers"?


Hardware drivers, that allow XP to be able to use any device.



> Anyway I tried to uninstall the unit, scan for hardware changes, it redetects it right, but doesn't work.





> I enabled hidden devices and a lot of things popped out, two of them have an exclamation mark, but they are the serial and the parallel port (that I previously disabled them on BIOS since I don't need them).


All yellow and red-flagged devices are significant and are a possible cause of your problem. What are these devices, specifically? Posting a screen shot might be easiest.



> Also, I remember back in Win98 there was a way to see which IRQ a peripheral was using (and so to spot conflicts), is there any way to do that in Windows XP?


Yes, I remember that and used it several times myself. I do not "know", but get the strong sense that XP is different, and that IRQ management is completely done by XP. I have never heard of an "IRQ conflict" in the way that you would get them in Win98. My guess is that any problem like this is reported now in Hardware Manager.

There is a place in XP somewhere where you can see what resources are assigned to which device. I vaguely recall seeing a detailed list of where everything is assigned in memory, but (sorry) can't tell you more than that.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

can you get a friend to put it in their computer to check if the drive works ok


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

> Hardware drivers, that allow XP to be able to use any device.


You refer to cdrom.sys, imapi.sys, storprop.sys etc... ? I believed they were standard default drivers for any dvd/cd? I remember back in DOS you had to have specific drivers depending on your cdrom but I am not sure how it works in XP..


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

xp usually contains the drivers


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

dai said:


> xp usually contains the drivers


Yes that's the point, I assumed that the drivers Windows XP installed for my DVD unit were correct, are they?


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

any more suggestions for my case or is it a desperate one?


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

reinstall your chipset drivers from the m/b setup cd


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

I had to go to safemode to do it in order to use the CD-Rom, but I did it, and things still are, unchanged.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

can you try the drive in another computer


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## speedster123 (Oct 18, 2006)

Dai's suggestion would be the easiest how to check the drive, in another machine. Otherwise,
when you pull the dvd rom out, re-examine the back. Check for bent pins, and look to see if the jumper pins are touching. And yes, i know it works in safe mode.
Try the drive without a jumper at all.
And what make is the power supply?


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## Mafia2020 (Dec 23, 2006)

PS is an enermax 500W, I'll check the drive in another comp and let you guys know.


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## Dimows (Jan 2, 2007)

hey, Mafia2020.
I'm sure your problem is software related. I had a similar one: could read all types of discs, dvdrom, cdrom, but couldn't erase or record rw types, except in Safe Mode, and even then the ide controllers switched to PIO mode, which meant reeeeally slow burning. anyway, I resolved the problem by uninstalling acohol120%. but since you don't have that installed, this obviously won't help you.

so I was wondering if it might have something to do with the ASPI driver/layer. try installing ForceASPI and see what happens. before you do, thought, run ASPICheck, just to see if it's reporting anything other than an OK status.

let us know how it turns out. 

happy 2007.


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## Girderman (Oct 22, 2006)

I'd like an update too. I'm INVESTED in this one, and want to know if there's a WIN or not.

Girderman


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## Dimows (Jan 2, 2007)

:laugh: invested... don't let it get to you, man. incidentally, Girderman, I noticed that you mentioned aspi driver before. sorry for the late discovery.


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## chamele0 (Dec 22, 2008)

okay so something completely random and unexplainable happened. i was having the same problem...my computer would see the drives but it wasn't reading any media. then i installed magiciso and magicdisc and tried to mount a disc (doom 3) to see if that would even work. at first, i seemed like it wouldnt, but then all of a sudden doom 3's autorun loaded up and it worked. then, when i checked the other two real drives, they worked too! i have no idea...


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## vnrao86 (Dec 22, 2008)

1)Try to update the driver online by going to device manager.
2)Try different company cd drive.


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