DVD r/w and DVD ram not recognised

[MD5]

I just fired up an old Dell desktop after 12/18 months, and all was well, apart from the D & E drives, which are missing from the My Computer section. The trays open, but will not play any discs, and the Device Manager shows the yellow question marks. In the properties section, it says hardware not recognised code 41.

Any ideas as to a remedy please? I've tried disabling/enabling and reinstalling drivers, which are showing as properly installed. Also tried the installing new hardware route, but no new hardware found. Windows XP SP3.

 

[LTD]

Switch off unit and disconnect from mains.

Unplug cables from drive.

Reconnect power, boot up then turn off. Disconnect from mains.

Refit drives cables.

Reconnect power, boot up.

 

[Simon_M]

I had this recently.....

Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs

Simon

 

[John]

Were the drive letters there and then disappeared, or were they never there in the first place?

I would ensure the BIOS can see them as well should the other fixes not resolve...

 

[MD5]

LTD - thanks, tried that, but to no avail. When I rebooted, it went into DOS mode with conifig error messages, and tried it a couple of times.

JohnE - the drive letters always used to be there, but aren't at the moment.

Simon - thanks for the link. I think I will have to explore this when I have time as code 42 is there, but I'm away for a while tomorrow.

 

[John]

Sorry - I mean are the drive letters there when you boot now without using them or if you boot it up now, they wont appear from the start?

If you check them in the BIOS or check to see if it finds the optical drive(s) when you first turn on, this will rule out the hard disk controller being the issue.

 

[Merc Owner 2B]

Problems like this from PCs left dormant for a while are usually sorted by replacing the BIOS battery. Were the time and date displayed correctly? If not then definitely the battery.

I'm suspecting they are SATA drives being run from a controller disabled in the BIOS by default.

 

[MD5]

hi Guys, and thanks again. Been away, so will try and have a look later.

JohnE, the drives still weren't visible before, during or after, only the C drive. Not being a tecchie, I'm not sure about checking the BIOS aspect though.

MO2b, I'll check the clock when I get to machine.

 

[John]

OK, if the drive letters are never there (what I was getting at was, if you boot the machine they are there and then you play a disc and they disappear - that can often suggest a dirty laser), I would be checking to see if they are in the BIOS.

My suspicion is the hard disk controller and/or part of the mainboard (aka motherboard) might have died.

To access the BIOS, you should see when you first turn the machine on, it will say something like:

Setup F10
Press F2 to enter setup

... or something like this.

Depending on which BIOS you have, within there, there should be an option to check.

If you get to that stage, it might be worth jotting down the BIOS you have and what options - then we can work out where you need to go to see if the BIOS can see the optical drives.

Once you are in the BIOS, you can normally exit out hitting ESCAPE loads of times and then eventually it will ask if you want to exit without saving - do that.

Worse-case, just power off the machine.

 

[MD5]

Thanks John. Let me start by saying I've had this PC, a Dell Dimension 4550, for about nine years, so it's no spring chicken! Going into Setup revealed the following:

BIOS AO3, Clock about 25 mins fast, date correct.

Secondary drives 0 and 1 both show CD - Rom reader. When selected, they do show the specific types and manufactures, Samsung DVD Rom SD 6167 and NEC DVD + RW ND 1100A, and both supplied from new.

Back into boot up, they don't appear in My Computer, though the A and C drives do. Device manager, as I said, shows yellow exclamation marks for the drives, and the general tab states that Windows loaded the drivers successfully, but cannot find the hardware device, Code 41.

Re-reading Simon's link, I suspect this may be to do with a Windows Update to SP3, and I'm wondering if another update may provide a fix? Simon, if you're here, how did you resolve your issue please?

 

[John]

It does sound like something in Windows has been knocked out - if the BIOS can see them, that's good as it suggests the hardware is working.

You can test functionality by sticking in your old Dell recovery disk and trying to boot (this isn't using Windows at this stage).

You don't have to go through with it but if it can read the disc and boot to the first screen, your looking at a Windows problem.

If trying to fix within Windows doesn't work, and assuming you do still have the recovery disc(s), you could rebuild it quite easily so you aren't stuffed.

Whenever I've ever had an issue which has got close to looking like a Windows patch is required, the patch has not fixed it.

You certainly want to start with trying the simple things though!

Click on Simon's link on that machine and there is a 'Fix it' option - just use that and see how you get on...

 

[MD5]

When I get a minute, I will have to uninstall an out of date Norton AV program, install AVG, then get online. Catch 22 with the recovery discs, as the computer can't see them, but the trays open and close, so I'm pretty sure it's a Windows issue. I'm hoping an online driver update may do the trick.

 

[John]

When I get a minute, I will have to uninstall an out of date Norton AV program, install AVG, then get online. Catch 22 with the recovery discs, as the computer can't see them, but the trays open and close, so I'm pretty sure it's a Windows issue. I'm hoping an online driver update may do the trick.

You normally boot with the recovery disk rather than running it from within Windows - so that will tell you at least if the first drive works as booting is not using anything within Windows.

If you can't boot from the drive or it cannot read the disc - the drive might still be boogered.

 

[Simon_M]

Yeah, use the Fix It link and boom-shake-the-room they come back.

It is a 5 minute job so crack on...