Hi Sheryl,
With those symptoms it may be that the drive is faulty. I don't recommend
opening the laptop but if you have, or know someone who has, an external
DVD/CD-RW drive you might test it on your machine. If it works that would be
a good indicator that the Sony is bad. If the Sony is at fault, rather than
go to the expense of replacing it, a cheaper solution would be to assemble
an external drive yourself at a cost of around $70±.
If we knew your computer model and operating system it would be helpful in
making suggestions. If you are using Windows XP, DMA (Direct Memory Access)
is on by default. But when there is repeated problems transferring data
between devices, Windows will 'tone' it down and eventually turn it off.
Turning it back on without correcting the cause would not solve anything. If
there isn't anything physically wrong with the drive, updating the firmware
may help. Generally, firmware updates are related to new media but some
corrects other problems as well.
Your Sony drive is a rebadged Lite-On but start with the Dell Web site and
look under Support for software updates for your model. If not available
there, a search of the Internet will find it. I've included links below to
one such place along with one with instructions for turning DMA back on.
Also insure MyDVD is up to date. Personally, I tried it and didn't like it.
I recommend the latest version of Nero or Roxio.
codeguys.rpc1.org - Overview of LiteOn/Sony DVD-Writers:
http://codeguys.rpc1.org/dvdrw_overview.html
codeguys.rpc1.org - Firmwares:
http://codeguys.rpc1.org/firmwares.html#DW-D56A
DMA Mode for ATA/ATAPI Devices in Windows XP:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/storage/IDE-DMA.mspx
Good luck,
Sven Swanson, Sr.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sheryl" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, October 17, 2005 10:34 PM
Subject: [PCBUILD] cd/dvd burner errrr.....
I'm having a major problem with my dvd/cd-rom drive. it's a SONY DVD+-RW
DW-D56A. the problem started about a month ago, so I called up Dell and
ended up talking to someone who didn't help much. He ended up telling me
there was nothing wrong. It runs the windows cd, it occasionally plays
dvd's, and it sometimes runs data cd's, it tries to read music cd but
eventually freezes up, and I cant burn anything. My computer recognizes the
drive, the device status says it working properly, and I uninstalled it and
reinstalled the drivers, but none of my programs recognized the recorder. I
am fairy experienced on PC's and normally can fix problems, but this is
driving me crazy. Then suddenly today I got an alert from a program I was
trying to use that I though maybe a computer expert like yourself may be
able to use to further help me with my problem. It said " MyDVD has detected
that DMA is turned off for one or more of the recording devices attached to
the system...", I have no idea what this means but could this be the
probelem? I even got so desperate that I reinstalled windows. it did
nothing. please help
PCBUILD's List Owners:
Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>
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