[NormanF]

I have just joined and would value some advice re a problem I an having with CD and DVD drives using DigitalMediaLEv7 software.

Could somebody please tell me which section I should post my question?

Cheers

NormanF

[NormanF]

Thanks to the person who moved my post to the correct location.

Thanks also for the suggestion that I contact Dell re this problem. I will do that but just in case anyone here knows the answer:-

My Dell computer came pre-loaded with DigitalMedia LEv7 and for several years this has worked well with my CD and my DVD drives.

Recently however, whenever I insert a CD or a DVD disc and try to access it or format it, the computer shuts down and restarts.

With both drives empty the computer works perfectly.

Any suggestion as to the cause/solution to this problem would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

NormanF

[cdanteek]

Thanks to the person who moved my post to the correct location.

Seems some folks around here are a whole lot better at moving posts than leaving a answer for them..

cd

[Brendon]

Norman,

I suspect you're having trouble with Sonic's secondary disc-writing system. Please answer all of these questions.

[1] Have these discs that you're having trouble with been formatted?
[2] Do ordinary CDROMs or DVDROMS or data discs made with unformatted blanks cause this problem?
[3] Do you see a flash of a blue screen before your computer restarts?
[4] Which operating system are you using?

Thanks,
Brendon

[NormanF]

Seems some folks around here are a whole lot better at moving posts than leaving a answer for them..

cd

Thanks cd, lots of useful info there. One clue to this fault is the fact that the CD and the DVD drive show exactly the same problem. i.e. inserting a disc causes the computer to restart.

Cheers

NormanF


quote of Brendon's post left for next message.

This post has been edited by Brendon: 01 January 2010 - 03:09 AM

[NormanF]

Norman,

I suspect you're having trouble with Sonic's secondary disc-writing system. Please answer all of these questions.

[1] Have these discs that you're having trouble with been formatted?
[2] Do ordinary CDROMs or DVDROMS or data discs made with unformatted blanks cause this problem?
[3] Do you see a flash of a blue screen before your computer restarts?
[4] Which operating system are you using?

Thanks,
Brendon

Hi Brendon

Thanks for your reply. In answer to your questions:-


[1] Have these discs that you're having trouble with been formatted?

I started with an attempt to add additional data to a DVD+RW which I had formated and copied data to last month. This caused the computer to restart yesterday.

I then tried to format a new DVD+RW. The formatting process progressed to a point near to or at completion. At this point the computer restarted.

[2] Do ordinary CDROMs or DVDROMS or data discs made with unformatted blanks cause this problem?

I have an CD I made several years ago. I can access the data on this but it is write protected so I cannot edit/delete the files. When I try to reformat it, the computer restart.


[3] Do you see a flash of a blue screen before your computer restarts?

No: the screen goes black in an instant and remains black for a minute or so. It then restarts as normal.


[4] Which operating system are you using?

Windows XP Professional


Additional clues are:-

For several months it has been possible to read from and write to DVD+RW discs normally but there have been one or two instances where the computer restarts when the disc is removed from the drive. Prior to this I had no problems. This suggests to me that the fault is progressive.

I use a usb ccd camera and I find that although it will not work from the usb ports on the front of the computer, it works fine when connected to the usb ports of a powered hub.


Hope this helps and thanks again for your input.


Cheers


NormanF

[Brendon]

Hi Norman,

USB 2.0 ports are supposed to be able to provide half an Amp of current at 5 volts to anything plugged into them [the newer standard will provide much more] but we've found that often the ports on the front of a machine can't provide enough power. It's something to do with the way they're wired, and manufacturers sometimes cutting corners.
Anyway, that'll be why your USB camera won't work properly on a front connector, but will on a powered hub which can provide lots of current. But It's nothing to do with the present problem.


-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Back to the subject at hand, I think your problem with the system rebooting is caused by formatted discs, or trying to format them. It's a broken installation of Drag-to-Disc or Drive Letter Access [DLA], or Direct CD, as the secondary optical disc writing system is variously called.

When DLA breaks, it often causes "STOP errors" which show as a blue error screen. If Windows is set to automatically restart, you never see the error screen and your system just suddenly restarts like yours has been doing.

I don't think anyone has ever dug deep into the cause of this breakdown or its cure. We have a poster who considers herself the expert on this, but in the end all she has been able to do is recommend that you give up using it, and "move on". See this topic.. She really hasn't a clue about how to fix it, I'm afraid.

Now, how to fix it?
[1] First option I think is to reinstall it, in the hope that a fresh installation will put it back to factory standard like it has been for all the time you've been happily using it.
To do this you should make sure you have your Digital Media LE installer disc, and then uninstall the software. Clean your system up as much as possible to remove any Roxio or Sonic files or folders before reinstalling it. If you're running XP, it wouldn't hurt to do the cleanout that's detailed HERE before you do the reinstall.

[2] If that doesn't work, you could consider installing the latest version. You should first uninstall anything to do with DLA, Drag-to-Disc, or Direct CD, and then install the latest version of D2D. It's available through this pinned post in the EMC 9 forum. Download it from the bottom of that pinned post, where John at Roxio says "Click here for the DLA patch." That file is about 15-16 MB, and will install D2D 32-bit version 9. That should give you back your Drag-to-Disc functionality.

[3] The third option is to try and track the error down and repair it. This one is going to be a lot of work, but since I don't like giving up and "moving on" I'm prepared to work with you on it, if you need to go down this path.

May I suggest you try plan [1] and if necessary [2] and come back to me with a report on how you have got on?

Thanks,
Brendon

[NormanF]

Hi Norman,

USB 2.0 ports are supposed to be able to provide half an Amp of current at 5 volts to anything plugged into them [the newer standard will provide much more] but we've found that often the ports on the front of a machine can't provide enough power. It's something to do with the way they're wired, and manufacturers sometimes cutting corners.
Anyway, that'll be why your USB camera won't work properly on a front connector, but will on a powered hub which can provide lots of current. But It's nothing to do with the present problem.


-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Back to the subject at hand, I think your problem with the system rebooting is caused by formatted discs, or trying to format them. It's a broken installation of Drag-to-Disc or Drive Letter Access [DLA], or Direct CD, as the secondary optical disc writing system is variously called.

When DLA breaks, it often causes "STOP errors" which show as a blue error screen. If Windows is set to automatically restart, you never see the error screen and your system just suddenly restarts like yours has been doing.

I don't think anyone has ever dug deep into the cause of this breakdown or its cure. We have a poster who considers herself the expert on this, but in the end all she has been able to do is recommend that you give up using it, and "move on". See this topic.. She really hasn't a clue about how to fix it, I'm afraid.

Now, how to fix it?
[1] First option I think is to reinstall it, in the hope that a fresh installation will put it back to factory standard like it has been for all the time you've been happily using it.
To do this you should make sure you have your Digital Media LE installer disc, and then uninstall the software. Clean your system up as much as possible to remove any Roxio or Sonic files or folders before reinstalling it. If you're running XP, it wouldn't hurt to do the cleanout that's detailed HERE before you do the reinstall.

[2] If that doesn't work, you could consider installing the latest version. You should first uninstall anything to do with DLA, Drag-to-Disc, or Direct CD, and then install the latest version of D2D. It's available through this pinned post in the EMC 9 forum. Download it from the bottom of that pinned post, where John at Roxio says "Click here for the DLA patch." That file is about 15-16 MB, and will install D2D 32-bit version 9. That should give you back your Drag-to-Disc functionality.

[3] The third option is to try and track the error down and repair it. This one is going to be a lot of work, but since I don't like giving up and "moving on" I'm prepared to work with you on it, if you need to go down this path.

May I suggest you try plan [1] and if necessary [2] and come back to me with a report on how you have got on?

Thanks,
Brendon

Hi Brendon

Thanks for the rapid and useful response.

This computer has been trouble-free since I bought it back in 2005 and consequently I have never needed to refer to the ownwers manual which has been lurking on my desktop all these years.

Reading it this morning I find that Dell have thoughfully provided four diagostic lights on the front panel which can be used to indicate various hardware faults.

Apparently a fully-functioning computer should have all four lights illuminated. On my computer, none of the lights are illuminated. Dell state this indicates "a possible pre-Bios failure has occurred".

I will try and find out more about this from Dell and then move on to your plan of action.


Cheers


Norman

This post has been edited by NormanF: 04 January 2010 - 12:11 AM

[lynn98109]

<snip>

I don't think anyone has ever dug deep into the cause of this breakdown or its cure. We have a poster who considers herself the expert on this, but in the end all she has been able to do is recommend that you give up using it, and "move on". See this topic.. She really hasn't a clue about how to fix it, I'm afraid.

<snip>
Brendon

OK, we will assume NormanF knows how Packet-Writing is correctly used, and what its weaknesses are, and has not used it as the primary archival backup.

And if that is wrong, NormanF can come back later to inquire about missing data.

Perhaps it is just my imagination that people who have lost DVDs full of data seem to be more upset than people who have lost a CD or two.

Lynn

This post has been edited by lynn98109: 01 January 2010 - 10:02 AM

[Brendon]

I will try and find out more about this from Dell and then move on to your plan of action.

Thanks Norman. Good luck.

[NormanF]

Thanks Norman. Good luck.

Hi Brendon

Good News! The DVD and CD drives now both work perfectly. The fault vanished after I used Norton 360 to clean the registry and to remove a number of items from the start up manager.

I have not recorded the registry items cleaned.

I was able to put all but two of the items back in the start up manager and show that the drives still worked regardless of whether or not they were included.

The two items I have not tested are:-

Yahoo Pager

dla (Sonic Solutions)

The reason I did not test them was that (unlike the others) they were not listed by Norton 360 in the "off" mode.

I cannot explain why the fault no longer occurs and I do realise that it may just be a coincidence. I am just letting you know what happened in case it helps others who have the same problem.

If the fault does re-occur, I will post again on this forum.

Thanks again for your help.



Cheers



NormanF

OK, we will assume NormanF knows how Packet-Writing is correctly used, and what its weaknesses are, and has not used it as the primary archival backup.

And if that is wrong, NormanF can come back later to inquire about missing data.

Perhaps it is just my imagination that people who have lost DVDs full of data seem to be more upset than people who have lost a CD or two.

Lynn

Hi Lynn

Just to let you know that the problem has now been solved. You will find some details in my post to Brendon. I appreciate the interest you have shown and the good news is that no data was lost.

Cheers

NormanF

This post has been edited by NormanF: 04 January 2010 - 12:12 AM

[myguggi]

Hi Brendon

Thanks for the rapid and useful response.

This computer has been trouble-free since I bought it back in 1995 and consequently I have never needed to refer to the ownwers manual which has been lurking on my desktop all these years.

Reading it this morning I find that Dell have thoughfully provided four diagostic lights on the front panel which can be used to indicate various hardware faults.

Apparently a fully-functioning computer should have all four lights illuminated. On my computer, none of the lights are illuminated. Dell state this indicates "a possible pre-Bios failure has occurred".

I will try and find out more about this from Dell and then move on to your plan of action.


Cheers


Norman

I assume that 1995 is a typo and you meant 2005

[NormanF]

I assume that 1995 is a typo and you meant 2005

Whoops Yes 2005

[Brendon]

Hi Norman,

Yes, removing DLA should clear the fault. Glad you fixed that.

Regards,
Brendon