dead dvd drive

hi, im stuck. my xi 1546 runs more then fine. it runs smooth and crisp. but this morning. while trying to decode a dvd. things went lopsided and i have NO idea whats wrong. the problem started when i tried to decode like i said. the whole computer and OS just...glitched. it just lagged...and then i found out that as long as there is an optical disc of ANY nature in the drive. the whole computer lags..for once...i have NO idea what's wrong or what to do! it just seems like the drive is running at half the speed and dragging the computer down with it. memory is fiine. ive got two gigs. and infact. when the glitchiness happens. memory use falls right down. i dotn know what to do. has my drive popped its cogs or summat? the notebook is only a few months old. and ive taken more then good care of it. id really appreciate your help. thanks.

 

This sounds like it has gone into PIO mode. Maybe the cause was a read error problem as described by Microsoft (this is a relatively recent Microsoft KB entry so I think they did something recently which has made this problem occur). PIO mode slows everything down.

Go into Device Manager and look at the IDE channels. The ODD is usually on the secondary channel and it will show the interface as PIO mode. Right click on this channel and select uninstall. The go to the top of the Device Manager list, right click and select Scan for Hardware Changes. This will redect the IDE channel and put it back into DMA mode.

Hope this helps,

John

 

hi, apologies about the late reply. wow. it really has. i know why it went into PIO mode now. im still on the early learning curve on hardware and software. so please forgive me if im a little oblivious. ok. like i said it has gone into PIO mode. the thing is. the one that has is the primary IDE channel. right clicking and going into the advanced tab on properties shows me that device 0 is set to PIO mode. should i still uninstall it? would it cause anything if i did? i know..it should revert back to DMA. but should i do it even though its primary? thanks again

 

OK. I've just done a test on my Q35 (which has the ODD on the Primary IDE channel) to see what happens if you uninstall the Primary IDE channel: Windows will prompt for a reboot. Then during reboot it will rediscover both the HDD and the ODD (you should get a couple of messages coming up). Then, because the interface for the HDD is in PIO mode, Windows prompts for another reboot. So slightly tedious, but it doesn't seem to be dangerous.

At the end of all this the Advanced Settings of the Primary IDE channel should show Device 0 as Ultra DMA mode 5 and Device 1 will be Ultra DMA mode 2 (based on my experience).

John

 

i dont want to seem rude or anything...but i think youll know what i feel right now...it didnt work...my computers dead....i did all yous aid and now it wont boot in past the fujitsu siemens splash screen. it wont even load up the windows splash screen. theres no hardrive activity either. its jsut...dead...and i dotn know what to do. nothing comes up...jsut...a flashing thing at the top left corner. do i need to boot from disk? if so...will ALL be lost from hardrive...****..i should have backed up...the thing is..i DONT have anything to backup with..can u give me soemthing to work with please.i sjtu want to get back into windows.

 

For anyone coming here, the thread continues elsewhere, where it might pick up a wider audience.

John