USB and DVD ROM Not Working

fatherof4 · January 2nd, 2004, 02:06 PM

New member and 1st post. Sorry for the length of the message.

We have a Gateway 2000 desktop (5yrs old), Win98FE O/S, Iomega external CD burner, internal Toshiba DVD ROM. Last week son installed Fuji software to download pictures from digital camera that connects to USB port. Clean install and everything worked fine. Next day, installed holiday gift of Sims game software for daughters. The DVD ROM had some problems reading certain game files. Used Radio Shack pc laser cleaner disk.
Game finally installed but the game could not be played due to following error message - disc could not be read or drive not ready. Tried other CD's and got same message from both the DVD ROM and Iomega burner. Uninstalled Fuji software and Sims game. The drives, E and F, exist in Explorer but CD's are no longer read. Checked the control panel settings and Bios settings and everything appears OK. Restored original Bios configuration and registry prior to installation of Fuji software. Tried reading drives E and F in DOS mode from start up disk with no success. Checked the DVD ROM cable and it seems securely connected. Drivers exist for Iomega and DVD ROM in control panel system settings. Norton Utilities finds no errors.

My son connected the camera to the USB port when the pc was on. Could something have shorted out? He claims that isn't the problem and says they do it all the time at college.

Does the USB port and DVD ROM have a common connection inside the pc? I am not that good with the hardware aspects of a pc.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Frank

HeadBand · January 2nd, 2004, 02:16 PM

no usb is hot swap you are able to do that

as for common connection there is none through the hardware but check device manager for an irq conflict

John Prophet · January 2nd, 2004, 02:19 PM

could it be some weird thing where the usb device is changing the drive letters??

Like the game was installed on a certain drive, then the usb device changes the drive letter asignment so the game wont play from that drive letter?

or something of that sort perhaps?

fatherof4 · January 2nd, 2004, 03:43 PM

Headband - I checked the IRQ settings in PCI bus and there is no conflict. Settings are consistent with what I found on documents/websites on Internet.

JohnProphet - I am at work and I will test what you wrote by putting a game in Iomega (drive F) and a burned pc backup CD in the DVD ROM (drive E).

Thanks to both of you for your responses.

Brangwen · January 3rd, 2004, 02:17 PM

fatherof4:

Though Headband has provided a possibility, I think John Prophet is nearer the mark ... It's a close call, as your present problem could result under either scenario.

Goodluck.

Brangwen

Gomer · January 3rd, 2004, 02:35 PM

Quote:

New member and 1st post. Sorry for the length of the message.

Can't say much about your particular problem... but I will say welcome to Techimo! As for the length of your post... it can never be too long. The more info you put out there, the more likely you are to find help. Ask anytime.... it is why we exist!!

As for your problem, does your computer have any software like "Gateway GoBack" on it? That is a utility that lets you revert your system to a state in which it worked properly in the past.

Quote:

The DVD ROM had some problems reading certain game files. Used Radio Shack pc laser cleaner disk.

fatherof4 · January 5th, 2004, 09:30 AM

To All:

Experimented by changing the driver on the DVD ROM from "DVD ROM" driver to "CD ROM driver" in Device Manager knowing that I can restore the registry thru Safe Command Prompt if serious problems were encountered. Rebooted system, only the external Iomega CD burner was displayed in Device Manager. However, it was working by reading/writing to a CD formatted by Iomega.

Restored the registry to display DVD ROM in Device Manager with it's DVD ROM driver. Still no luck with the internal DVD ROM reading discs - same error of "drive not ready". However, the Iomega CD burner is now working!!! Haven't the foggiest idea why? Smoke and mirrors....

Best guess is that the DVD ROM has a hardware problem. Rechecked internal cable connection last night and it is tightly fitted. Probably have a pc repair shop check out and/or replace the DVD ROM.

Thanks for all your help and responses.

Frank