dodgy dvd/cd drive

[gryffe]

I think the dvd/cd drive on my new pc is a bit dodgy. any time i put
a cd in the drive (either a game, or music cd) it causes live radio streams,
or music I am playing back via Windows Media Player or Napster to skip like
crazy. Also, anything I have copied to CD seems to take longer to copy than previous cd drives using the same speed. another thing i have noticed is that when the drive is in use the mouse pointer is either very unsteady, or freezes altogether. also when i am typing text the text does not appear on the screen at the same rate as i am typing it, there is a 2 or 3 second delay before what i have types appears on the screen.
is there anything I can do to fix this, looks like some fine tuning required? is there a test that can be run to check it is functioning properly, or
any tools to check it out?


thanks

 

[LeeJend]

What make/model PC? CPU, RAM, HD, sound card, etc.

It's possible the builder just botched the install. We get cases like that occasionally. For that matter sometimes an install just doesn't go well even for the best system builder.

Just as a qucik check open device manager and make sure none of the devices shown have a yellow exclamation mark. That indicates a messed up install.

Download Sisoft Sandra Lite. It's free and has a full diagnostic, burn-in and benchmark suite. After you run your system it has menus you can pull down and find the comparisons for a similar system. Yours will usually be a little slower (at least mine usually are) but they should be in the ballpark.

 

[gryffe]

thanks for the reply - ran a test against cd drive using the Sandra program- got the following warning which sounds like a nice summary of what I am experiencing

The drive index seems low.
Fix: While this is a generic warning - i.e. it does not specify the nature of the problem - generally, the problem would be the lack of DMA bus-mastering which forces the drive to work in PIO mode which not only hurts performance but also increases CPU utilisation. Check that the controller drivers are installed and that DMA is enabled for the channel and the drive itself.

How do I check DMA is enabled?

 

[bush dogg]

Click Start Right click My computer select Manage then click device manager click the plus sign at IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers Right click the channel the drive is connected to “primary or secondary” and select properties then the Advanced settings tab.
You will find DMA or PIO mode there.

 

[gryffe]

thanks for that -one of the secondary ide channels shows that the "current transfer mode" is PIO Mode. I cannot change it to DMA. Could this be the problem, and if so how do I fix it?

Thanks

 

[LeeJend]

Yes, it is the problem.

The cause could be that the Bios is not set to "auto" detect the drive type.
While booting press del (sometimes it is a different key depending on the PC) to enter bios setup. The first screen should be the one with the 'drive" detection options. Make sure all are set to auto detect. Reboot. Check under device manager again and see id DMA is an option.

The second problem area could be that the Mother Board device drivers were not installed or wrong drivers were installed. Back to looking for yellow exclamation marks on the same page where you checked the DMA setting.

Also under System devices there should be a "Direct Memory Access controller" entry (DMA controller). IF not you are definitely missing MB drivers. You need the exact model and version MB you have. You can get these using a free utility called cpuz.exe or Sandra might show them under the MB screen. Once you have the make and model, version post back here or you can go to the manufacturers web site and get the latest yourself.

It wouldn't hurt to post what you find back here (model and link to te drivers you found) and someone will double check it for you. Installing the wrong drivers can cause problems.

 

[gryffe]

thanks for the reply leejend

I do have DMA controller, however under device status it says "No drivers are installed for this device." I tried to update driver but didnt work. my mother board is a hewlett packard asterope v1.

can somebody help from here?

 

[gryffe]

thanks guys fro all your tips

on another forum a guy told me to go to this website http://winhlp.com/WxDMA.htm and follow the fix there. it worked and i have managed to revert from PIO to DMA and the drive is functioning normally.

thanks again

 

[LeeJend]

Cool link gryffe. Rep points for posting it back here. I did not know that playing damaged CD's could force windows back to PIO mode. Good info.