Pioneer DVD-114 refuses to read DVDs

I read the previous thread on this, but no one gave a definitive answer. Most of the posts were from people who had reformatted and lost their DVD decoder software. I have not reformatted or reinstalled Windows, nor have I suffered any virus attacks recently. The drive will play CDs, so I know it is functional. I still have my decoder software and have not updated it either.

When I place a DVD in the drive (a new, undamaged DVD), it thrashes about and will not show up in Windows Explorer (drive inaccesable: retry, cancel). This is the same message as if the DVD were placed into my CD drive. In Windows Explorer the drive shows up as a CD-ROM Disc drive. The device manager lists it as having no drivers loaded or necessary and has its type defined as CD-ROM Player.

I have visited Pioneer but they said that drivers are only necessary for Windows 3.1 or DOS (I know Win 98 is old, but not THAT old). I don't want to do the firmware update because I'm certain it will mess up (I have terrible luck). Although I suppose the drive is already sort of non-functional.

When I launch the Software player, it locks up. I think it is because it cannot find a DVD-ROM drive.

I haven't installed any software that uses a Media drive, like a burner or player, nor have I ran into any DRM encoded disks that would install a nice hidden drive filter behind my back. I checked with the PC manufacturer(HP) for any driver updates, but there were none.

I tried removing it from the device manager to let Windows reload and hopefully re-recognize it. It still shows up as a CD-ROM player. But I guess this was still the time of "Plug And Pray".

Pretty much I haven't touched anything recently. I suppose that doesn't mean anything since there are three other idiots using this computer and none of them would cop to messing with anything. Using Windows 98SE. I do keep up with the few MS Updates that trickle down to my ancient OS. I attached pics of how it appears in Explorer and in the device manager properties.

Any ideas?

The device will show up as a normal CDROM under Device Manager. Has it always been ID'd as Drive M?

Win98 will assign normal CDROM drivers for it. It's the burning software that should ID it properly. Have you tried another software app such as Nero or Easy CDCreator?

Outside of that, I suppose it is possible that the drive itself has gone bad. It happens sometimes. The thrashing about that you described points me in that direction.

Once you've eliminated the burning software as the culprit, you might want to go ahead and try the firmware update. Can you tell from Device Manager which version you have? Looks like the latest is version 2.03 for your model.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pn...760825,00.html

I don't understand the EasyCD thing. I just want it to play DVD-ROMs. However if I put one in and try to access the N: drive EasyCD throws a "drive not accesable" error. I tried VideoLan thing that NooNoo touts, but it didn't work either.

Yes, my drives were always M: and N: which is a little deviant from norm. Especially when upgrading is a pain. I guess they though I might partition my gigantic 19 gig hard drive ;)

I may have damaged the drive or the IDE cable connecting it. My case is of horrible design. I went in to upgrade the RAM, which is strategically located behind the stupid drive cage. It has a terrible drive cage that is nearly impossible to slide foward and that involves substantial pushing. My strong armed assistant probably decided that shoving on the DVD and CD drives was a great idea despite repeated warnings. I may have pinched a wire or something because the drive light doesn't come on when I insert a DVD. However I did this a while ago and I didn't seem to have a problem before. Maybe thermal expansion finally knocked things loose.

I'll try the firmware upgrade, I guess. I think I have version 1 something.

I'm guess I'm just kryptonite to DVD players. My PS2 just died, and not from the crappy Disc Read Error, the disc read assembly is dead. Which is why I have an interest in the computer's DVD player, although it sounds dead too. Thanks anyways.

Which model HP do you have?

You might be able to find a service manual here:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport...rodCatId=82702

I would also doublecheck your questionable cabling and check for bent connector pins on the drive itself.

The weird thing is that it plays cds with out problems. I don't know if that helps or not. It half-works, I guess.

It plays cds because the cd reading laser is fine, but by the sounds of things the DVD laser has taken a dump...

Only way to test the theory is put the cd/dvd drive in another machine and see if it behaves the same.