DVD rom has problems reading Cds in Windows

[format c:]

I am about to take this computer out to the back and shoot it, that light at the end of the tunnel was a train
I went out and bought and LG cdrw drive and installed it, then I popped the cd into it and expected it to spin up and display the dialouge
Ya right, the drive chugged along at .5x and then just quit, I opened the " My computer " icon and the stupide drive had dissappeared from "My computer" and it did not show up in device manager , It had three minutes earlier as I checked before popping in the cd
I did the Windows reinstall with this drive and it stalled out then spun up during the install, I used my factory cd, It was burned with a setup.sif file so I could avoid typing in that product code, which is hard to read
The result is a messed up Windows installation, I get script errors when opening the user accounts in control panel
I used nlite to compile the cd
So the drive is going back and I may toss them my computer , I am not getting another optical drive , It seems that there is too much junk out there
What would a good drive be to work with the Lanparty board ( If I keep it ) , I am totaly stumped and frustrated, I may wind up buying an off the shelf system and scrapping this thing for parts
All I want is a computer that works, reads cds and dvdsm, burns them , games, Internet, Maybe a Mac is in order?
Or an older box like the tank I am on now running Linux ?
Anyone want a slightly used PC ?

[confus-ed]

Ya right, the drive chugged along at .5x and then just quit, I opened the " My computer " icon and the stupide drive had dissappeared from "My computer" and it did not show up in device manager..

Normally when that happens, that's windows being stupid, as its finding too many dma errors & deciding the drive can't just go slower, & it turns it off !! (most 'annoying' as you well know - its supposed to turn the drive down one speed at a time, but if the drives use dma 33 & aren't 'multi-word' dma capable, it can't use PIO directly & gives up - you could set PIO mode mannually in bios as a temporary workaround & pray for updated motherboard bios/ DVD firmware that can fix it 'good' - but it'll run a bit slower for reading etc - PIO mode 4== 1/2 of dma speed )

You are getting these issues because you are just 'randomly' combining kit, pre-made systems get tested for this sort of incompatability first (I know, I do lots of this for various 'big boys' - what's supposedly technically ok & what's practically compatible are two very different things)

[Loopy]

You are getting these issues because you are just 'randomly' combining kit, pre-made systems get tested for this sort of incompatability first (I know, I do lots of this for various 'big boys' - what's supposedly technically ok & what's practically compatible are two very different things)

Could you explain in more detail please?

And I have the same problem, only not as bad. I have a very similar setup, Asus-A8N-SLI premium, two Sata drives, and a Lite-on ATA DVD-RW (writes dual layer too) My drive seems to autoplay slower then the drive in my old computer.
P.S that Asus setup CD loads slowly on mine too, I think the CD itself is "slow".

[format c:]

Well I returned that drive since it was just plain dead, But it did help me to find the possible problem
I was using these special molex connectors that you squeeze to release them from the drive , I figured that my drive was not getting a good power connection, the faulty drive had a sloppy power connection
So I used the tool supplied with the special molex kit to reinstall the orignal black molex connectiors, I fired up my system and popped in the DFI cd and it read it in reasonable time
I did the same test with the Asus cd and it read in reasonable time , I agree those motherboard cds tale a while to read so I took that into consideration
When I returned the drive I picked up the Enermax liberty power supply since the DFI board has the 8 pin 12 volt connector, My old psu had only the 4 pin
This freaked the board out as it would not post, So I gave it a hard reset and she booted right up and very quick, Did the cd test and all is good
So now I am reinstalling Windows , Lets hope she holds up
Thanks Confused for all the help, Next time I am checking the power connectors for the drive and making sure I do not have two many devices on one power cable. Two at max

[confus-ed]

Could you explain in more detail please?..

I pressume my remark;- ..just 'randomly' combining kit.. ?

If you are a home builder generally what you do is a little research to make sure everything can fit & meets specifications (voltage support, correct timings for devices etc etc), & there ain't so much more you can do practically to make sure it works, besides assembling the stuff & seeing if it really does work .. & if it doesn't ? ;- well just what bit 'bust it' ? & was that due to some software issue because of poor install routines, lack of patches etc etc or some hardware issue (like this one turned out to be)& something was faulty or some 'misconception error' that results from either wrong or very often mis-leading/inaccurate technical specifications which don't mean much to most folks .. I'm sure you get the general notion..

& that's what some 'big boys' farm out (as some prefer independent testers & often its cheaper) & some do this internally ; this practical checking process, almost like 'burn in' used to get thought of as, you just try it all together (your 'new machine') & attempt to run 'normally..'

(well I do random stuff & actively try & break things most times, wheras others have a set list of 'can it do this?' operations)

[confus-ed]

..Did the cd test and all is good
So now I am reinstalling Windows , Lets hope she holds up
Thanks Confused for all the help ..

I think you sussed that one yourself ! & I hope it keeps 'behaving' too !

I guess a multimeter (preferably digital, as analogue is harder to read as the pointer 'bounces' & makes accuracy difficult) might've helped you quite a bit in diagnosing this, but folks at home don't have 'em - but for any homebuilder they are almost essential, & they ain't expensive really ..

(I'm not so sure I'd have thought of testing a sufficiently rated Antec supply tho' even if I did have a few things hanging off one rail - they are normally excellant as a brand in maining both wattage & amperage).

[format c:]

I have it all together now and it seems to be running stable, Cds take a bit to read but it is better. I find DVD drives allways take a bit to get going
I do have a digital multi meter, How would I test a system, I did do some tests when I was installing those fancy molex connectors and discovered that all the black wires are a common ground
Now all I have to do is load some games and push this sytem a bit

[confus-ed]

Here you go then - Using a Multimeter (you need a bit of electrical understanding though, & if you haven't got that, I'd suggest you forget my tip, as electrocution from not understanding how to do this safely is quite common ! )

[format c:]

Looks pretty basic, I have used the multimeter on my car to test for contiuity, It looks different for the PC
Since my PC is working, I will leave it alone and play with the car