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.
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