Combo Drive Problems

I just installed the IDE CDRW/DVD combo drive and the PowerDVD software that came with it. Unfortunately I cannot seem to get my DVDs to play correctly. After about 10 minutes the playback goes buggy on me. It sort of crashes. By that I mean the DVD will go start over at the beginning (the studio logo part). I played the disc on two other players and it works fine. I also tried using another disc, and I experienced the same problem. The thing kind of resets. Further attempts have resulted in crashes and lock ups. I attempted playing the disc with PowerDVD and Windows Media Player. I made sure the drive was set to DMA and I did flash the drive BIOS. The hardware manager for the OS says the device is functioning properly. Anybody have any suggestions? Is this a hardware or a software issue?

Okay, I reinstalled the OS, installed WinDVD 4 and tested the discs. So I concluded that the problem was solved by reinstalling the OS. I assumed it would be safe to install PowerDVD 5. I did that and tested the disc and look what happens. Same old problem. I uninstalled it but still have the same problem! All that hassle of backing up my old data, reinstalling the OS...and the suffering. Oh the suffering.
At this point I think I'll just roll over and play dead. Fine...I can't watch Underworld on my deskbox past chapter 3...strangely, Matrix used to skip backward too, but that problem seems to have gone away.
I saw Wonkanoby's post about the new Nforce drivers...I picked those up...no help. I've pretty much done everything I can think about. At one point I've even taken the drive back and exchanged it for a new one. All updated drivers...DirectX 9...WinUpdated all current...really, nothing I can think of short of getting a new drive. But...it works fine for some discs?!
I think I'm going insane...man...look at this thread...I must be insane...I've spent a great majority of it talking to myself...

Similar Messages

Combo Drive problem

I installed Leopard the hard way, using firewire target disc mode, but it's on. The reason is the original combo drive wouldn't recognize the Leopard install disc. It has trouble recognizing any DVD. CD's are fine for the most part. Now the weird part, Disc util and the system profiler always recognize the drive. Even with media in the drive, the software will recognize it, but might not recognize the media in the drive. I've read plenty of posts here with similar symptoms, what gives? I realize 10.5 is the last roundup for the Power PC processor, but other software besides system software is installed using optical media. Should I replace the drive? Is there a software solution I'm missing? Totally confused.
OSX 10.5.6, 1.25GB RAM
PHILIPS CDD5301:
Firmware Revision: Z1.4
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive)
Cache: 8192 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-Raw
Media: Insert media and refresh to show available burn speeds

I'm curious why there are so many messages here with MDD Macs and the super/combo drives appear to be conking out.
Besides being old and outdated, they're really isn't a mystery as to why "so many" posts are made.
The drives have reached end of service.... they're worn out. Drives are not meant to last forever.
That, combined with the fact that media has improved in speed, quality, and changed in construction, makes for a drive, based on old standards of media, that cannot handle the newer media.
And, the majority of those posts are most quickly resolved with the new replacement drive.
In some cases, the problem is resolved by simply cleaning the lens (with a $15+ kit), or by locating a problem in the OS, which can be tested in a new user account. With complete troubleshooting, a small % are found to be OS problems. Many of these, however, require OS reinstall. Kind of hard to do with a drive that isn't working well with the system (or vice-versa).
Bottom line, is, there isn't much to be gained buy keeping an old 4x drive, when a new 20x drive, that has better media compatibility and is so much faster, is so cheap.
And, as you said, a functioning optical drive is necessary. So, which path- troubleshooting, or, replacement?
Factors that affect writing to or reading from optical media
Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver), (Mirrored Drive Doors): CD-RW, DVD and SuperDrive Specifications and Usage Information
The second article linked describes, what to me, are severe limitations with old combo drives, especially in consideration of the new media standards.
DVD Technology: Overview
Video Media Guides

Combo drive problem on Pismo

My Pismo has a Sony CRX820E combo drive, and quite often, while the computer is up and running, the drive decides not to open and won't work until I restart the machine. This can be a pain if I get something done and want to burn it to disc - to put the disc in and get the drive to respond I need to restart.
Of course, I can `open' the drawer with a paperclip, but the drive won't work until I restart. When it works, it's all fine!
Is it just a matter of resetting something?
I've checked for possible drive driver updates but I think everything is in order there.

Alex,
Welcome to the Discussions.
If this behavior is intermittent, I would think it is a hardware problem.
Can you return functionality to the drive by removing the optical drive, then reinserting it while the 'book is running? These media bay devices are hot-swappable.
Or can you return functionality by sleeping the 'book, then waking?
I cannot recall if the 820E needs the "solder-fix" for full functionality. Will the drive boot a CD by pressing the 'c' key? Does the powerbook freeze when waking from sleep? These are two symptoms of an optical drive that is set to slave or cable-select.

Combo Drive Problem - Won't Accept Disks

My combo drive has recently developed a problem where it will not accept any disks that I insert into it. Instead of pulling the disk in, it just sits there. If I push it in a little further, it kind of springs back out. I have not had problems before. Any ideas? Is there a diagnostic program that could check the drive?
Thanks in advance!
John Mc

John,
I agree with JeremyP, it sounds like your combo drive has serious problems & needs to be replaced. My guess is misaligned laser. If you live near an Apple Store, take it there to have one of the geniuses look at it. I had to have mine replaced when it rejected more DVDs than it accepted. It's refusal to accept CDs was probably not far off.
Peggy

Slightly different combo drive problem

My problem is a little different from the others I've read about here. Audio CDs and DVDs go in the drive, the drive spins, the drive stops spinning, the disc is not ejected it just doesn't play. Data discs work fine, I just loaded the new iLife and iWork using this drive without any problems.
The drive shows up on the profiler just fine and I've checked all the settings to ensure there are commands for what to do with CDs and DVDs. I ran the disc utility and the drive shows up, I repaired the permissions. I did everything I could find to do.
So, do I have a bad drive like everyone else or could it be something different?
TIA

It probably reverts back to the statement you made. ( I burned some DVD's on another computer).
What other computer?
What software was used to burn?
What Format Disc's were used to do the burn?
All or any one of these can affect your ability to read burned media.
If your combo drive is only capable of reading DVD-R Media then if you put in + or RW Media then there is your problem.
If you burned the DVD on a PC and the software was set to PC only, there is your problem.
Many of the Software on the market give the options to burn and be for PC only, Mac only, or PC & Mac compatible.
I realize that in a perfect world you just put in any media, and it will read and write it. Sorry it isn't the case.
Try to use DVD-R Media, it is the most widely recognised.
http://www.videohelp.com/dvd
Don

Combo Drive Problem: Not Accepting Discs

Recently, I swapped out a broken Matshita drive.
The new slot-loading optical drive will not accept discs.
What confounds me is that the drive (seems to) show up in the System Profiler:
MATSHITA CD-RW CW-8124:
Firmware Revision: DZ13
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw
Media: No
If it is a power connection issue, would the device appear in the System Profiler?
Anyone have a theory?
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

John,
I agree with JeremyP, it sounds like your combo drive has serious problems & needs to be replaced. My guess is misaligned laser. If you live near an Apple Store, take it there to have one of the geniuses look at it. I had to have mine replaced when it rejected more DVDs than it accepted. It's refusal to accept CDs was probably not far off.
Peggy

Combo Drive Problem - External Replacement - iDVD Help

Recently the Combo Drive on my flat panel iMac went bad. It no longer does anything. I see that this is a common senerio.
I just purchased an external CD/DVD multi recorder (HP 940 - USB). It works great went burning CD's (from iTunes) and Burn folders. However, whenever I try to burn from iDVD the computer doesn't seem to know that it is plugged in. It just ejects my internal combo drive drawer which doesn't work. Does anyone know how to get the iMac to recognize an external burner when burning from iDVD?
Thanks.
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Hello and Welcome to Apple Discussions.
The Patchburn (link) driver might help but iDVD isn't the best for working with any old 3rd party burner.
It could also be a USB thing. Most iMac G4 have USB1.1 which is really too slow for proper DVD burning. If it has it connect the device via the much faster Firewire connection.
Let us know how you get on.
mrtotes

Combo drive problem, similar to one below

I have a similar situation to the gentleman below, where i have two optical drives installed in my MDD, and the top one is a Pioneer 109 i replaced a couple of years ago, but the bottom one is the original Phillips combo drive that came with the machine.
Well, it used to be that every now and then, the combo drive would just disappear from the eject menu, and then some time later it would show back up. I was unable briefly to burn cds from the superdrive, but that's back. i zapped the pram a few times, disconnected/reconnected all of the cables and even reset the pmu for good measure.
still no combo drive. did the drive just suddenly fail? this was the error list in console for the previous Pioneer error:
Finder: Burn started, Mon Jun 4 07:52:03 2007
Finder: Burning to CD-R media with SAO strategy in PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-109 1.58 via ATAPI.
Finder: Requested burn speed was 32x, actual burn speed is 32x.
Finder: Burn underrun protection is supported, and enabled.
Finder: Burn finished, Mon Jun 4 07:53:14 2007
Finder: Verify started, Mon Jun 4 07:53:14 2007
Finder: Discrepancy in block 17 at byte 8.
Finder: Source data: 0243 4430 3031 0100 0041 0050 0050 004C
Finder: Burned data: 0243 4430 3031 0100 0141 0050 0050 004C
Finder: Verify failed, Mon Jun 4 07:53:15 2007
Finder: Burn started, Mon Jun 4 07:54:13 2007
Finder: Burning to CD-R media with SAO strategy in PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-109 1.58 via ATAPI.
Finder: Requested burn speed was 32x, actual burn speed is 32x.
Finder: Burn underrun protection is supported, and enabled.
Finder: Burn finished, Mon Jun 4 07:55:25 2007
Finder: Verify started, Mon Jun 4 07:55:25 2007
Finder: Discrepancy in block 17 at byte 8.
Finder: Source data: 0243 4430 3031 0100 0041 0050 0050 004C
Finder: Burned data: 0243 4430 3031 0100 0141 0050 0050 004C
Finder: Verify failed, Mon Jun 4 07:55:25 2007
Finder: Burn started, Mon Jun 11 19:15:01 2007
Finder: Burning to CD-R media with SAO strategy in PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-109 1.58 via ATAPI.
Finder: Requested burn speed was 32x, actual burn speed is 32x.
Finder: Burn underrun protection is supported, and enabled.
Finder: Burn finished, Mon Jun 11 19:15:37 2007
Finder: Verify started, Mon Jun 11 19:15:37 2007
Finder: Verify finished, Mon Jun 11 19:15:39 2007
As you can see, it finally worked tonight. But like I said, still not combo drive.
Any ideas? Thanks so much in advance!

Dave,
I was just wondering that if it came down to replacing the ribbon cable itself, if I needed to pick a particular type. I've got an external enclosure I can test the drive in to confirm it's dead, but if the drive powers up and mounts as well as burns a disc, then the only other possibility I can think -- other than what you said about a cable being pinched -- is that the ATA cable itself cracked or one of the wires has a short that worsened over time. I mean, it's an older machine so I was just wondering if I needed to be on the lookout for another cable.
Thanks!

CDRW/DVDR Combo Drive Problem ... ... ...

I'm currently visiting my sister in France. She has a Flat Panel iMac (800mhz/256 mb ram) running 10.3.9 which is used each day mainly for web surfing and some general multimedia tasks. The machine recently adopted some odd behaviour. It was spitting out all discs. This seemed to be irrespective of the type of content. Although some CDR with pdfs and an occasional music CDR would be recognised. The machine has been kept in a fairly dusty environment.
Here what I have done so far to remedy the problem:
Cleaned the drawer with a dry air spray
Cleaned the laser lens several times with a lens cleaning disc
Ensured that all relevant updates have been loaded
Run "Pilot" in Cocktail at the default setting which includes Cronscripts and repairing disk permissions.
The machine now accepts and recognises discs, however, there is a problem still with blank CDRs. When inserting a 800mb CDR, it is recognised but only with a capacity of just under 38mb! This allows a track or two to be burnt but tht is all. Any ideas or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
iMac 15 G4 + 5G 30gb iPod Mac OS X (10.3.9)

As this sounds like a Drive problem, and this is the Importing & Burning in iTunes for Mac forum, you'll probably be better answered in:
Using DVDs and CDs with your iMac (Flat Panel)
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=869

Optical/Combo Drive Problem (firmware?)

I've got a 1.6/Core duo machine that used to read DVD (I installed Snow Leopard directly) but now only reads CD. If I insert a DVD there's a slight noise then out it comes again.
Does anyone know
1) whether I can reinstall the firmware for the drive (where do I get firmware from?); or,
2) what the system profiler entries for the combo drive should be, so that I see if everything's there/anything's missing?
Thanks

Fine, if you won't listen to advice, there is nothing I or anyone else can do to help you. But remember this is a troubleshooting user to user forum. As such you'll primarily get the posts of people in a hospital ward. You will rarely get successful machines with no trouble at all. It is a survey of the lemons. Opinions like "These drives are junk" are based purely on hearsay. Instead of pasting opinions, let's deal with the facts, and try and find out what really is going on that is wrong. You may have gotten a bad optical drive, but we need to eliminate causes that could elicit the same symptoms first before saying there is no doubt this is the case. Have you replaced the PRAM battery or not in the last 4 years?

915P/G Combo driver problem

Good day
I've recently purchased two 915P/G Combo mainboards and encountered problems when installing video and audio drivers.
Also, for some strange reason, I cannot use your download manager to get updates.
Could you provide me with direct links to installation files?
Thank you

The problem is with video and sound, as well as with MSI LIVE MONITOR.
- Video:
I believe the driver included into the mainboard CD (INTEL 915G VGA DRIVER) needs to be updated, as the performance is somewhat buggy
- Audio:
The driver included into the mainboard CD (C MEDIA AZALIA AUDIO DRIVER) won't install. I believe this can be fixed with a newer driver
- MSI LIVE MONITOR
MSI LIVE MONITOR is supposed to help me fix problems I described above. Regretfully, I cannot download MSI LIVE UPDATE 3v355 with the help of means offered by MSI LIVE MONITOR. A direct link to the installation file would be of much help.
Thank you

MSI X52P Combo Drive Problem...

Hello all
I recently purchased the MSI X52P Combo CD-RW / DVD-ROM drive to replace my old CD-ROM drive. Installation went well, XP Pro booted up, installed it's own ATAPI COMBO52XMAX driver and the drive appears as DVD/CD-RW Drive in my drive listing as expected. The only problem is, it will not read any disc in a normal XP Pro boot.
After investigating, the drive reads discs perfectly using my old Win98 boot disk which uses a different ATAPI driver (the drive flew through a dir *.* /s on the bundled 600MB odd Nero CD in seconds) and also works perfectly in Safe Mode.
As it worked perfectly in Safe Mode I took that opportunity to install Nero. I then rebooted and discovered that I can use the drive to burn a CD with Nero in normal mode (which reads perfectly in another drive) but again in normal mode won't read any discs including the one I burnt. I'm just trying to remember what the differences between Normal and Safe Mode are. They both use the same driver but doesn't SM use Real Mode Drivers?
Anyway, so far I've tried...
Every combination of IDE channel / master slave setup possible.
Updating the firmware, it's now the 1.40 version.
Checking this forum, seems other people have had similar problems.
A bucket load of things that perhaps only mad people would try.
For the record, there are no device conflicts and AMIBIOS reports it as VER 1.40 ATAPI COMBO52XMAX on boot up. Note, I have been building / tinkering / playing with PC's practically all my life but this is really the first time that I have been stumped with a hardware problem.
Any help / suggestions / ideas would be greatly appreciated. I know the drive works perfectly, just not in normal mode

AHA!
Getting somewhere.
Device Manager - IDE ATA/ATAPI - Secondary IDE Channel - Properties - Advanced Settings
Changing Transfer Mode from 'DMA If Available' to 'PIO Only' caused the drive to immediately spring into action and read discs of all types. However, I'm not happy with that so will fiddle further. PIO mode is processor intensive whereas DMA mode uses the disk controller to transfer data to memory without lugging the proc.
So without looking I am guessing that the difference between Safe Mode and Normal Mode is that Normal Mode tries to use DMA first whereas Safe Mode just uses PIO to be safe. My hard drives are happy chugging along in DMA mode so I'm sure the X52P should too.
Hope this information is useful to anyone else having difficulty reading discs.

T23 with CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo drive problem

I have had my T23 for several years. It came with a DVD/ROM and floppy drive when I purchased it from IBM (not Lenovo). It has served me well but I needed a RW drive, so over Christmas I purchased a new ultrabay 2000 CD-RW/DVD Combo (p/n 22P6991) in the States. The drive can be seen from My Computer, Windows Explorer and Device Manager.
I copied one image (23kb jpeg) from my PC to the drive using Windows Recording Software and it worked. I then tried to move a folder with about 10 jpeg images to the same CD-RW. The images disappeared from the C:/ drive and sit in a virtual storage area (I assume) waiting to be transferred. The CD-RW with one jpeg on it is in the drive and I get a message from the windows writing wizard informing me that there is no disc in the drive. The disc is no longer recognized.
I browsed the forum and found a reference to DLA. I do not have any Sonic DLA software installed. In searching Support and Downloads on the Lenovo Site I see an upgrade to dla521 build 01c (dla521b01u.exe) for 22P6991. As I do not have the base software to upgrade, how do I get the base software? Apparently it is shipped in IBMTools/apps if the device came with the PC.
I may even be chasing the wrong solution here. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Sure would appreciate it.
My system:   T23 Notebook 2647-8RU   512RAM 40G HD   CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo (Ultrabay 2000)
T23: 2647-8RU, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
A61E: 6418-12U, W7/Pro 64
X200: 7454-CTO, W7/Pro 32
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Thank you for your response, I very much appreciate it. I have DeepBurner installed. I assume it to be much the same as Easy CD Creator and Nero... though Nero is huge! I did select multisession on before I did the first copy.
As an aside, I have noticed that there is no format command for the CD (I am using brand new CD-RW discs). Using the CDs right out of the box rendered the file system as CDFS after I wrote the first file to the disc using Windows CD Record. The disc is now unusable.
For DLA ... I did some web searching and found that the CD-RW/DVD combo comes with file   q1dla1us13.exe . It is not on the Lenovo download site. I did not get a CD installation disc with my purchase. Lenovo phone support tells me to buy DLA.
Update:   I have given up on DLA. I downloaded CDBurnerXP and used it. It was simple to use and it did the job. My concern about not being able to format the drive prior to using it was not an issue afterall.
Thank you for taking the time to help me.
Message Edited by emmjay on 01-06-2009 09:45 AM
T23: 2647-8RU, Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
A61E: 6418-12U, W7/Pro 64
X200: 7454-CTO, W7/Pro 32

Matshita Combo Drive Problem

Hello,
My comb drive has stopped working. It was doing fine and now nothing. It's not that old. I updated my system to 10.3.5 ( I would upgrade but anything higher messes up Poser 6) recently and that's when the trouble started. I can see the drive in my system profiler, but when I put in a DVD sometimes the DVD player starts but will not play the DVD. When I put in a CD, it does nothing or doesn't recognize the disc.
Is there a driver out there?
Thanks

Just great. So I've tried a few suggestions like resetting pram, removing preferences all that good stuff. I decided to try to start up from Mac OSX disc. I pressed "c" to start from cd - kernel panic! WHAT!!!! frickin thing. So I try again. Hit the start button, press "c" and kernal panic again. Dear lord which bowels of **** did you come from? I start up iBook again, not hitting "c" and it starts perfectly, reads OSX startup disc. Ok, so now I want to try my Norton cd - to scan disk, etc. Yup - kernal panic. Dear lord I haven't touched myself in months, haven't had any impure thoughts and I've gone to confession so what gives. All I want to do is play DVDs that I've burnt (backups of movies and movies that I've made from iMovie). Not! So frustrating - I'm almost wanting to reinstall the OS.

Not even Apple can fix my problem-Combo Drive Failed-

Just to let you know i am still under warrenty i think for a little while longer.
My Computer has been sent in 2 times already both times it has worked for 2 days then bam dead again. Cd-Combo Drive is recognized. About This Apple-My Info- Disc Burning says you do not have a disc burning drive.
This computer will not read run or write Cd's and never has since i got it. They replaced the entire dirve the first time the second time they replaced the connector cable.... whats left? Anyone have any ideas? Apple should give me a new computer.. i have to drive half an hour to get to the nearest store then half an hour back so this is really getting to the point where i just want a refund.
Suggestions? Please....
I love mac but my PC never did this to me....
{end of rant}

Hi ElijahClark,
Welcome to Apple Discussions
Alright so you have had the drive replaced twice and it still does not work. Where exactly did you get it sent from? Did you talk to a Mac Genius at the Apple Store? Some things to do:
Try another Apple Store, get a second opinion. Its like going to the doctors, if a doctor doesn't solve your problem after awhile it is time to think about going to a different one.
Call Apple. Call Apple Tech Support and explain to them everything that is going on. I am not sure about Apple's policy about replacing computers, but they can probably help you out.
And the most important thing, stay cool, calm, and collective. Everyday Mac Techs are hassled about problems that they can't fix. For an example, I saw one guy flip out because the Mac Genius couldn't put a new Powerbook logic board right in front of him now. It turns out this guy had not only dropped but split lemonade on the keyboard. They vent on the Techs. When you see a Mac Genius or someone like that, they will not only appreciate it if you are cool and calm, but they will be mostly likely more helpful/patient. Be collective, make sure you fully understand everything that the Tech tells you. I would bring a notebook to write down any notes or questions. Make sure you describe your computers problem as detailed as possible. This will help when you review and think about options.
I hope that helps,
Jon
PS I would talk to an Apple Genius then Apple Phone Support. PCs have a lot more problems in the long run then Macs (my experience). I have seen grown men almost in tears because their PCs are not working properly.

Combo Drive Problems

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