CD-ROM Mysteriously Disabled 1

[CompCoach]

First off - thanks for reading my question.
Now to the details: I cannot get the CD-Rom
in a 3 year old Gateway to read any cd's.
The drawer opens and takes a CD but the light
doesn't come on and nothing shows up in
Windows Explorer. Under Device Manager the
drive doesn't appear to have any problems.
I've blown air into the drive and checked all
the connections in the back of the drive to make sure it
wasn't a physical problem. The only possible
cause is an error marking (yellow question mark)
next to the COM1 port in Device Manager. The
description is that "the device using this port
has been disabled".
Any idea how to undisable that device or any
other causes to this problem?

thanks alot
CompCoach

 

[ray436]

Here's my list of stuff to try:

a) Did the IDE channel the CD is connected to get turned off in the BIOS or in Device Manager ( click on the controller and check under settings it should say "default" or "both channels&quot

b) does the disk spin-up and "settle"? (listen after inserting a CD) if it does, then the player is getting laser focus and is likely working OK

c) try the drive on a different channel, see if the one it is on went bad.

d) if the disks are CD-R, some drives never read them well.

d) when you say "nothing in explorer" do you mean that no files show up or the CD drive is not there? If the drive is there but you get the "drive not ready" error, then the drive is just not reading the disk. If the drive does not appear in explorer, then windows is not properly finding it - first go into device manager, and click on "refresh" and see if the drive is found after that.

good luck !

 

[CompCoach]

thanks for the reply....sorry i wasn't clearer in the first post.
the drive will take a CD, but it does not spin after the drawer retracts.
the CD-ROM appears in Explorer, but you get an "E:/ is not accessible...The device is not ready" message when you click on it even if a CD is in it.
additionally, the drive doesn't spin any type of CD (R, RW, OEM).

i checked the IDE channel thing in Device Manager and it was set to Default. i changed it to "Both", rebooted, and the drive still didn't spin a CD. could you tell me how to try a different channel like you said - or at least check the channel i am on now? i don't know exactly where to look in the BIOS for the IDE channel.
i still think it might have something to do with the error message showing in Device Manager next to "Communications Port" (no designation of COM1 or COM2). in the properties tab of that port it says "this device has been disabled in the hardware. in order to use this device, you must re-enable the hardware. see you hardware documentation for details.[Code 29]" any ideas about this error?
and finally, does it mean anything if in Device Mgr., under CDROM it says "MITSUMI CD-ROM FX120T!B" the "!B" at the end was the part that caught my eye. is it just part of the name of the drive?

thanks again

 

[ray436]

Had another think, and here goes.....

you can re-enable the COM ports by unchecking the "disable in this profile" box, see if it works then.

I think the CD rom has a dirty lens and cant detect a CD, so it never starts spin-up. Normally a player will get the laser focused - this also is used to detect a CD is in, then spin the CD and read the table of contents

(try a lens cleaner CD, I have used canned air too, but i may have blown a big hunk 'o lint onto the lens)

the mention of the !B in device manager is OK, its just part of the name of the CD player

I will now start a long ramble on other causes.......

The COM error may be due to the BIOS not having that COM port enabled, ( if you have a PS/2 mouse this is possible, since it resides on its own port at IRQ 12 and does not need COM1)

The code 29 error refers to Windows not being able to properly assign resources to IRQ's - this may indicate a problem with the IDE channel the CD is on somehow trying to use the same IRQ as COM1 ( not likely, but we are talking about Windows , since COM1 is usually IRQ 3 or 4 and the IDE channels reside at IRQ 14 and 15)

WAIT - I just a had a brain storm! ----

do you use modem or network card(cable/adsl) ?
if you have a modem, then what may have happened is COM1 and 2 are enabled in the BIOS, making them unavailable to the modem, so the modem was dynamically assigned to IRQ 15 and now the second IDE channel wont work. Windows should know better but it doesnt always. granted, this may be reaching a bit but my older Compaq would do this and put the PS/2 mouse at the wrong IRQ all the time.

go into the device manager and select computer, then click properties and see who has what IRQ. you may find that there is a fight over IRQ 15 which is supposed to be the second IDE channel.

The CD can go on either IDE channel, if it is on the same cable as the Harddrive, they are both on IDE primary (IRQ14) and that channel is obviously OK. The CD can be put on its own cable, use IDE secondary, (IRQ15) using the spare IDE socket on the motherboard.

I do think it is just a dirty lens, so try the cleaner first.

Hope this long ramble helped.....

 

[CompCoach]

already tried a lens cleaner and it wouldn't
spin that one either. thats the only option
for a lens cleaner - the ones with the little
brush things sticking out of one part
of an otherwise blank CD - isn't it?

so i'll try some of your more complicated
suggestions.

thanks

 

[edfair]

Do you have any other machine to use to try the drive? Sounds more like a munged drive than anything in the system.
As far as the com port error , try deleting it from device mangler then rebbot and let it find itself again. Also verify addresses and irqs in bios. And the previous discussion about conflicts still holds.

Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[ray436]

Boy i was sleeping when i thought you could try a lens cleaner ( obviously it wont spin either ....doh!)

Ed Fair is right, try it in a different PC, if no go and you decide to get a new one, you could have a go at opening the old one. I see quite a few that have hair wrapped around the spindle shaft preventing motor operation, or the shaft has become "stuck" and a couple of turns will free it.
You will also be able to manually clean the lens then. Be very gentle tho, use a small artist's brush.

If you are going to scrap it, no loss, just a learning experience.

 

[CompCoach]

alright, i'll report results for each possibility you guys suggested:
i do have a PS/2 mouse and it is using IRQ 12. i don't know how to check in the BIOS to see if the problem COM port is enabled or not.
a modem is installed and it is using IRQ 3 and COM2.
the CD-ROM is using its own cord and appears to be using IDE secondary (IRQ15). one thing that i did notice in device manager under Computer was that IRQ 14 & 15 both had the same main designation of "Intel 82371SB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller" beside them and then "Primary IDE Controller" under 14 and "Secondary IDE Controller" under 15. does this mean anything?
i did try removing the problem COM port in device mangler ( i like that) and rebooting, but new hardware was detected and it installed itself again and the same problem showed up in device manager.
on to the dreaded BIOS changes.....the CDROM was listed as the Secondary IDE Master (as i assume this is proper)-no change there. "Serial Port 2 Address" was disabled, so i changed it to "Auto". Under "Power Mgmt Config" - "IDE Drive Power Down" was disabled, so i enabled it-didn't think this had much to do with our problems but it looked wrong. after these changes, i had some IRQ shakeups. the COM port error was gone from Device Manager, but now COM5 showed up in its place (apparently working correctly). COM5 is now IRQ 3, COM1-IRQ 4, and the modem in COM2 is now IRQ 9.

now have i really screwed things up or would you guys just recommend i pull the CD-ROM and try a new one? unfortunately, i don't have a spare machine to try this one out on. i appreciate any help you can give me on this.

 

[edfair]

Welcome to the world of IRQ assignments as practiced by MS products. Now you get the practice changing them back. One at a time by either resetting via mangler properties or setting up conditions so automatic reinstall is forced to do what you want.
You put serial 2 back in the mix by enabling so OS grabbed what it wanted and assigned it. So go back into bios and remove com2 and the modem. The modem should come back as originally set on the next reboot or your next forced detect.
14 and 15 are correct as you described them.
By all means try another CD drive on secondary as master drive. Think you will find that the new one will spin. Just gut instinct.
Serial port 1 should let you disable like the serial 2 you will have to cripple. You might also have the opportunity to check addresses for the ports. #1=378 irq 4, #2=278 irq 3. And don't panic if I've messed up the addresses. It's late and my mind is already partly asleep.

Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[CompCoach]

after attempting to make the changes above, i've run into some problems.
i didn't know how to just remove COM2 and the modem via the BIOS, so i did it in Device Manager. after a reboot, windows had some problems reinstalling the modem. i think another file it needed was in use or something. after a few tries, i got the modem to reintsall. everything looks OK in device manager except that the Modem listing isn't there anymore. additionally, when i try to see if a modem is actually installed via Control Panel>Modems, it says no modems are installed and tries to install one. when i try to do that, it checks COM1 and COM 2 and can't find a modem present. i really don't understand that.
my other problem is that now i get these 2 file missing errors whenever Windows boots (this is Win95) - "Registry refers to this file but the file no longer exists...blah..blah" for "turbovbf.vxd" and "TurboVCD.vxd" any idea on how i can correct that?
just to update you, the latest BIOS settings are:
Serial Port 1 = COM1 3F8 IRQ 4
Serial Port 2 = AUTO (COM2 2F8 IRQ 3)
and everything else looks good in there.

i am all ready to just install this new CDROM i've got, but no i've fouled up all this other stuff in the process of diagnosing the OEM CD.

 

[edfair]

Welcome to the second shoe drop.
Where you have addresses for com1 and com2, it appears that you can change them since there is an auto choice. How about a disabled choice? Normally you can disable on board ports. And if so, then disable both of the serial ports, then verify that they don't show in the mangler. And if they show in the mangler , then remove them.
This should allow you to boot clean, then probably add dial up networking. Next reboot should find the modem. And the DUN and the modem should add the files in that are giving you the error message. Notice I said should. What OS are you using? Some of this is getting into some specific differences.And the modem? A winmodem? If a winmodem expect an additional expenditure of effort.
When you lost your CD it was removed from the device list. When you cripple the com ports they should disappear also. But there are problems on the deinstaller and sometimes things don't go away like they should.

Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[CompCoach]

ok, after turning the machine on, i immediately went into the BIOS and disabled both Serial 1 and 2. then proceeded with booting up. the error messages about the 2 .vxd files did not come up but Windows (95) did install the modem. then i went into Device Manager and removed COM1 and 2 (which both had yellow error symbols next to them) then i tried a reboot. then the error messages about the .vxd files came back. so i tried another few reboots with the same results. windows also tried to install the modem a few more times too. it always said 'this modem has been partially installed, you must remove it via control panel and attempt reinstallation". i tried to remove it via control panel and couldn't. it also wasn't showing in device manager. so i looked in the BIOS again and the serial ports were still disabled. a few more reboots still gave me the .vxd error messages. incidentally, i never saw anything about Dial Up Networking. should have tried to uninstall that too?
to answer your questions, as i said above this machine is running Win95 and i don't think the modem is a winmodem. i would just put 98 on it and let that install fix everything, but i don't have an extra copy of 98 to let these folks take home when all is well.
any ideas? i greatly appreciate your patience and continued help.

 

[edfair]

The next step would be attempting to install the modem from CP. You should be able to install from there. If it won't go there as a last resort you could install dial up networking, then reboot and let it find the modem from there. As you can see there are some serious issues in how some of this is accomplished. And you have also found some of the issues with the uninstaller.
There are some real interesting war stories about this stuff. And these problems are the reasons a lot of people don't have sympathy with Microsoft about their legal problems.

Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[CompCoach]

sorry-i've been out of town
i already tried to install the modem from CP.
doing it from the Modems icon-says it can't detect
a modem. doing it from the Tele-Path (brand of the
modem in the machine)-says "no Tele-Path device on your system, some corupted info belonging to this modem has been found. this has been cleaned."

currently this is the situation. each startup: tries to install modem, says it has successfully installed to COM 1, no .vxd file errors appear, then reccommends reboot for settings to appear, reboot proceeds, those 2 missing .vxd file errors come up again, hit enter after each one to continue reboot, then tries to install modem again, "ERROR: modem is already installed-may be partially installed-before continuing, uninstall it from COntrol Panel (click on Tele-Path icon)...click Exit to cancel current installation", i do hit exit but as i said above-i can't install or uninstall the modem from anywhere.

then i tried to fool with dial-up networking. i don't know where i can install it as you said in your last post, so i just removed the Dial-Up adapter from the Network area of Control Panel. it asked to reboot, i did and had the same results as above - no changes whatsoever.

theres got to be a way i can completely remove the modem and then have windows install it cleanly! this is so frustrating......and believe me, you don't have to tell me why folks want to break Microsoft up. i've dealt with their complications many times before.

 

[edfair]

It would be funny if it didn't hurt so bad.
By all means physically remove the modem hardware. Clean everything out regarding the modem, reboot once to make sure it is clean and then shut down. Reinstall the hardware and have it use modem software drivers if you can.
If you need DUN , it is installed in some versions at hardware install in CP, setup tab if I remember correctly, windows setup, and you tell it what you want to add or delete.
And grin, think of the war stories you'll be able to tell.

Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[tschuy]

Try re-booting your system in safe mode (F8) during windows boot and then navigate to the device manager and see if there are any ghost devices. Windows 98 and 95 have a real bad habit of developing these. More then likely you will see duplication of devices or even devices will show that are not actually there. Clear them all and reboot normally. Then go back and do some of the suggestions above.

Cheers,

Tim Schuy
tschuy@mail.com

 

[CompCoach]

Daily Report....
booted in safe mode, looked for Ghost devices, found none
turned off machine
physically removed modem, turned on, both COM ports disabled in Device Mangler, reboot, enabled them in BIOS (Auto selection), reboot, everything looked OK, put modem back in machine, installed automatically on COM 3, reboot required, then those darn turbovbf.vxd and TurboVCD.vxd showed up missing again, got a message about a partial installation for the modem, went into Windows Setup under Add/Remove Programs and added the TCP/IP dial up adapter i removed before, reboot, same .vxd file errors, removed DialUp Networking, reboot, windows tried to install the modem on COM 3 again, reboot required, same file errors, then i threw the machine out the window after beating it profusely...
not really, but do you guys have any ideas? thanks...

 

[ray436]

here's another way to install a seemingly non-PnP modem
(from Aopen FAQ section )
it has worked for me at times

http://aoaen.aopen.com/tech/faq/modem/nonpnp.htm

it goes step-by-step through adding the COM port, then the modem.

hope it helps!

Ray

 

[edfair]

Can't say that I would blame you for doing some percussive maintenance. Will be thinking about it.
The fact that the files are missing is indicative that something didn't go in correctly. The names were added to either the win.ini, system.ini , or registry as supposed to be loaded on startup, but the files either are missing or are at the wrong place. And this sounds like a problem with the driver disk/cd than a modem problem. So the next question is whether they exist on the driver diskette?
And the modem software is telling you the same thing.

Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com

Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.

Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[CompCoach]

i don't have the drive diskette, but it is a gateway factory 33.6 modem so i assume i could get the driver at their site. should i try that? then what?

and Ray - i looked at the site you gave me and it looks good except that i don't know where to find the jumper for a particular COM port on this motherboard and i wouldn't know how to set it up even if i did know where it was. plus i don't have the driver diskette as i said above so i couldn't install it exactly as the site suggested...would getting a driver from the Gateway website work?

thanks