Incredebly slow DVD drive

[HorseArcher]

I saved a bunch of stuff on a DVD disk to have it later reinstalled. It was saved in data-mode, meaning, that just shoved all the programs and files onto the disk, about 3Gigs of stuff.

The problem I have is that once i try to open a single text file or copy it to my hard drive, my DVD rom goes into a never ending search and the led light just flashing around slowly. It can take up to 5 minutes to open a single file, let it be anything or any type.

Sometimes it searches forever than later gives me a "error reading" or "file is not on disk" message, and sometimes opens it after a painfully long search.

known things:

-The files are on the disk (or at least they show up while exploring the disk)
- The DVD plays movies fine
- No scraches on the disk
- Tried different DMA modes, same problem.
W.T.F. ?

thanks for any clues or solutions for this..

[krazykarl]

I had a DVD drive that was rated at 16x, but would only read as fast as a 2x, I concluded it was a faulty drive and replaced it. DVD writers/drives are soo cheap now that suffering with a flakey one is just not worth it.

[HorseArcher]

I had a DVD drive that was rated at 16x, but would only read as fast as a 2x, I concluded it was a faulty drive and replaced it. DVD writers/drives are soo cheap now that suffering with a flakey one is just not worth it.

mine suppose to be a top-of-the-line sony DVD/R -CD/R , I can't beleive this thing....It plays movies ok, but opening any data DVDs is a pain....

Is my problem really a drive-faulty if everything else checks out (DVD disk ok, copy was ok) ?

[Incinerate_IV]

Did you just bought that drive? If so make sure your master/slave thing is set correctly. I had the same problem, except it was with a hard drive. Some motherboards are just extremely picky about that stuff.

[Richard the Lionheart]

I saved a bunch of stuff on a DVD disk to have it later reinstalled. It was saved in data-mode, meaning, that just shoved all the programs and files onto the disk, about 3Gigs of stuff.

The problem I have is that once i try to open a single text file or copy it to my hard drive, my DVD rom goes into a never ending search and the led light just flashing around slowly. It can take up to 5 minutes to open a single file, let it be anything or any type.

Sometimes it searches forever than later gives me a "error reading" or "file is not on disk" message, and sometimes opens it after a painfully long search.

known things:

-The files are on the disk (or at least they show up while exploring the disk)
- The DVD plays movies fine
- No scraches on the disk
- Tried different DMA modes, same problem.
W.T.F. ?

thanks for any clues or solutions for this..

1) Did the drive work fine before or has it always been like this?

2) Have you tried using a different dvd burning software?

[HorseArcher]

1) Did the drive work fine before or has it always been like this?

2) Have you tried using a different dvd burning software?

It's been slow like this. But I don't know if it's really slow or I am the only one thinking it's slow even from the beginning.

Basically, opening any data-disk takes about 10 seconds at least.

2. yeah, I tried others, but somehow I always had errors trying to burn anything at the fastest speed. I think I said that before in another thread..

[Erik]

It's been slow like this. But I don't know if it's really slow or I am the only one thinking it's slow even from the beginning.

Basically, opening any data-disk takes about 10 seconds at least.

You mean it takes 10 second when you first insert the disk, and then it works fine?
That's how my drive works: if I put in a new DVD it takes about 10 second before it shows up in "my computer", but then I can access each file in one second or less, that's normal.

2. yeah, I tried others, but somehow I always had errors trying to burn anything at the fastest speed. I think I said that before in another thread..

I think I know what's wrong: I think either your drive or (more likely) your DVD-R's don't support the fastest speed.
I tried burning at 16X speed onto a 8X speed disk once, the burning was "successfull" but when I tried to read from it I got errors.

[Gaius Baltar]

Ive had a similar problem with my DVD drive. My solution may or may not apply.

It appears that WIndows XP has allowed independent software bundles to take over the command functions of the DVD drives (and CDs). When using DLA, often times you must use the independent software to do the job.

For example, on my WIndows XP Home system, Dell had used SONIC to perform the DLA access, and hence, the read and write functions of the drive. Now, mind you, the drive can still be accessed via WIndows, but the performance is abysmal. Many times the drivers for the individual DVD ystems (Phillps, SOny, etc.) dont work well with the DLA set-up, forcing you to use the non-Windows XP software to successfully use your drive.

Now, Im just guessing here, but this may be the problem. Check to see if "Use with DLA" is checked on your DVD drive.

Next step for me was to;

1. Uncheck "Use DLA access" for my DVD drive
2. To write (burn) data to the drive - I have to use SONIC software.
3. I can still read and copy from drive using Windows XP. But "writing" to the DVD drive, doesnt work, if at all, made many coasters this way.

AS always, make sure you have up-to-date drivers.