OT- DVD drive trouble

[Randallw]

ok, today I got a bit of a late birthday present, An external DVD drive. Problem is I can't get it to work (oh it opens and closes but it doesn't register on my computer). I plugged it into a USB port but it registers as an unknown device and that it has malfunctioned. It doesn't appear to need a driver, claiming that it should be plug and play. I wonder somewhat if my computer says it doesn't need a driver because it can't tell what it is. I went through the troubleshooter and tried different USB ports (well the other one )

Although I don't believe it would be a problem my computer is about 2-3 years old, so I assume the USB ports are 2.0. I uninstall it in device manager and then scan for hardware changes which makes my computer claim there is a new usb device...for a few seconds before it says unknown, and it announces there is new hardware with the device manager entry having a yellow triangle/exclamation mark for a few seconds before going back to unknown. Is there something I should try or might it be possible it is faulty?. It is a Liteon SOHW-1693SX.

[Atrocities]

You might need to get yourself Nero or something. My machine would only recognize my DVD burner via Nero.

[Randallw]

It came with NERO startsmart and power DVD. the NERO I have only appears to give information on my CD drive. I don't so much want to burn DVDs as install a game off a DVD.

[Atrocities]

Can you post your system specs? I don't see why it wouldn't work, my machine is three years old, and my external drives work. However I have heard of this before, but I don't recall where or how they fixed it. Sorry Randallw.

Good luck.. (Try the manufacture help line. Assuming there is one available.)

[Randallw]

I remembered getting system information through something. I think this is it. It's pretty much the same as back then, only I installed sp2 a few motnhs ago.

------------------
System Information
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Time of this report: 12/27/2004, 23:10:06
Machine name: RANDALL
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 1 (2600.xpsp2_gdr.040517-1325)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: NVIDIA
System Model: AWRDACPI
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2400+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.0GHz
Memory: 512MB RAM
Page File: 223MB used, 1027MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.0001.0902 32bit Unicode

[Atrocities]

From what I see here, your system is better than mine so it should work.

What is the type of DVD drive you have. Manufacture, make and model?

[Randallw]

As far as I can tell it's a Liteon SOHW-1693SX DVD +/- R, +/- RW drive. the user manual mentions that I should contact the manufacturer if the USB controllers have a yellow excalmation point. As I mentioned that emblem pops up for a few seconds each time I try to install the new hardware. Don't know if that means my USB ports are 1.1 or 2. One thing I have noticed is that the NERO software only seems to give information about my CD drive. Maybe there is some sort of conflict.

[Atrocities]

Try downloading SiSoft Sandra www.download.com or from their web own web site. It might give you some good info about your system that you don't have. http://www.sisoftware.net/

It is a utility that can tell you just about everything you ever wanted to know about your computer.

[Randallw]

Well I'm not going to work on this all night. I'm logging off. I appreciate the help and that of anyone else who has an idea. I'll just point out that it says the device has malfunctioned and tells me to reconnect. When it still doesn't recognise it it says to replace it. I'm starting to think it's broken.

[Fyron]

Try manually installing the drivers before you plug it in. You may or may not need to get some off the web, depending on whether it shipped with them or not.