DVD Help?

[Ailing Bob]

I've suddenly noticed my DVD drive no longer plays DVDs. I think its since I installed XP pro some time ago. It still works as a CD ROM drive. I've tried lots of different progams but no joy.
I even upgraded to Power DVD 4 XP after reading that my original version might be the cause. When I look at the device manager it says everything is working fine.

When I load a DVD the Power DVD program says "Error code 8090000D" and "An unexpected copy protection error has occurred. Unable to play disc."

I can't find anything about this error code anywhere. The DVDs are all genuine region 2 as is the player.
Any clues?

[BDiONU]

Try the Microsoft Knowledge Base here:

http://search.support.microsoft.com/search/default.aspx?Catalog=LCID%3D1033%26CDID%3DEN-US-KB%26PRODLISTSRC%3DON&withinResults=&QuerySource=gsfxAdvancedSearch_Query&Product=winxp&Queryc=dvd&Query=dvd&KeywordType=ALL&maxResults=25&Titles=false&numDays=

[Ailing Bob]

Thank but no luck in finding anything there, I tried several links and several suggestions but still the same.
Any more please?

[bblank]

If you have not already installed the patch (http://www.gocyberlink.com/english/download/dl_file.jsp?dl_id=82) then I'd start there
(even though the error codes that are fixed differ from your
error code).

After finding out that the patch doesn't fix the problem try the
support page (http://www.gocyberlink.com/english/cs/support/index_tech.jsp).

HTH

[Ailing Bob]

Tried that, but no joy. Still get exactly the same message. I don't think its a problem with PowerDVD as I tried WinDVD and windows media player and none of them work.
Any more clues please?

[bblank]

Have you tried to change the DVD port? I looked through the DVD forums and
newsgroups and your question has arisen in virtually all of them, but usually
without any useful replies. One person who originally reported your problem
later answered himself as follows: "I actually had a bit more of a play and now
have found that the DVD works in any config as long as its on IDE1, secondary."

Swapping ports didn't work for the following guy who found a different solution:
"I had the same error.. tried everything, swapping IDE channels, the works... nothing.
I finally figured that the copy protection was being turned on by software, and this
was preventing the drive from playing. That's when I realised I had been imaging
some CD's and Nero was left with the hard drive image as the active recorder. Opened
Nero,switched the burner from the image creator to my burner, and my DVD's work again!"

Interested to know if this is a case of CSS run amok or just something weird.

[Ailing Bob]

Thanks for your help bblank, some very interesting food for thought there. I do have Nero and strangely enough when I installed my CDR/W it used to nag me about the CDR/W bing on the wrong IDE channel although it still worked. I swapped them around to stop the nagging but I can't remember which way around I put it. I won't get a chance to open it until the weekend, is there anyway i can tell which is on the priamry and which is on the secondary by looking at the device manager? They are listed ASUS DVD Rom with TEAC CDR below it?? Does this mean the DVD is on the primary? I also have a second hard drive but I can't remember where I put that without opening it.
Can you post a link to any of those forums you found, I couldnt find any useful ones. Thanks again guys for all your help and suggestions.

[Ausatco]

Bob,

When you boot up, do whatever you have to do to get into Bios setup - hitting the DEL key during the boot is common. Sometimes the invitation flashes by, so you may have to be pretty quick.

Navigate to "Auto detect hard disks" (or words to that effect).

That should tell you what is on primary and secondary and which is master/slave, etc.

Once you have the info, ESC your way out and QUIT without saving.

HTH

AA

[Ailing Bob]

Thanks Ausatco, I tried that and it tells me I have
IDE primary master: ASUS DVD
IDE primary slave: (numbers looks like one if the HDDs)
IDE secondary primary: (numbers looks like other HDD)
IDE secondary slave: CD-R ***)

ANy suggestions what to try?
Also I noticed when I switch on the computer , just after the memory test it flashes up something about detecting drives etc.
How do I pause this screen to read it, it say something about "no conductor cable installed **** secondary.." but it really is too fast to read.:confused:

[goeasy]

to pause boot up.... hit 'pause' key!
then any other key to resume

[flybhx]

If you read the message correctly try checking the IDE cables to the drives just to make sure everything is OK dont forget to check the motherboard end. I had one come partially adrift once which caused some head banging at the time.

[Ailing Bob]

Thanks Goeasy, the message says
"Secondary IDE no 80 conductor cable installed"
Anyone know what this means?
I've checked the connections and none are loose.
I swapped the units on the secondary, but still no joy.
I now have:
Primary master: Asus DVD
primary slave: HDD
Secondary master: HDD
Secondary slave: CD

I'm now going to try and swap the units on the primary IDE.
Can anyone suggest or recommend the best config for what I've got?

[ratsarrse]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that you can have problems if CD/DVD drives share the same cable as a hard drive. CD drives use a slower transfer rate than hard disks, so your HD will be running slowly. My advice would be to attach both HDs to your IDE0 socket, with your biggest & fastest set to master and the other one to slave. Do the same with the CD/DVD drive on the second channel - IDE1. Who knows? It might help your problem? If you have recent HD, they probably are UDMA 100 (Ultra DMA Mode 5), whereas your CD drive will be at an older and slower standard.

[Ailing Bob]

Thanks Ratsarse, I'll give that one a go later.
I tried swapping the DVD and the HDD to put the DVD as slave but its still the same. I still get that message on start up about no conductor on secondary etc but the two devices on the secondary (CDR/W an other HDD) both are working fine.
:confused:

Keep them coming, I'll try anything once!

[ORAC]

"Also I noticed when I switch on the computer , just after the memory test it flashes up something about detecting drives etc.
How do I pause this screen to read it, it say something about "no conductor cable installed **** secondary.." but it really is too fast to read"

This is not an error message. The message is meant to tell you that you are using an ATA-66 or ATA-100 HDD with the conductor 40 ATA-33 cable.

Buy a ATA-100 cable and see if it solves the problem.

Just as a chance - change the jumper setting to "Cable Select" instead of primary or Slave. If it works you owe me a beer. :D

[spannersatcx]

An ATA 100 cable can also be referred to as an 80 pin ribbon cable.

Also it may be better with the boot drive ( C ) as the primary device on the primary ide channel.

[Ailing Bob]

Thanks guys, I tried setting the DVD to cable select but neither device was then found on boot up. I then selected both of them (the DVD and the HDD on the primary IDE) to cable select, but on boot up only the DVD was detected. I have now put it back to HD as master and DVD as slave, now they are both working as before but still no DVD. Is my basic configuration wrong? I mean with 1 DVD, 1 CDR, and 2 HDDs what is the ideal installation?
should the DVD and the CDR be on the same IDE??? I'm no expert on computers. Thanks also for the tip on the ATA 100 cable, I did notice when I looked inside one of them had ATA 66 written on it cable, I'll look for one on monday, will it be a straight swap? If so should I replace them both??
Thanks for your patience and help
:confused:

[spannersatcx]

I have 1 HDD master IDE 1, 1 DVD ROM as slave, 1 HDD as master on IDE 2 with CDRW as slave, 1 HDD on IDE 3 (highpoint controller). Make sure jumpers are all correct for master and slave.

Make sure software is looking at the correct drive to run a dvd from.

Uninstall all extra dvd players (software) and use one in XP.

Is the region code locked? and are you trying to play a different region DVD?

Maybe a case of backing up important files and formarmating and reinstalling xp.

[spannersatcx]

Found this at Tweakxp.com (www.tweakxp.com)
Are you running 2 drives?
eg. DVD-Rom + CD-Writer\ROM??

But You can get your CD-Writer\Rom to work properly, but your dvd-rom runs as a standard cd-rom drive and its not picking up DVD's?

Heres The FIX:
Navigate to your device manager located in you system; in your control panel...Once there, click on "ATA/ATAPI controllers" open: "Secondary IDE channel" click the "Advanced Settings" tab: If your DVD-ROM is the master and your CD-Writer\Rom is a slave change the device 0: Transfer Mode to "PI0 Mode" in the drop down menu... or if your CD-Writer\Rom is master and your DVD-ROM is slave (which is really rare) change the device 1:transfer Mode to "PI0 Mode"in the drop down menu... Then restart your computer even if it doesn't ask you to!

once restarted... Test!! and have fun... :)

[Ailing Bob]

Thanks Spannersatcx, I'd found that and tried it (and every combination of it) but it still doesn't work. I've now got C drive primary master, with second HD as slave, DVD as secondary master with CD-R as slave, all is still exactly as before.
Any more suggestions? I'm not sure if I have a problem with PowerDVD, Win Xp or the DVD itself. I searched the Powerdvd site but they don't mention the error, I've found a few queries on bulletin boards but no answers. I've left a question on the Powerdvd tech support site.
Any BIOS tweaks I should try? everything seems to be set on auto.
Thanks and happy new year.

[allthatglitters]

Firstly Happy New Year to one and all.
Which motherboard/cpu/memory combination are you using?
When installing XP, was it a fresh install from a clean HDD or an upgrade from 9x or ME. After you installed XP did you carry out any upgrades to Nero, are you running any other burning utilities or have been on your machine? Or even several DVD player programmes?
One of the later ATA100 IDE cables I have actually has written on it at the long end ‘System’, at the other extreme ‘Master Device 0’, and in the middle ‘Slave Device 1’. No mention of this on the other cables or motherboard manuals. Anyone else seen this or have any idea how important this would be?

[What_does_this_button_do?]

Brother in law had this - he came over yesterday and I installed WinDVD on it and it all sorted out.

Not sure if it will work for you.

B

WinDVD (http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/Home.jsp)

[Ailing Bob]

Thanks for the tip Buttons, I downloaded and installed a trial of Windvd platinum, uninstalled Powerdvd and hey presto it started to work but it was very choppy. I tried playing around with some of the settings but it made no difference. I tried a couple of DVDs but they were all choppy (unwatchable). What suggestions do you have to cure this?
Now for the strange part, I borrowed a pirate DVD and tried that and that works perfectly:confused:

Whats going on here?

In answer to Glitters, I have a P3 900 with 512MB, Soltek Mobo.
I upgraded from Win98 SE. I have nero 5 for the CDR.

[ORAC]

The pirate DVD is probably copied into MPEG1 which has a far lower data rate than the native MPEG2. The DVD players you're using all use the CPU. A 900Mhz is OK for MPEG1 but it looks like it's struggling with the higher data rate. Most of the playback DVD in a very small window to manage it at all. What size are you trying to play it back in, full-screen?

Solutions? Either upgrade your CPU/Motherboard or buy a video card with hardware MPEG2/DVD support to take the load off the CPU.

[Ailing Bob]

But it used to work perfectly with this setup. I've had these DVDs since I got the DVD player and I've seen them all work on this system, this choppiness is new. Is there a setting I can tweak or should I switch something on (or off)?
:confused: