Windows Media Player

[securespark]

Is this one OK?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/43149

Yes, I am using XP SP2.

Yes, I'm using 2ndary channel 0 for the Sony DVD-RW.

The device type is listed as "AUTO DETECTION", but is greyed out...

The transfer mode is listed as "DMA if available"

Current transfer mode listed as "Ultra DMA Mode 2"

 

[TonyWarrington]

Is this one OK?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/43149
I don't think it is. It does not state ATA66/100 or if 80conductors. Even if it is ATA66/100 you only have one connection - might be useful in the future to have another connector you never know

This one is but is too expensive IMO (9.87+p&p!!)
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/124531

This one I quoted is £1.77 + postage of either £6.95 or £3.99 https://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Peripherals/Cabling/ATA100/133/+IDE+ATA66/100/133+Cable?productId=64

At those prices incl post maybe Maplin http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ModuleNo=29955&doy=21m5 or PC World would be ok if you have one near you
If you want to buy over the net I have found this company to be very good with reasonable postage charges Overclockers UK . Click on cables in left hand pane and select IDE. These are rounded cables Akasa IDE ATA 133, take your choice on colour

Yes, I am using XP SP2.
Only reason for asking WMP11 needs SP2

Yes, I'm using 2ndary channel 0 for the Sony DVD-RW.
Good

The device type is listed as "AUTO DETECTION", but is greyed out...

The transfer mode is listed as "DMA if available"

Current transfer mode listed as "Ultra DMA Mode 2"
Good drive being recognised correctly by the sound of it

BTW. NERO, you will need to check if configured properly when you get new cable.
Goto Nero in Start menu programs and click on Nero Info tool
You will get a dialogue box showing your drive and capabilities. Also check ASPI (CLick on tab) is installed and working properly
You may find that System ASPI files are missing. In this case it may be appropriate to select Nero ASPI (not 100% sure if this is required with XP)

 

[securespark]

Thanks. Ordered that cable from Maplins.

Let you know when I've swapped it out.

 

[securespark]

Just swapped that cable. At the moment, it makes no difference to my non-ability to burn CD's with WMP. Everything seems to work exactly as before.

 

[TonyWarrington]

Sorry to hear that but at least we are now starting with the rec. cable type for the DVD.

For the moment I suggest forgetting trying to burn CD's with WMP - we need to establish that DVD is functioning/installed correctly first.

Some things to check:

1. Have you installed the cable the correct way i.e. Blue connector to MB black end connector to DVD
EDIT Set jumper to Cable Select.

2. Can you use Windows Explorer to view contents of CD and DVD?
Try with music CD and data CD e.g your Sony supplied disk
Try the same with DVD. In both cases what can you see in file types?

3. In Nero open the Nero Info Tool. Goto Start/Programs/Nero/Nero Toolkit/Nero info tool (at least correct for my version)

Your DVD should be named at top of dialogue box

On the Drive tab you should have checkmarks next to the available features on your drive.

Configuration tab shows you attached drives and DMA etc

Drivers tab shows drivers and audio and video codecs

ASPI tab /ASPI Installation (drop down box) What does it show for system
EDIT. Just had a look on Sony site they say:
Make sure your System/Nero ASPI files are not corrupt. Go to Nero/Nero tool kit/Nero info tool. Click on the ASPI tab. In the arrow down tab, check both your system and Nero ASPI files. At the bottom, it should display ASPI is installed and working properly. If it does not, please get the latest ASPI update. http://sony.storagesupport.com/.

Click on the drop down and select Nero ASPI. Should show ASPI is installed and working properly.

Check these out and let me know. Also just check all correct in Device Manager.

Next stage may be necessary - to uninstall the DVD from Device Manager and start again. For now just let me know what you find

 

[TonyWarrington]

Just posting some further instructions in case you are back before me.

EDITSet jumper on DVD to Cable Select

If all the above checks out i.e. you can see your device and use explorer to view files your DVD should be working.

So the next thing to do is check that you can actually copy and burn files - not using either WMP or Nero for now.

Copy files to DVD using Windows

Put a blank CD in drive - ignore/close any boxes that may open asking what you want to do

Open My Documents

Select a few files maybe docs, text, pdf (not too important which)

With chosen files highlighted Right Click and then select Send to menu

Click on your DVD drve - You should get a balloon showing you have CD to burn. If you miss the balloon double click on DVD icon to open folder.

Click on it and it will open DVD folder which should show your files under Files Ready to be written to the CD

In the left pane of the dialogue box you should see burn to CD. Select it
and the burn process should start.

When complete close windows then open DVD drive and check files have been copied and can be read

 

[securespark]

Hi Tony.

Thanks for your continued help.

I may or may not get round to checking these things this weekend. We are preparing for a trip away.

But I did get the kid's PC running: I bought a cheap NIC card as you suggested from Maplin & it works fine! Thanks for that tip.

 

[securespark]

Some things to check:

1. Have you installed the cable the correct way i.e. Blue connector to MB black end connector to DVD

YES!

EDIT Set jumper to Cable Select. JUST CHANGED!

2. Can you use Windows Explorer to view contents of CD and DVD?
Try with music CD and data CD e.g your Sony supplied disk
Try the same with DVD. In both cases what can you see in file types?

YES! CAN SEE CONTENTS OF BOTH DATA & AUDIO CD. CAN SEE AUDIO TS FILES (EMPTY) & VIDEO TS FILES ON DVD, BUT AS YOU KNOW, AM MISSING THE CODECS TO PLAY THE DVD.

3. In Nero open the Nero Info Tool. Goto Start/Programs/Nero/Nero Toolkit/Nero info tool (at least correct for my version)

Your DVD should be named at top of dialogue box LISTED AS: DRIVE 1:0 SONY DVD RW DRU 190-A

On the Drive tab you should have checkmarks next to the available features on your drive. YES. FOR SUPPORTED READ/WRITE FEATURES.

Configuration tab shows you attached drives and DMA etc YES. SHOWS ATTACHED HARDWARE, OF WHICH SONY DVD RW DRIVE IS ONE.

Drivers tab shows drivers and audio and video codecs YES.

ASPI tab /ASPI Installation (drop down box) What does it show for system
EDIT. Just had a look on Sony site they say:
Make sure your System/Nero ASPI files are not corrupt. Go to Nero/Nero tool kit/Nero info tool. Click on the ASPI tab. In the arrow down tab, check both your system and Nero ASPI files. At the bottom, it should display ASPI is installed and working properly. If it does not, please get the latest ASPI update. http://sony.storagesupport.com/.

Click on the drop down and select Nero ASPI. Should show ASPI is installed and working properly.

UH-OH......CANNOT FIND ASPI TAB.........

Check these out and let me know. Also just check all correct in Device Manager.

Next stage may be necessary - to uninstall the DVD from Device Manager and start again. For now just let me know what you find

Apologies for the bad manners. I have just noticed that as well as bold, my replies are shouting as well.

 

[TonyWarrington]

In theory then your Drive should work and allow you to copy files from HD to DVD using just Windows. When you get a chance confirm that you can do this.

BTW, the reason that I suggested change to CS was due to a colleague confirming that all Dells he had seen were set this way - should not really make a difference though if Master/Slave set correctly.

As far as I am aware ASPI tab should be found on Info Tool - maybe your version a little different but should look something like this (ASPI tab in top right)

 

[securespark]

OK. There seem to be two problems here!

One, I definitely don't have the ASPI tab.

Two, when right clicking to select "Send to", I don't have the DVD drive as an option...

 

[TonyWarrington]

OK. There seem to be two problems here!

One, I definitely don't have the ASPI tab.
I am surprised at this AFAIK all Nero versions should have this. Nero loads its own version of ASPI layer. This could signify software corrupt - it may be advisable to uninstall then reinstall software. You can download Nero Info tool as seperate item if you wanted to check http://www.nero.com/eng/downloads-infotools.html
Two, when right clicking to select "Send to", I don't have the DVD drive as an option... Your drive needs to be associated with the send to menu. For now you could just right click and drag the files to your CD/DVD to make a trial burn.
Do not use DVD disk for this - I do not think WIndows will allow copying of DVD files - so you must use a blank CD

 

[TonyWarrington]

Add to Send To Menu (stolen from the MS site )

To add a destination to the Send To menu, you must add a shortcut to the SendTo folder. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type sendto, and then click OK.
3. Add a destination by doing one of the following:
• Use the drag-and-drop operation to move the item that you want to the SendTo folder; to do so, right-click, and then click Create Shortcuts Here.
-or-
• Point to New on the File menu, and then click Shortcut.

Follow the instructions in the Create Shortcut Wizard.
A new shortcut is created in the SendTo folder, and it is displayed on the Send To menu.
NOTE: To open the SendTo Folder, you can also perform the following steps:
1. Click Start, and then click My Computer.
2. Double-click the drive where Windows is installed (usually drive C, unless you have more than one drive on your computer).
3. If you cannot view the items on your drive when you open it, under System Tasks, click Show the contents of this drive.
4. Double-click the Documents and Settings folder.
5. Double-click the folder of the user whose SendTo menu you want to change (usually your own).
6. Double-click the SendTo folder.
7. The SendTo folder is hidden by default. If the folder is not visible, on the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then on the View tab, click Show hidden files and folders.
NOTE: If you want to add a location to the SendTo menus of other users on the computer, you do not have to repeat these steps, you can copy the shortcut into the other users' SendTo folders.

 

[securespark]

d: is not accessible...

I'm gonna give up for a bit!

Maybe I need someone who really knows what he's doing....

 

[TonyWarrington]

d: is not accessible...

I'm gonna give up for a bit!

Maybe I need someone who really knows what he's doing....

Not sure what you mean by last comment

As far as d:not accessible - what has changed since you last posted that you can see DVD and examine files?

Assuming no hardware faults, I would uninstall the device from Device Manager, reboot and let Windows find the device and install required driver.

Prior to that I would also uninstall Nero and roll back WMP to original version

EDIT: You should have a look at the information on the Sony site relating to your DVD:
Technical Assistance
http://sony.storagesupport.com/product/259#technical

Link to ASPI check- Quote Sony "Please make sure that the ASPI on your system is up to date"
http://sony.storagesupport.com/node/7067

 

[securespark]

Hi Tony.

Back from hols...

The bit about d: not accessible is the message I get when trying to choose the D drive for inclusion in the "Send To" menu.

And the reason why I wrote, "I'm gonna give up for a bit!" is because since getting that error message I have re-run all those basic checks you showed me how to do to check the presence of the drive on the system, whether or not it is working etc... and all those checks are running positive.....but the drive still is not "accessible" for inclusion on the "Send To" menu, hence my frustration!