Why is it so hard to find a driver?

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nickib

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I am having one HECK of a time with my CD writer and my DVD writer! My PC won't even recognize the DVD writer and whenever I select the CD writer it tells me to insert a CD - when there is already one in the drive! I figure I must need to update the driver, but good luck getting that without paying for a search/update program -ugh! I have a LiteOn 52327S CD writer and a TDK DVD writer. I have checked the master and slave connections, etc., and I have totally given up on the DVD writer. I am "trying" to upgrade from 2K to XP, but I cannot even get to the XP upgrade CD to see if it is even possible!!! Any help from anyone would be much appreciated! Thanks!
 
Hi Nickib

Give us the model of your DVD writer / CD-ROM and we'll try to find drivers for you. If you right click on my Computer > Properties > Hardware Tab > Device Manager ... does it show a yellow triangle next to your DVD / CD-ROM ? .... This is usually an indication of the driver missing or corrupt.

Spyder_1386 :)
 
Windows 2000 (and XP and VIsta) provide for a "layered" approach to drivers.

I don't think it's likely is the CD/DVD driver itself , rather it's either
1) The CD/DVD filter drivers (the filters augment the standard driver) or
2) It's a hardware problem

p.s. If a filter is bad/corrupted it can cause the CD's driver to appear in Device Manager but with that yellow error icon. (i.e. a bad filter can keep the CD driver from working OK)

Try removing your filter drivers your CD (see here how to remove them. Use Method 1)

If you want to see what filters are there and the detail/specs run Filter Load Order,
click on your CD, then click on each filter listed to see its details.
 
Spyder_1386

I've seen your other posts on here. So, No! You're good! :)

We all get a chance to learn from one another here.

One of these days, i'm planning to write a post for the forums with a title of
[center]"So just what the heck are filter drivers? (And why you should care)"[/center]

(ya like that title? :D) In the meantime you might find it interesting reading this short article here
 
Haha! Thanks for the link LookinAround :) .... Yea, it's great being surrounded by all you techies .... get to learn something new everyday!

P.S. That title should attract a lot of attention yea!

Spyder_1386 :)
 
Found Driver, Still Won't Read!

Thanks for the reply Spyder_1386 . . . I had emailed LiteOn and they sent me a link for the driver, which I did download and install.

The model is LTR 52327S and although it is recognized in the Device Manager (no yellow triangle or anything - good to go there!) and the "eject" works when I have "My Computer" open and click on it, whenever I double click on the CD writer/reader, it says to insert a disk. GGGGRRRRRRR!!!!!! Even though it's still useless, it's better than my TDK DVD writer - it doesn't even SHOW UP when I right click "My Computer" and Properties!

Odd though - both drives do flash the green light and do open and close - what the heck am I doing wrong?

The whole reason for this frustration is that I am trying to upgrade from 2K to XP - I wonder if It's even worth it?

Thanks for ANY help!
 
Thanks for all of the suggestions . . . I removed the upper and lower filters and checked it with the filter load order utility. It showed no upper or lower filters (I assume this is okay?). Then I downloaded the DVD device capability software and viola! (boy do I feel stupid! - - well, maybe. First I have a stupid question that will determine just how stupid the first thing was). My LiteOn CD writer does not read or write DVDs (which makes sense). Now my question is this (this is the dumb part). I havea Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade "disc" (Version 2002). . . this IS a CD, right? If that is the case then I am back to square one. If, however it is a DVD (this is where the "Duh" comes in), then I am still in a pickle, because I think my TDK DVD writer is dead - or at least missing a pin or two, which might explain why even on slave and plugged in properly it is not recognized by my PC.

Thank you for all of the help thus far . . . . any more suggestions for me?
 
Will have to come back to take a closer look re: your LiteOn CD Writer.. but here's some info on both your devices for now

1. LiteOn: No filters appeared when you looked
I'm going to guess you looked for the Lite-On filters immediately after removing them? Is why you saw NO filters. It's normal to have some filters installed AND i will guess some some were re-installed after you rebooted.
=> Go check again. Does it still show no filters for the Lite-on????
=> The purpose of first removing all the filters is sometimes the installed filters are bad/missing/corrupt (e.g. you uninstalled DVD/CD software like Roxio. Sometimes the software uninstalls are buggy. They remove the filter driver software from your disk but the filter driver is still referenced in your registry!! This can cause all kinds of problems. So the "remove filters" steps removes all the filters in your registry which, in turn, causes Windows do reinstall what's really there/really existson next boot.

2. TDK: Windows does not require any drivers to detect hardware.

If your TDK is connected and powered on, you should find it somewhere in Device Manager! Even if it's listed as "Other" or "Unknown" device it will be in Device Manager (btw.. those nice device names you might be looking for are actually whatever name Windows find in the device driver. Windows has to find the RIGHT driver first to assure you see the RIGHT device name (not the other way around)

This means if TDK isn't appearing (AND you can't find ANY undefined device in device manager) Windows is NOT detecting its hardware
=> Hardware detection comes first
=> Windows then determines the device identification strings. these are those cryptic looking things that often start as PCI or USB like PCI\VID_0553&PID_0100&REV_0000 (device names are NOT a device identification string)
=> Windows finds a driver based on those cryptic IDs
=> Windows takes the name it finds in the driver and displays it for you in device manager

btw.. That's why searching for a driver using a device name may work but, if it does, its only because of a side-affect of how Windows works. (e.g. the same device name might appear in multiple and different drivers. It's those cryptic IDs that map you to right driver. Not the device name) One should search for drivers using device identification strings!
 
Well, I finally took out the LiteOn drive and also the TDK drive . . . I think the LiteOn might be failing, so I removed it all together and checked the TDK drive pins, etc. There were two bent pins on the media port. So I fixed those, put it back in the tower, hooked it up and lo and behold it works perfectly!

Now, after all that trouble, I pop in the Windows XP Version 2002 upgrade CD and guess what? I can only upgrade using that one if I have 98 or ME. Honestly! I just cannot win!

I suppose I will see if anyone wants to buy this CD I have (only cost $20 from someone "else" who couldn't use it!), but in the meantime, any thoughts on how to upgrade from 2k pro to XP without having to pay $100+?

Thanks!
 
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