Pioneer DVD-ROM Problem

[FDISK]

I have a Pioneer DVD-116 DVD-ROM drive. I've started having problems with it reading DVDs, namely, it won't. Windows and any DVD playing software will report "No disc in Drive D:." Strangely enough, some DVDs do work, but there doesn't seem to be any pattern to whether a disc does or does not work (I checked to see if maybe dual-layer discs were the problem, they aren't). CD-ROMs and CD-Audio discs play fine, the first time, every time. I am running Windows XP Pro, for reference.

So, any suggestions? Should I try flashing the firmware to version 1.22, perhaps?

[Lord Sandwich]

By any chance would the problematic DVD's have empty VIDEO_TS directories? I have a Pioneer 106 and for some reason it couldn't find any files in either Twelve Monkeys or The Art of War. DVD Decrypter was able to see the files, though, and so I just ripped them from there.

Oh, and ISO ripping didn't work either.

[FDISK]

I don't think so, since in one case (Artificial Intelligence) the drive played the DVD for about 5 minutes, but since then has not been able to recognize the disc. Right now I'm leaning towards a hardware failure, as windows simply reports no disc for nearly all DVDs I try to play or read. My last ditch effort will be to flash the firmware and try a DVD cleaning disc, I believe.

Any other longshot suggestions?

[Lord Sandwich]

Perhaps a power issue, but other than that I'd bet on it being a hardware defect. If you have access to a friend's PC go and swap the drive in--that's the best way to find out IMO.

Good luck! :)

[omol]

Originally posted by FDISK
I have a Pioneer DVD-116 DVD-ROM drive. I've started having problems with it reading DVDs, namely, it won't. Windows and any DVD playing software will report "No disc in Drive D:." Strangely enough, some DVDs do work, but there doesn't seem to be any pattern to whether a disc does or does not work (I checked to see if maybe dual-layer discs were the problem, they aren't). CD-ROMs and CD-Audio discs play fine, the first time, every time. I am running Windows XP Pro, for reference.

So, any suggestions? Should I try flashing the firmware to version 1.22, perhaps?

You don't happen to use your DVD drive to read CDR/CDRW frequently? Especially using 'em in a long session like playing mp3 CDR or viewing mpeg4 movie discs? If yes, get ready to buy a new one. The laser head is certainly dying. My Pioneer SCSI 303 died this way....:(

regards,
omol

[axia]

oh whoops ..been doing disc yo disc copying with mine for ages.
It hates overburnt svcds (in the region of 975mb), i get this terrible clicking noise from the drive and the whole thing freezes up.
I keep getting crc errors.Maybe next time ill buy a cd rom as well.