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DVD drive will not stay open

Anonymous
Feb 9, 2010, 3:40 AM

I'm running 64-bit Windows Vista with all maintenance applied.  My computer has two DVD RW drives.  When I push the physical eject button on either drive, the tray opens for a moment, and then closes.  If I select "eject" on the graphical display (Windows Explorer), the behavior is the same - the tray opens for a moment, and then closes.

These are new drives.  I just replaced them, since the old drives had the same problem, and I assumed the old drives were somehow defective.

If I just boot into the BIOS update, the problem goes away -  I push the physical eject button, and the tray opens and stays that way.  Because of this, I assume that the problem is not defective drives, but something that Windows is doing.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    Feb 20, 2010, 3:05 AM

    I finally got the CD/DVD drives to behave properly.  I think it was the CCleaner product.  I ran the registry scan and cleaned out a huge amount of glop.  Afterward, the drives stay open when I open them.

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  1. Anonymous
    Feb 9, 2010, 4:03 AM

    Hi,

    This is my general troubleshooter for CD/DVD issues and maybe it will help solve this unusual issue.

    Stage 1 : Please do all the below even if you have done some before as it is often the total process which

    solves the issue.

    Try this - Control Panel - Device Manager - CD/DVD - double click the device - Driver's Tab - click

    Update Drivers (this will likely do nothing) - then RIGHT CLICK the drive - UNINSTALL - REBOOT

    this will refresh the default driver stack. Even if drive is not shown continue below.

    Then work your way through these - remember the drive could be bad, could have a loose cable or

    slight corrosion on the contacts (usually for a laptop) and other issues.

    Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060 - a Mr Fixit

    The CD drive or the DVD drive does not work as expected on a computer that you upgraded to Windows Vista

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929461

    When you insert a CD or a DVD, Windows Vista may not recognize the disc

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939052

    Your CD or DVD drive cannot read or write media - A Mr Fixit

    http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cd\_dvd\_drive\_problems

    CD/DVD drive does not appear in Windows Vista, or you receive this error during Windows Vista setup after booting from the DVD (AHCI)

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/952951

    CD-R drive or CD-RW drive is not recognized as a recordable device

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316529/

    Hardware devices not detected or not working - A Mr Fixit

    http://support.microsoft.com/gp/hardware\_device\_problems

    Another possibility is that the cables are loose. Remove ALL power, then check cables in both

    ends. Remove and replace, do not just snug. For laptops you can often clean the power and

    data contacts with a pencil eraser.

    Some DVD drives do not use the Windows default drivers so check with the System maker and

    device maker to see if there is firmware or drivers for you drive if needed.

    ===============================

    Stage 2 : You could have drive issues as the CD/DVD is actually 4 drives in 1 case ( CD & DVD burn and

    CD and DVD read). So it is not unusual for 1 or 2 parts to not function while the others do so properly.

    Did you complete the troubleshooter for the drive that still does not work? There are some registry entries

    that the troubleshooter does not fix and those "might" be the cause.

    Check with your System Maker and Device maker for both possible firmware updates and the correct

    Registry entries for your drive.

    These are the keys I think are the ones in question - for the CD/DVD drive sub-keys of course as there will

    other sub-keys in these keys. Be sure to ask for specific keys involved as well as the settings.

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\IDE

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Hardware Profiles\0001\System\CurrentControlSet\Enum\IDE

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}


    You probably can find more info here and maybe even the exact registry settings for your CD/DVD drive

    from someone with the same model.

    Forums - a lot of real expert help

    http://club.myce.com/

    CD/DVD units

    http://www.myce.com/storage/

    Hope this helps.


    Rob - Bicycle - Mark Twain said it right.

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  1. Anonymous
    Feb 9, 2010, 5:25 AM

    Thanks for the prompt reply, SpiritX.  I went into the Device Manager and uninstalled each DVD drive, and Vista automatically reinstalled the drivers.  No change in the behavior.

    I then tried your recommendation:

    Hardware devices not detected or not working - A Mr Fixit

    http://support.microsoft.com/gp/hardware\_device\_problems

    No change in the behavior (the only "problem" found was with the lan card, which was not otherwise showing any problems, as far as I know.)

    I was reluctant to try much else, since the drives appear to work properly, except for the fact that the trays will not stay open.  I inserted a music CD into one drive, and it displayed its files fine in Windows Explorer, and the music on the CD played fine in the Windows Media Player.  I then replaced the music CD with a DVD-RW blank and formatted the DVD.  (I have to manually hold the tray open when I insert or remove a disk.)  The formatting worked fine, and then I copied a folder of over 5000 files from my hard disk to the freshly formatted DVD drive.  They copied over fine, and the files could be displayed in Windows Explorer.  I ran programs that were freshly copied to the DVD.  In short, Vista seems to recognize and properly use both drives.  (My two new drives are both LITEON iHAS124.  The drives I replaced were both Samsung SH-S223.)

    Now, I could burn music CD copies, try some DVD+RW disks as well as DVD-RW, to try some more tests, but both drives seem to work fine, EXCEPT for the fact that the trays will not stay open - both the LITEON and Samsung drives work fine, no failures of any sort, except the tray will not stay open.

    I used RegEdit to poke around, but had no real idea what I was looking for.

    Think I'll get some sleep and work on it tomorrow!

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  2. Anonymous
    Feb 9, 2010, 5:55 AM

    Hi,

    You can make a Restore Point if you are worried about trying the others and those are much safer

    than poking around in the registry (same restore point would recover from most poking).

    How to Create a System Restore Point in Vista

    http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76332-system-restore-point-create.html

    How to Do a System Restore in Vista

    http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76905-system-restore-how.html Also check here : Forums - a lot of real expert helphttp://club.myce.com/http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76905-system-restore-how.html


    Rob - Bicycle - Mark Twain said it right.

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  3. Anonymous
    Feb 20, 2010, 3:49 AM

    Hi,

    Glad you sorted it out. It was probably a combination of several of the things you tried as it often is.


    Rob - Bicycle - Mark Twain said it right.

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