I want to change my dvd/cd driver

[devonwoody]

When booting up The 2nd screen says I have a drive error. (I have to press F1 to proceed).

If I go to my device manager and look at the dvd /cd device I see that I am running a mircrosoft driver for this piece of hardware. (the drive was replaced earlier this year but I was never given the disk that came with the equipment)

The device manager says it is a OPTIARC DVD RW MODEL. AD-7241S.

I have found this model and driver available here.

(The present driver in is a Microsoft driver which I assume is a generic?)

http://www.sony-optiarc.us/en/support-s ... eries.html

If I download, can I save it to my desktop and then ask device manager to download from the desktop?

Or do I have to uninstall the present driver first or just install over the top.

 

[misterfish]

No. These are firmware files and are used to reprogram/update the internal software held on the microchips in the actual drive. They are not Windows driver files and in my years of experience I haven't needed special drivers for CD/DVD drives since the days of DOS. The standard Windows drivers should work.

Does the drive actually work OK?

How many drives have you got installed in the machine? Are they SATA or IDE type of interface - if the latter you need to make sure the jumper settings on the drive(s) are set correctly. On IDE types you can have two devices connected to each cable and they either both have to be set to 'cable select' or one has to be 'master' and the other 'slave'. IDE means Integrated Drive Electronics where these electronics control the devices on the cable but the circuits of one of the drives controls what happens with both devices.

If the devices are SATA then there is no jumper configuration required.

SATA cables are small while IDE cables are (usually) a couple of inches wide.

Misterfish

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks misterfish for information.


Yes the rom drive is working OK and the manager says it is on the Ata channel.

It was the opening screen message that made me look and seeing Microsoft driver mention that perhaps that was why the message was displayed.

So I will leave that one alone.

Perhaps the screen message refers to the hard drive?

I did once get a message in the week that the drive needed to be checked but I pressed the keyboard and ignored.
Perhaps now more time is available I could get the HD checked, how can I get to check hardrive, I have looked in Accessories > System, but do not see a harddrive check option available.

 

[Carlow52]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265
is a link to how to run chkdsk.exe which checks the HD.

I am guessing this is what you mean/t

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks Carlow, that will be the one. I will report back on result later today.

 

[misterfish]

If this is an old PC then you may be getting the message because the BIOS battery is low. This battery keeps a small amount of RAM memory powered at all times and this memory retains the BIOS settings which include the hard disk configuration. I have an old notebook that I have the same start up rigmarole that you describe.

There is no 'standard' for BIOS batteries, most manufacturers do their own thing. A lot used to be soldered to the motherboard which made changing them difficult if not impossible. But, as time has gone on they have tended to use standard button cell type batteries.

Have a look at the motherboard and see if you can something that looks like a button/coin cell in a battery holder. Ideally if you can find/obtain the motherboard manual it will/should show where the battery is and what type it is. If you look at http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q= ... 40&bih=733 it shows examples of what I am talking about. This type of backup battery is used in a lot of electronic equipment - my synth keyboard uses the same type of battery in a holder to retain the sound programming when the power is switched off.

If you doo need to replace the battery make sure that you use the correct battery and also buy a decent make.

Misterfish

 

[devonwoody]

Yes the PC is 40 months old and the battery should be getting low.
I've got the motherboard manual its a MSI K9N SL1 or ultra.
So will have to read up on that.

Wont do any harm to do the drive check anyway I suppose?

 

[devonwoody]

Looks like the motherboard is in this series.

http://www.google.co.uk/images?um=1&hl= ... =&gs_rfai=

 

[devonwoody]

Another thing I now remember is that when I needed to boot up from the windows disk last week I had to go into BIOS to change settings so that it would boot from the disk, I suppose I should now put that BIOS back to its normal setting?

That might throw up the error message?

No text re changing battery in msi manual, but battery is naturally shown on diagram.

 

[Lons]

Another thing I now remember is that when I needed to boot up from the windows disk last week I had to go into BIOS to change settings so that it would boot from the disk, I suppose I should now put that BIOS back to its normal setting?

That might throw up the error message?

No text re changing battery in msi manual, but battery is naturally shown on diagram.

DW

Boot sequence priority might be exactly the cause of your problem though normally there would be a count down and the machine would boot from the hard drive automatically if it doesn't find the cd present.
That message would be on the dos screen at start up and pressing F1 is possibly to short cut the sequence.

Change your bios value back to HDD as 1st device (or reset the default).

Bob

 

[devonwoody]

first job after the siesta this afternoon. :wink:

 

[devonwoody]

Pleased to report that the error message re drive has now been resolved.

A BIOS setting eventually cured the situation.

OPTIMISE DEFAULT SETTINGS. OKayed and I now boots up without error message.

(did the disk clean ups advised above , but it took the BIOS to refresh the situation. )

So thanks all, and I will give the computer play arounds a rest for a while before I get out the old computer.


Unless anyone can tell me how to make an earthing contraption I can construct myself, perhaps one hand on the radiator whilst working? :wink:

 

[Dibs-h]

Pleased to report that the error message re drive has now been resolved.

A BIOS setting eventually cured the situation.

OPTIMISE DEFAULT SETTINGS. OKayed and I now boots up without error message.

(did the disk clean ups advised above , but it took the BIOS to refresh the situation. )

So thanks all, and I will give the computer play arounds a rest for a while before I get out the old computer.


Unless anyone can tell me how to make an earthing contraption I can construct myself, perhaps one hand on the radiator whilst working? :wink:

DW - The initial error msg, did it actually say Drive Error? Sounds like you changed the boot order to be DVD\CD 1st and HDD 2nd. With no media in it - I don't ever recall seeing that kind of message. Or does the drive have media? Specifically audio CD?

Earthing strap - I've never really bothered. If you touch the rad - any static should have earthed and you are ok. It's only a precaution if the floor surface & shoe combo is going to generate static. In a commercial environment or if your fixing someone else's kit - the risk of having to replace someone else's kit is too much, so can understand it there.

Have to thoroughly applaud your efforts.

Dibs

 

[Pvt_Ryan]

Another good trick is leave the system plugged into the wall socket but switched off at the plug and PSU then anything touching the case is earthed via the mains earth..

 

[devonwoody]

Dibs, you are correct I recall changing bios to get it to read cd/dvd first.

PteRyan, I thought of that as well but my power supply to the 8 bar connector passes through a double pole switch first and I think that also included the earth line. (I will have to investigate)

BUT

The reason the Error message at the end of the DOS screen has gone is because I have suddenly realised there is no DOS screen now :shock: (it goes direct to the windows loading screen, those dots riding across, apart from a three line dos message when first booting)

So how do I get out of that one?

 

[Dibs-h]

Dibs, you are correct I recall changing bios to get it to read cd/dvd first.

PteRyan, I thought of that as well but my power supply to the 8 bar connector passes through a double pole switch first and I think that also included the earth line. (I will have to investigate)

BUT

The reason the Error message at the end of the DOS screen has gone is because I have suddenly realised there is no DOS screen now :shock: (it goes direct to the windows loading screen, those dots riding across, apart from a three line dos message when first booting)

So how do I get out of that one?

DW - wouldn't worry about it. It's a POST (or thereabouts) screen, just confirming memory, CPU speed, etc. You aren't missing much.

Ours caught me out once - kept thinking the 256mb it kept referring to at the end was the main memory, opened it up with the intention of checking what type the mem was, only to find all 4 slots full. Powered it up and checked in Windows - like a Gig and a half. Then the penny dropped that the 256mb was in reference to the Graphics card!

Dibs

 

[devonwoody]

Dibs. Phew thats a relief.

How do I make a copy of all the BIOS settings so if I pull out that battery I can reset the same BIOS. Is there a print option anywhere, or can I press print screen?

 

[misterfish]

I've never bothered to keep copies of the BIOS settings as there are so many of them, most of which are meaningless to me. When necessary I have done what you did which is the automatic optimising of BIOS settings.

Misterfish

 

[devonwoody]

So when the battery is pulled out the settings go blank?

But then it is possible to go to the optimise default settings and accept and then it will boot up or does the windows disk have to be inserted again and boot?

 

[misterfish]

Yes, that's what I've done. I don't usually play with the BIOS settings, that's for the 'speed freaks' that want to overclock their systems to get better performance.

Many years ago BIOS control was simpler and you had to do the settings manually = eg. if you added extra memory you had to tell the system. These days the whole system is more sophisticated and the components communicate their details allowing it to set an optimised performance setting. It's a bit like USB peripherals, you plug them in and the system can find out what they are and then configure settings and in the later versions of Windows go off and download any necessary drivers.

Miosterfish