I need the computer man (lbtlover)

Petrie. · **on:** December 26, 2007, 07:50:10 PM

Just today, when I tried to watch a dvd on my computer, I'm getting a serious skipping problem on discs that have no scratches. The picture/audio everything jerks and plays at about 60% speed (if 100% is normal speed). I've tried different dvds, different software players, tried shutting down/restarting the computer, updating the firmware (couldn't find any), cleaning the disc lens with one of those cds with the little brushes on the bottom....nothing works.

The last thing I did with the drive was to rip six cds in succession (an audiobook) and every now and then the drive would jolt and couldn't read the disc (even though the discs looked fine). I could rip things and play them back without problems so this isn't a computer software problem or missing/corrupted filters...this is a legit issue I think with the drive itself. I've never had one die on me ever, but does this sound like a pretty terminal issue that won't resolve itself?

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #1 on:** December 26, 2007, 08:45:36 PM

I'm here for ya. Did you try checking hardware acceleration? Some viruses can reduce or even turn off your hardware acceleration. You can also try disabling the device, restarting the computer and then re-enabling it. Also, you can try to update or roll back the driver. Does the drive make any odd sounds? Does it click or make a whining sound? Try playing the DVD again. Go to the task manager and see how many resources you're using up such as CPU and ram. There are some viruses that make simple tasks such as playing DVD's slow down your computer by running some weird program in the background that use all your available resources not taken from the DVD drive.

Is DMA on?

Petrie. · **Reply #2 on:** December 26, 2007, 08:58:48 PM

Hardware acceleration seems a-ok. Checked system resources...when playing a dvd with no video resize (to full screen) the KMPlayer uses 15mb of memory and 10% of CPU power. Nothing else is sucking any sort of resources.

I'll see if disabling/reenabling helps any.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #3 on:** December 26, 2007, 09:00:41 PM

What about checking to see if DMA is on? That could cause a problem.

EDIT: I mean, that could cause a problem if it's NOT turned on. B)

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I'll see if disabling/reenabling helps any.

You can enable/disable the CD drive in my computer under the properties for the CD drive.

action9000 · **Reply #4 on:** December 26, 2007, 09:53:40 PM

Optical Disc drives do fail on occasion, especially DVD drives. I have a DVD drive on an old computer that simply refuses to read CDs at all; it will read DVDs just fine. Unfortunately, these things happen, it seems. I suspect it's a hardware issue. If it wasn't in a laptop, I'd try another drive from another computer in there and see if it works any better...or at least I'd physically disconnect the drive and reconnect it to another IDE/SATA/Power Supply connection. Because it's on a laptop though, options are limited.

LBTlover suggested everything I can think of, software-wise. Do CDs work in the drive properly? Is it just DVD read features that don't work? Can you burn CDs? Can you burn DVDs?

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #5 on:** December 26, 2007, 10:04:16 PM

I can't think of anything else to try except maybe making sure DMA is on, reinstalling the driver, or disabling/enabling the drive. If those things don't work, you've either got a terrible virus I don't know about (highly unlikely) or your DVD drive has failed. They're pretty cheap unless you go lite scribe (which you probably don't need). $30 at walmart should get you up and running again. If you don't know how to replace a DVD drive, just take the computer case off and it's really self explanatory. Just unscrew the existing one, take out the 3 cords in the back of it, slide it out the front, slide the new one in from the front, reconnect the cables, and then screw the new one in. The computer will automatically recognize it. That's all you have to do.

action9000 · **Reply #6 on:** December 26, 2007, 10:20:43 PM

Yeah..the hard part is finding a DVD drive for a laptop in Wal-mart

I don't know of anywhere that sells laptop internal DVD drives...you may need to contact your manufacturer to get it replaced.

Petrie. · **Reply #7 on:** December 26, 2007, 10:53:39 PM

I'm going to chat with Dell tomorrow. Its much harder to replace an ailing dvd drive in a laptop, Austin.

Not saying its impossible but much harder to do. What's going to suck is if Dell is fussy...the warranty on this laptop went out 13 days ago.

How ironic. Stupid Dell chat bummed out on me and I was the second in queue...refreshed and I became 34th...

Won't play DVD's or CD's without bad skips and distorted audio. It can still rip audio (somewhat slowly) without a problem, same for dvds and it still can burn them flawlessly.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #8 on:** December 27, 2007, 04:45:44 AM

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Its much harder to replace an ailing dvd drive in a laptop, Austin.

I didn't know it was a laptop. It really depends on the laptop. Some of them, you just pop off the keyboard and unscrew 1 screw and you can just pull the thing out and snap another back on. I'd consider that easier than a desktop PC to replace the DVD drive in. Don't worry too much. Dell parts are cheap (and of low quality unless you spend a lot of money on them like the XPS and expensive stuff no one can afford). You should be able to get a replacement for under $50 even if it's not under warranty. Next time, stick with a compaq or HP. They're only a little more expensive but they don't get all their parts from china like Dell does. I love Dells, but only because I'm a repair tech and it's cheaper to just replace something when it fails (which it does frequently) than to buy a much better quality laptop. Dell's not there for ya when something goes wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't replace the part for free. If they refuse, don't buy the part from them. It'll be like $120

: Ebay.com is your best bet.

Petrie. · **Reply #9 on:** December 27, 2007, 06:52:14 AM

Chat guy was helpful until he saw the warranty was expired.

That was the end of that. I'll probably end up either buying a refurbished drive from Dell or buying an external drive from amazon or something. Since I rip all of my stuff anyway its not vital that I buy this now.

Thanks anyway Austin.

Petrie. · **Reply #10 on:** December 27, 2007, 11:59:30 AM

Hahaha...yes I fixed it myself.

*dances doo dee daaa!!!!*

I've yet to figure out how it happened but the drive was running in PIO mode (aka the slow mode) and that was the reason I was having so much trouble. I couldn't get the system to forcably change it to DMA mode, so I took a chance and did a system restore of a week ago and it fixed whatever broke it. What worries me is I didn't install anything that should've had any effect on this...at least nothing that has anything to do with dvd drives or burning or anything like that.

Austin, any clue what could suddenly force the drive to the PIO mode?

action9000 · **Reply #11 on:** December 27, 2007, 12:17:21 PM

Good news, Petrie!

Kor · **Reply #12 on:** December 27, 2007, 05:06:54 PM

Glad it worked out for the better.

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #13 on:** December 28, 2007, 04:14:33 AM

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Austin, any clue what could suddenly force the drive to the PIO mode?

Certain modifications of other programs might have that sort of effect. When you were screwing around with different players did you modify any advanced settings? What programs were removed when you did a system restore?

Petrie. · **Reply #14 on:** December 28, 2007, 09:25:51 AM

The only thing that I notice is not installed when I reverted back is Mail Washer but I don't see how that made a difference. Would have mucking around with GOM Player (the one Pokeplayer said he was using) made a difference? Its not installed now, but I'm sure I had it on more than a week ago....

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #15 on:** December 28, 2007, 11:55:05 AM

GOM Player does allow you to modify some advanced settings for performance issues and for failsafe playing. It could have caused the slow down of your DVD drive. Even when you uninstall it, some of the settings may still have been in effect. What GOM player (and all other players) do is add a value to your registry telling it to do something. Since GOM player is a newer player, they might not have it perfected yet and some settings might have been maintained even after uninstallation. It is more probable however that it was the work of some sort of malicious software. I recommend the appropriate scans be done to make sure whatever it might be isn't there anymore if it ever was there before. This is by no means a glitch. Either you modified the settings by telling a program to do so, or a program did it by itself.

Lucario#1 · **Reply #16 on:** July 08, 2008, 07:34:12 AM

hey lbt lover, since you are good at computers can you please help me with mine!

landbeforetimelover · **Reply #17 on:** July 08, 2008, 07:37:00 AM

Sure, but please create a separate topic for your specific computer problem. This problem has been resolved and is therefore not active anymore. It should stay this way unless you have something useful to contribute to the conversation that is already in the topic.

Lucario#1 · **Reply #18 on:** July 08, 2008, 08:25:46 AM

Quote from: landbeforetimelover,Jul 8 2008 on 06:37 AM

Sure, but please create a separate topic for your specific computer problem. This problem has been resolved and is therefore not active anymore. It should stay this way unless you have something useful to contribute to the conversation that is already in the topic.

ok I did it!!!