CD drives not reading

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Chaserkid

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Hello. My problem in a nutshell is that both of my cd drives stopped reading (or writing) simultaneously. This occurred when I reformatted and reinstalled XP on my Sony VIAO desktop. I didn't notice at first because I rarely use my drives, but when I did I checked my system profile and discovered a code 19 on both drives. I found the instructions for fixing that, and did but without any results. After 20 minutes or so, the error returned. But all of this extra info may be unnecessary (I'm not sure) since my drives show up in the bios but will not boot from them. It seems as though they detect the cd in the drive (indicated by the long delay after the boot info but before the XP logo) but it just hangs with a blinking data-entry mark for about 20-30 seconds then continues on the regular boot into XP.
Fixes I've attempted:
1. Removed and reinstalled cables
2. Code 19 fix described on microsoft's site
3. Updating drivers (one at a time/restarting) from Sony's site
4. Yelling and asking the gods to smite my tower
Both drives appear in my hardware list and in my computer (until eventually a code 19 appears, at which time they disappear from "my computer"). It seems that the code 19 issue has ceased reappearing now, but without any improved effect.
 
I had to use a utility called LtnFW to flash the drive, and it shows it as a success, but the device manager still says it's using the windows driver.
Would/could a reinstall effect both drives firmware? and why wouldn't the windows driver allow for basic operation?
 
Firmware =/= driver. Firmware is the driver's own internal instructions, like the BIOS for your motherboard. Drivers are the instructions your OS needs to be able to use the hardware components of your computer.

If both stopped at the same time, I would look at the controller/chipset. Have you tried updating the drivers for these?

Also, have you tried any of the other fixes suggested by microsoft? Such as using Last Known Good Configuration? Or uninstalling the drives in Windows and scanning for new hardware? Or tried this page?
 
I have tried uninstalling the drives and hoping windows would get its crap together. I also tried the fixme utility you linked, and its conclusion was that i should put a readable media into the drive (don't look at me like that, there was a variety of readable media in there). I also updated the chipset driver early on in this process.
I don't mean to belittle your advice Trotter, but I avoid searching Microsoft's site for tech-support answers generallly, because the sort of rersponses they give fall along the lines of "oh, your cd-rom doesn't work? Put a cd in the drive. Still no? Well it's very complicated, but we have this utility to help. Oh, that told you to put a cd in the drive? And there is a cd in the drive? Well you should probably get a new computer then."
 
My goal was to change my os to xp mce because that os was what the pc came with. I put on xp pro the last time, and i've heard rumblings that sony doesn't like other versions/os to be put on their hardware. So ultimately i'm only concerned with getting my drives to read a boot disc. I obviously don't want to just bypass this problem and use another method of booting an os (ex usb), but i also don't want to spend a bunch of time focusing on repairing my current os if i could simply identify a way of having my bios recognize my drives and wipe the slate.
 
I would just get a new drive. DVD burners are only ~$20

I wouldn't move to MCE. That is even more ancient than XP. You are going to have a lot of security flaws.
 
Your response was really half-hearted. Did you read the prior posts? I don't think another drive is exactly what I need right now. On a side note, I did explain why I was wanting to change to mce. But if we're talking about running any version of windows, and we're assuming at least moderate computer knowledge, then that should be a pretty good indicator that security is either of little importance or a hobby.
I agree with you Trotter about the likely source of the issue, so I made sure that I updated the chipset driver, now that the drive error no longer shows up. Still no change though. I've updated the bios also (before and again now).
 
MoM may be right in that your controller may be screwed. You have done just about everything possible on your end already. You could try getting an add-in controller card and see if that works, but if it doesn't you will just have a dust collector to sit on a shelf.

XP MCE is a decent OS. It is just XP with some extras (that I never used TBH). As for Sony's hardware, hardware is hardware. If the OS is retail and not a branded OEM it will work fine if provided the proper drivers.
 
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