When I use the DVD/CD-RW drive I get several error messages
I recently had the hard drive replaced in my TOSHIBA SATELITE 1805-S254. When I use the DVD/CD-RW drive I get several error messages. When I put a disc (audio, data, DVD) in I get “THE DISC IS CORRUPTED OR WRITTEN IN A FORMAT NOT SUPPORTED BY WINDOWS” error message. Usually I just eject the disc and reinsert it and it runs fine.
If I choose to make an audio CD or send data to the disc, I get “MISSING DRIVE” message. If I use media player to burn a disc it tells me to “CONNECT A BURNER”.
It all worked fine before I replaced the HD. I checked the recovery disc and there is no specific program to install the DVD/CD-RW software. I’m worried that since it stopped burning discs, one of these days it will stop reading them as well. Thanks for your time and help.
The hard drive was replaced and the operating system reinstalled so it’s not software related problem. The laptop still plays audio, data, DVD disks intermittently and it tells me that most likely the IDE controller on the motherboard is fine. I think the DVD/CD-RW drive itself is failing. I doubt the problem is related to the hard drive replacement, it’s just a coincidence. Here’s a Satellite 1800 disassembly guide, just in case if you need it in the future.
March 15th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Jane again,
Thanks for the forthright answer on the viability of my laptop. By the way, who REALLY WANTS Vista?
Would you please give me an idea where to start looking for the software problems that are causing the video delays? I live in Panama so have LOTS of time to ferret out the difficulty.
Many tahnks,
Jane
March 15th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Jane,
I don’t know.
It could be anything and it might take hours to troubleshoot the problem.
It’s already is. Probably it will not run Vista.
It’s totally up to you. If you use this laptop only for browsing the Internet or writing emails, it will never be outdated (I guess). But if you want to use it for image editing, video editing, etc… probably you already need a new computer. It’s up to you to decide if the laptop truly out of date or not.
March 14th, 2007 at 8:51 am
Hi Laptop Freak:
Thanks for the answers to my quesions. I have two follow-ups. First, can you please suggest what software problems might be causing the buffering delays in viewing video? Second, if I can increase the hard drive as much as you say I can then theoretically how long can I keep this laptop going before it’s truly out of date?
THank you again for this terrific forum!
Jane
March 13th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Kerry Crawford,
Maybe there is nothing wrong with the DVD drive and it’s just a software related issue? Did you try boot the laptop from the DVD drive? Try booting from the recovery DVD. If you can boot from it, probably the drive itself is fine.
Check out this solution from Microsoft.
March 13th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Jane,
You definitely can use an external USB DVD drive with this laptop.
Advantage: you can use it with any other computer and it’s relatively cheap
Disadvantage: most likely you cannot boot the laptop from an external USB drive (cannot reload XP from it) because the BIOS wasn’t designed to boot from the external drive
So it’s up to you to decide if you want to use an external USB drive instead of internal one.
If it’s not a SATA drive, it should be compatible. Your laptop should run without any problem even with a larger drive: 80GB, 100GB, 120GB. NOTE: if you buy an external USB DVD drive you might not be able (haven’t tried it myself) to reinstall the operating system from it.
I’m not sure why you have these delays. You shouldn’t have them even with an older hard drive. It’s possible there is another issue with your laptop, maybe software related.
March 10th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
I have a Toshiba Satellite A15-S127. The DVD CD/Rom went out on laptop and had to replace. Put in new DVD CD/Rom. I put in the same as was orginal in: Model SD-R2412. Replaced and rebooted computer. Computer still does not reconize DVD as a D: or E: drive. When I go to Device Manager it shows that I have a Toshiba MK3021GAS and that it is working properly. I tried to see if there was updated drivers available and still no help.
Need help on getting dvd cd/rom working.
Thanks,
March 9th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Hi:
I read with lots of interest all your correspondence with Liyah, hoping it might answer my question. It comes close but I need a few things explained at a more basic level, if possible.
I have a Toshiba Satellite 5005-S504 with a bad CD/DVD drive. I’m anxious to replace it as I installed a new hard drive and new hinges (thanks to your help)not long ago so I have some investment in keeping the old machine going. I thought I had found a refurbished replacement CD/DVD drive for $120 but the company never delivered. All the other prices I found are in the $200s (even for refurbished), which is more than I want to spend for this. There is one company that offers a Panasonic replacement for $49 but that sounds too good to be true (also, there is NO warranty, not even 90 days).
I’m curious about two things: first, is there such a thing as an external CD/DVD drive that would work with my laptop and that might be either less expensive or more powerful/versatile? I’ve tried researching this but most of the explanations presume a greater knowledge than I have. One item I found that I thought might be in this category is SD-R6472
Toshiba DVD Rewriteable Mobile Computer Drive – DVD-Writer (Double-layer) – DVD-RAM/±R/±RW – 8x 4x 8x DVD±RW, 2.4x 10x 8x DVD+R DL, 24x 24x CD+RW, x 2x DVD-RAM – 50-pin EIDE/ATAPI – Internal. However, I’ve been unable to find any information on its compatibility with my latop or whether it is a plug-in as opposed to an installed item.(Don’t know if that “interna;” refers to installation or something else and, of course, the Toshiba website doesn’t say.)
Second, my hard drive is only 40 GB. At the time I had a new hard drive put in, the service people upgraded it from 30 GB. However, I now see that Toshiba offers a 60 GB but I can’t tell if it is compatible with my machine. Am I correct in thinking that (assuming I get a new CD/DVD drive), a bigger hard drive would enable me to view movies without the endless , every few seconds, buffering delays I have now?
Many thanks for this great service,
Jane
March 6th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
I own an ACER Travelmate 230 and it’s now about 3 1/2 years old. Just today I tried to use my laptop to play a DVD for the first time in a few weeks, and for some reason, when the DVD was inserted into laptop, the usual XP menu didn’t come up asking me what program to use to own it, and even worse, when I opened PowerDVD the whole laptop crashed. I quickly tried to restart, but the laptop wouldn’t do this either. After several attempts I, as a last resort, took the DVD out of the laptop, and it booted up no problem. I’ve tried uninstalling some more recent programs, but to no avail. Also when the DVD is in the laptop, even when I try to open My Computer, the laptop freezes. I’ve done a full virus scan and there’s nothing. Also there’s no problem with video i’ve downloaded or stream from the internet, this is purely a DVD issue.
Don’t really know what else to try, and any ideas would be great thanks.
February 28th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
my cd/dvd dive is not working. i came home one day and i push the button and nothing happens. this has happened before but i just system restored and it was fixed. this time system restore was off so i cant fix it now i already tried disabling and enabling but it didnt work so if sombody could help that would be great.
February 27th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
John Johns,
I think you’ll need a USB to IDE converter, something like this one I found on PCcables.com
Here’s a description:
I think that’s exactly what you are looking for.
February 26th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
is there some way to make the laptop read from a CD drive that I took out of a desktop?
February 22nd, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Christine,
How to you write data on the CD? Do you use special burning software like Nero, Roxio, etc…? Sorry for asking this question but some people think that it’s enough to put a black CD into the drive and then drag-n-drop files.
Did you try any other CDs, music CDs for example.
In general, if the drive can paly DVDs but will not recognize/read CDs, you have a bad drive.
February 21st, 2007 at 7:52 pm
Hi-
I have a problem with my DVD and CD combo disc drive. When I put in any kind of cd blank or with info on it, it does not recognise that there is a disc in the drive, however when I put a dvd in it it will read it, how do i fix this problem?
February 13th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Rosco_pk,
You fixed this problem before re-installing the driver, so it could be a software related problem again. Try reinstalling the operating system.
February 12th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Hey folks,
I hope you can help me with a problem im having with my cd/dvd drive in my laptop.
When i play certain dvds the audio crackles and video runs really slowly. With some dvds it works fine. Also ripping music from a cd has become painfully slow and burning dvds and cd even slower(used to take 2 mins to burn a 15 track cd, took 20 mins yesterday, i could also burn a full data dvd in about 8 mins, now after 20 mins only 5% is completed).
I had a similar problem before and i uninstalled the drive and re-installed it and that sorted it! Not this time. I think its made it worse! Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Rosco
Sys info
Dell Inspiron 9300
cd/dvd drive – Sony DW-Q58A
1.86 GHZ
1 GB ram
cant think of what other info you may need. ps ive tried updating driver already.
February 8th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Ali,
Sounds like a bad drive. You’ll have to replace it.
February 7th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Hi!
Same problem as most other users! I have a Toshiba Satellite P10 with XP Media Centre. The thing is my DVD -CD-R combo drive is giving me problems. It reads and writes regular CD’S. It also writes DVD’s but it doesnt read DVD’s . What can be done?
Would appreciate your help!
Thanks
February 7th, 2007 at 12:19 am
Liyah,
Here are part numbers for drives compatible with a Toshiba Satellite A25 notebook:
CD-RW/DVD-ROM drives
P000367880 Teac
P000367890 Matsushita (Panasonic)
P000378360 Toshiba
P000381090 Teac
DVD-R/-RW drives
P000366780 Toshiba
P000369850 Matsushita (Panasonic)
P000422730 Matsushita (Panasonic)
I’m not sure a Sony Vaio DVD drive will work in Satellite A25,you’ll have to try it.
February 5th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
I have a sony vaio pcg-r505dck. The computer crashed and a friend dumped the hard drive. Problem is that the dock cd drive isnt seeming to work and I get a “No Operating system” prompt when I turn on the computer. How do I get an OS back on the computer? Is it salvagable?
February 5th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Hey sorry to bother you again but i was wondering if you knew any DVD drives that would work with the a25-s207 satellite. actually i was wondering if a Sony Viao dvd player would work in my laptop so i could get that recovery disc back on
i googled compatible drives and nothing really came up. Thanx in advance..
February 1st, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Marc,
Did you lock the CPU in the socket? Check if the memory is seated properly.
January 31st, 2007 at 2:02 pm
I disassembled my Toshiba 1800 laptop to clean the insides. I removed the CPU to clean it then reinstalled it. Reassembled everything. Now it turns on, the fan starts but nothing else happens. The hard drive doesn’t start. I didn’t remove it. Nothing on the screen. Can anybody help.
Tks
Marc
January 27th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Liyah,
You cannot hook up a regular DVD player to the internal laptop guts. Can you find another laptop and borrow the DVD drive from it? I think that’s the only option you have if you don’t want to buy a new drive for your notebook. Or you can take the laptop to a repair shop, give them the recovery DVD and explain the situation. May be they can install it for you using their DVD drive.
January 26th, 2007 at 3:58 am
Thank you so much! I have posted on 4-5 different sites and you are the only one who replied!! If you don’t mind i have just ONE more question. Can i hook up a regular DVD player inside the laptop (well not really just hook it up to the internal guts)? or does it have to be a special lap top one? don’t worry ill leave you alone soon as i will start school for this stuff
January 25th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
Liyah,
Most older Toshiba laptops are not designed to boot from an external USB DVD drive. The laptop will work just fine with the same USB DVD drive in Windows, but will not allow you to boot from it. Most likely in your case the DVD drive cannot be initialized on the BIOS level. You’ll have to find an internal DVD drive.
For some reason I was thinking about Satellite P25 when I was writing my previous comment.
January 24th, 2007 at 3:09 am
Sorry to bother you again, but i noticed you typed P25 satellite, but i have an A25, just wanted to make sure theyre were close to the same. and also i have a USB DVD drive that works fine anywhere else and in the laptop except when i need to restart, or play a movie . i just want to get the USB to load during startup but it won’t.
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:11 pm
Liyan,
I’ve noticed that Satellite P25 notebook DVD drives fail a lot. I don’t know why but they do and they fail exactly as you described. Some drives read CDs but will not read DVDs, other drives will read DVDs but not CDs. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do without a good working drive. The BIOS update in this case will not help. You’ll have to replace the drive.
January 23rd, 2007 at 10:51 am
Hi,I have my sister’s Toshiba Satellite A25-S207 that won’t read DVDs, but CDs work just fine. I think it might have to do with drivers and such, but the Toshiba website said that the player didn’t need any drivers to be recognized in Windows XP. Let me start from the beginning….
The computer originally had Windows XP Home that came with it when purchased, but was seriously infected with trojans and all that great stuff. They gave it to somebody who said they could fix it and when they got it back it was basically worse. DVDs( I tried them all movies and apps)wouldn’t play,viruses were still clearly there, all their files were missing and it was just slow as ever. System restore only went back to the date the guy “fixed” it. The recovery and applications/drivers disc wouldn’t load because it was a DVD. Then I thought that the viruses were possibly responsible for it not working since thats when it started. So I just erased everything and thought I’d be able to start anew from the Recovery DVD. I was wrong. It wouldn’t read at all I kept getting a screen that said :
Client Mac ADDR:00 0039 46 09 D8 GUID: 6618EF00-89B9-178A-8010-CB5273088480
PXE-E53: No Boot Filename received
PXE-MOF: Exiting PXE ROM
I didn’t have any other OS on a DVD so I tried a CD of XP PRO and it loaded it up to begin installation. I installed it hoping finally then the recovery DVD would read. It didn’t. I’ve tried the DVDs I use on 2 different drives. They work. The CDs read fine load up and everything. I downloaded a driver I read might help, Ta1dvdramx, but all that did was let me start to play the DVD movies. It would read to the “what would you like to do” screen then I would select “Play with Windows Media Play”, then it would say I needed a DVD decrypter. I’m not worried about playing movies though, I want the Recovery DVD to work. I dug around and found a external DVD drive and hooked that up. YAY the recovery DVD loaded! I selected the option to erase everything an start new, it said it had to restart, it did and just loaded up the XP pro I put on and didn’t recognize the external drive. I went into the thing where you change the boot sequence and put FDD first cause somewhere on here said that was usb devices. That didn’t work either it just loaded windows again. Windows says that the hardware has malfunctioned sometimes, until i restart the drive. Also on the recovery DVD it has an option to install drivers, but when i try to it asks for cd1… only one DVD came with the computer. No cds. i read alot of forums and was about to do a BIOS update, but realized i have no idea what im doing and this isn’t my computer, so i thought i’d ask for some help. It’s very much appreciated.
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Jimi Casey,
I think you have a bad DVD Multi recorder. I’ve noticed that for some reason Satellite P25 drives fail a lot.
January 21st, 2007 at 10:26 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite P25 Series and the DVD Multi Recorder Rewritable will play an actual DVD movie but does not recognize any other type of disc. For instance when trying to download software for my digital camera it does not recognize any disc to be in the drive.
Thank you for any advice you may have.