Hi all, I've posted about my DVD drive on this forum once before, and this board was really helpful in solving the original problem with installing my external USB 2.0 DVD-R/RW drive from Archos. Basically, I haven't burned anything in a couple of weeks and just by chance realized that my external drive was not in the list in "My Computer". So I put a disk in to see what would happen... nothing. It was as if the player/recorder was not even plugged in to the USB port. So I checked all of the connections and everything was o.k. I tried several things: unplugging and re-plugging the drive into the USB 2.0 port, uninstalling the USB hubs, etc from the device manager and then restarting the computer with the device connected. All the attempts yielded no solution. All my other USB devices (printer, mouse, digital media reader) installed again and work just fine. It's as if the drive is not recognized at all by Windows XP. No device shows up in the hardware manager with the yellow question mark or anything. Can anyone help me out? I got this thing working before, how do I get it up and running again? Thanks in advance. Tom (brainman)
Maybe try another cable or test different ports. Are you running the drive off of the mobo ports or a PCI card? I'd look at updating the chipset drivers for the mobo and/or the PCI card. It might be worth checking Windows update to see if they have newer USB drivers as well
Thanks for the reply. I tried running it from both the MB Usb ports and a PCI USB 2.0/Firewire card. All my other peripherals work in any and all other USB ports. I tried them all. The only thing that does not work is the DVD/CD burner. It's as if the drive is "invisible" (poof) to Windows XP. When I plug it in, the computer does not even give me any indication of the presence of new hardware or anything. It just sits there even though the power is on for the drive. I checked windows update and there are no newer drivers for USB 2.0 or the PCI card that I can find. Anybody have other ideas for a solution? I have done some Googling around and apparently others have had issues with external USB cameras, hard drives, etc and Windows XP. But I haven't come across a clear solution to my problem yet. Most often the recommendation is to update to the latest USB drivers, but I already have the latest as far as I know. Please help if possible. Thanks in advance. Tom (brainman)
If you have access to another PC, I'd try the drive in it to determine if the drive is bad or if it's somthing with your system.
This drive has what appears to be a "male to male" USB 2.0 cable that came with the drive. It's not your run-of-the-mill USB cable. This could be a problem when trying to test the cable idea... can I buy one of these cables at my local computer superstore? I'll have to have a look around... hmmm... maybe it's time to buy a newer faster burner anyway. If anyone has any other suggestions I'd appreciate it greatly. Thanks again. Tom (brainman)
Guess you could always try the electronics store. I've never seen a male to male USB myself. Just think of this as the perfect excuse to get that Pioneer 107
Well, it's been a few days and I still have the same problem. There is no way that I can try another male-to-male USB cable, since I cannot find one anywhere (if they even exist). I have my eye on the latest Pioneer and Plextor DVD drives... I may give up on this Archos once and for all. This drive also is not recognized by my Gateway laptop either, which makes me suspect that the drive is just a buggy mess. I just wonder why the drive worked fine for several months and then just "disappeared" like it never existed? Very strange. Another question... is it worth my time to replace my internal CD/DVD Rom drive with a new internal one, or is it simply easier to get one of the firewire/USB drives again? I guess the speed is the main issue, since the internal IDE interface is much faster than USB/firewire? Any opinions are appreciated. Thanks again. Sincerely, Tom (brainman)
Can't go wrong there! Personally, I'd go with an internal drive - they're cheaper and less bother. If you have the space, I'd keep the DVD-ROM for your ripping chores to keep the wear and tear on your burner to a minimum. Otherwise just replace it since the new DVD burner will do everything anyway.
