I've just purchased a new E Machine with a Celeron D processor in it. I'm trying to install a Pioneer 108 DVD burner. I have the most up to date firmware installed and Windows XP is showing that I have Pioneer 108 installed. The problem I am having is that the drive does not read any media. When I put a CD or DVD into the drive and click the drive icon, Windows promps me to install a disk. The drive does not seem to recognize any media. Have I purchased a defective drive?
Go to Device Manager and uninstall the device if XP has it listed. Upon restart XP should reinstall and there should be a message that a new device is recognized and being installed, etc.. If that doesn't work, then physically remove the comm cable and power from the drive and restart the computer twice, and then shutdown after the 2nd restart. Reattach the power and comm cable and startup.
I tried both of those and they didn't work. Is there anything else you can suggest? Do you have any ideas of what the problem might be?
What other devices are on the same IDE controller? If there is more than one device, e.g., a DVD ROM drive, then one or the other must be slave and the other master or both must be softswitch selectable. Other than that, unless the comm cable is bad, the burner could be bad. Did it work on the old computer? If there is another device on the same cable, disconnect that device and see if the burner recognizes stuff then. This stuff happens with external devices all the time. It's sometimes a bitch to get the computer to fully recognize the drive. The OS recognizes something's there but the device doesn't work. I usually hook something else up to the same cable and let the OS install and recognize that and then I shutdown, remove the device, and install the one I want. That sometimes gets the OS to do a full install of the device. Borrow another burner or for $40US buy another burner and see if that works. If it does then you may have a wonky Pioneer 108. Do you have an old CDROM or DVD drive you could hook up to the same cable position and see if that device works properly?
