[Cialug] OT: DVD drive problem

[Josh More]

Doing an audio CD isn't a good test, as a failing drive would produce
exactly the same result as a corrupt codecs, regardless of what OS
you're using.

Go ahead and run Knoppix on it, both Knoppix CD and Knoppix DVD.  If it
can load the media and run well, your next step would be to re-install
Windows and see if that fixes it.  If the Windows re-install fails or
Knoppix exhibits the same problem, you need to try a new CD drive. 
Given how "helpful" Best Buy is, it might be good to see if anyone on
the LUG has a compatible laptop and will let you borrow their drive for
testing.

 
 

-Josh More, RHCE, CISSP, NCLP, GIAC 
 morej at alliancetechnologies.net 
 515-245-7701



>>> "Tim Wilson" <tim_linux at wilson-home.com> 09/10/07 3:57 PM >>> 
I know a question about Windows make most people on the list shudder,
but I
think someone at Best Buy is blowing smoke (or has inhaled too
deeply).

My wife's laptop started experiencing issues a little over a week ago,
with
one of the auto-launch programs saying that a device was not using DMA
mode.  So I went to the disk controller in Device Manager, and sure
enough,
it was set to use DMA mode if available, but it was using PIO mode.  We
also
noticed that the drive was making noises, and the laptop was quite
sluggish
when anything was using the DVD drive.  Since it is under warranty, I
took
it in to Best Buy, and the "tech" at Geek Squad said it wasn't a
failing
drive, it was corrupted codecs.  He played an audio CD, and it skipped
and
hesitated.  So his argument was that it had to be a codec, because even
in
PIO mode, the CD should be fine.

I'll admit, that test was pretty convincing, but it still doesn't
explain
the sluggishness of the laptop while the DVD is in use.  That to me
sounds
like a PIO mode issue.

Does this sound remotely plausible to anyone?  Would putting a live CD
distro in and testing with it prove helpful?

-- 
Tim