DVD writer not working

Hi. I just manualy installed a P-ata 22x dvd writer from Samsung, the super writemaster sh-s222, which doesn't work I don't know what to do in the bios, if that is indeed necessary. However, I did find out something ghastly; I am not sure if my pc specs are good enough! I have speccy file attached (some info in finnish also. Sorry about that) I also went to the device manager, and I am not sure if what I see there is right or not. However what I see there is this "DWZKRG HMZ8HYNS SCSI CdRom Device" whcih works fine, according to it. Now, I used to have two badly working drivers, which I took away and put this. Oh, and funnily enough, I can't instal firmware, because the dayam thing won't read the cd that came with it I also can't download it, because I don't know which version to take, because there seem to be such things as sh-s222a and other odd alphabetical endings, which mean nothing to me. Help would be appreciated. Thanks. OH! P.S. The thing does open it's tray, however, and a green light can be seen and a whizz can be heard for awhile, but then it all just ends and… nada. My "own computer" says that there is no cd in the cd device.

Hiya Tanglang1989,

Sorry to hear your having problems with this drive.

I ran into this a few time with the drives like the one you are talking about. Parallel ATA drives use your older IDE ribbon cables to hook up to your motherboard. Few things I could offer for you to try and double check the set up of the drive itself.

• 1st. Item, With PATA drives, you need to make sure the jumper settings to either master or slave on the drive depending on your motherboard configuration to insure it matches the drive configuration.
• 2ND. Item, I can think of and I have ran into this a few times, the ribbon cable of the older drives sometimes does not work with newer drives, if you can find a newer cable to try and trouble shoot it may be worth a try.
• 3rd Item, Once you know that the drive is setup correctly, and cable has been tested, Boot the machine without the drive, then shut down the system and hook the drive back up to see if Windows will detect the drive, typically you should not need the firmware drivers for that drive, but if it does ask for it put the disk in to see if it will read the CD or DVD.
• 4Th Item, to try is to call the Manufacture of the drive for Tech support to see what they could offer you.
• Last but not least, if you know someone with and again depending on the installation disk that came with the drive, but if you could borrow a USB external drive to try an install of the drivers for the drive your trying to hook up.

I will past this on to another tech also for more input because others may have a solution for you or another Item to add or look into that may solve your problem.

Please post back to let us know how things went and may you have a Good Day.

Jimbo1

Thank you very much for your answers! I cannot, sadly, do any of these yet, because I will not be home for a few days. I have, however, sent a message to samsung. I was disgusted by their answer: This was my question: "Hi I manualy installed my new p-ata 22x dvd writer, which says it is model sh-s222 (not 222a or anything like that, just sh-s222). The tray opens nicely, the light goes green and it whizzes like it would be working. BUT, it doesn't read a single cd not the one that came in the box or for that matter any other one. I cannot start downloading anything from your website, because of the confusion of having sh-s222a and other models how do I even know which one to take? Now, I cannot say that I have made it work in the bios, because I am not good with the bios, so if I have to do something there, please do assist me in this. The pc specs could also be the reason for this, so I will be giving you the info as an attachment. Ok, some of the info is in finnish, but I am sure you can understand the most important parts. Thank you" And this was the answer: "Dear Kevin Gibbs, Thank you for contacting Samsung Electronics. We understand that the optical drive does not read any disks. We are sorry, but we do not have information on the optical drive, as it requires special training and expertise. We recommend you contact Samsung phone support for troubleshooting information. You can reach them at: 1-800-SAMSUNG ([removed]). They are available 24/7. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us. Thank you, Samsung Online Support. Follow Samsung Service on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube " That didn't do a dayam thing for me, now did it? And seeing as I am in finland, I can't go phoning them; too expencive. No, I am not angry at you But it just makes me so angry to see 'support centers' that do not support their customers. But you see, the bad thing is I don't know how to do item 1 at all. Item 2 is worth a try, but I wonder where I could get one from? Also, I wonder if you could find out if my pc specs are the cause? Thanks a bunch!

But you see, the bad thing is I don't know how to do item 1 at all.

Item 2 is worth a try, but I wonder where I could get one from?

Also, I wonder if you could find out if my pc specs are the cause?

Thanks a bunch!

I assume your drive is this one http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?InvtId=BLK-SH-S222-DO and if so this is how you can look and check up of doing Item 1.
Attach is a picture of the back of the drive and the pin settings to look for of that drive.

Once you see which settings you need, then here are the instructions of setting up the pins and ribbon cables, here is the link of that info.

http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading/insta…cd_recorder.htm

So what you should be doing is, if your are using the secondary IDE controller on the motherboard the drive should be set to master,but most folks like me set the drive to cable select, which you can try that because by doing so the CMOS (bios) should see that drive. It will not hurt to try this.

To answer your other questions:

Item 2 is worth a try, but I wonder where I could get one from?

Do you know someone who has a pc they are not using or go to your local repair shop to see if they would give you a new ribbon cable, like me in my shop they are overrunning my storage bin, I give these things away.

Also, I wonder if you could find out if my pc specs are the cause?

No that drive should work with your system, now I have hardly ever seen a DOA drive, but if you bought a rebuilt or what we call refurbish drive may it could be defected. Again could be and may be worth a shot to take this drive to a pc repair shop to have them test it to see if its working or not, plus they could show you how to set this up.

Jimbo1

One suggestion. If it's jumpered for Master or Slave, try jumpering it for Cable Select (CS). If you have two optical drives, jumper them both for CS.

BIOS "should" recognize this optical drive "automatically". The drive itself should function just fine without installation of additional or specific drivers. (XP should recognize it) Suspects could be: Faulty optical drive Faulty ribbon cable ribbon cable and/or power connector not firmly fitted in place Jumper settings in wrong position. Optical drive connected at end of ribbon would be "master or CS", connected at the middle would be "slave or CS"

You may also benefit from this:

http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/files/file/8-cdgone/

Ooops.

The above linked resource does not seem to be available at G2G at this time.
They just complete a server migration, and may not have all of the upload/download folders configured correctly as yet.

Have a look at the options available here, instead.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows…9d-e4b68df87eb5

Doug, the G2G link is working now.

I want to let you all know how I appreciate this; you answer faster and better than any support page could ever do. However, I cannot do any of this, as mentioned before, until I get back home, which will be monday. Until then, adios!

If all else fails I would be inclined to send it back to the Retailer (where you bought it) I don't know what the consumer laws are in Finland but in the Uk a faulty unit can be returned for a repair/refund/replacement, (if it is done within the first 6 months it is presumed that the unit has an inherent defect and the retailer (if they want to argue) must prove that it was not an inherent defect…in the absence of proof of misuse etc then the retailer must make things good. (and refund postage) Hopefully the steps that the other tecnicians have outlined will help you get it up and running again, but if not then maybe it would be worth checking out the consumer protection rules that apply in Finland. Good luck Regards paws

Hi Paws. Thanks, I will try that if I can't get this fixed. I want to, again, apologize to all of you, because I still am not home and I don't know when I will be. Rest assured, however, that I will try all of the afore mentioned fixes. Thanks to all!

DONE! SOLVED! You know what, I did basically all you said and all I could think of… untill I thought "what's this?". It was some IDE cable that I hadn't used yet. I noticed it had less holes than the normal IDE and when I carefully looked at my drive….. similarity? 100%. Tried that IDE. Problem solved. dayam I feel stupid.

Hey That's good to hear Well done…. and thanks for letting us know. Regards paws