I recently installed this CD-RW/DVD-R drive, and have tested many DVD's and burned CD's to it and has worked fine... But now, whenever I insert any DVD's (+ and -), or CD's that I have read fine on other machines, The green status indicator light blinks spasmodically like it normally does, but you get the hourglass in Windows for about 2-3 minutes, and the My Computer window locks up. When the cursor comes back, I can double-click on the DVD-drive fine but it just shows a blank window, with the "Write these files to CD" link on the left. I have tried uninstalling/re-installing the drive, and have rebooted the machine several times. I also ran the Nero CD Speed test and that locks up completely. Any suggestions??
i can't find the model you specified, this is the closest i could find, are you sure its a SOHC-5236K ?
Lite-on SOHC-5236K 52x32x52x CD-RW 16x DVD-ROM Black Combo Drive - Retail SOHC-5236K-BLACK at TigerDirect.com This is the drive that I purchased (from TigerDirect). Unfortunately, it says the product is no longer available (which worries me in a way, hoepfully it was not a defunct product).
OK now whenever I go to the CD-Drive properties, it shows the drive as being a SOHC-5236V - I cannot see DMA mode anywhere in the CD-Drive properties (From My Computer and Device Manager). I tried replacing the IDE cable just now and still nothing. It may be possible that the laser on the drive is weakening, but this is hard to believe considering how new the drive is.
i think i remember my old CD-RW not recognising discs i think i just bought a new combo drive, but i was thick then, it wasn't a combo drive, i was using XP then[ot]XP is nearly as crap as IE[/ot]
First thing I'd try is to try booting from your XP CD or any other CD that is bootable. This will rule out a Windows problem and will most definitely determine if the drive is dead. Unfortunately, like any other electronic device, they are prone to failure and bad batches from the manufacturers.
