DVD-RW Problems.....Need Help.

[Tom111]

I just installed a DVD RW to an enclosure and hooked it up via USB cable to my computer.
When i check the devices connected to my computer it shows the new DVD RW, but when i open a program like WMP or Nero to burn a dvd it doesn't detect it. It only shows my regular CD-RW. My WMP doesn't detect either drive.
I'd like to back up some of my DVD's and am having a hell of a time.
The CD that came with the DVDRW just had some programs on it like Power DVD and Nero. It should be plug and play with windows xp, no drivers to install, correct?
Any suggestions?

thanks

[Taz]

Are you using the Nero that came with it ??, Some bundled versions of Nero will only work with the device that came with it. So if you are using one that came with a older CDRW good chance it won't work.

[Tom111]

yes the Nero that came with it was the exact same one that i had on my computer.
It is Nero 5. When i click the icon "choose recorder", it only shows my CDRW and not my DVDRW.
But the drive won't even be detected by windows media player.

[Taz]

ok, how are your drives set up on your machine ie: IDE 1 hdd master cdrw slave
IDE 2 DVDRW master

[Ken_ver_1_5]

check the nero web site there may be an update for that version.

[Tom111]

ok, how are your drives set up on your machine ie: IDE 1 hdd master cdrw slave
IDE 2 DVDRW master

oops, sorry im a computer newb. I don't know how to set up drives, i just plug them in.
So to use my DVDRW do i set it up as the master drive to do all my burns?

Can you please show me how to do this?

thanks

[Tom111]

check the nero web site there may be an update for that version.

thanks i'll check the web site as well.

[Tom111]

ok, how are your drives set up on your machine ie: IDE 1 hdd master cdrw slave
IDE 2 DVDRW master

i got into my bios, but when i checked master/slave, my DVDRW was not listed. It only had auto, zip, etc.

Should i just replace my CDRW with my DVDRW since it does the same thing?
If i did would it detect the DVDRW automatically as the master?

[Ken_ver_1_5]

if the cdrw is now master yes you could replace it with the dvdrw set
to master. you should see it in post if the bios is set to auto.

[BillD]

yes the Nero that came with it was the exact same one that i had on my computer.
It is Nero 5. When i click the icon "choose recorder", it only shows my CDRW and not my DVDRW.
But the drive won't even be detected by windows media player.

It may be the same version, but you need to install the one that came with it in order for it to see the drive. OEM versions usually will only work with the drive they came with. What is missing is thwe ability to work with any drive.

[Jackthemeangiant]

Guys, I think you missed the part when he said he hooked it up externally through a USB enclosure, unless I miss-intrepted that.

So was this an external DVD-Rw that you bought, or was it an internal one, that you put in an enclosure?

[Dr.Dan]

i got into my bios, but when i checked master/slave, my DVDRW was not listed. It only had auto, zip, etc.

Should i just replace my CDRW with my DVDRW since it does the same thing?
If i did would it detect the DVDRW automatically as the master?
By the sounds of that, you probably didn't set the jumper on the DVD to 'Slave'.... so you have 2 devices on the same cable set to slave which won't work... your bios will only see what was already there.

So, pull the DVD back out and look at the jumper pins... it's probably set as 'master' or 'only'...... change it to 'slave' and make sure it's connected to the middle of the IDE cable.
Double check the jumpers on the CD too... make sure it's set to 'master' and not 'CS' or anything else, and hook it to the end connector of that same IDE cable.

This article may help you out too: http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,41021,pg,4,00.asp

[Dr.Dan]

Guys, I think you missed the part when he said he hooked it up externally through a USB enclosure, unless I miss-intrepted that.

So was this an external DVD-Rw that you bought, or was it an internal one, that you put in an enclosure?
Wooops.... I missed that too...

Uhmmm.... if it's USB then you should have a CD that has software and drivers that need to be installed before you plug the DVD into your USB.
It should come with extensive instructions as to the order you need to do things.
It might be on the CD if you didn't get anything on paper.... just browse the CD for a 'read me' file... it'll be there ;)

[sybil]

Also the drive that is in the enclosure will need to be set to master.

[Tom111]

thanks all, yes it is an internal dvdrw that i hooked up to an enclosure connected via a usb 2.0.

the instructions that came with the enclosure says with windows xp i don't need to install any drivers, just plug it in and it would recognize. It did come with a installation cd.

the cd that came with the dvd rw, it is an LG model, only has some programs on it like PowerDVD and Nero 5.0, no installation instructions.

I double checked to make sure all connections is good. I turn on the enclosure and everything seems to be running good.

How do i set it up to make the dvdrw the master drive? In the bios, the dvdrw is not detected. the master is set to my cdrw.

[Dr.Dan]

Being an external device, forget about changing anything in the bios... that was all assuming that it was internal.

Being that you installed this DVD into a case, instead of buying an external DVD burner, you won't have any disk for it, so don't worry obout that either.

You say that the instructions with the case say "no drivers required" with XP.
So, when you plug it in, does XP say "new hardware found"? It should... and automaticly install the device.

[Tom111]

Being an external device, forget about changing anything in the bios... that was all assuming that it was internal.

Being that you installed this DVD into a case, instead of buying an external DVD burner, you won't have any disk for it, so don't worry obout that either.

You say that the instructions with the case say "no drivers required" with XP.
So, when you plug it in, does XP say "new hardware found"? It should... and automaticly install the device.

When i first plugged it in , yes it said "new hardware found". Now when ever i turn my enclosure on , the little system tray icon "safely remove hardware" appears.

Here is a shot of my drives:

http://img333.imageshack.us/img333/5535/clipboard010yi.th.png (http://img333.imageshack.us/my.php?image=clipboard010yi.png)