HP dvd840

daric · #1 10-08-2006, 06:38 PM

Hi I just bought a new HP dvd840 and for some reason it's not reading ANY dvdr/rw. It reads and writes cdr/rw just fine but it's not doing what it's meant to do. I've tried uninstalling it many times, checked if any cables were damaged and I even tried different brands of dvds. Nothing was wrong exept that it wouldn't read dvds at all. Any help would be great because I'm really tired of buying dvds if it's not going to work. I'm running XP. Thanks!

bookworm · #2 10-08-2006, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daric

Hi I just bought a new HP dvd840 and for some reason it's not reading ANY dvdr/rw. It reads and writes cdr/rw just fine but it's not doing what it's meant to do. I've tried uninstalling it many times, checked if any cables were damaged and I even tried different brands of dvds. Nothing was wrong exept that it wouldn't read dvds at all. Any help would be great because I'm really tired of buying dvds if it's not going to work. I'm running XP. Thanks!

What DVD software are you useing to read DVD's, Nero, Power DVD, Cyberlink, you need to install DVD reading software

Cheers

daric · #3 10-08-2006, 07:21 PM

I'm using Nero OEM Suite. It came with the drive.

bookworm · #4 10-08-2006, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daric

I'm using Nero OEM Suite. It came with the drive.

Have a look at this from HP, they have firmware updates for the DVD, but they have a few models http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Looku...x=0&submit.y=0

There is also a trouble shooting guide, again quite a few models http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Looku...x=9&submit.y=4

Hope this helps

daric · #5 10-08-2006, 07:48 PM

Actually that was one of the first things I tried out. When I go and download the firmware for HP dvd840i it actually downloads the dvd840b version. I did some research and supposivly the "b" version has the same updates for the "i" version. I downloaded it and it says "not detected target drive" and doesn't even try to update it at all. I hope that made sense.

bookworm · #6 10-08-2006, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daric

Actually that was one of the first things I tried out. When I go and download the firmware for HP dvd840i it actually downloads the dvd840b version. I did some research and supposivly the "b" version has the same updates for the "i" version. I downloaded it and it says "not detected target drive" and doesn't even try to update it at all. I hope that made sense.

Does Device manager show any problems, and is the drive listed in My Computer, it looks like the drive is not recognised. have you set it to master or slave on the cable.

Cheers

daric · #7 10-08-2006, 08:31 PM

It shows no problems in the device manager and it is listed in my computer. I set the jumper to master and put the cable in the secondary slot. Could that be the problem?

fritzi93 · #8 10-08-2006, 10:46 PM

Perhaps a similar problem here:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread....light=hpdvd840

[EDIT] Grrr, it's not showing the translation from Dutch, even though the URL is correct. Try this, and select the first thread:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/search.php?searchid=2035289

Some of the usual things to try, in no particular order:

1) Uninstall the IDE channel and reboot
2) Change jumper setting to CS
3) Swap out the cable for a new one.
4) Try a lens cleaner
5) Uninstall Nero and run the NeroClean tools available on their website. Re-install and for heaven's sake don't install any packet-writing apps like InCD.
6) Same deal with Alcohol, it can cause conflicts just like Nero, particularly if any of its files gets corrupted. Uninstall/re-install if you have that program on your computer.
7) It would be wise to also disable XP's burning capability. Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services -> IMAPI CDBurning COM Service. Double click and select disable. It can always be re-enabled, so don't worry.
8) Try different DVD media!
9) Flash with latest firmware. IIRC, your drive is a rebadged LG-gsa-4166b. CD Freaks is the place for firmware, etc.
10) As suggested, try another program to open a DVD movie rather than a blank. Just to see if it'll recognise any DVDs at all. Use something like Media Player Classic or Videolan.
11) Run Nero's CD/DVD Speed utility. Put a pressed movie disc in, hit Disc Info, does it see it? Now try a blank. If it DOESN'T see it, try different media!
12) Try the drive in another computer?

Uhh, that's about all I can think of right now. [scratches head] If none of that works, how about exchanging it?