dvd/cdrw problem

irishguy

i am fixing a friend of mines computer,[just need to reinstall windows].He was also complaining that the cdrom drive wont play cds [data or audio].so i paid no attention and tryed 2 install windows with no luck ,i tryed everything then i used another cdrom drive and i worked so it ovisosly the dvd/cdrw drive.I am now using win xp and the pc reconises the drive as a samsung dvd/cdrw and the power is working on the drive but it will not see cds of any type.does anyone know if this a software issue or is the drive buggered.i think the drive is dead but i wanted to get another opinion before i told him that he has 2 buy a new drive.any ideas??
p.s also there is a 56k modem but no drivers were installed when windows was installed [i taught they would be on the win2k disk] the card has no markings and it connects to the motherboard through a 40cmish brown slot [dont know the type of slot] anyone know where i could fine out the make of the modem???

aidan_dunne

Can't help you with the first thing but I might be able to shed some light on the second one.

The brownish slot you mentioned is probably an ISA slot, which incidentally are normally black in colour and not brown. The AGP slot is brown so I hope he didn't try to stick his modem into the AGP slot! :eek: Anyways, assumming that the ISA slots on this particular mobo are indeed brown it's probably a pretty old modem anyway as ISA slots are practically obsolete nowadays. Most modern mobos retain one ISA slot anyway for someone to stick an older component in it if necessary. I can't help you out regarding finding out the type of modem it is except to say that's it's probably a pretty old one if it's an ISA jobbie. Most modems built the past few years have been PCI, not ISA.

We could probably do with some more information about the machine too like make, model, year, specs, mobo info, etc. if we're to help you out further. Have you checked out the PC manufacturer's website to see if they have any tech specs on they're machines and the components and maybe drivers for those components you could download? Might be some help in finding out, at least, the make, model and chipset of this "mystery" modem. Give that a go, perhaps, and get back to us.

daveJAM

40cm seems very long, if its 40mm you mean then its an AMR slot. I think how it worksis that the motherboard has an on board modem and you just get a small little riser to allow the telephone line to be plugged in. These are normally brown and above the AGP slot.

irishguy

sorry i ment 40mm,ya its an ARM slot i couldnt think of the name.Well it looks like there is a modem on the card pluged into the ARM slot also it shows up in the device manager as an unknown device [you would presume that the drives would be on the win 2k cd] any ideas on how i would get a driver for it.Also i played around with the dvd/cdrw drive and i have concluded that it is dead.

Occidental

Your DVD drive sounds as if it's had it's day, though it might be worth trying a cleaner before you bin it.

As for the modem, I'd try doing a search for drivers on the PC/system board manufacturers site. Otherwise have a look for an FCC ID on the card and do a search here

irishguy

there was no fcc id on the modem but i looked around the HP site and finally found the driver i was looking 4,thanx alot fot the help.Btw it was a modem riser.
Occidental thanx 4 the link it will come in handy in the future