7 replies to this topic

[djhoeft]

Last night my 2 optical drives were suddenly no longer available in My Computer. Both were still powered. They both had the black exclamation mark in yellow in Device Manager. Tried uninstalling and rebooting several times. Tried updating drivers - of course with no result. OK. So, good excuse to open up the case and finally fix that sticky on/off switch today.

Unplugged and replugged the power and the IDE cables. Same result. Got out a spare DVD-ROM optical drive which had never been out of the box. Set the jumpers and hooked it up. XP finds the new hardware and says it is ready to use. Nope. Not in My Computer and of course with the lovely little exclamation mark in Device Manager. Got out a brand new IDE cable and reconnected everything. Nothing.

Put the old CD-ROM back in and reconnected with the new IDE cable. Woo hoo. Found new hardware and it is ready to use. Right. Still not in my computer and, of course, the now REALLY annoying exclamation mark in Device Manager. On the off chance, there was something new out there, went to the Samsung website to check. Nope, nothing. Have my generic drivers disappeared??

This is a nearly 5 year old computer and I plan on doing a new build next fall, but I'd really like to get SOME optical drive working as I plan on keeping it. Yes, I even still have my trusty old 98SE from 2000. I think I get too attached to them!

EDIT: I forgot to throw this in. I get a Code 41 message in Device Manager. "Windows successfully loaded drivers for this hardware, but cannot find the hardware device."

I really, really hate to throw in the towel and cry uncle!! Any suggestions out there?

XP Home
P4 @3.0 Ghtz with hyperthreading
160 GB hard drive
2 GB RAM
430 watt Antec power supply
GeForce 7600GT video card
Motherboard ASUSTeK Computer INC. 'P4SD-LA' Rev 1.xx (from Belarc Advisor)

[rokytnji]

Quote

I really, really hate to throw in the towel and cry uncle!! head_wall.gif Any suggestions out there

Try using this site to find the missing drivers on your install.

http://www.drivermax.com/index.htm

[rokytnji]

Also you can download Everest Home Edition to see if Everest can see your cdrom drives.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System...e-Edition.shtml

[rokytnji]

And this is microsofts recommended solution.


Code 41
Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device. (Code 41)
Recommended resolution

This problem occurs if you install a driver for a non-Plug and Play device, but Windows cannot find the device. Here are some things that you can try to resolve this problem.

If the Troubleshooting Wizard does not resolve the problem, do one of the following:

* If the device was removed, uninstall the driver, connect the device, and then click Scan for hardware changes to reinstall the driver.
* If the hardware was not removed, the driver files might be obsolete. In this case, update the driver from Device Manager. In the device Properties dialog box, click the Driver tab, and then click Update Driver to start the Hardware Update Wizard. Follow the instructions to update the driver.
* If the device is a non-Plug and Play device, you may have to install a newer version of the driver. To install non-Plug and Play devices, use the Add Hardware wizard. Click Start, and then click Run. In the Open box, type hdwwiz.cpl.

[djhoeft]

Thanks! Already did the Troubleshoot which offers no help at all. But will definitely check out the two other suggestions.

EDIT: Drivers (as indicated in the code 41 message) are system drivers and are fine according to DriverDetective. So DriverDetective "saw" both my optical drives.

[Broni]

Optical drives DO NOT need any extra drivers, since Windows 2000.

Try one of these:
1. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060
or...
2. Download, and run Restore Missing CD Drive patch
Double click on cdgone.zip to unzip it.
Right click on cdgone.reg, click Merge.
Accept registry merge.
or...
3. Go to Device Manager, click a "+" sign next to IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.
You'll see two items:
- ATA Channel0 (or Primary Channel)
- ATA Channel1 (or Secondary Channel)
Right click on each of them, and click Uninstall. Confirm.
Restart Windows. They'll be automatically reinstalled.

[djhoeft]

Broni, would you like that million dollars in cash or should I write a check? The registry merge worked! I had tried a different microsoft fix already with no result. Didn't see the one on changing the registry. Both these drives are connected to the secondary IDE channel and my next move was going to be to uninstall it. I had seen a reference to the IDE channels dropping from DMA mode to PIO. The second drive was in PIO mode, so I disconnected it. But that didn't help either!

So, you have saved my venerable 5 year old computer to play yet another game of The Witcher! My sincerest thanks and this is not the first time you've rescued me!!

[Broni]

I'll say only one word: CASH.....
Just kidding...I'm glad, it worked :)