CDRW/DVD SN-324F DVD Keep Jumping when Played

Chruchill,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.
The following general troubleshooting steps may help.
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DVD General Troubleshooting steps:

--WinDVD studders when playing movies on battery.
Go into Display Properties, Screen Saver tab, clicked on Power, changed power scheme to 'Always On'

--DVD does not display a picture or is blank.
Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
The Control Panel window should appear.
Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon.
In the list of installed programs, click PCFriendly and click the Add/Remove button.
Follow the on screen instructions to uninstall the software

--DVD drive is not recognized in My Computer or Device manager, but is shown as a CDROM drive.
If you have WinDVD and have updated to the latest patch, then completely uninstall WinDVD.
Then reboot the system and reinstall WinDVD to see if the same problem occurs.
If the problem does not occur, then reinstall the latest patch to see if the patch is causing the problem.

--DVD flickers during play back.
1.Install the latest WinDVD patch.
2.Uninstall your video driver, then download and install the latest version of the video driver.
3.If you do not have access to the Internet, you can perform the following steps.

Click Start, click Run, then type Regedit in the Open box. Click OK.
The Registry Editor window should appear.
Click the plus (+) sign next to each of the following keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Software
Intervideo
Double-click the WinDVD folder.
Double-click HWMC.
Type 0 in the Value Data box.
Click OK.
Close the Registry Editor.
Click Start, click Shutdown, click Restart, and then click OK.

--DVD skips/stutters/is out of sync/ or hangs during playback.
1.Update your DVD decoding software such as PowerDVD or WindDVD with the latest patch or update.
2.Update to the latest video drivers available for your system.
3.Stop all background applications using MSCONFIG in Windows 98,ME, and XP.
4.Reinstall your DVD decoding software.
5.Make sure that hardware acceleration is set to full.

Win98,ME
To confirm that the Video Acceleration is set to "Full" select System in the Control Panel.
Click on the Performance Tab, and then on the Graphics Button. Move the slider bar, all the way to "Full."
Then click Apply and OK to all windows.

Win2000 and XP
Click on Start, Control Panel, Display.
Click the Settings Tab, Advanced Button, Troubleshoot tab.
Make sure Hardware Acceleration is set to Full.
Also make sure that Enable Write Combining is enabled.
If the above options are already enabled, try disabling Write Combining and reducing Hardware Acceleration one notch.
Click Apply and Ok.

6.Disable Auto Insert Notification.

Win98,ME
Click Start |Settings | Control Panel.
Double click the System icon, then select the Device Manager tab.
Double-click the CD-ROM icon, and single-click the entry for the DVD drive.
Click on the Properties button, and then the Settings tab.
Locate the checkbox labeled Auto-Insert Notification and click the checkbox to select or de-select it.
Click OK to save the change. At this point, you may need to restart for the change to become active.

Win2000 and XP
Open My Computer.
Right click on your CDROM drive and click properties.
Click the Autoplay tab.
Choose the media format file type, such as Music file or Video file.
Click on the red circle for Take No Action.
Click Apply and Ok.

7.Confirm that DMA is enabled.

Win98,ME
Select Control Panel from the Settings list in the Start menu.
Double-click the System icon, then select the Device Manager tab.
Double-click the CD-ROM icon, and single-click the entry for the DVD drive.
Click on the Properties button, and then the Settings tab.
Locate the checkbox labeled DMA and click the checkbox to select or de-select it.
Click OK to save the change. At this point, you may need to restart for the change to become active

Win2000 and XP
Click on Start, Control Panel, System.
Click the Hardware Tab, Device Manager button.
Click the + next to IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
Right click on the Primary IDE Channel and click properties.
Click the Advanced Settings Tab.
Make sure that Transfer Mode is set to DMA if Available.
You must also repeat these steps for the Secondary IDE Channel listing.

8. Try the ReClock DirectShow Filter.
http://ogo.nerim.net/reclockfilter/
Info provided by Harald Becker forum member.

Description:
The purpose of ReClock is to definitely get rid of jerky playback of AVI and MPEG material on a PC (or a PC connected to a TV). It's a DirectShow filter which is loaded in place of the default directsound audio renderer.
It provides a new reference clock that is locked to the video card hardware clock, in order to ensure that frames are played at the exact speed of what is expected by the video card vertical sync.
It also provides a frame rate adaptator for media files that do not match a multiple of the video card refresh rate (ex: playback of 23,976fps IVTC NTSC on a PAL TV).
Finally it is an audio renderer with hardware or software rate adaptation in real-time, multi-channel audio, and dynamic range compression capabilities.
For a full description of ReClock, please read carefully the README file in the distribution. There is also a little FAQ at the bottom of the page that answers common questions.

9.Turn off indexing for the drive.
To verify if a CD, DVD, CDRW drive has been indexed, perform the following;
Right Click on My Computer and choose Manage
Click the plus sign next to Applications and Services
Click the plus sign next to Indexing Service
Click the plus next to System
Select Directories
A list of directories that have been indexed will appear in the window to the right. Look for any entries that include the Drive letter of the optical device, such as D:\
If an entry for an optical device exists, perform the following action;
1. Double click on the appropriate entry
2. Select the Radio Button for No under the Include in the Index? Section
It is suggested that a reboot is performed at this time.

--Drive is not recognized in the system bios or by Windows at all.
Or- the drive does not play any media or has problems reading media.

1.Remove and reseat the drive.
A loose connection can cause the drive not to work properly.
If possible, remove the drive from the system and reseat it making sure it is firmly and well seated.
Fixed Optical drives can be removed, you just have to remove the "capture screw" on the bottom of the system first.
Look at the system documenation for instructions on how to do so.

2.Remove the drive from device manager.
Removing the drive controllers from device manager and rebooting to let Windows reload them sometimes helps.

Win95,98,ME:
Right click on My Computer, click on properties.
Click the Device Manager tab.
Click the + next to CDROM
Click the appropriate device entry that appears under CDROM then click the REMOVE button.
Perform this step for any other devices listed under the CDROM category.
Reboot the computer.

Win2000, WinXP:
Right click on My Computer, click on properties.
Click on the Hardware Tab.
Click the Device Manager button.
Click the + next to DVD/CDROM devices.
Right click the appropriate device entry that appears under DVD/CDROM then click Uninstall.
Perform this step for any other devices listed under the CDROM category.
Reboot the computer.

3.For Windows95,98,ME Check for the NOIDE Error.
Click on Start, Run and type in: Regedit.
Then click OK.
You will get a Registry Editor window.
Click on Edit, Find.
Type in: NOIDE
Click Find Next.
If the search finds any icons with NOIDE, delete those icons.
Then close all windows, and reboot the system.

4.If the drive is in MS_DOS Mode or does not show up under My Computer, and may also have a yellow exclamation in device manager.
Install an Antivirus program and run a full virus scan.
A virus will cause the cdrom drives not to work properly to keep you from cleaning out the virus.
If you already have an antivirus program installed, run a full system scan.
If you don't have an antivirus program installed, try to install one and run a full system scan.
If you are unable to install an antivirus program because of a possible virus, get a dos version of the program to run.

5.Reset the bios defaults if applicable on the system.
Resetting the bios defaults resets any bios settings that may have gotten corrupt.
This should allow the cdrom drive to redetect if the problem is caused by the bios.
You can find information on how to do so on the following sites:
--How do I restore the Setup Defaults on my Dell™ Inspiron™ portable computer?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=1035265
--How do I restore the Setup Defaults on my Dell™ Inspiron™ portable computer?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=FA1035265
--How do I restore setup defaults on my Dell™ Latitude™ system?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=FA1035267

6.Update your bios file to the latest version.
Go to the main Dell Support site:
https://support.dell.com/register.aspx
Input your service tag number and click "Sign in to Standard Support".
Click the Downloads button.
Under the "Select Your Download Category" section, choose "Flash Bios Updates".
Then click GO.
Click the Dell XXXX XXXX System Bios link that comes up.
Click the Dell XXXX XXXX System Bios link that comes up again.
Click on the file name XXXXXX.EXE for FLOPPY version.
Click Download Now Using HTTP.
Save the file to your desktop.
Put a blank formatted floppy in the floppy drive.
Double click the file to create the bios update boot floppy.
Once that is done, leave the floppy in the drive and reboot the system.
The bios will be updated when the system boots to the floppy.

7.Try upgrading the drives firmware revision.
Find the model type of the drive.
Then go to the Dell downloads page and put in the model type of the drive to see if there are any firmware updates for it.
Go to the main Dell Support site:
https://support.dell.com/register.aspx
Input your service tag number and click "Sign in to Standard Support".
Click the Downloads button.
Put the drive model in the search box and click GO.
If there is a firmware updated listed, download it, create the update disk, and update the drives firmware.
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Question:
How do I find out what model of Hard Drive, CDROM, CDRW, DVDROM drive I have?

Answer:
Win2000 WinXP:
Right click on My Computer, click on properties.
Click the Hardware tab.
Click the Device Manager button.
Click the + next to DVD/CD-ROM drives.
You should see your drive listed, an example would be: Lite-On LTN483S 48X MAX.
The drive model number would be "LTN483S"

--Another way to tell is to check the system registry.
You can use the steps below that are listed for checking the drives firmware revision.
An example of a drive listing in the registry would be:
IDE\CdRomLite-On_LTN483S_48x_Max_________________PD03____\5&261012d&0&0.1.0
The drive model number would be ""LTN483S""

Question:
How do I find my DVD drives firmware revision in Windows XP:
Right click my computer,manage,expand storage,removable storage,libraries
right click on your drive,properties,device infomation.
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8.Uninstall any 3rd party programs.
If you installed any 3rd party programs before the problem started, (Roxio Easy CD Creator, Nero Burning Rom, Intel Application Accelerator), then uninstall the program and reboot the system.
Also reinstall your DVD decoding application such as PowerDVD, or WinDVD.
If the application is corrupt, reinstalling it will solve the problem.

9.Test the drive in dos.
If your floppy drive is external, attach it to the system.
Have your cdrom drive in the media bay in the system.
Put in your Windows CD in the cdrom drive.
Boot to a Win98 or WinME dos boot disk using the floppy drive.
You can download a dos boot disk from http://www.bootdisk.com
I like using the "Windows ME non-OEM" boot disk.
Once you have booted to the dos boot disk, A:\> try accessing the cdrom in dos.
If you can access the Windows CD, the drive is working and you probably have a Windows problem.
If you cannot access the cd in dos, then the drive is probably bad.

10.Test the drive using the Dell Diagnostics.
You can find information on how to run the Dell Diagnostics on the following site:
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?DN=1060550#toc

11.Test another drive if possible.
-Try another drive in your system, does it work?
If so, your old drive is probably bad.
If not, the cdrom connectors on the motherboard are probably bad.
-Try your drive on another system, does it work?
If so, the cdrom connectors on the motherboard for your system are probably bad.
If not, then the drive is probably bad.

12.If all else fails, contact tech support to get a replacement drive.
If you are out of warranty, you can purchase another drive from Dell Spare Parts.
Dell Spare Parts Phone# 800-372-3355 Ext:6-9937

Additional Information:
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Problem:
My cdrom icon is missing from "My Computer" and there is an exclamation mark next to it in device manager?

Answer:
1)Go to "Start" then select "Run"
2)Type "regedit" and click "OK"

3)optional step Backup you registry by:
a) Highlight "My Computer" by clicking on it once.
b) At the top of the page you should see "File"(Win XP) or "Registry" (Win 2000), click on this and then select "Export Registry File"
c) The following screen will allow you to select where you would like to save this backup and what file name you would like to save it as.
d) Please note at the bottom of the screen where it says export range "All"; this should be selected to ensure your entire registry is backed up completely.
e) Give the File a name and Click on the "SAVE" button (this will bring you back to the registry editor)

4) Remove the Upperfilters and Lowerfilters values by:
a) Expand the "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" key (looks like a folder) by double clicking it.
b) Expand the "SYSTEM" Key
c) Expand the "CurrentControlSet" Key
d) Expand the "Control" Key
e) Expand the "Class" Key
f) Please look for a key containing the following string of letter and numbers:
{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
g) High light this key by left clicking once on it
h) On the right hand side you are looking for "Upperfilters" and "Lowerfilters", once you find these please delete them by high lighting (left clicking on them once) and then right clicking on them and choosing "delete"

5) Restart your computer.
6) Your CD-ROM should be back.
Information provided by Bacillus Dell Forum Member.
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Hi,

I'm experiencing the same problem whenever I play certain DVDs. I've gone through the general troubleshooting guide steps to see if I can make it go away but it doesn't help. I've tried using different players (Windows Media Player, WinDVD and Real ONE). I've tried updating the DVD players. I've tried making sure that nothing is running in the background. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling my graphics drivers. I've tried changing my resolution and color depth to a lower setting. I've checked to see if the drive is setup for DMA (checked the hard drive too). I've checked to see if the computer is indexing the files. I've tried running the Dell diagnostics on the computer and everything checked out fine. I've even installed the reclock thing. Nothing seems to correct the problem.

I know the disc is fine because I can play it on both my desktop and my sister's Inspiron 1100 with no problems. I suspect that the problem is with the drive because when it pauses during playback it makes a strange noise as if the optical sensor is realigning itself. I have a Dell Inspiron 600m and it's been doing this with certain DVDs since I got it a few weeks ago. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

Eauix,

If at all possible, try the drive with another system.
If the problem follows the drive, get the drive replaced.
Try another drive with your system.
If the new drive works fine, get your old drive replaced.
If you do not have another system or drive to try, contact support and get the drive replaced.
If the replacement drive has the same problem, you have a software caused problem.
I figure you are using Windows XP.
You can try to use system restore to go back to a date before the problem started.
You can try to peform a Windows XP repair install.
You can format the hard drive and reinstall everything from scratch.
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Using System Restore.
1.Click on (Start,Programs, Accessories,System Tools, System Restore.)
2.Check the box for (Restore my computer to an earlier time)
3.Click Next.
4.Choose a (Restore Date.) before the problem started.
5.Click Next.
6.Click Next again.
7.The system should restore and reboot.
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Warning*
A repair install will wipe out all Microsoft updates and SP1.
You need to have SP1 ready to reinstall after the repair install.
You should also reinstall the Microsoft updates that you deem necessary.

How do I perform a Repair Reinstall of Microsoft® Windows® XP?

Discussion
Windows XP includes a new reinstall option, the Repair Reinstall. This option should be used when you have determined that the operating system files are corrupt, but you do not want to completely format the hard drive and reinstall the operating system.

What a Repair Reinstall Will Do
Delete all of the files normally installed by Windows XP.
Reinstall those files from the Windows XP CD.

What a Repair Reinstall Will Not Do
Completely rebuild the registry. A Repair Reinstall only writes to parts of the registry used by Windows XP. It will not completely rebuild the registry.
Delete applications and user settings. A Repair Reinstall will generally leave applications and user settings in the state they were before the Repair was attempted. All applications should remain functional, and all user settings should remain the way they were.
Fix issues caused by corrupt applications or user settings. Since the Repair Reinstall does not affect user or application settings, it will not repair issue stemming from those settings being corrupt.
Solution

Performing a Repair Reinstall
1.Insert the Windows XP CD into the CD or DVD drive.
2.Configure your system to boot to the CD drive.
3.Restart the computer.
4.When the computer prompts Press any key to boot from CD, press the (Spacebar).
5.The Welcome to Setup screen appears.
6.Press the (Enter) key to continue.
7.The system scans to see which hard drives are available.
8.When the license agreement screen appears, press the (F8) key to accept the license agreement.
9. You should now see: (C:\Windows )
Press F3 to quit, R to repair, ECS not to repair.
You want to press R at this point.
Windows will begin to load some files...asking you to please wait.
10.Setup will proceed with the installation sequence appropriate to the version of Windows XP being repaired.
Once setup is complete, the system will restart.
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