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November 24th, 2006 21:00
"Cannot Connect TRF" - DVD-RW drive problems
Hello,
My computer no longer will recognize my DVD-RW drive's write capability. I've occasionally gotten a "Cannot Connect TRF" error, and other times all software that I can use to write with this drive will not allow me to do so. I can play DVD's and CD as ROM with no problem, but that is all I can do.
I thought that my DVD-RW drive had finally gone bad, so I bought a new DVD-RW drive. The new one worked fine (except for the occasional 'cannot connect TRF' error message), though now even my new drive won't function.
I've uninstalled the drivers and allowd WinXP to reinstall them, but this has no effect.
Under "My Computer", it will recognize the model of the drive I am using as well as the fact that it's an RW drive, but as soon as I put ANY kind of blank disc (CD, DVD-R, DVD-R/DL, etc.) into the drive, it immediately recognizes the blank disc as a CD-ROM only.
I've tried everything I can think of to fix this, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
My computer no longer will recognize my DVD-RW drive's write capability. I've occasionally gotten a "Cannot Connect TRF" error, and other times all software that I can use to write with this drive will not allow me to do so. I can play DVD's and CD as ROM with no problem, but that is all I can do.
I thought that my DVD-RW drive had finally gone bad, so I bought a new DVD-RW drive. The new one worked fine (except for the occasional 'cannot connect TRF' error message), though now even my new drive won't function.
I've uninstalled the drivers and allowd WinXP to reinstall them, but this has no effect.
Under "My Computer", it will recognize the model of the drive I am using as well as the fact that it's an RW drive, but as soon as I put ANY kind of blank disc (CD, DVD-R, DVD-R/DL, etc.) into the drive, it immediately recognizes the blank disc as a CD-ROM only.
I've tried everything I can think of to fix this, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
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Predator
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15.3K Posts
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November 24th, 2006 22:00
Hi Dlyauger,
What burning software are you using?
I ran a quick Google Search and due to Dell, I cannot list the active link but there seems to be some issue with a verison of Nero`s software.
Google the error message and see if the first two hits are relevant.
Off the top of my head, verify that the drive is runing in DMA mdoe and not PIO mode.
Best Regards!
God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.
CD/RW Link
dlyauger
10 Posts
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November 24th, 2006 23:00
Thank you for the quick reply. I am in fact using Nero, and I followed your advice on Google. I downloaded Nero's program "General-CleanTool_2_1_8_42" and removed all traces of Nero from my system. Hopefully that will help once I get my DVD-RW drive to work properly again.
Could you please tell me how I verify that this drive is running in DMA mode rather than PIO? I looked around to see if I could figure it out, but wasn't able to.
Best regards,
dlyauger
Predator
2 Intern
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15.3K Posts
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November 25th, 2006 00:00
Hi Dlyauger,
Click on the CD/RW link in my post and scroll to Section 15, articles 14 & 17.
Best Regards!
God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.
CD/RW Link
dlyauger
10 Posts
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November 25th, 2006 01:00
Thank you for all of that information. I tried everything on the list but the problem persists. The only portion I was not able to work was restoring the BIOS back defaults. The directions said to hit F9, but that was not an option, nor was there an alternate method shown at the bottom of the BIOS page for restoring defaults. I looked through all of the drives, but was not able to find anything that looked out of the ordinary.
Surprisingly, both of my drives are/were in DMA mode already. One thing that I read in the articles you suggested is that reading scratched up discs can cause this, which is exactly what I was doing when this problem started.
Do you have any other suggestions?
I was thinking of reinstalling the firmware, assuming I can find it for this drive. If that doesn't do it. Do you think installing an IDE Controller Card will help in this case?
Best regards,
dlyauger
dlyauger
10 Posts
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November 25th, 2006 03:00
I've continued to work on this, and want to give you an update on where I am. I pulled both new DVD-RAM's from my computer and reinstalled the factory original drives.
1. CD-RW master
2. DVD+RW slave
The CD-RW set as a master works just like it is supposed to work. The DVD+RW is detected by the computer and looks fine, but if I insert any form of media, it too changes the drive name to 'CD Drive' instead of DVD+RW. In this slave drive, I am not able to drag and drop any files to burn to a CD. All I get is "Drive Not Accessible".
I pulled the factory DVD+RW and reinstalled 1 of my new DVD-RAM's as a slave to the CD-RW, and the problem remains identical. So much for thinking this would be as simple as updating my firmware. Somehow I have a bad feeling that putting in an IDE Controller Card probably isn't going to solve this either.
Any further advice you can give is greatly appreciated. I'm all out of ideas short of dropping it off with a repair shop.
Best regards,
dlyauger
Predator
2 Intern
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15.3K Posts
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November 26th, 2006 01:00
Hi Dlyauger,
Sorry, Dell`s forum has been down most of the day and I worked around the house.
I read your post in the BIOS conference, hopefully Dale and /or Steve may see it soon.
You have done a great deal of trouble shooting, nice work if you do not mind me saying so.
I am not sure if you are wanting to "update" your BIOS or Clear the NVRAM (CMOS), which forces the system to redetect your hardware. I have information on Clearing the NVRAM for a number of Dell`s system, you will find it in Section 11, article 2 of the CD/RW link in my post. Unfortunately my friend, you never did list the Dell system you have, 8300, 8400, 9100, 4700, etc..... I would suggest you jump back over to your post in the BIOS conference and add this to your post. Our Regulars may have some additional information associated with the system.
Best Regards!
God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.
CD/RW Link
Message Edited by Predator on 11-25-200610:43 PM
Message Edited by Predator on 11-25-200611:26 PM
Predator
2 Intern
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15.3K Posts
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November 26th, 2006 02:00
Hi Dlyauger,
I had to edit my last reply, some bad typos in there !! :)
You had additional questions about the BIOS, so posting in the BIOS conference with as much information as possible was the best thing to do. Dale ~ Majestic & Steve ~ volcano11 are two of our best in this field, so again hopefully one of them will address your post there.
I do know Dell did release BIOS updates for some of their systems to address ATAPI detection issue so check back tomorrow and see what they have to offer.
Clearing the NVRAM will not roll your BIOS Versions back, this is basically what it does per Dell:
In the event of a hardware configuration change, it is occasionally necessary to Clear NVRAM to allow the system to correctly detect and identify the hardware changes.
Best Regards!
God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.
CD/RW Link
dlyauger
10 Posts
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November 26th, 2006 02:00
Thank you for the quick reply. I actually figured everyone was off for the weekend and hoped that I would have a response as early as Monday evening when I got home. I appreciate your complement as well, though I'd be lost without the guidance and advice all of you provide, so my thanks go out to you.
Sorry for the double-post. I wasn't sure how things work for everyone who responding to these posts and figured that there may be specialties.
As far as what I am trying to do with my BIOS...
I've had BIOS version A05, but today flashed A05 with an A07 upgrade. My hopes was that the newer BIOS version would allow me use that F9 function I read about in your CD/RW Link that would permit me to restore all settings back to factory defaults. Unfortunately, I found that is not the case. A05 and A07 look identical to me.
That pretty much exhausts all knowledge I have about BIOS, so from this point on I'm in unfamiliar territory. I am going to guess that I probably will want to clear the NVRAM (CMOS), so I'll read that section of your CD/RW Link and give it a shot.
Thank you also for the heads up on adding my model. I'll do that now.
Best regards,
dlyauger
dlyauger
10 Posts
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November 27th, 2006 00:00
I heard back from the guys in BIOS forum, but they said this falls in the CD/DVD Devices section and sent me back to you. I cleared the NVRAM in the manner that the BIOS guys recommended and rebooted, but no change in the problem I'm having with my DVD-RW. Everything else on my computer works like it should, just not the write capability of my drives.
Is there anything else you can think of I can try? Do you think this could possibly be a motherboard problem?
Thank you again for all of your guidance and advice.
Best regards,
dlyauger
dlyauger
10 Posts
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November 27th, 2006 02:00
The problem is FIXED!!! For your mental notes, I wanted to tell you what the problem ended up being.
I went to Dell's support section and ran the PC Checkup. It turned out that I was missing an update for Sonic DLA. Once that was installed, all worked fine. WHEW!!!
Thank you for all of your help.
Best regards,
dlyauger