Ultimate Edition Forum

We are talking circa 2000 dvd rom drives pal(those are the ones you get for 5 bucks). lol,pch
p.s.I'm never wrong!!

pch.shot wrote:We are talking circa 2000 dvd rom drives pal(those are the ones you get for 5 bucks). lol,pch
p.s.I'm never wrong!!

You're never wrong, that's true, but this time you are incorrect. I remember having my a-- pulled out of the flames when Gutsy was first released by using a Compaq DVD-ROM drive from my very first PC ever (circa the late '90's (I rarely toss out major components/parts) when my super-duper and ultra sexy Plextor DVD-burner wouldn't boot, or even recognize, the LiveCD. The old Compaq DVD-ROM came to the rescue and installed Gutsy just fine. As would the $20 Sony drive I replaced my beloved Plextor drive with after swallowing THAT bitter little pill. For some reason, neither Gutsy nor Hardy seem to like that Plextor drive. It now resides in the GF's computer.






/P.S. You do know that a DVD-RW drive will burn CD's too, right?

That's funny because the one I bought for 5 bucks will only read dvds not cds. You must have a very special one. Maybe the only one of it's kind!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD
http://www.slysoft.com/en/why-can-my-ca ... 0.440.html

Nothing in your Wikipedia link indicates you can't use a standard CD in a DVD-ROM drive.

Geek.com however clearly states:

Geek dot com wrote:DVD-ROM drives can read CD-ROM disks, so if you have a DVD-ROM drive, you don’t need an extra CD-ROM drive.

And Baisc Hardware dot com agrees (despite some typographical errors, I think their intent is clear):

Basic Hardware wrote:DVDs look about the same and are the same size as a CD-ROM. DVD drives can also read CD-ROM drives, so you don't usually need a separate CD-ROM drive. DVD drives have become low enough inprice that there isn't much point in purchasing a CD-ROM drive instead of a DVD-ROM drive.

I may be special, but I'm not that special, and neither is my old DVD-ROM.

Actually I do believe that pch.shot is correct (to a degree). Obviously, now a days you can not find one if you try, or at least "not if I try", but - when DVD-ROM drives first came out they only read DVD's and not CD's. This is because the two different discs have different 'path' sizes (this is entirely due to the laser that was used to burn the data to the disc) that are read/written. CD's have a wider path and DVD's have a narrower path. The DVD-ROM drives of old did not and could not read CD's. As a matter of fact, My brother happened to purchase a Compaq in that era and it came with one "CD" reader/writer drive and one "DVD" drive (read only - they didn't even have a writer for computers yet). Now enter Blu-Ray discs: A laser with such precision that we can now cram about 25GB of info on one disc!!! WHOO HOO!!!! Talk about a removable media! This is of course bringing us to the real cool thing now where one laser can now be 'adjusted' to read/ write in multiple formats.

So- you are both correct:
pch.shot is right that DVD drives came out that could only read DVD's
Baph (OMG- somebody slap me silly) is right, that you would be hard pressed to find one of these old relics any more.

(just f'n with ya Mr. Baph, I know you can be right sometimes .... its just that its such a freak'n miracle when it happens, that I have to slap myself around a few times to make sure I'm not dreaming ... lol )

DaddyX3 wrote:Actually I do believe that pch.shot is correct (to a degree).

I think it's far more likely that Mr. pch.shot's optical drive was, dare I say it? ... "Shot". I've lost count of the number of optical drives I've handled that have lost the ability to read one type of media or the other. If the LASER of the DVD-ROM is narrower (which it is (by an order of magnitude)) what exactly prevents it from reading the larger CD format? I'll tell you what... Nothing.

Sorry gents, but I'll believe in DVD-ROMS that don't read the CD format (per spec!), when I see one.

Maybe this link will help the knowledgeable as well as the "un" http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/Dummies ... DWARE.html

I think the operative word here is play cds as in your favourite hanna montana pre-recorded cds. The reason a lot of older players will not play audio cds is the copywrite protection on the disc itself. Once pcs became more common in the 90's the recording industry decided to try and protect itself against piracy. That's why you can't just make a copy of a disc. You have to rip it first then make a copy. Open up any music cd and all you see are reference files Track01, Track02 etc.These are not the actual wave files just reference files similar to asx files on the internet. I hope this clarifies this. Of course DVD rom drives are compatible with data cds. That was the whole point when they were developed in the late 90's.
Now that we all have the person confused and bored who originally posted this thread, does anyone have an intelligent solution to his problem? lol,pch

pch.shot wrote:I think the operative word here is play cds as in your favourite hanna montana pre-recorded cds. The reason a lot of older players will not play audio cds is the copywrite protection on the disc itself.

NOW we may be getting somewhere. Not being able to get a particular compact disc of music to play on your computer via your CD-ROM drive is, in my opinion, orders (plural!) of magnitude away from saying,"Some DVD-ROM drives can't read compact discs," and no, that is NOT "splitting hairs" either... That's a whoooole 'nuther set of issues. Not the least of which is the DRM-thing, which has nothing to do with optical media specs, the drives themselves, or cross compatibility of formats.

Now then... With all THAT aside, I still go back to my original suggestion of the 80-wire/40-pin connector cable. I know it sounds off the wall, but damn if it didn't solve my problem with my DVD drive (which also happens to both read and write to CD's).

OK, seems my memory is a little fuzzy. I just found out that the very first DVD Player ever (the Toshiba SD-300) played CD's as well as DVD's. Thats what I get for opening my mouth I think that my brothers computer that I spoke about was actually just one of those "stupid design" type things. You know .... why a CD and DVD if they made DVD players that could read CD's? Maybe cause they couldn't rip CD's when they were new? Oh well, sorry for the faulty hardware on top of my shoulders

As for the cure all for the original posters question ....
a) re-install
b) install to different computer


Did I mention that I love eating crow? It is some very yummy, tasty stuff..... mmmmmm.... love it!