Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone out there would have a remedy to apply to my
LG
(GH22NP20) dvd burner. It's been working fine since I got it about 3
years ago,
Until yesterday, when I added a Lite-on DH-20A4P.

After burning a couple dvds with Lite-on burner, I tried reading them
with the LG burner, which worked fine at first, but on the 3rd one I
tried the LG wouldn't play it, though the Lite-on one still worked.

Then I tried to burn one with the LG burner and it made a coaster(you
can see on the disc where it stopped burning about a third of the way
through.

Using 'StartSmart' by Nero, the 'InfoTool' app still shows the LG as a
DVD-RAM drive, but the drive no longer will read DVDs, but will read
CDs still.

I have the original disc that came with the LG but apparently no
drivers on it. I tried deleting and re-detecting the drives in device
manager, to no avail...the Lite-on still works just fine, I
disconnected it to see if doing so I'd be able get the LG one going
again, but no luck so far.

the 'puter's an older P4 system with Ex-Pee on it - anyone got any
ideas?

TIA,
Mike

"When you have eliminated the impossible..."

I would repeat the removal/reinstallation, but reinstall only the LG, just
to be certain there isn't some weird interaction between them (which I
doubt).

This is probably a coincidental event. The LG's failure has nothing to do
with the installation or use of the Lite-On burner. You can confirm this by
installing the LG in another computer.

Some years back my computer's CD-ROM drive started acting crazy and
returning error messages. The firmware had apparently failed -- but not
enough to keep the drive from working altogether. Replacing the drive fixed
the problem.

"mike" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone out there would have a remedy to apply to my
LG
(GH22NP20) dvd burner. It's been working fine since I got it about 3
years ago,
Until yesterday, when I added a Lite-on DH-20A4P.
....

the 'puter's an older P4 system with Ex-Pee on it - anyone got any
ideas?

What type of IDE cable are you using for these drives?
The 40 conductor type or the 80 conductor type?
The connectors are the same.

Old Guy


TIA,
Mike

On Thu, 31 May 2012 05:29:06 -0700 (PDT), mike
wrote:

I'm wondering if anyone out there would have a remedy to apply to my
LG
(GH22NP20) dvd burner. It's been working fine since I got it about 3
years ago,
Until yesterday, when I added a Lite-on DH-20A4P.

Two issues, jumpers and cables. My guess(tm) is that you have both
drives jumpered identically for master or slave. That won't work. One
has to be master, and the other slave (or both on drive select).

I do not like to run two drives on the same IDE controller or same
ribbon cable. It really slows down copying DVD's, but is adequate for
any other purpose. With both drives on one cable, one drive acts as a
master, while the other acts as a slave. There are combinations of
drive manufacturers that just don't seem to get along. You may have
one of those. I've had good luck with LG burners in general. Not so
good luck with Lite-On. Try putting the drive that does the most
burning and gets the most use by itself on the secondary IDE
controller, and the other drive as a slave to the hard disk drive on
the primary.

Be VERY careful how you set the jumpers. One mistake in jumpering and
you'll scramble your hard disk drive. For the drive on the secondary
IDE, just set it for either Master or Drive Select. For the drive
sharing the cable with the hard disk, set the hard disk for master,
and the added drive to secondary. If that doesn't work, go shopping
for a pair of identical drives, which should cooperate.

If you don't want to risk scrambling the hard disk, both CD/DVD drives
on the secondary cable. Set the jumpers on both drives to drive
select, and let them argue among themselves as to who gets to play
master and slave.

There's some question as to whether to use 40 or 80 wire ribbon cable.
Some of the faster 16x and 24x DVD drives are fast enough that an 80
wire ribbon cable is required to get full speed. 16x is 22Mbits/sec.
40 wire yields 33Mbits/sec, while 80 wire is needed for UDMA 4 at
66Mbits/sec. 80 wire isn't really needed, but it does help and is
generally recommended.

Also, check for firmware updates.
http://www.firmwarehq.com/LG/GH22NP20/files.html (Don't install EW
if in the US).
http://www.firmwarehq.com/Lite-On/DH-20A4P/files.html


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On May 31, 8:43*am, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:

This is probably a coincidental event. The LG's failure has nothing to do
with the installation or use of the Lite-On burner. You can confirm this by
installing the LG in another computer.

There SHOULD be no relationship, but experience with LITE-ON and LG
drives leads me to think otherwise. I've killed 3 LG burners, and all
failed within a week of me attaching a LITE-ON burner for use as a
second drive. Either I've had bad luck with the LG drives, or LITE-ON
stuff kills LG stuff.

The LGs were models GH22NS50 and GH22LS50. They're almost identical
(the NS50 is an LS50 without LightScribe). All were purchased in 2009,
but were none were bought together.

I still have the LS50 in my main PC...It makes coasters, and only
reads CDs. It won't read DVDs, and will usually freeze the PC if one
is inserted. The PC then hangs while posting if rebooted, unless I
remove the DVD first. LightScribe doesn't work (freezes PC when I try
to burn the label).

When they failed, I tried reinstalling in device manager. Didn't help.
I moved them to another PC...same results. I tried a firmware update
on two of them. It succeeded both times, but didn't fix anything.

As for LITE-ON stuff, it's cheap, but it works. The LITE-ON burner
that seemingly killed the LGs is 5 years old and still works great
(it's my main drive now...) I also have a CD-RW drive from them that's
9.5 years old and has seen its fair share (hundreds) of burning
jobs...it still works as well.

On May 31, 8:43*am, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:
"When you have eliminated the impossible..."

I would repeat the removal/reinstallation, but reinstall only the LG, just
to be certain there isn't some weird interaction between them (which I
doubt).

No luck with that so far after several iterations - I think this is
how cables get worn out more than any other reason. (forgot to
mention, 80 conductor cables, and I always pretty much use the jumpers
set on CS these days)

I found a couple more odditys; when I try to hook it up alone on
secondary channel as slave the POST screen stalls with a message that
the drive is non-ATAPI compatible, and nothing else happens till I
take the drive back out. When I put it by itself on secondary as
master It's redetected ok as a dvd-ram etc, as normal, but still
doesn't play any of my dvd-r's - but it will still read a dvd-r of
music files that I have,
and will also play any store-bought dvd that i have. Also, using
Nero's Infotool, It will identify a home recorded dvd-r as such, so
I'm beginning to suspect some modification was made to my player - I
guess I'll try it in another machine but don't hold out much hope for
being able to use dvd-rs on it any more.

Some years back my computer's CD-ROM drive started acting crazy and
returning error messages. The firmware had apparently failed -- but not
enough to keep the drive from working altogether. Replacing the drive fixed
the problem.

Trying to avoid that, but it probably would 'fix' the problem.

Thanks,
Mike

On May 31, 11:09*am, "John Smith" wrote:

What type of IDE cable are you using for these drives?
The 40 conductor type or the 80 conductor type?
The connectors are the same.

Old Guy

Forgot to say, 80 conductor with jumpers set on cable select.

Thanks,
Mike

On May 31, 11:48*am, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Two issues, jumpers and cables. *My guess(tm) is that you have both
drives jumpered identically for master or slave. *That won't work. One
has to be master, and the other slave (or both on drive select).

Oops, forgot to mention, 80 conductor and suing jumpers set to CS - I
don't think I have any more 'puters that need any master/slave
settings.

I do not like to run two drives on the same IDE controller or same
ribbon cable. *It really slows down copying DVD's, but is adequate for
any other purpose. *With both drives on one cable, one drive acts as a
master, while the other acts as a slave. *There are combinations of
drive manufacturers that just don't seem to get along. *You may have
one of those.

It's good to review these things I've forgotten, but I don't think
that I've ever really done any optical drive to optical drive
recording; up until yesterday I'd been keeping a dvd burner and a cd
burner so the other burner can have a rest when I need to burn a CD -
but, picked up a secondhand dvd burner so's I'd have a spare, and
that's what I get for being prepared ...

I've had good luck with LG burners in general. *Not so
good luck with Lite-On. *Try putting the drive that does the most
burning and gets the most use by itself on the secondary IDE
controller, and the other drive as a slave to the hard disk drive on
the primary.

I Think that's what I'll do from now on. The LG burner has been best
drive I've seen as far as being able to read a dirty or scratched up
disk like they sometimes are from the local library

(snip some good stuff)

There's some question as to whether to use 40 or 80 wire ribbon cable.
Some of the faster 16x and 24x DVD drives are fast enough that an 80
wire ribbon cable is required to get full speed. *16x is 22Mbits/sec.
40 wire yields 33Mbits/sec, while 80 wire is needed for UDMA 4 at
66Mbits/sec. * 80 wire isn't really needed, but it does help and is
generally recommended.

I like the 80 wire ones, and try to keep myself supplied with plenty
from the local scrap yard or recyclers. Thanks for the specs on the
different speeds, can't seem to remember much of that kind of thing
any more.
Also, check for firmware updates.
http://www.firmwarehq.com/LG/GH22NP20/files.html *(Don't install EW
if in the US).
http://www.firmwarehq.com/Lite-On/DH-20A4P/files.html

Ah, excellent! I'll chek both of those out.

Thanks,
Mike

Jeff Lieberman's suggestion that you might have the jumpers set incorrectly
is a strong possibility. Check that, if you haven't already.

On May 31, 12:00*pm, nvic wrote:

There SHOULD be no relationship, but experience with LITE-ON and LG
drives leads me to think otherwise. I've killed 3 LG burners, and all
failed within a week of me attaching a LITE-ON burner for use as a
second drive. Either I've had bad luck with the LG drives, or LITE-ON
stuff kills LG stuff.

Interesting - it sure looks like either they interacted or I s'pose
possibbly there was some kind of code inside the LG one to cause it to
partially disable itself, either accidentally or on purpose, grrrr...

The LGs were models GH22NS50 and GH22LS50. They're almost identical
(the NS50 is an LS50 without LightScribe). All were purchased in 2009,
but were none were bought together.

I still have the LS50 in my main PC...It makes coasters, and only
reads CDs. It won't read DVDs, and will usually freeze the PC if one
is inserted. The PC then hangs while posting if rebooted, unless I
remove the DVD first. LightScribe doesn't work (freezes PC when I try
to burn the label).

Now that you mention it, I did have the drive refuse to install a
couple times

When they failed, I tried reinstalling in device manager. Didn't help.
I moved them to another PC...same results. I tried a firmware update
on two of them. It succeeded both times, but didn't fix anything.

Just curious, do the LG drives have CD abilities still?

As for LITE-ON stuff, it's cheap, but it works. The LITE-ON burner
that seemingly killed the LGs is 5 years old and still works great
(it's my main drive now...) I also have a CD-RW drive from them that's
9.5 years old and has seen its fair share (hundreds) of burning
jobs...it still works as well.

This is the 1st Lite-On I that I've had, seems to burn good; says
2007 on it.

Thanks for the info,

On May 31, 1:38*pm, mike wrote:
On May 31, 12:00*pm, nvic wrote:

I still have the LS50 in my main PC...It makes coasters, and only
reads CDs. It won't read DVDs, and will usually freeze the PC if one
is inserted. The PC then hangs while posting if rebooted, unless I
remove the DVD first. LightScribe doesn't work (freezes PC when I try
to burn the label).

Now that you mention it, I did have the drive refuse to install a
couple times

When they failed, I tried reinstalling in device manager. Didn't help.
I moved them to another PC...same results. I tried a firmware update
on two of them. It succeeded both times, but didn't fix anything.

Just curious, do the LG drives have CD abilities still?


Two of the three do. They only read CDs though, and won't burn
anything. The third refused to even read CDs, so I binned it a while
back.

On 5/31/2012 5:29 AM, mike wrote:
Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone out there would have a remedy to apply to my
LG
(GH22NP20) dvd burner. It's been working fine since I got it about 3
years ago,
Until yesterday, when I added a Lite-on DH-20A4P.

After burning a couple dvds with Lite-on burner, I tried reading them
with the LG burner, which worked fine at first, but on the 3rd one I
tried the LG wouldn't play it, though the Lite-on one still worked.

Then I tried to burn one with the LG burner and it made a coaster(you
can see on the disc where it stopped burning about a third of the way
through.

Using 'StartSmart' by Nero, the 'InfoTool' app still shows the LG as a
DVD-RAM drive, but the drive no longer will read DVDs, but will read
CDs still.

I have the original disc that came with the LG but apparently no
drivers on it. I tried deleting and re-detecting the drives in device
manager, to no avail...the Lite-on still works just fine, I
disconnected it to see if doing so I'd be able get the LG one going
again, but no luck so far.

the 'puter's an older P4 system with Ex-Pee on it - anyone got any
ideas?

TIA,
Mike
Did you take apart the drive and clean the lens? Sometimes stuff gets
stuck under the lens and blocks one led but not the other. I once found
a string of spider web across a lens that blocked one led but not the other.
Cleaner disc wouldn't dislodge it, but alcohol swab did.

Are you sure your discs are good? I've had new discs that developed an
invisible layer of stuff. Something about outgassing of plastic and the
paint on the other side. Wouldn't burn in SOME drives unless I cleaned
them with windex first.

If you lose the lubrication on the laser carriage slide, you can get some
weird symptoms. Taking the system apart and disturbing the dust
can push it over the edge. As can twisting it slightly by
torquing in another drive next to it.

You've eliminated the obvious stuff. I'd clean/lubricate the drive
then go back to the EXACT mechanical
and electrical conditions that worked.

Sometimes, stuff just breaks and it's coincidence.

nvic wrote:
On May 31, 1:38*pm, mike wrote:
On May 31, 12:00*pm, nvic wrote:

I still have the LS50 in my main PC...It makes coasters, and only
reads CDs. It won't read DVDs, and will usually freeze the PC if one
is inserted. The PC then hangs while posting if rebooted, unless I
remove the DVD first. LightScribe doesn't work (freezes PC when I try
to burn the label).

When they failed, I tried reinstalling in device manager. Didn't help..
I moved them to another PC...same results. I tried a firmware update
on two of them. It succeeded both times, but didn't fix anything.

Just curious, do the LG drives have CD abilities still?


Two of the three do. They only read CDs though, and won't burn
anything. The third refused to even read CDs, so I binned it a while
back.

I've got a couple former dvd burners that still work ok for reading
and buning CDs only - pretty much behave just like cd burner, they
were from either the scrapyard or the recyclers.

This is kind of strange, after lots of installing and reinstalling the
drive i originally posted about, though it still doesn't show as
having anything in it in windows Explorer when a dvd-r is inserted,
(it's reported as *dvd-ram drive* until disc is inserted, and then
shows as *cd-drive - no disc present*) it does still burn dvd-r's,
which it can't, afterwards, recognize - done 2 so far that play fine
on 2 other machines and the dvd player, so guess I'll see how well I
can get by with that for a while.

Thanks to all for all the good hints and tips, I'm still thinking
about trying to do a firmware update have to get read up on that
some 1st.

In article
,
mike wrote:

On May 31, 8:43*am, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:
"When you have eliminated the impossible..."

I would repeat the removal/reinstallation, but reinstall only the LG, just
to be certain there isn't some weird interaction between them (which I
doubt).

No luck with that so far after several iterations - I think this is
how cables get worn out more than any other reason. (forgot to
mention, 80 conductor cables, and I always pretty much use the jumpers
set on CS these days)

Which requires the controller to handle that -- which I'm pretty sure
some don't.

Isaac

On May 31, 5:02*pm, mike wrote:



Did you take apart the drive and clean the lens? *Sometimes stuff gets
stuck under the lens and blocks one led but not the other. *I once found
a string of spider web across a lens that blocked one led but not the other.
Cleaner disc wouldn't dislodge it, but alcohol swab did.

I've been inside many (non-working) optical drives, but I can't
recall thinking that I should be able to clean the opposite side of
the lense assembly - do you have to remove it from the sled to make it
accesible, or just use some kind of special improvised tools?

Are you sure your discs are good? *I've had new discs that developed an
invisible layer of stuff. *Something about outgassing of plastic and the
paint on the other side. *Wouldn't burn in SOME drives unless I cleaned
them with windex first.

I just bought another 100 on sale, I hope they're good; they're Sony
16x
and the first 4 I used were successful - then I started messing around
with both the drives sorta in random order and the problem started.

If you lose the lubrication on the laser carriage slide, you can get some
weird symptoms. *Taking the system apart and disturbing the dust
can push it over the edge. *As can twisting it slightly by
torquing in another drive next to it.

I did lube the rails and alcohol-wipe the lense on the Lite-On drive
before
installing it, haven't been inclined to 'break-in' to the LG one in
the 3 years I've had it, since it's always worked flawlessly.

You've eliminated the obvious stuff. *I'd clean/lubricate the drive
then go back to the EXACT mechanical
and electrical conditions that worked.

Sometimes, stuff just breaks and it's coincidence.

Or sometimes it's just crippled somewhat - sometimes it seems I run a
home for crippled discards.

Thanks for the ideas,
Mikel

On Jun 1, 12:48*am, isw wrote:
In article
,

*mike wrote:
On May 31, 8:43*am, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:
"When you have eliminated the impossible..."



Which requires the controller to handle that -- which I'm pretty sure
some don't.

Isaac

Hmm, I think I'm ready for a vacation from working on burners, when I
get back I may delve into performance differences due to various
jumper settings.

Thanks,
Mikel

On Thursday, May 31, 2012 5:29:06 AM UTC-7, mike wrote:
Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone out there would have a remedy to apply to my
LG
(GH22NP20) dvd burner. It's been working fine since I got it about 3
years ago,
Until yesterday, when I added a Lite-on DH-20A4P.

After burning a couple dvds with Lite-on burner, I tried reading them
with the LG burner, which worked fine at first, but on the 3rd one I
tried the LG wouldn't play it, though the Lite-on one still worked.

Then I tried to burn one with the LG burner and it made a coaster(you
can see on the disc where it stopped burning about a third of the way
through.

the 'puter's an older P4 system with Ex-Pee on it - anyone got any
ideas?

ASPI layer driver trouble?

http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/aspisetup.cfm

Are both optical drives on the same cable, and if so, are both set for CS (Cable Select)? What if you reverse the positions of the two drives?

I might try uninstalling both drives in the Device Manager and uninstall any third party UDMA driver software. Back in the Windows 98 days, when VIA was coming out with a new driver package every few weeks, one version of their UDMA driver would make file copying really slow, and I mean slower than floppy I/O, if both disk drives were on the same cable.

wrote:

Then I tried to burn one with the LG burner and it made a coaster(you
can see on the disc where it stopped burning about a third of the way
through.

the 'puter's an older P4 system with Ex-Pee on it - anyone got any
ideas?

ASPI layer driver trouble?

That looks like a good direction to look into some, thanks for the
link. At the moment I'm able to use the burner though it still
refuses to properly see dvd-r's that have video files on them - it
classifies them as dvd-r's with 0 bytes of capacity, yet it'll read a
dvd-r that has music files on it; and, it's buned 5 videos so far it
just can't read them when it's done, nor can it play them (though they
work ok in a dvd player).

I think to establish whether the prob lies with the drive, or the
software, I'll try putting it in another xp system and see what
happens there, rather than reload any app or aspi; also dragging my
feet on doing a firmware update, since they usually have dire warnings
that you may kill your piece of equipment...



http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/aspisetup.cfm

Are both optical drives on the same cable, and if so, are both set for CS (Cable Select)? What if you reverse the positions of the two drives?

Not any more, now I've got the LG on the secondary channel by itself
and put the Lite-On in another machine.
but for now I'm trying to get caught up on achiiving a bunch of video
files, if the drive will continue to work.

I might try uninstalling both drives in the Device Manager and uninstall any third party UDMA driver software. Back in the Windows 98 days, when VIA was coming out with a new driver package every few weeks, one version of their UDMA driver would make file copying really slow, and I mean slower than floppy I/O, if both disk drives were on the same cable.

One other symptom it shows when burning something in Nero is that the
speed for verifying the data after burning took a major hit, where as
it used to verify at speeds from3X up to about 8X, I had to quit
having it verify because it dropped down to 300 or so Kbits /sec. -
( it would record at its usual speed, though.

Thanks for the pointers,
Mike

On May 31, 11:48*am, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Also, check for firmware updates.
http://www.firmwarehq.com/LG/GH22NP20/files.html *(Don't install EW
if in the US).
http://www.firmwarehq.com/Lite-On/DH-20A4P/files.html

--
Jeff Liebermann * *
150 Felker St #D * *http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann * * AE6KS * *831-336-2558

A little bit of a followup, after trying a firmware update for the LG
GH22NP20 - the file executes in regular environment, and apparently
didn't screw anything up, and did make a few changes, but nothing like
gettring the drive back to normal. Main change is in how Nero start
smart reports the contents of the drive , now rather than saying a
dvd-r with video files on it has a capacity of 0 bytes, its reported
as a blank dvd-r of 4.38 Gb capacity. Hopefully it still records, but
I'm caught up on archiving at the moment so will test that later.
Guess there's not much point in putting this in a different machine to
see if it behaves differently, I feel like the drive itself is what
suffered any changes that occurred.

After trying a firmware update for the LG GH22NP20 ...
The file executes in regular environment, and apparently didn't
screw anything up, and did make a few changes, but nothing like
gettring the drive back to normal. ... Guess there's not much point
in putting this in a different machine to see if it behaves differently,
I feel like the drive itself is what suffered any changes that occurred.

As the firmware update presumably completely overwrites the original
firmware, you have disproved my theory that the firmware coincidentally
failed.

Nevertheless... You should still test the drive in another machine. That's
the only way to know "fer shur" where the problem lies.

On Jun 3, 4:01*pm, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:
After trying a firmware update for the LG GH22NP20 ...
The file executes in regular environment,

What I meant to say is the file executes in a normal *windows*
environment

and apparently didn't
screw anything up, and did make a few changes, but nothing like
gettring the drive back to normal. ... Guess there's not much point
in putting this in a different machine to see if it behaves differently,
I feel like the drive itself is what suffered any changes that occurred..

As the firmware update presumably completely overwrites the original
firmware, you have disproved my theory that the firmware coincidentally
failed.

Yeah, I guess whatever got changed is not gonna be recoverable, at
least not on the DIY level.

Nevertheless... You should still test the drive in another machine. That's
the only way to know "fer shur" where the problem lies.

Ok, just got through changing drives around and the LG behaves the
same on the different system, ie,
it plays dvd-rom discs but doesn't recognize dvd-r videos as
playable. I reinstalled the Lite-On drive in the systen the LG had
been in and it works as it did before, which is to say, normally in
all aspects, so I'm a little relieved that I don't have to try
repairing either the system or the burning software.

Once I try updating the firmware on a couple nonworking drives that
are lying around (BTW, thanks for that link Jeff) I guess I'll be
caught up on this problem.

On 05/31/12 12:29, mike wrote:
Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone out there would have a remedy to apply to my
LG
(GH22NP20) dvd burner. It's been working fine since I got it about 3
years ago,
Until yesterday, when I added a Lite-on DH-20A4P.

After burning a couple dvds with Lite-on burner, I tried reading them
with the LG burner, which worked fine at first, but on the 3rd one I
tried the LG wouldn't play it, though the Lite-on one still worked.

Then I tried to burn one with the LG burner and it made a coaster(you
can see on the disc where it stopped burning about a third of the way
through.

Using 'StartSmart' by Nero, the 'InfoTool' app still shows the LG as a
DVD-RAM drive, but the drive no longer will read DVDs, but will read
CDs still.

I have the original disc that came with the LG but apparently no
drivers on it. I tried deleting and re-detecting the drives in device
manager, to no avail...the Lite-on still works just fine, I
disconnected it to see if doing so I'd be able get the LG one going
again, but no luck so far.

the 'puter's an older P4 system with Ex-Pee on it - anyone got any
ideas?

TIA,
Mike

One of the burners should be set to "Master" and other one should be set
to "Slave", you 6 year old's ass licker.