Can a computer be so old that it...

Factory · 2008-04-30 02:16:14

Can a computer be so old that it:

mistakingly calls a dvd drive a cd drive in bios and refuse to read dvds? I can't seem to read dvds with my current drive on a PIII platform. Is it just that a dvd drive is too far ahead of the computer's time?

praka123 · 2008-04-30 02:53:00

may be some BIOS updates available,though old?

even better,may be u can try openbios(linuxbios)? ??

Last edited by praka123 (2008-04-30 03:02:09)

elliott · 2008-04-30 03:17:39

I had PII 400 Compaq with a DVD drive as my 3rd computer, it came that way. It is safe to say a PIII shouldn't have a problem.

Are you sure the drive is good? Sometimes just the DVD hardware dies and the CD part still functions.

Factory · 2008-04-30 03:26:14

Ah well, I'll have to try another dvd drive or something. Thanks for the replies

WHAT? · 2008-04-30 05:39:12

mistakingly calls a dvd drive a cd drive in bios and refuse to read dvds? I can't seem to read dvds with my current drive on a PIII platform. Is it just that a dvd drive is too far ahead of the computer's time?

It would not be uncommon for a p3 bios to not list dvd...this does not mean the dvd will not work on the machine, only that you can not boot from dvd. at least via this method. as suggested sometimes a bios update is possible, however it is not nessessary if you simply want to use the dvd drive for data read/write. playing commercial dvd movies would depend not so much on the bios but the speed, ram OS and player. in general a p3-650-256+ ram will read/write and play dvd..however hardware configuration can present some issues and more importantly the os configuration. some operating systems require you to add optical drives or dvd functionality during or after install. and my be listed in /etc/fstab or a configuration file for system drives. if this is not the case then you may need to check the drive. I usually do this on a system known to work well with dvd and go from there. That said

are you attempting to play a dvd movie? read a data dvd? what was the burn speed ?what is the dvd reader speed? what are you reading the files with ie program? have you mounted your dvd? has the dvd drive worked for you before? what is the computer spec?

answer to any of these questions will help others to help you solve your dvd query

in my experience playing a dvd movie on a p3 does not require mount, simple open a player and click dvd...for data mount the dvd and view files in file manager..

does that help at all

cheers

Last edited by WHAT? (2008-04-30 05:48:13)

Allan · 2008-04-30 05:47:12

Well, I had an old computer decide I only had a dvd writer was only a reader. It died a sad death not too long afterwards.... Sniff it was my first laptop

WHAT? · 2008-04-30 05:55:33

ya some of the laptop combo drives were problematic and some just live a good life and die taking a circle of plastic with them

Arch Linux

#1 2008-04-30 02:16:14

Can a computer be so old that it...

#2 2008-04-30 02:53:00

Re: Can a computer be so old that it...

#3 2008-04-30 03:17:39

Re: Can a computer be so old that it...

#4 2008-04-30 03:26:14

Re: Can a computer be so old that it...

#5 2008-04-30 05:39:12

Re: Can a computer be so old that it...

#6 2008-04-30 05:47:12

Re: Can a computer be so old that it...

#7 2008-04-30 05:55:33

Re: Can a computer be so old that it...

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