CDRW light flickers every one or two seconds

[tk149]

I installed a TEAC W58-E CDRW (Rebadged as a Cendyne) as a Master on IDE2. I have a DVDROM installed as the Slave.

The CDRW light flickers every one or two seconds. I'm not sure if it's a pattern of some sort, or just random. The light flickers whether or not other drives in the system are running. I don't think this occurred on the previous system (Celeron 400) that I had the CDRW in.

I think I may be smelling something burning after the computer has been on for awhile. Hard to tell between my poor sense of smell and the interesting scents the neighbors waft in. Anyway, I'm nervous about leaving it on for long.

AthlonXP 1800+
Soyo Dragon+
512MB PC2100
WinXP SP1

Help, please?

EDIT: I swapped the IDE cable. Still the same problem.

EDIT 2: Ok, this is weird. When I put a CD in the drive, after the CD is recognized, the light stops flickering.

EDIT 3: Changed CDRW to "Master" and DVD to "Slave"

 

[ianbergman]

does it work? I'd almost say that if it works, leave it be. I haven't heard of this behavior in a drive, but i can't imagine that even if it is something active like the laser going on and off that it'd be a serious problem...

 

[tk149]

The burner works fine. I just burned both CD audio and data file CDs. But, as I mentioned, the strange smell worries me. It might be burning plastic. I don't know.

 

[bruincal]

You didn't say what version of Windows you're using, but the reason that it blinks is because of Auto Insert Notification in Windows. Basically Windows keeps checking the drive every second or so to check if there is a CD in there. When you put a CD in there, Windows knows that there is a CD in there and no longer has to check for a CD until after the next eject.

To disable Auto Insert Notification in Win98, go to Control Panel, click on System, Devices tab, and find the Properties for your CDRW. Uncheck Auto Insert Notification, and reboot.

For Win2000 and WinXP, you can either edit the Group Policy (forgot how) just download TweakUI (from Microsoft, just do a search in Yahoo or Google) and it will allow you to disable Auto Insert Notification.


EDIT: Whoops, sorry, didn't read the part where you said you had WinXP .. so just either edit the Group Policy or download TweakUI.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: bruincal
You didn't say what version of Windows you're using, but the reason that it blinks is because of Auto Insert Notification in Windows. Basically Windows keeps checking the drive every second or so to check if there is a CD in there. When you put a CD in there, Windows knows that there is a CD in there and no longer has to check for a CD until after the next eject.

Thanks for replying. But why does this only happen with my CDRW and not my DVDROM?

I d/l'ed Powertoys TweakUI and disabled Autoplay on the CDRW, but the light still keeps flickering on. More help please?

 

[amdskip]

I really wouldn't get too worried about this. You should be fine.

 

[Afro000Dude]

I have the same drive, and it does the same thing. The really strange thing is that when the computer is idle, the blinking on the burner matches the blinking on the hard drive activity light on the case. It's been doing this since day one, so I don't even worry about it anymore.

 

[Zepper]

If you have SMART turned on in the BIOS, it also checks the drives every so oftten. That should almost always be disabled (ref. the BIOS FAQ on Adrian's Rojak Pot web site). And another piece of software that does this is MS Fastfind (comes with MS Word and office) - disable that too, it's a PITA!
.bh.

 

[neo4s]

About the burning smell, try taking the case off the computer, let it run and just feel around on the drive to see if it's getting hot. Some drives - especially cheap ones will run warm - but shouldnt get hot.

 

[TheCorm]

If you have SMART turned on in the BIOS, it also checks the drives every so oftten

I thought S.M.A.R.T was only for hard drives?

have the same drive, and it does the same thing

Hmm....maybe it's just confused and likes to blink with the hard drive like he says, could be the way they have designed it, I have seen CD-ROM drives where the light comes on when there is a CD in the drive and doesn't flicker for activity...Relisys DVD + CD-ROM drives.

the interesting scents the neighbors waft in

Oh? LOL.

Corm

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: neo4s
About the burning smell, try taking the case off the computer, let it run and just feel around on the drive to see if it's getting hot. Some drives - especially cheap ones will run warm - but shouldnt get hot.

I'll try this when I get home today, thanks. For all I know, the smell comes from the dust burning off the CPU heatsink. Time to blow it out.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: Zepper
If you have SMART turned on in the BIOS, it also checks the drives every so oftten. That should almost always be disabled (ref. the BIOS FAQ on Adrian's Rojak Pot web site). And another piece of software that does this is MS Fastfind (comes with MS Word and office) - disable that too, it's a PITA!
.bh.

Thanks for the link to Rojak's site (Cool BIOS guide!). I'll turn off SMART when I get home. I always make sure to custom install MS Office without Fastfind, so I know that's not the problem.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: Afro000Dude
I have the same drive, and it does the same thing. The really strange thing is that when the computer is idle, the blinking on the burner matches the blinking on the hard drive activity light on the case. It's been doing this since day one, so I don't even worry about it anymore.

The thing is...I previously had this CDRW installed on another computer, but I don't think the light flickered on all the time. On the other hand, I never used that computer much, so it's possible that I just never noticed it before. And before you ask: I can't swap the burner into the old computer right now, because the old computer is not functioning. Yet another project I need to work on.

 

[tennesota]

Originally posted by: tk149

Originally posted by: Zepper
If you have SMART turned on in the BIOS, it also checks the drives every so oftten. That should almost always be disabled (ref. the BIOS FAQ on Adrian's Rojak Pot web site). And another piece of software that does this is MS Fastfind (comes with MS Word and office) - disable that too, it's a PITA!
.bh.

Thanks for the link to Rojak's site (Cool BIOS guide!). I'll turn off SMART when I get home. I always make sure to custom install MS Office without Fastfind, so I know that's not the problem.

Another "Thanks for the link."

 

[lenjack]

I don't think it's autoinsert. I have it turned on, and don't have this "problem". A good solution would be to put the case on the floor under the desk, so youll never notice the light (sorry...I couldn't resist).

 

[Zepper]

lenjack et al.,
. It coud hardly be good for any CD burner to be spinning up so often for no good reason. I certainly wouldn't put up with it if it were my machine.
.bh.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: Zepper
lenjack et al.,
. It coud hardly be good for any CD burner to be spinning up so often for no good reason. I certainly wouldn't put up with it if it were my machine.
.bh.

I agree. I'm not worried about the burner itself. I only paid $20.00 for it. I'm more worried that it'll catch fire and fry my system and home and me. Plus it's darn annoying. I also don't really want to buy another burner to replace this one, and find I have the same problem.

 

[TheCorm]

Originally posted by: lenjack
I don't think it's autoinsert. I have it turned on, and don't have this "problem". A good solution would be to put the case on the floor under the desk, so youll never notice the light (sorry...I couldn't resist).

LOL....or stick bluetack over the light ...I actually have done this on my scanner power light, it sometimes stays on when the PC is off and it makes a huge green circle on the wall...cool....but annoying.

Is the drive actually making any noise when the light comes on?

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: TheCorm

Originally posted by: lenjack
I don't think it's autoinsert. I have it turned on, and don't have this "problem". A good solution would be to put the case on the floor under the desk, so youll never notice the light (sorry...I couldn't resist).

LOL....or stick bluetack over the light ...I actually have done this on my scanner power light, it sometimes stays on when the PC is off and it makes a huge green circle on the wall...cool....but annoying.

Is the drive actually making any noise when the light comes on?

Impossible to tell. I have a loud CPU Heatsink fan and loud case fans...not quite as loud as a vacuum cleaner, but close. Gotta keep it cool

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: Zepper
If you have SMART turned on in the BIOS, it also checks the drives every so oftten. That should almost always be disabled (ref. the BIOS FAQ on Adrian's Rojak Pot web site). And another piece of software that does this is MS Fastfind (comes with MS Word and office) - disable that too, it's a PITA!
.bh.

I turned off SMART. The CDRW light still flickers.

BTW, I checked the boot up, and the CDRW is configured as the Master with the DVDROM as the Slave.

 

[paddiwack]

Okay, here's a weird one I ran across one time that you can try.

Do you have Kazaa loaded? If you do, and you have file sharing enabled, check to see if the CD-ROM drive is shared. If it is, that's exactly the behavior you'll see. Drove me nuts on a friend's system till I ended up disabling all the software, one at a time, till I hit on KaZaa as the culprit.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: paddiwack
Okay, here's a weird one I ran across one time that you can try.

Do you have Kazaa loaded? If you do, and you have file sharing enabled, check to see if the CD-ROM drive is shared. If it is, that's exactly the behavior you'll see. Drove me nuts on a friend's system till I ended up disabling all the software, one at a time, till I hit on KaZaa as the culprit.

No, but thanks for trying. That's a weird one alright. I don't have any filesharing programs installed right now...that I know of.

Oh, and my latest AVG anti-virus scan didn't find anything either.

 

[paddiwack]

I'd try to figure out if it's hardware or software next, I guess. Power up the machine and hit "Pause" as soon as you can, so you freeze the system as early in the boot cycle as possible. Let it sit for a minute or so and check to see if the light is flashing. If it is, I'd guess it's a hardware issue.

If not, then there's software most likely at work, and the followup step would be to find out what software is doing it. Let it get through the POST and pause it again when it's getting close to loading the OS. Is it blinking yet? I'd be surprised if it was at this point because that would point to the BIOS being the culprit. Not saying it can't be, but I wouldn't have a clue as to what to suggest if it is.

If it's still working okay, boot to DOS however you have to, whether by hitting F8 or inserting a boot disk. After you're in DOS, is it flickering yet? Yes/no/maybe?

Next, if it still hasn't started to blink, boot to safe mode. Flickering?

No? Then use something like selective startup to disable different software loads till you come up with the culprit.

This is pretty much the sequence I used to diagnose the KaZaa problem. Good luck, hope it helps.