# Solved: Problem playing audio cd's on laptop



## raffikki (Apr 30, 2005)

I have just started having problems playing audio cds on my laptop.  

All the music I have on the laptop plays fine, but when I put a disk in the CD Drive it sounds scratched and skips alot  

I have played the discs on an old pc and also in my car and they sound perfect.

Is it possible that something has come loose?
I am hoping someone here will be able to walk me through fixing it myself.


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## TRS-80 vet (Jun 18, 2005)

raffikki said:


> I have just started having problems playing audio cds on my laptop.
> 
> All the music I have on the laptop plays fine, but when I put a disk in the CD Drive it sounds scratched and skips alot
> 
> ...


Are they your burns, or are they studio-recorded CD's?
Put in a studio recorded CD, and give a listen.
Do you have any problems with DVD's playing in the laptop?
Either way, get some car wax on the CD's, and buff well. The laser oftentimes will read better a 'hazy' CD that gets a wax film.


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## raffikki (Apr 30, 2005)

Hi TRS-80 vet 
They were ripped CDs, but I just tried a bought one and the same thing happened, it sounded as though it was playing in an old tape deck and the batteries were going flat...lol  

I put in a DVD, it seemed to take ages to read it,after about 5 minutes the auto play window popped up and I selected WinDVD, waited another 5 minutes or so, but it never played  
I tried again this time opening "My computer" and right clicking on "D Drive" and selecting Play. It still took ages to recognize there was a dvd in there and once Windows Media Player opened nothing seemed to happen. It was reading it I guess, the light on the tray was flashing and I could here it turning/reading it. After more than 5 minutes I gave up  :down: 

Just yesterday, when I discovered the problem, I was playing cds that I'd made with Windows Movie Maker, with pictures and sound. These are read perfectly, but the sound is still funny on them.


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## raffikki (Apr 30, 2005)

I have been searching threads and found one similar where the poster couldn't play DVD's.
It was suggested that they go here: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/XP_Codec_Pack.htm

I went there and dowloaded *XP Codec Pack 2.0.6*
After installing it I tried one of the cd's that I was having problems with and the sound was much better, except for when the CD Drive was turnig, it got a little hiccupy 

I then trierd to play a DVD in WMP and got the popup I have attatched.

I clicked "Web Help" (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/webhelp/default.aspx?&mpver=11.0.5721.5145&id=C00D1163&contextid=61&originalid=C00D1163)
and then went to Windows Update, there was nothing there. 
I clicked on "Plugins for Windows Media Player"
(http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=4246
I downloaded the "Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility" and got the popup that I've also attatched.

Can someone please help me from here


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## raffikki (Apr 30, 2005)

Can someone please tell me how to update the driver for my video card


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## TRS-80 vet (Jun 18, 2005)

start/rt click my computer/properties/hardware/device manager/'+' next to 'display adapter/rt click/update driver


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## vicks (Jan 31, 2005)

Have you tried using a cd cleaner cd in the player? It might help ....
also if you are needing new drivers for the audio card check the mfg. site or you can go to www.driverguide.com and download new drivers for it... You must register but it is free to download there.
Vicks


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## raffikki (Apr 30, 2005)

Thank you both for replying.
I tried to update the driver, but it said there was no update available.

I have taken in both of your suggestions
1. The wax
2. CD cleaner
Both I shall try as soon as possible.

I've been using the windows help and it's got me looking in the device manager.
I've been looking for devices that are listed twice and found ide ata/atapi controllers 
(3 of them) that are all listed twice
I've attached a pic of them.

I searched here at techguy and found a number of posts where these have been a problem  
Could it be mine as well?

It was only a few weeks ago that disks played perfectly 

Thanks for your patience.

Edited to add:
I'm looking at the site you suggested vicks,
how do I know what to download?


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## TRS-80 vet (Jun 18, 2005)

Here's a diagnostic flow chart for the drive. Print it out, and scratch off as you go...

http://www.fonerbooks.com/ide_cd.htm


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## raffikki (Apr 30, 2005)

Thanks for that TRS-80 vet  

I wll check that now!


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

raffikki said:


> I wll check that now!


If you still can not find the problem, check to see if your drive is in PIO mode as described here ...

http://www.michna.com/kb/WxDMA.htm


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## raffikki (Apr 30, 2005)

Hi cwwozniak
I had a look at your link  
Very complicated, or that may just be me getting confused...lol
I had a look at


> Check Your IDE Port Mode
> 
> First check what mode your secondary IDE port is currently working in. Go to Device Manager: right-click on My Computer, select Properties, click on the Hardware tag, click on the Device Manager button, click on the plus sign to the left of IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller, double-click on the secondary IDE channel, click on Extended Settings and check whether it is set to DMA when available. Directly underneath that setting is a grey field that shows the actual working mode of your IDE channel. You want the highest possible DMA or Ultra DMA mode there, and you definitely don't want PIO mode.


and the transfer mode *was* set to PIO Only, I changed that to DMA if available. 
Then I had a look at little further down the page and saw this:


> Alternative MethodUninstalling the Port
> 1. Uninstall the secondary IDE port
> 
> To do that, open Device Manager as follows. Right-click on My Computer, select Properties, click on the Hardware tag, click on the Device Manager button, click on the plus sign to the left of IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller, right-click on Secondary IDE Channel, click on Uninstall. Deactivating is not enough.
> ...


Should I do that too  
After changing what i did, I haven't yet rebooted, but the disks audio is still scratchy/choppy


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## raffikki (Apr 30, 2005)

^ bump ^


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## cwwozniak (Nov 29, 2005)

raffikki said:


> Should I do that too


I can not say for sure one way or the other. I had the problem on a desktop PC and just changing the settings in Device Manager worked for me. I do notice that I get a little bit choppy playback of both music files on my hard drive and music CDs when I have other applications running. I notice this mostly when opening a large web page in my browser or my e-mail software contacts servers to get new messages.


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## MysticEyes (Mar 30, 2002)

raffikki said:


> Hi cwwozniak
> I had a look at your link
> Very complicated, or that may just be me getting confused...lol
> I had a look at
> ...





> Reboot to make the changes active and permanent.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Did you recheck the status and make sure that the mode didn't revert to PIO again?

You might try the remedies here again: http://www.michna.com/kb/WxDMA.htm


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## raffikki (Apr 30, 2005)

Hi cwwozniak, MysticEyes and JohnWill 

I rebooted and checked the status and it says: 
Transfer Mode: DMA if available 
and 
Current Transfer Mode: PIO Mode
(I've attatched a pic)

Thanks for the link JohnWill, I have had another look there (cwwozniak also posted the link).
Some of it really confuses me, like 


> Re-enable DMA using the Registry Editor
> 
> 
> Run REGEDIT. Go to the following key:
> ...


I *think* that maybe uninstalling the port would possibly be easier for a beginner like me, 


> Alternative MethodUninstalling the Port
> 1. Uninstall the secondary IDE port
> 
> To do that, open Device Manager as follows. Right-click on My Computer, select Properties, click on the Hardware tag, click on the Device Manager button, click on the plus sign to the left of IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller, right-click on Secondary IDE Channel, click on Uninstall. Deactivating is not enough.
> ...


*but* I have a problem with that because there are *2 Secondary IDE Channel's*  
Do I uninstall both


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

You can try uninstalling ALL the devices under IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers and then rebooting. If one asks if you want to reboot before you're done, say not and continue to uninstall the others. Reboot when you've at least attempted to uninstall all of them.


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## raffikki (Apr 30, 2005)

Thanks JohnWill


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## raffikki (Apr 30, 2005)

Hello again  

I finally got around to uninstalling ALL the devices under IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers rebooted, the new hardware was found and I rebooted again. 
Checked the status and made sure that the mode didn't revert to PIO again (now it says Ultra DMA Mode 2 :up: )
I tried a couple of different disk and they all worked perfectly :up:  

Thank you for all your advice


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