Convert internal DVD drive to external?

tomzzi

Hi!

I need help. I have laptop Sony Vaio F. 3 months old. Its internal drive works ok but its slow at ripping audio cds. And some of them cant rip sucesfully at all. Stops at first track. CDs are in very good condition so its drive problem reading them correctly.

So i was reading alot on forums about converting internal DVD writer to external. Then i decide to buy new internal drive and converters IDE/SATA to USB 1.0/2.0...

Now i do have two internal dvd drives. One SATA and one IDE...
One is Liten-on ihas324 and other is Samsung SH-S222A.

I did buy LC Power EH-525B (SATA, IDE) external enclosure for CD/DVD/RW drives.

And i did got other converter from friend. Its ST Lab USB 2.0 to SATA/PATA converter/adaptor.

Where is problem?

Nothing work. I did try everything on my laptop (Win 7 64bit) and also on older HP laptop with XP.

Even did try to connect drives to my dads computer. Nothing works...
What is wrong?

Drive is recognized in device manager and is working. I do see drive in explorer...

So USB connection is working ok.

Problem is that drives does not read any cd/dvd. No audio cd, data cd, dvd or video dvd. Nothing.

And when i click on drive letter from my computer it eject tray and say that i should insert cd/dvd... Like its empty.
So drive have power, is recognized in device manager but does not read any of discs...

This happens on all computers, laptops and with both drives... And with both converters...

What should i do?

Here is screenshot of Samsung drive...



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mciahel

Hi,

this might be a stupid question: Have you also connected the power supply unit of these enclosures and adapters?

Michael

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tomzzi

Yes i did.
As i did say drives are recognized by OS but they dont work correctly. Does not recognize any disc.
And when i click on drive icon in my computer i do get warning that i should insert disc even if its allready in drive...

And sorry for my bad english.

tubebar

USB is slower then SATA or IDE so doesn't make sense to even do that for speed. The drive sounds like it's not working.

Does it work as internal? If there are problems as internal the drive maybe going bad. May sound like a silly question but why not just buy a new drive? They're fairly cheap.

_chef_

I suspect that the converter is the only problem in the chain...........

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tubebar

Very possible......can you test a second converter to see?

tomzzi

As i did write earlier i do have two converters...

LC Power and ST Lab. And drives are NEW. So they should work. I did test both. I did try many combinations.
Drives are recognized...

@tubebar

USB is slower yes. That is correct. But internal drive on my laptop is even slower when reading audio cds... Rip them very slow. And alot of cds cannot rip succesfully.
That is reason for converting internal drive to external...
Or it would be better to just buy external (slim) writer?

But as i allready did spend some money for internal drive and converters i would like to try to fix this first.

tubebar

Could it be a software problem? What CD Audio Ripper are you using and with what settings?

mciahel

This is indeed very strange. Two drives, two adapters, and no combination is working
Could you please post the techncal data of the power supply of these adapters?
Something like xxA@12V, yyA@5V. These power supplies should have at least 2A for 12V as well as 2A at 5V.

I wonder if these adapters have something in common and both have compatibility problems with the Mediatek chipsets of your drives.

Not for CD operation
Avoid external slim drives at all!
Perhaps there is a configuration problem with the Windows computers you have tried. Are there the same problems if you boot your computer from a Linux Live CD?

Michael

__________________
Mini-FAQ for Samsung DVD writers * HOWTO Flash Firmware of a Samsung (TSST) DVD writer
How to attach disc quality scans

tomzzi

@tubebar

No not software problem. Drives are recognized as i said. But they dont recognize any discs. Audi, data...
And i did tried on this on two laptops and one desktop pc. Two with Win7 and one with Win XP...

@mciahel

LC Power this specs:

12V - 2000mA
5V - 2000mA

So it should be ok.

And ST Lab have same specs...

I really dont know what to do now...

mciahel

Okay, thanks.

My only theory that is left is that both adapters use chipsets that don't work well with the chipsets of your optical drives. I remember having had similar problems with a Jmicron based USB/IDE/SATA adapter and a LG drive with Panasonic chipset.

That said, you need to find a way to determine the adapter's chipset.
Perhaps USBdeview does help. If VID and PID of both adapters match, then at least we have an indication...

Michael

__________________
Mini-FAQ for Samsung DVD writers * HOWTO Flash Firmware of a Samsung (TSST) DVD writer
How to attach disc quality scans

tomzzi

Thank you.
You mean VendorID & ProductID? Yes they match...

Edit:
and i tried Ubuntu live cd just to be sure that its not software problem...
Same story in Ubuntu too. Drive icon is there but i cant open it. Like its empty drive...

tomzzi

My mistake. I need to check again for PID and VID of both converters...

mciahel

Okay. Then this is a hardware problem for sure.

Michael

__________________
Mini-FAQ for Samsung DVD writers * HOWTO Flash Firmware of a Samsung (TSST) DVD writer
How to attach disc quality scans

tomzzi

Hi

I did check again with connected both converters and drives. And yes VID and PID do match if that helps...

So what else can i do? Does that means compatibility issue? What should i do? I do need this soon because i do have very big collection of cds (around 300) to rip...

tubebar

Personally (that's just me) I would just buy a new drive unless you want to keep playing "tech" with this. Sure you can find the problem but it can take hours to do that's may not be worth it.

Maybe someone else has some ideas but DVD writers are so cheap now it's not worth this hassle unless it's for special R&D (which this doesn't sound like it is).

mciahel

Okay. This would explain why there are the same issues with both drives and adapters.
Let me guess - these adapters do have a Jmicron chipset? Perhaps you can post VID and PID.

I think so. The most trouble-free solution would be buying a ready-to-run external drive. (For CD ripping, I like LG's GE20NU10 (or its Lightscribe sibling GE20LU10))
The other option would be to try many other adapters, but I suspect these Jmicron based adapters are most common. Or perhaps you can find an older IDE-only enclosure (or adapter) that has a Cypress or Genesys Logic chipset. For Sata drives, enclosures with NEC chipset should work.

Another idea: see if you can install these drives in another computer (internally) and make sure the latest firmware is applied.

These drives are recent!

Michael

__________________
Mini-FAQ for Samsung DVD writers * HOWTO Flash Firmware of a Samsung (TSST) DVD writer
How to attach disc quality scans

tubebar

Yes I know but he said they weren't working correctly (ripping to slow) so that's why he made it an external to speed it up, but that's where the trouble started.

If the drive isn't working properly as an internal, maybe it's the drive? If not then it could be a problem w/ the laptop it's self and internal or external won't improve it.

mciahel

From the initial post:Laptop. Internal drive (slim form factor). Lousy CD ripper.
That's why he wanted to use a half-height drive (made for desktops!) together with an USB/IDE/Sata adapter or enclosure hoping these do the job better (which they do indeed, normally).

Michael

__________________
Mini-FAQ for Samsung DVD writers * HOWTO Flash Firmware of a Samsung (TSST) DVD writer
How to attach disc quality scans

tubebar

Thank you for explaining that Michael, I understand now Though in the future we should leave the Hardware Expertise to you!

tomzzi

@mciahel

Thank you for all your help. You do help me alot. Anyway here is VID & PID for both:

ProductID: 2338
VendorID: 152d

Thank you for suggestion for external drive ( LG GE20NU10).
I did look at Scythe Kama Connect 2 or Kama Connect Plus but i am not sure about that...

Thank you for now... You do really help me alot at this.

mciahel

Hi,You're Welcome
Jmicron. Very widespread.
I own a Sharkoon drivelink with the same chipset, that works nicely with my old Pioneer DVR-112 drive - if there weren't this retarded geometry of the adapter which prevents proper insertion of the power plug

Here is a list of VID/PID of many USB storage devices and adapters: http://www.hdsentinel.com/usbharddisks.php

Apart from that, at least the Connect Plus does not look as if you could properly connect a P-ATA optical drive (similar to my drivelink thingy).

Michael

__________________
Mini-FAQ for Samsung DVD writers * HOWTO Flash Firmware of a Samsung (TSST) DVD writer
How to attach disc quality scans

tomzzi

I have one more question... As i dont know what chipset do Scythe Kama Connect 2 or Plus use i am not sure if i will buy it. Also cant try it anywhere too.

So i do have question about this LG drive. Is this external drive good for ripping audio cds? In secure mode? Because i will rip in secure mode to FLAC with either EAC, DBPoweramp or Media Center 15...

You did write that you like it for CD ripping... So its good choice for that?
I think i will buy it and sell both internal drives as they are new...

mciahel

Yes. I am very pleased with that drive for this purpose. It is also very fast with EAC in secure mode.
Make sure you get a GE20NU10 or GE20LU10. There are already newer GE20NUxx or GE20LUxx drives on the market, and I do not know if they are as good or worse.

Michael

__________________
Mini-FAQ for Samsung DVD writers * HOWTO Flash Firmware of a Samsung (TSST) DVD writer
How to attach disc quality scans