Tobold's Blog: Fixing a stuttering DVD drive

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Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Fixing a stuttering DVD drive

I'm on a business trip again, with only my trusty laptop accompanying me. There not being any good movie on the plane, I start watching a DVD on my laptop, but the image stutters and is choppy. Now in the hotel I find the time to fix it.

First I thought it was a physical defect on the disc or the drive, but using another disc has the same problem, and the drive doesn't look damaged at all. A Google search brings up a hit with a reference to "DMA mode", and that is a problem I had before, so I know what it is, and how to fix it. Basically its a peculiarity of Windows: Any IDE device can run either in slow (but safe) PIO mode, or in different levels of the much faster DMA mode. But every time Windows encounters a problem, it automatically switches the device one level lower. And you can't prevent that, or set the level back up. Once Windows arrives at PIO mode, the device is too slow for watching DVDs.

To fix it, you need to go to the Device Manager, select IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, select the secondary IDE channel (provided that this is the channel the DVD drive is on, which it should be), and fearlessly select uninstall. Then reboot the computer, at which point Windows will automatically reinstall the device. Then go to the Device Manager again, double-click on the secondary IDE channel, and in the Advanced Settings switch from "PIO only" to "DMA if available". Reboot again and the drive is fast again. Complicated, but works.
- posted by Tobold @ 2:19 AM Permanent Link

Comments:

Hey mate. I thought id make the effort to post here because you have just solved my problem. Thanks for this blog entry!!!!!! OMG its so nice to be able to play DVDs again. It was gettin annoying having to watch them at half speed!!!

# posted by

Anonymous : 15/11/06 02:16

hey there, what do u do if this doesnt work!!! i have the same problem you describe, but the solution that worked for u, doesnt for me!! ? :S xx

# posted by

Anonymous : 25/11/06 17:26

Thank you SO MUCH! This fixed my problem! I was freaking out so much, I thought I'd done irreparable damage to my computer. Phew!

# posted by

Anonymous : 9/12/06 03:09

Wow. Finally, the solution to my long-standing, seemingly irreparable problem. Worked like a charm. Thanks so much.

# posted by

Anonymous : 21/12/06 04:01

Well done my friend. Now I can watch adult videos without the girls looking like they have Parkinson's.

# posted by

Anonymous : 31/8/07 20:24

you are a genius - your method worked - I have no idea why the DMA/PIO problem suddenly arose in the first place though...

# posted by

Anonymous : 10/9/07 20:23

Here i am, another adoring fan with issues that you fixed! holy freaking crap ive been trying to fix this on and off for about 6 months, and your little method fixed it! im about ready to freaking cry with joy!!!!

# posted by

Anonymous : 9/10/07 11:24

Thank you! Googling computer problems always works.

# posted by

Anonymous : 30/12/07 02:13

Thanks alot. Worked like a charm.

# posted by

Anonymous : 7/1/08 17:11

FANTASTIC!!! THAT SO TOTALLY FIXED THE PROBLEM...I WAS GOING NUTSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING.
MORI

# posted by

Anonymous : 19/4/08 06:44

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I have been having this problem off and on since I bought my laptop and it has been troublesome since my laptop is my only means of a DVD player.

# posted by

Anonymous : 24/4/08 08:05

Fucking belter!! ta mate

# posted by

Anonymous : 24/5/08 18:54

Thanks for solving our problem!

# posted by

Anonymous : 10/8/08 00:26

Thank-you Thank-you Thank-you
Started to panic. It worked!!

# posted by

Anonymous : 27/9/08 02:33

WOW!!!!! Thanks so much!!! Fixed it like a charm!!!

# posted by

Anonymous : 15/10/08 20:36

Hi I have Vista and the stuttering problem, yet when I go into the device manager and then onto the suggested secton and pull up Advanced Settings, it dosent offer me the options of 'PIO only' to 'DMA if available?' it reads, 'Devices' then underneath it reads. 'ATADI CDRom Ultra DMA Mode 2.'
Under that it reads 'Device Properties' then a tick box that reads, 'Enable DMA.' So there is no 'PIO Only' option. Can anyone help? My DVD is stuttering like a git.
Thanks Adam.

# posted by

Anonymous : 26/10/08 11:16

Thanks. Solved my problem in XP.

# posted by

vas : 30/11/08 20:19

Well, I'll be jiggered, it works like a dream. Thanks so much for taking the time to post this. Looks like a bunch of us are eternally grateful. Jeannie

# posted by

Unknown : 14/12/08 20:46

great stuff, thanks a lot.

I recently replaced my DVD driver and suddenly I was getting a stuttering out of nowhere. followed your advice and now its working aces thanks

# posted by

Anonymous : 20/7/09 15:20

Well I'm impressed. You fixed my problem.

# posted by

Marie-Josée Broudehoux : 30/8/09 05:10

THANK YOU!!! My IT department didn't solve the problem, but Googling "stuttering DVD player" and finding your post did!

# posted by

Anonymous : 9/9/09 00:20

Thanks so much!! I didn't know what was going on with my Dvd player and this completely fixed it.

# posted by

Anonymous : 4/10/09 02:35

This is amazing!! I genuinely thought my DVD drive was dead, I'm really glad I googled 'stuttering dvd' before forking out for a new one. Thanks a lot dude.

# posted by

Anonymous : 9/10/09 18:11

OMG Cant believe it ! hahahaha!!!! Michael McIntyre here I come!! Amazing...thanks for your initial post!!!

# posted by

Anonymous : 27/11/09 23:50

Amazing! Thanks mate, been trying to fix the stuttering problem for a few days.

# posted by

Anonymous : 29/11/09 22:48

hi friend!
your solution worked for many, but didnt work for me and another blogger! can you suggest what may have gone wrong? what else can be done to fix it? it worked fine till about 2-weeks ago!'
thanks!

# posted by

Unknown : 10/2/10 09:35

Wow! My 14 year old Acer dvd drive developed a seemingly impossible to fix stutter, had no idea how to fix it thought it was toast and I find this site...your solution was ingenious and I thank you so much!

# posted by

Unknown : 18/7/20 05:29