My CD drive in my computer is a DVD Multi Player ( RW Combo ).

It plays Audio CD's, DVD's and records Audio CD's as well as data.

Just recently audio CD's have been playing back corrupted, it sounds like a bad copy of a CD that you sometimes get with CDR's.

IT still rip's into the computer fine and burn's cd's fine and if you play an audio cd through the DVD player software that's fine.

Everything else that's played through my soundcard is fine too.

It's just playing an actual audio CD that's faulty, I have also tried playing through both Musicmatch player and Microsoft media player.

Does anyone have any idea's?

rip them and listen to the mp3's?

Originally posted by some_boy
rip them and listen to the mp3's?

I just want everything to work as it should, smart arse!

Does anyone have any ideas?

There are some copy protection mechanisms that stop playback on a PC CDROM drive.

Have you tried it with an old CD?

If CDs that used to play back OK now don't it could be one of the codec programs is corrupted.

And as for fixing that.....no idea, I'm afraid. Media on my PC is a mystery to me as well!

Joe

What OS are you using (if XP, then you may have a DRM issue)?

Are you able to play an old original CD without problems?

Also, are you using "good quality" discs?

All rather obvious, but I thought I'd ask.

Have just had a Google and found the following on the M$ support site:

Taken from: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;811982#4

Troubleshooting CD audio playback

By default, CD audio playback is performed digitally. This may cause problems on older computers. Typical problems may include poor playback performance, stuttering audio, and unexpected computer lockups. These types of problems are typically caused by hardware resource conflicts. These conflicts typically occur because of the number of hardware devices that are accessed at the same time during digital playback.

Before troubleshooting CD audio playback, make sure that you can play other local media such as the .wav or .mid audio files that are located in the C:\WINDOWS\Media folder. If Media Player cannot successfully play other local media, troubleshoot that issue before you continue CD audio playback troubleshooting.


Scenarios
If you experience problems with CD audio playback, try several different audio CDs. If the problem CD is a CD-R or a CD-RW that was burned (to burn a CD means to create it by using a CD recorder), try to play a retail audio CD. The burned CD may not be fully compatible with your CD-ROM drive or may have an error.

If you still experience problems with digital playback, turn on error correction. To do this, on the Windows Media Player Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Devices tab. Click your CD-ROM drive, and then click Properties. Click to select the User error correction check box in the Playback area.

Poor-quality playback can be caused by dramatic changes to the default settings for SRS WOW Effects or for Equalizer. If you experience poor-quality playback, turn off both of these features. To turn off the audio effects, follow these steps:

1. Click Now Playing.
2. On the View menu, point to Enhancements, and then click Graphic Equalizer.
3. In the Enhancements pane, click Turn off.
4. On the View menu, point to Enhancements, and then click SRS Wow Effects.
5. In the Enhancements pane, click Turn off.

If the sound quality improves, turn these features back on but reset the features to the default settings before you make any additional changes to your settings.

Hardware resource conflicts can also cause problems with digital audio playback. Make sure that your hardware devices do not share interrupt request lines (IRQs). To view the IRQ settings, follow these steps:

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.
3. On the View menu, click Resources by type.
4. Expand Interrupt request (IRQ).

For example, if the integrated device electronics (IDE) controller that controls your CD-ROM drive (this is typically the Secondary IDE Channel, but it may also be the Primary IDE Channel) shares an IRQ with your audio driver, data cannot be moved as effectively between the two devices as it is if they each have a separate IRQ. This situation may result in poor playback performance.

If you do not want to use visualizations or other Media Player enhancements, work around digital audio playback problems by using analog playback. This places fewer demands on the computer hardware. To turn off the digital audio playback feature of the CD-ROM drive, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.
2. Click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.
3. Expand DVD/CD-ROM drives, right-click your CD-ROM drive, and then click Properties.
4. Click to clear the Enable digital CD audio for this CD-ROM device check box, and then click OK.
5. On the File menu, click Exit to close the Device Manager window.

Note Some CD-ROM devices do not support this feature.

Note For analog playback to work correctly, a cable inside the computer must connect the CD-ROM directly to the sound card. If no such cable is present, the CD appears to play but you cannot hear the audio.

Review
Remember the following points when you troubleshoot CD audio playback:

* Make sure that local playback works before you troubleshoot CD audio.
* Turn on error correction in Windows Media Player for your CD-ROM drive.
* Hardware resource conflicts can cause poor or no CD audio playback. Use Device Manager to identify hardware resource conflicts.
* Use analog playback if you do not want visualizations or enhancements.

Is this any use?

Thanks everyone with your thoughts.
Especially SCCSUX, tried all the ideas but still have the problem.

Just to clear up any confusion, I am talking about retail audio cd's that don't work when they use to.

I think Joe P maybe on to something as the problem occured after ripping 2 cd's which had a type of copy control on them, which I had'nt come across before.

If this is the case it's very frustrating as I buy all my cd's and only copy them for my I Pod or personal compilations.

I have strong feelings on ilegal copying and the original is the best hard copy for back up anyway.

Does anyone know anything about codec programs?

P.s. I am using XP home edition.

Is this any use:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/23/beastie_boy_cd_virus/

I know a but about codecs, what do you need to know?

It may be worth getting hold of an old CD-ROM drive. It will most likely let you play the disc as the new copy-protection mechanisms can't affect them (generally). This also applies to ripping copy-controlled CD's - 10 year old CD drives are most likely to be unaffected by the copy-control stuff and will allow you to rip quite happily (albeit slowly and in dodgy legal territory (in the UK)).

I have a 1992 vintage drive that has come in handy now and then! Nothing annoys me more when I pay good money for a legal disc and then can't listen to it in the way I choose. To be fair though, I complained about one to EMI and they mailed me back offering to change it - by that time though I had 'achieved' what I needed to with the disc and didn't get it changed.

If the disc bears the Compact Disc Digital Audio logo and so does your drive and the disc won't play, you can demand an exchange/refund - the disc is not complying to standards it claims to. If it doesn't actually display the logo (which a lot aren't these days) then it is most likely to be copy controlled - hence your probs.

Originally posted by hotphil
It may be worth getting hold of an old CD-ROM drive. It will most likely let you play the disc as the new copy-protection mechanisms can't affect them (generally). This also applies to ripping copy-controlled CD's - 10 year old CD drives are most likely to be unaffected by the copy-control stuff and will allow you to rip quite happily (albeit slowly and in dodgy legal territory (in the UK)).

I have a 1992 vintage drive that has come in handy now and then! Nothing annoys me more when I pay good money for a legal disc and then can't listen to it in the way I choose. To be fair though, I complained about one to EMI and they mailed me back offering to change it - by that time though I had 'achieved' what I needed to with the disc and didn't get it changed.

If the disc bears the Compact Disc Digital Audio logo and so does your drive and the disc won't play, you can demand an exchange/refund - the disc is not complying to standards it claims to. If it doesn't actually display the logo (which a lot aren't these days) then it is most likely to be copy controlled - hence your probs.

Many thanks for your ideas, but I'm not having any trouble ripping, burning or playing dvd's.
It's playing audio cd's, including retail cd's.

They play fine everywhere else, Hi Fi's ect...but not in my computers cd drive, which was quite expensive and only just over a year old.

They did use to play up to a week ago.

Keep your thoughts coming in though, I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of it?:thumbsup:

Originally posted by alchresearch
Is this any use:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/23/beastie_boy_cd_virus/

I know a but about codecs, what do you need to know?

Thank's again, but it's nothing to do with the Beastie Boy's virus.
I actually purchased this cd, played and ripped it about a month ago with no problems.

Don't know what I want to find out about codecs, it was something JoeP mentioned in his above reply.

Cheers.

Originally posted by Modesty
Don't know what I want to find out about codecs, it was something JoeP mentioned in his above reply.

Cheers.

I personally can't see it being a codec issue (Windows is able to play CDA natively).

However, just in case, you could try the Nimo Codec pack (if you haven't already) available from http://nimo.titanesk.com/modules/freecontent/index.php?id=1 (this is the latest and last version) ;-)

Also, you could also try upgrading your ASPI drivers for CD ROM access, (http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/support/drivers_by_product.jsp?cat=%2FProduct%2FASPI-4.70)

If the above fails to sort out the problem, then it is more than likely to be a copy protection (what ripping/burning SW are you using BTW?) issue.

Going slightly off topic here but I cannot understand the point of these copyright protection codecs when they are so easy to get around. Hook up a cd player into your audio line in and record the cd, tape or record player.
I have put most of my vinyl into my mac doing this.

Copy protection is a joke. The program "Alcohol 120%" can take a image of a CD which can then be ripped to MP3.

The only people that copy protection hurts are legitimate buyers who want to play their CD in the car or on the computer.

And, of course, the record companies because you could theoretically rip it and take it back saying that it doesn't work and get a refund!

Anyway, putting this back on topic: Modesty, do you have any spare hard drive space?

What I'm thinking is that you partition your hard drive and install windows onto that new partition. A fresh install would then tell if the audio CD will play. If it does then you know something software related has corrupted the audio playing facillity.

Originally posted by alchresearch

A fresh install would then tell if the audio CD will play. If it does then you know something software related has corrupted the audio playing facillity.

If the Adaptec SW linked to in my above post doesn't fix this problem, the a fresh install won't either (M$ licensed SW from adaptec for inclusion with all Win distros).
All you'd be doing is putting an old version of ASPI on.....


To Modesty:

Actually, thinking about it, have you updated WMP recently (SP2??) as this may have installed a recent ASPI driver, in which case you could try an older version of the ASPI drivers??

I really don't know where you'll find them though..

Originally posted by sccsux
If the Adaptec SW linked to in my above post doesn't fix this problem, the a fresh install won't either (M$ licensed SW from adaptec for inclusion with all Win distros).
All you'd be doing is putting an old version of ASPI on.....



Why? Modesty has said that all was fine until about a week ago.

Originally posted by alchresearch
Why? Modesty has said that all was fine until about a week ago.

Which is why my post continued.....


Originally continued by Me
Actually, thinking about it, have you updated WMP recently (SP2??) as this may have installed a recent ASPI driver, in which case you could try an older version of the ASPI drivers??

Which was, in a roundabout way, agreeing with your comments, but without the need for repartitioning, reinstalling etc.

Call it public self correction if you wish ;-)