Journal of Useful Tips

How to fix CD / DVD drive stuck in PIO mode

Posted by Jon Moffet
July 5, 2006

I don’t know if any of you had this kind of problem, it surely annoy the hell out of me.

Symptom :

Everytime you use your DVD/CD the CPU usage shoot up close to 90.
Your CD/DVD burning session is longer than it should be.
The CD/DVD drive lights keep flashing like morse code signal

Usually this is caused by your CD/DVD drive is using PIO mode instead of DMA. Under normal circumstances, you can easily instruct Windows to use DMA when accessing CD/DVD drive whenever possible, but in rare cases windows will still use PIO mode even though you’ve changed the setting.

The cause

This is caused by Windows permanently disable DMA mode for your CD/DVD driver after encountering certain errors during data transfer operations (usually caused by reading bad CDs), and this has been pointed out in Microsoft WHDC page
Windows will automatically disable DMA mode for the particular CD/DVD drive permanently, because it believe that you hardware is failing, but this is not usually the case.

The Fix

You can easily fix that by deleting the affected IDE Channel in Windows Device Manager. To access it, right click on My Computer, choose properties, choose Hardware, click on Hardware Manager.

Then delete the Primary IDE Channel and Secondary IDE Channel, reboot your pc. Windows will reinstall the Primary IDE Channel and Secondary IDE Channel driver back after that.
And If everything turns out allright, you should be able to change your CD/DVD drive setting back to DMA mode in no time.

Tags: cdrom, dvd, dma, ide, cd burner, dvd burner, hardware, guides, tips, howto

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Information: July 5th, 2006; 16 Responses

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Categories: Computer; Windows

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Reader Comments

Comment Number:: 1
Written by:: jon moffet's weblog - frassle
Posted on:: July 1, 2006 at 7:43 am

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Comment Number:: 2
Written by:: Ma.gnolia Blog
Posted on:: July 4, 2006 at 5:07 pm

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Comment Number:: 3
Written by:: Netvouz - jonmoffet / cdrom
Posted on:: July 21, 2006 at 10:18 am

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Comment Number:: 4
Written by:: New HD copies real slow: PC Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
Posted on:: November 8, 2006 at 12:05 pm

[...] This article is referring to CD and DVD drives with the same problem, but the solution is similar to the one I used: http://tipvista.com/2006/07/how-to-fix-cd-dvd-drive-stuck-in-pio-mode/ [...]

Comment Number:: 5
Written by:: dvd ~stuck pio - Google Search
Posted on:: December 11, 2006 at 10:24 pm

[...] [...]

Comment Number:: 6
Written by:: slow burn time - Storage - PC Hardware - Whirlpool Broadband Forums
Posted on:: January 24, 2007 at 5:54 pm

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Comment Number:: 7
Written by:: Windows Vista DMA mode - Notebook Forums and Laptop Discussion
Posted on:: February 15, 2007 at 5:59 am

[...] Re: Windows Vista DMA mode Have you tried changing the new DVD burner to the master or is already it set as the master? It’s worth a shot anyways, let me know if that works. Try this link too http://tipvista.com/2006/07/how-to-f…k-in-pio-mode/ __________________ HP Pavilion dv6000t: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHZ, 15.4″ WXGA+ BrightView HD Widescreen, Nvidia Geforce Go 7400, HP Imprint Finish, Mic, Webcam, 2GB 667MHZ DDR2 SDRAM, Fujitsu 120GB 5400RPM HD, LightScribe D/L Super-Multi Drive, Intel Pro Wireless A/B/G+ Bluetooth, and Windows Vista Ultimate Edition. Rep Points are appreciated, if deserved [...]

Comment Number:: 8
Written by:: Vista DMA - The Hotfix Forums
Posted on:: October 21, 2007 at 4:01 am

[...] Sometimes after I watch a DVD or listen to music, DMA for my drive gets disabled permanetly. I already tried this fix: http://tipvista.com/2006/07/how-to-fix-cd-…uck-in-pio-modeBut it keeps disabling afterwards. All of the disc have no scratches/problems either. Is there a fix for this? Or does anyone else have this problem, Its hard to use a Media center PC like this (IMG:http://www.thehotfix.net/forums/style_emoticons/default/construction.gif) Thanks [...]

Comment Number:: 9
Written by:: Fix Dvd Drive Errors - Dogpile Web Search
Posted on:: November 3, 2007 at 8:11 pm

[...] NTLDR errors. pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/a/ntldrm… [Found on About] 19. Journal of Useful Tips - " How to fix CD / DVD drive stuck in PIO mode … for your CD/DVD driver after encountering certain errors during data transfer … [...]

Comment Number:: 10
Written by:: Windows Vista DMA mode
Posted on:: November 11, 2007 at 6:15 pm

[...] already it set as the master?It’s worth a shot anyways, let me know if that works.Try this link toohttp://tipvista.com/2006/07/how-to-f…k-in-pio-mode/ Answer: Re: Windows Vista DMA mode I’ve already done the second link, but I’ll try the [...]

Comment Number:: 11
Written by:: Vraana
Posted on:: November 25, 2007 at 4:48 am

Solution:
edit registry ResetErrorCountersOnSuccess=1 (KB817472)
IDE ATA and ATAPI disks use PIO mode after multiple time-out or CRC errors occur
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817472/en-us

and install hotfix
An IDE device runs in PIO mode instead of in DMA mode after you update the firmware for the device in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920918/en-us
download at
http://thehotfixshare.net

Comment Number:: 12
Written by:: No sound from DVD disc - Page 3 - PC World Forums
Posted on:: November 25, 2007 at 2:57 pm

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Comment Number:: 13
Written by:: ryan
Posted on:: December 6, 2007 at 11:24 am

thank you your tip was very usefull i was lazy i didnt want to reboot after uninstalling it i clicked scan for hardware changes and it found it again.

Comment Number:: 14
Written by:: Ca_libs? - Total War Center Forums
Posted on:: February 28, 2008 at 6:34 pm

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Written by:: Gigabyte DSQ-965p woes - TweakTown Forums
Posted on:: August 22, 2008 at 3:01 am

[...] have never had the issue so I have no direct knowledge on how to help in my own words >>>> Journal of Useful Tips - � How to fix CD / DVD drive stuck in PIO mode Troubleshooting: Enabling/Checking DMA in Windows Vista, XP, 2000, Me, 9x - Club CDFreaks - [...]