CD Read Problems (SiS)

[Chandler]

My laptop is (and always has) giving me problems reading CD-R media.  First of all the following entries are created in the event log:

1) The device, \Device\Ide\IdePort1, did not respond within the timeout period.
2) The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort1.


Then there are lots of these errors:

An error was detected on device \Device\CdRom0 during a paging operation.


While this is happening the drive light is on constantly and the program using the file is unresponsive.  Does anyone have any idea what is causing this.  Is it just another problem with this PITA SIS630 chipset?

I've just checked in Device Manager and XP has downgraded the transfer speed for my DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive to PIO.

[Chandler]

I've got the DMA mode back to up to where it should be by uninstalling the Secondary IDE Channel from Device Manager and letting it redetect it.

But, it's going to happen again some time; it always does.  I thought the drive was at fault but why would a read error, cause a controller error.

BTW the discs work fine in my other computer and are brand new and free from scratches.

Update:  There is a BIOS update for my laptop, which if I remember correctly takes the UDMA mode for the hard drive from UDMA2 up to the correct UDMA6 mode.  Would it be worth trying it out?  The reason I'm reluctant to install it is that it messes up my product activation.