Can starforce kill a dvd-burner?

[joeboy]

@Kutusov

Funny you should say that, up until now I have kept my main PC starforce free. I have a fairly old game here I fancied playing, as it was old I thought no bother scanning for protection as it surely can't be starforce ..... bad decision!!! after starting the game for the first time up pops the message 'Please restart your pc so the copy-protection drivers can be installed!' arghhh starforce !!

Since installing that game more than 70% of discs I have burnt have contained bad sectors ........... coincidence??? dunno! there seems to be too many coincidences surrounding this. Could be the drive giving up, (it's just over a year old?) could be bad media although the media has come from 3 separate packs. I guess I should have tried uninstalling the drivers to see if that made a difference, but instead I have ordered a new drive.

Gets you wondering don't it?

[Kutusov]

Pyromancer, I tried to email you the tool but I have a crappy gmail account and just found out that they dont let me send .exe attachments Im surrounded by unfriendly technology, I want the Stone Age back!! Anyway, I hope that someone else can provide you with the tool, its just 35 kb


Joeboy, want another strange story? I used wireless keyboards for years and a couple of years ago they start dying on me. Seriously, my house must have been build on an ancient graveyard or something. But the computer wouldnt even boot because the bios is set to stop on all errors, including No keyboard present So I just went out, bought another one and the thing was all right for 5 or 6 months A month ago, another one stopped responding and I just couldnt take it anymore. I thought that maybe it had something to do with all he wireless stuff that I have surrounding me (internet signal, cell phones, ear phones,) so I just bought a corded one. Two days later, I fire the computer and No keyboard present! I had to go out so did nothing, I just left mad as hell. Got home, tried again and no problems! 2 days later the same thing but then I had to open the computer and unplug and replug everything. That worked, dont know why. But it seams it has something to do with the mobo. Bottom line is that my previous keyboards werent probably dead and I just send them to the garbage can. Maybe my drivers are having problems related to this same mysterious (to me) cause

[Nil Einne]

I would say rather then mucking around, just uninstall the drivers. It should take less then 20 minutes all up (depending on your computer restart speed and download speed).

Then try your thing. Hopefully if it will all be fine.

You can play the game still. It will need to install the drivers again so another 15 minutes depending on restart speed. (This will happen automatically when you try and play the game). Of course, you should try your thing before reinstalling the drivers.

I suspect you'll find it works fine once the Starforce drivers are gone. Starforce drivers as I've said before can completely ruin your system.

Of course, if it doesn't work fine, this doesn't mean for sure your drive is bust. I would either reinstall Windows or move it to another comp first. Also don't be fixed on the idea it was Starforce. It most likely is, but it could possibly be not Starforce so make sure you check the obvious like your IDE cable etc.

Finally, I highly doubt your DVD drive is Ultra DMA 5.. I've never heard of any that are. Most are generally UDMA2 becoz a faster interface speed doesn't help and makes things more complicated. It sounds to me like you are looking at your HD. Of course you should look at your HD as well but primarily you should look at the DVD drive. So make sure you are looking at the right controller and the right drive. Remember you need to look at the drive in WINDOWS not in the bios.

Cheers

[Kutusov]

I give up

Youre right about DMA, its 2 not 5, sorry. Ive taken starforce out and still no go. The driver only burns at a 2x speed with Nero. The speed setting is blocked, I cant even choose to burn at 1x if for some reason I might bang my head really hard against a wall or something. You know what? Im really, really tiered of all this problems and hardware failures that keep haunting me I need to upgrade my system and build a new one from scratch Thats it world I give up!! Its not starforce, its something else and its probably hardware related like my keyboard problems. Or even worst, I suspect that my electricity supply in this room is somehow unstable because I keep on getting burned lamps and the new ones somehow just gently flickers. In the past, along with the drivers and keyboards, Ive got a burned mobo (this one Im using that was fixed), a sound card and a graphic card (that really hurted, it was a radeon 9800pro in the times where that was the better and more expensive card available). So you see, there is just too many things going wrong and its like trying to patch a Suisse cheese. I might just as well eat it with a good red wine for company. Cheers and thanks for all!

[Nil Einne]

You should turn off the halt on keyboard errors if it is causing problems. Also, if you are using a USB keyboard, turn on the USB keyboard option in the bios. If your bios doesn't have one, then you may have problems using the keyboard until Windows boots up...

[Kutusov]

No, its not that... everything is set as you say, I even bought a usb to ps2 adapter but when the keyboard doesnt work, it doesnt work at all under windows or boot up. It was just one of those things, just one of those crazy things, lalala. Believe me, its hopeless. Oh btw, I mentioned this because some people say that starforce messes usb devices too

[Nil Einne]

Starforce may mess with USB devices since it must control USB optical drivers so it can do it's sinister stuff. But most of the time, I suspect it is highly unlikely to cause problems with USB keyboards (and mice). Mass storage devices maybe.

In any case, even if Starforce does mess with your USB keyboard or mouse it is impossible that it will cause any problems to your keyboard or mouse when not in Windows (i.e. on boot up, in bios etc). Unless it damages the keyboard or mouse which other then being highly unlike IMHO, you said was not the case since your keyboard was okay. It sounds like it's possibly a mobo problem. Do you have the latest bios? Make sure you turn off any overclocking and see if the problem reoccurs. Overclocking the FSB can be a problem with some older mobos because they don't properly lock the PCI bus or similar therefore USB etc can stop working.

Rereading your message again, it sounds like you need an AVR or maybe even UPS. Also, get a good PSU since a good PSU will be more tolerant of voltage fluctations. But don't ignore the AVR.

What country do you live in? If you live in a country where a high quality power supply is expected, you really should take this matter up with the electricity company. Well make sure it's not your home wiring causing problems.

In the case of your DVD burner, I find it very strange. Make sure again that you have the latest firmware for it. Also have you tried more then one media type? Some burners just don't have the necessary media codes and so will refuse to burn media at high speed even if the media is high speed compatible. The fact you can't select speed makes it sound to me like this is probably not a Starforce problem... What burner is it?

[Kutusov]

Hi,

Yes, its probably the mobo. I also dont believe that starforce is freaking my keyboards out.

Regarding the power. I live in Portugal so its not fluctuations in the source energy, its the wiring in the house which (and this I know for a fact) is crap. But in this room its seams worse than on any other part of the house. Or its just because in this room are more sensitive devices. I cant do anything about this since its not my house and I cant move to another part of it. I have 2 AVRs but no UPS. I also bought a good (and expensive) power supply thing for my rig, because these things should also filter power surges and stuff (at least that was what the guy from the store said.).

The burner. Its an LG 4040B and it has the latest firmware. I use only Verbatim or Memorex media (Memorex when verbatim is sold out) and until last week I never had a problem with them. And this burner burned many 16x DVDs before and for a long time. So why this all of a sudden? And it sure isnt starforce also, since I uninstalled the drivers like you said I should do. Oh, burned some photos a few minutes ago, the thing keeps locked at 2x.

I almost forgot I dont have any overclocking going on. The BIOS is pretty much the latest version. There is a new one that should only add improved onboard network but I dont use that. The version I use fully supports IDE channels and the burners Ive got. So, the mystery remains

[joeboy]

Have you tried a powered USB hub? maybe there is not enough available power to run all your USB devices.

I have an external hardrive & external DVD drive both of which were not working correctly, the DVD drive would gradually slow & quit halfway through installing games, the hardrive often could not be recognised, sometimes it worked other times it didn't. I connected a powered USB hub & all work without error now

[Kutusov]

Well, I dont have that many USB devices plugged in... Just keyboard, mouse and printer that is always turned off when I dont need it. I have a USB hub with an infrared and bluetooth receivers pluged in but the hub drains its power from the wall, not the computer. Also, my power supply is a 450w so it should be enough for the system Its feeding a mobo, 2 ATA HD, 2 burners, sound card, wireless network card and graphics card (6600gt AGP). And 3 memory blocks, dont know if that counts.

[Underheaven]

...

I don't think how many watts your power supply is matters, there's probably a limit on how much power your PC is ever going to send out over the USB cable. But I could be wrong.

[Kutusov]

Sure, but USB is not an issue here (I think), I dont have big hungry mouths sucking power there. BTW, I was thinking that the administrator of this thread is being very generous, this all thing is going way out of the subject of copy protection. Thanks to you all for keep sending your thoughts This is just like that part of Das Boot where the ship is getting water from every hole and nobody gives up to the idea that the boat is sunk, lol! Big cheers!

[X7z]

@Kutusov

Hi! Dude, i know what you mean about power surges, they're pretty common in Aveiro as well and the fault doesn't relly entirelly in the house's wiring. EDP has some fault in it has well, in a way such that they often pay for electrical damage to appliances.
Nevertheless a good UPS will solve your problem with power surges and won't cost you nearly as much as a new system!

Fica bem, abraзo

[Kutusov]

Tuga online!

Bem, um gajo tem de escrever ingl~es ou o gajo censura...

Despite EDP problems (that’s our national electricity company), our power supply is pretty good. I know the wiring in this house is pretty bad, some guy from Coimbra made it…. So, a UPS is a must have…. But I lack the money and motivation…. If everything goes right, I’ll be out of here in a couple of months. BTW, the Ria is one of the most beautiful landscapes in the all planet Hearth!!