Won't detect my DVD
I purchased Season one a few months ago, but because of things going on, I took a break from gaming. I moved out of where I was living and had broadband. I'm now stuck on dialup and more or less game-less.
But then the Season one DVD showed up and I was overjoyed, because I'd forgotten I'd even ordered it. I installed it and jumped back to where I was in the story, Episode 4. But it won't detect the disc!
No matter what I try, it just doesn't read the DVD. I get a popup error telling me the disc is not inserted and it absolutely is. It's driving me up the wall. I've tried to search the forum but it's painfully slow on dialup and haven't found anything yet. Does anyone have any ideas?
But then the Season one DVD showed up and I was overjoyed, because I'd forgotten I'd even ordered it. I installed it and jumped back to where I was in the story, Episode 4. But it won't detect the disc!
No matter what I try, it just doesn't read the DVD. I get a popup error telling me the disc is not inserted and it absolutely is. It's driving me up the wall. I've tried to search the forum but it's painfully slow on dialup and haven't found anything yet. Does anyone have any ideas?
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Also, this is probably a dumb question, but your computer does have a DVD-ROM drive, right?
It installed the games fine, and I actually played some of episode 3 from this install, because I wanted to be refreshed. It was having problems with that one too, it would work half the time. But now I literally can't play any of them at all.
EDIT: And yes, it is a dvd drive.
EDIT 2: If there's any doubt about the validity of my copy here ya go!
I went into device manager, and opened the settings for IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, and I changed the transfer mode. Works for now, at least.
I bought the retail package and the game disk would show no files. The bonus disk, however, did work.
I tried changing my devices over to PIO from DMA and that did not work. I am using a Plextor PX-740A drive.
I took the disk over to my linux machine and behold, there was the data. I used the linux box to copy the disk onto a CD-R. I took the CD-R back to the computer and it installed like a champ.
Hopefully this will help someone out there. This is the first time I have ever had a commercial disk do this. Very odd.
I have the exact same drive as this, and I have the exact same problem. No files show up.
I put the CD in another Windows PC and mapped the drive, and the installation just completed.
Hopefully the game plays. If not, I'll be right back. If it works, I'm playing S&M, probably at this very moment.
Anyway, what I had to do was install the game through the other PC's remotely mapped drive. But you can't start the game without the CD in a real drive on your PC. I happen to have an old external USB CD-drive that I plugged in, and was able to start the game now.
Something you support guys should note here. The CD in the external drive is misbehaving as well. I can see files, but Autorun didn't happen. So it really was necessary for me to install the game through another PC because I get a "Corruption" error during installation otherwise. I think it's something about the PC itself, and not the drives.
Anyway I can play, so I'm off.
I fear you guys are about to get hit with a lot of these problems real soon now. Sorry about that!
Also, if possible please try the CD on another computer and let us know if it works there or not. We did not experience any of these problems during test, and it's possible that manufacturing has a role (i.e. a bad batch of discs). Knowing if the CD worked on another computer or not helps nail down if it's a disc problem or a drive/computer compatibility problem.
Clarence, even if the autorun didn't happen, you should be able to browse the disc and run the Setup.exe to install? When did this "corruption" error occur and what exactly did it say?
That's correct. The 'blank disc' is an intermittent symptom. I saw files when I first put the CD in my Plextor 740A, but other times I do not. This disc works just fine on my older PC with a quite old Creative DVD-ROM drive.
Autorun always works on my PC for anything else, and S&M auto-ran when I put this CD in the other PC. Running the setup manually (on my new PC, where all the trouble is) ran for about 30% of the installation before I got a "Corrupt installer" message.
BTW, using PIO mode on my IDE ATA/ATAPI did nothing to help.
My system is ad-hoc, Intel P4 2.8Ghz, Asus motherboard - built myself. My old system, where S&M works, is an old dual P3, again, custom built.
I've got loads of games installed on my new PC, including the notorious StarForce-protected UBIsoft title... perhaps one of these other copy protection systems is interfering with SecureROM?
I'd be glad to give you more detailed system specs if you tell me exactly in what format you'd like a report.
Sorry, I won't run S&M setup again to see if I can reproduce this problem because I have S&M working now and I don't want to mess it up.
I'm just trying to wrap my head around what may be happening here. It does sound to me like a problem with the disc or a combination of the disc + the drive. I don't think it's an issue with the game or the installer so much as something preventing the installer from doing what it's supposed to do.
In any case, the info you have provided is much appreciated, and now that it's working I hope you enjoy the game.
What seems to work is to start the game with the copied cd in the drive. It will spin for a minute and the copy protection will yell at you. I then put the original cd in and told it to retry. The game loaded.
What I didn't know until just now is that it won't work if you start with the original disk in the drive.
I am sorry for only giving you half the story. I'm still figuring this thing out myself.
I actually purchased the BenQ because my old DVD drive was failing and was able to read only some discs. Strangely, it's this old DVD drive that can read S&M, but the new BenQ can't. I've retested the old DVD drive and it's not able to read about half the discs I tried in it, the BenQ reads them all. Except S&M.
So, the program's installed but I can't run it because the BenQ can't read the original CD in the drive. Argh! So, what do I do?!
Anyway, short story, I may be able to return the game for store credit but I need to know if I should by this weekend. I don't want to do this because I have no use for the credit, and downloading the game is about 25% more than the retail box.
Angantyr, please see the PM I just sent you.
Drive is a Philips DVD+-RW DVD8881
Running on Windows XP SP2
We are trying to help them figure out the issue but at the end of the day, they're the ones who are working with SecuROM to figure out why the discs are appearing to be blank for some people, and I want to make sure the details you have posted here don't fall through the cracks.
Also, I am going to close this thread because I think it's getting confusing to know which problem people are posting about. If you are experiencing an error message with Telltale's DVD, that says the disc is not inserted, try changing your transfer mode as explained earlier in this thread. If you are using the retail CD and the disc appears to be blank, please email The Adventure Company and also post your system specs here.