The Composer CD/DVD drive(s) do not appear in My Computer. I receive a No external drives found error in Primo DVD. (Composers Pro/XL/Max)
Below are a few suggestions for getting your PC to recognize the drives in the unit.
1. Plugin Sequence.
Try this sequence for getting the PC to recognize the unit's burner drive(s):
a. Shutdown your PC.
b. Unplug everything from the back of the unit.
c. Reconnect only the Firewire cable (leaving other cables disconnected).
d. Restart your PC.
e. When it is completely up then replug the power cable into the back of the unit.
f. Wait 5 seconds, then open your "My Computer" and you should see the drive(s) listed.
g. If the drive is shown you can plug in the other cables and start copying discs.
2. Software Conflicts.
Remove any other burning software on the PC, specifically Roxio EZ CD Creator software suite which includes one application called Direct CD. Direct CD has a known issue where it associates its drivers to the Primera unit's drive(s), thus causing a conflict. The Primera unit drive(s) does not use drivers, but rather is seen by the bus host controller. (bus host controller - Firewire card, chipset, etc..) The computer sees the drive as a removable Firewire hardware device and does not need to have drivers installed.
3. Hardware Conflicts.
If you have another drive that is the same brand as one in the Primera unit, it may cause a conflict. You could try disabling the drive in your computer via the device manager or physically disconnecting the drive from your computer.
4. Firewire Card Driver.
Check to see if your firewire card is being recognized by your computer. Go to your "Device Manager" (Start->Control Panel->System->Hardware Tab->Device Manager Button), to see if your IEEE 1394 Bus Host Controller device is being recognized. If it is not being recognized then you need to try reinstalling your firewire card. In device manager right click on the IEEE 1394 Bus Host Controller - choose uninstall. Reboot the PC. The firewire card driver should automatically reinstall.
5. Firewire Card Quality.
Try a different Firewire Card. Make sure you are using a good Firewire card on a PC, and avoid onboard Firewire and laptops, as they have proven to be less reliable. We recommend using a Firewire card that has a TI chipset (Texas Instruments). Adaptec makes a good card (model 4300) that uses a TI chipset. Also, the card we sell uses a TI chipset.
6. Firewire Ports.
Try different ports on the Firewire card using the proper plug in sequence above. Keep in mind the key to the plug in sequence is to establish a Firewire connection with the PC off, and the unit not only off, but power unplugged. Then bring up the PC with this pre-established Firewire connection and plug in power to the unit after up and running. Try another Firewire cable. Make sure you are not using a 6 pin to a 4 pin conversion cable - This is necessary with many laptops. Unplug other firewire devices. The PCI slot that the card is plugged into may not be able to handle multiple firewire connections.
7. Firewire Card Slot.
Try the Firewire card in a different PCI slot (being sure to stay clear of the first PCI slot which shares resources with the AGP slot), and make sure the PCI slot the card is using is a 'bus mastered slot'.
8. Mixed Drives.
If you have another drive in your computer that is the same manufacturer and a similar or the same model as the drive in the unit, this can cause a conflict. Open Primo, go to Tools - Options - Advanced Tab - Select "Mix any Drive" - Click Okay.
9. Alternate PC
Try it on a new PC with a different firewire card. You do not need to install any software. Just plug in the firewire cable and after a few seconds you should be able to see the drive(s) in My Computer.
10. Repair.
We can set up a warranty repair RMA and have the bridge board replaced. The bridge board would be the most likely cause of the problem. The bridge board is what you plug the Firewire cable into. It is the circuit board inside that bridges communication between the drive and the bus host controller. The drive gets converted from IDE to Firewire with this bridge board.
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