Troubleshooting

In order to be able to properly communicate with the drive a low-level drive interface needs to be established. On non Windows NT-based systems (i.e. Windows 95/98/ME) drive communication will take place through the use of the ASPI-layer. If Nero is installed 'DVD Identifier' will first attempt to initialize this ASPI interface. If Nero ASPI initialization fails 'DVD Identifier' will then attempt to use the system ASPI (which is usually Adaptec's ASPI layer). If you encounter problems you can either install Nero or download the latest ASPI-layer from the Adaptec website (http://www.adaptec.com) and optionally use the 'ASPI Check'-utility to verify that ASPI is fully operational.

On Windows NT-based systems (i.e. Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista) SPTI will be the default choice of interface for drive communication. Note that SPTI requires administrator privileges. If SPTI initialization fails, an attempt will be made to initialize the ASPI-layer (either Nero ASPI or the system ASPI). Note that the ASPI-layer always requires a separate installation on NT-based operating systems, while SPTI is part of the operating system.

However, it it still possible for users with limited privileges to use SPTI. In order to accomplish this an administrator needs to log-in and enable the 'Everyone has access'-option in the 'Settings-menu. From then on every user that logs in will have sufficient rights to use SPTI.

Alternatively, it is also possible to enable this via the control panel. Ask your system administrator to make following changes :

• Open the "Local Security Policy"-console by clicking on the "Start Menu ; Control Panel ; Administrative Tools" and select "Local Security Policy".
• Then expand the "Local Policies"-section and select "Security Options".
• Enable following option : [Windows 2000 ; "Restrict CD-ROM access to locally logged-on user only."] or [Windows XP ; "Devices : Restrict CD-ROM access to locally logged-on user only."]

Problems have been reported when a drive is connected to some brands of add-on IDE controllers (i.e. instead of using the primary or secondary IDE controller, the drive is connected to a tertiary (or higher) IDE connector). These problems manifest itself as corrupted Manufacturer IDs, 'Media code'-blocks that contain all zeros ... If you encounter similar problems you can try enabling the 'Only partially retrieve...'-option. Note that this will only work for DVD+R/+RW and DVD-R/-RW discs.

Alternatively, you can also connect your DVD writer to a different IDE controller.

If you are running DLA (Prassi, Veritas, Sonic) the possibility exists that 'DVD Identifier' is unable to find the drive. DLA sometimes locks the drive for exclusive access making if impossible for 'DVD Identifier' to detect the drive. The easiest work around is to remove the disc from the drive, start 'DVD Identifier' and then insert the disc.

Note that 'DVD Identifier' requires a DVD, HD DVD or Blu-ray writer. Drives not capable of writing any of those types discs cannot be used and therefore will not be shown in the drive list.

The manufacturer database is a file called 'manufacturers_v3.dat' and is located in the 'Data'-folder of the executable. In case you ever end up with an incomplete or corrupted database you can simply delete this file and execute an on-line version check. This will force the database to be downloaded again.

The 'Status'-tab will show details about the database that is currently in use :

Manufacturer Database [13-MAR-04@143$44] Loaded From File : (@143$44) Entries Found

The first tag [13-MAR-04@143$44] is the header that is present in each database, while the second tag (@143$44) indicates how many entries were actually found after scanning through the database. These @$  numbers of both tags should match. If not, the database is likely damaged.

The @ actually refers to the number of Manufacturer IDs present in the database while the $ refers to how many Manufacturer names currently exist.

In case of problems you can contact the author at DVD.Identifier@Gmail.com