disk not recognised

[andyg06]

hi,

brought CIVIV today (DVD ROM version) and when i insert the disk nothing happens, no auto play, cant access CD through mycomputer, and there is nothing i can do to get this thing to install. any ideas ?

system is XP (SP2), DVD ROM drive, 256 RAM, 80GB Hard drive,

 

[civ_god06]

Have you tried any other dvds in the drive to make sure the drive is working ok?

What make is the drive? Try updating the firmware for it

 

[andyg06]

yes other dvd's work,

it is a Hitachi GD8000 and i have tried updating the drivers and it has the latest driver already

 

[civ_god06]

try closing everything thats running in the background

click start, run, type msconfig, click on startup, disable all, apply and close.

restart the comp and try again

 

[andyg06]

nope, have now given up with this taking it back to the shop, dont think ill be a CIV IV player !!!!! and it looks such a good game,

 

[andyg06]

ok then, so the shop wont give me a refund, how can i get this game to play, it loads the install screen on another computer that has less spec than mine but for some reason i cant get it to open the install screen.

any ideas people as to how i can make my drives read this disk

 

[Furiey]

This may sound silly, but try putting in the disc and waiting.... Others have had this problem and some people have found that if they wait long enough (maybe even 20 mins) the disc is recognised. It may not work, but it costs nothing to try.

 

[andyg06]

on a pc with less spec, basically i cant install the game because of this - it reads the disc instantly on the pc i wish to use which has never had any problems reading dvds/games nothing happens, and while the disc is in the drive everything freezes so i cant do a thing

 

[auldian]

on a pc with less spec, basically i cant install the game because of this - it reads the disc instantly on the pc i wish to use which has never had any problems reading dvds/games nothing happens, and while the disc is in the drive everything freezes so i cant do a thing

There are several discussion threads that may give you some ideas
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=151100 and http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=137819. Off site there's a similar thread at Google Groups.
You may want to pull a DxDiag.txt and MSInfo.txt so you see the specific DVD drive you are working with. LG is mentioned a lot. Also the SafeDisc copy protection is referred to often.
Post your results. Good luck.

 

[andyg06]

this is a pain in the arse !! ive never had problems like this with any game I have purchased ! and to make matters worse the emails to the game makers bounce !!!!!!!!

 

[andyg06]

left the disk in for a good 20 minutes and still wouldnt read. cant read it through windows explorer to copy to HD either.

any more ideas before I have to go out and buy a new drive - even though this problem only happens with this game, played all the other CIV games and this looks a great one and was looking forward to already playing it !!!!!!

 

[GreatWizard]

like someone suggested here, try updating the firmware. Not the drivers, the FIRMWARE.

this site has firmware files for your drive
http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?download_id=88

you can also get updates from Hitachi probably.

I've noticed that the model is from 2002. Old age can cause drives not to read DVDs well. Try cleaning it using a DVD drive cleaner disc. It might be a hardware problem of reading a new copy protectino which you can't really alivate without an appropriate firmware update though. You might have to buy a new drive (or swap drives with another computer on which it does work)

-Great Wizard

 

[auldian]

You're going to a lot of work to run this, and I would too, but just know it's very demanding on hardware. This game eats a lot of RAM & pagefile when it's running. If your DXDiag is accurate showing 256MB, you'll be playing a very slow game. Technically the Minimum System Requirements for Civilization IV on WindowsXP is 512MB RAM.
As always, your mileage may vary. Good luck.

 

[andyg06]

thanks for the help guys, im going to try up dating the firmware later and if not i'll have to look at a new drive !!

as for the RAM issue im aware of that and have already ordered 1GB of RAM which hopefully should be here in a few days

 

[andyg06]

ok swapped the dvd drive and im away !!

civ IV is great

looking forward to many hours of playing !!!

and a shameless plug here (dont know if allowed and sorry if its not wont happen again)

Patchwork Grace - Fantastic band give them your support and get this band signed up and in the charts !!

thanks for everyones help