Cyclic Redundancy Error when installing Grand Theft Auto IV (legally!)

[Ronsputin]

Hello there,

I have a Dell Inspirion 530 running Windows Vista Home Premium. In my device manager i have a TSSTcorp DVD+-RW Ts-H653F ATA Device..... i hope the makes sense...... which windows says is running properly.


I'm getting a cyclic redundancy error when i try to use the game disks to install GTA 4. Sometimes i get the error on the first installation disk and sometimes on the second. The computer is also having trouble finding the disks. Recently i've found that when i put in any computer game cd the drive just keeps making wurring noises and won't recognize any cd.
I never had this problem before, but now it's happened with GTA and another game i bought recently.

I was going to get a cd cleaner to clean the drive as i thought this might help? Would a dirty driver head thingy be a cause for cyclic redundancy errors?


Thanks in advance and exxcuse my ignorance on the topic,

Ronasputin the Worthy

 

[saint19]

If the problemm is with more that 1 game, the problem could be the OS...try disable the firewall and antivirus while install the games.

 

[Ronsputin]

Just to clarify, i'm just getting CRCerrors on GTA. On the other game the computer needs multiple attempts to recognize the disk.

 

[sub mesa]

CRC errors are ultimately read errors. The CRC checksum tells you that the data read does not correspond with the checksum and thus is corrupted and will not be used.

Typically this happens with burned CD's or DVD's, either because of damaged surface or because of read errors by the optical unit.

 

[saint19]

Oh...so, the problem could be the CD/DVD drive. Try update the driver or roll-back to the previous driver. Some times, the OS shows the drive as correct, but not always is correct.

 

[Ronsputin]

CRC errors are ultimately read errors. The CRC checksum tells you that the data read does not correspond with the checksum and thus is corrupted and will not be used.

Typically this happens with burned CD's or DVD's, either because of damaged surface or because of read errors by the optical unit.

The cd is an original straight out of a packet. It dosen't look damaged or scratched in any way. Is there a way i could perform a check on the drive itself? Like CheckDisk or something?

 

[sub mesa]

If you have this without some other undamaged media, your DVD burner is just faulty and you should buy a new one - or it needs cleaning.

 

[Ronsputin]

But I want to play it now!!!

 

[saint19]

The cd is an original straight out of a packet. It dosen't look damaged or scratched in any way. Is there a way i could perform a check on the drive itself? Like CheckDisk or something?

--------------------

Try the installation in another PC or with another CD/DVD drive, if the installation works fine, the problem is your drive, if isn't the problem is the CD.

 

[sub mesa]

Can't you download the game content? In many games you can only play online you can download the full game content from web. If you want to play asap that might be something to checkout. If they don't then i suggest a cleaning kit, or just buy a $35 new SATA burner.

 

[howardp6]

I would not get a DVD/CD cleaner unless the DVD/CD is damaged. It appears that your drive itself is at issue.

 

[Ronsputin]

OK. I'm going to try and take an optical drive from another old computer and fit it. I have found out that it's my current optical drive that is failing me.

Now I've never done this stuff before. I've read up on ESD and even how to open the case! Now these two cables are at the back of the optical drives of this old compaq prescario. THEY WILL NOT BUDGE!!! There dosen't seem to be any clipping or button to press as you pull the plug out.

Am i just being retarded here, should i just yank the things out or am i doing something wrong? I've tried pulling on them with a plyers already and they didn't move so i said i'd retreat to tom's for more advice.....

 

[Ronsputin]

right....nevermind, they finally came loose. now to put it into my dell.... i hope i don't mess it up!!!

 

[sub mesa]

Just take gentle care when inserting the PATA flatcable, since its quite fragile and one of the pins of your unit may bend.

Other than that, i'm usually quite disrespectful to old hardware. The more respect you'll give it the higher the chance it'll get thoughts and demands of it own.

 

[Ronsputin]

The drama continues....

It looks like the Dell Inspirion on the Compaq prescario aren't compatible or something.... this is a problem isn't it.

One has really thin plug connectors and the other has plugs like a scart cable..... i'll put up pics when i can, but for those of you that know what i'm trying to say, is there any way around this problem?

 

[sub mesa]

Put up pics, i want to see that connector. You sure its not the floppy drive cable?

 

[Ronsputin]

the back of the dell optical drive>

and the back of the compaq>

and the inner sanctum of the dell!!!

 

[sub mesa]

Yes the one on the top is Serial ATA, the one on the bottom is Parallel ATA (old).

If your PC does not have Serial ATA onboard, you should get a PATA burner instead of a SATA burner. If you do have Serial ATA on your motherboard, but don't have the new SATA power connectors - you can buy a cheap converter cable that makes your normal power connectors which go in your current PATA burner, to a Serial ATA power connector you can use for all SATA HDDs/optical drives.

 

[sub mesa]

This is that converter cable for SATA power connector:

Note that SATA devices have both SATA power connector and SATA data connector. The SATA data cable is usually red and very small.

 

[Ronsputin]

Thanks for your help. I think i understand. As you can see from the bottom picture I have SATA connectors on my Dell (which is the one i want to fix) so i think i'll just get a new Sata drive.

The compaq parallel drive is quite old as you said so i don't want to have to fix it again if that breaks down too. Also it sticks out at the front because it's much longer than the Sata drive.

Now i just need to find a good sata drive that is compatible with dell. I heard that only dell products work with their machines, is this true or a load of old horseradish sauce?