PC Pals Forum
Technical Help & Discussion => Self Building, Upgrading & General Hardware Help => Topic started by: Simon on March 20, 2004, 11:17
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I'm probably missing something obvious, but I'm trying to listen to a CD with my CD Rom drive, on headphones. I thought I could simply plug the headphones into the socket on the front of the drive, but I'm getting no sound.
I'm also having a problem that the CD contains DVD Rom material, and I can't get Winamp or WMP to play the audio files only.
Any suggestions? :-\
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For what it's worth (probably not a lot!) I have a LCD TV in the bedroom which has very poor sound quality and I had the brilliant idea of connecting external speakers to the headphone socket. When I enquired about the possibility of doing so, I was told that it was a non-starter and that I would need speakers with a built-in amplifier.
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I'm probably missing something obvious, but I'm trying to listen to a CD with my CD Rom drive, on headphones. I thought I could simply plug the headphones into the socket on the front of the drive, but I'm getting no sound.
I'm also having a problem that the CD contains DVD Rom material, and I can't get Winamp or WMP to play the audio files only.
Any suggestions? :-\
Should work with no problems (Its how I use it in work to listen to music when I'm programming) - You haven't got a volume control on the front of the drive have you?
As to getting winamp etc playing - I find that having the software open and using that to eject the draw usually gets around the problem. Failing that pressing the shift key when you put the disc in the machine.
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Should work with no problems (Its how I use it in work to listen to music when I'm programming) - You haven't got a volume control on the front of the drive have you?
Yes, and I have tried adjusting that. I have tried both drives, and neither will play through the headphones. I know the phones are OK, because they work fine through my Hi-Fi.
As to getting winamp etc playing - I find that having the software open and using that to eject the draw usually gets around the problem. Failing that pressing the shift key when you put the disc in the machine.
I've tried all ways to get Winamp to play the audio part of the CD, but all I can seem to get is the 'enhanced' section containing the video. I can't even get the box to come up when you put the CD in the drive, asking what you want to do - it just automatically launches the video section. I found the same problem on another CD with a similar 'enhanced' section. When I right click the 'D' drive and choose Open, I can't even find the audio files! They are definitely there, as it plays on a normal CD player. Not that I was trying to copy it, but I'm wondering if there's some clever copy protection on it, which prevents it even being played on a PC? :-\
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Is the sound leads on the CD drive connected correctly to the mobo internally?
Just a thought!
DJ
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I get sound out of the speakers, so I assume so, DJ. That wouldn't affect the phones socket on the front of the drive though, would it? :-\
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@Simon
I'm not a electrician Simon but the headphone have to be a certain type IE 50 ohms (i think)the sound should be there even if there is no connection with the motherboard
Brian
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That's what I thought, Brian. Still don't work though. :( I'll have to borrow another set of headphones and try that, but I'm sure I've used these before, with CD Rom drives. I can hear a click when I plug the phones into the socket, but there's definitely no sound. Bit of an odd one, this!
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Just a thought Simon, have you got show all files selected on your folder options ???
The enhanced dvd may not show if its an unknown format and those files are in with the hidden ones ?
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Simon...do you have a handsfree set with your Mobile if you have try them ;)
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Sandra - yes I did that. ???
Hook - no I don't have a handsfree kit, but I did find another set of headphones with a Walkman - and they don't work either. >:(
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Simon, my knowledgeable friends, where I am at the moment reckon that it is a copy protection feature to stop you being able to rip it to MP3 files.
I am reliably informed that there is some software that will sort it out called CDex :)
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That's for the one which won't play the audio tracks, yes? I kind of guessed that might be the case, as I said earlier in the thread. I still can't get anything to play through the headphones though - not even a bog standard audio CD without any 'enhancements'.
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Yes Simon, apperently you have to use that (FREE)program to rip to the hard drive as mp3s then you can play it back or burn to cd.
Cant think why normal cds wont play though :(
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Simon, when you start the CD playing, do you do it with a button on the CD player itself or with software on the PC? Just a thought, but I wonder whether the headphone socket is switched off when the drive is started with software ??? :-\
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@Adept
Hi my friend. the phono socket is connected directly to the drive circuit board and is always "Live" I think the problem maybe the codecs or the way the computer is the interpretation of data on the CD, having said that if you open up the drive in My Computer and click on one of the music tracks it should open with the default player If the fault is the same on both CD drives then it must be a computer problem
Brian
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@Adept
I think the problem maybe the codecs or the way the computer is the interpretation of data on the CD
Brian, codecs wouldn't be anything to do with it - a PC CD drive will play audio through the headphone socket whether the drive is connected to a PC or not (as long as it is powered and has a 'play' button as well as the eject button).
A codec is a software algorithm which the PC uses to compress or decompress the data on the CD.
I just think Simon has a duff headphone socket.
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@Sean
I have tried both drives, and neither will play through the headphones.
If both drives show the same fault then either both drives are faulty or there is a problem in the way the Cd's are compiled and the integral software can not distinguish the music content from the data content.
Brian :D
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Ah yes, it does help if you read the whole thread doesn't it ;D ;D
I missed the bit about the ROM content on the disk ::)
A PC CD-ROM will only play 'proper' audio CDs won't it? Any variation from the Red Book standard will break it.
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DVD Rom material,
If it contains DVD content then I would have thought that it wouldn't play anything at all!
the 'enhanced' section containing the video.
I think we are looking at a VCD or SVCD which stores the video as one track and not separate video and music tracks
Brian :D
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Also wonder if having Digital output selected for the audio to motherboard would have an effect.
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Hi Dack, the phono socket is just a connection to the CD ROM Drive circuit board, it doesn't connect to the motherboard
Brian
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Know that - just wondering if having digital output selected to the audio on the computer was causing the drive to disable phono output on the jack plug.
Way to test that is boot computer and go into bios then try playing a CD from there (using the buttons on the front). It's also worth noting that some multimedia CDs are mastered so that the first track is the data track - trying to play that track should normally generate silence.
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@Dack
I think you are missing the point my friend
I'm also having a problem that the CD contains DVD Rom material,
if its got DVD material on a CD then nothing is going to work except a DVD player!!
Brian ???
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OK, sorry I haven't replied to this - been having a bit of server trouble! Let me recap:
1. Neither drive will play a CD through the headphones. Not even normal, bog standard audio CDs with no enhanced content.
2. The CD with DVD Rom Material included, will not play the audio tracks, only the video content, through Quicktime. There is no Audio menu, and upon opening the files, no audio files are shown.
3. I have unticked the Digital Playback box in both Properties of both drives, which has had no effect on the problem.
I was wondering if it could be something to do with XP not having a dedicated CD Player, other than WMP? When I had Win98, it had it's own CD player, and you didn't need third party software to play music CDs. The headphones worked with Win98, but not with XP.
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Just a stab in the dark :D..I wonder if there is a codec of some sort missing?
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Simon,
I never tried that before. But because of what happened with you, my curiousity pushed me to try mine. Well, what's happening with you is happening with me too.
I continued trying, and at last I think I found it.
Don't let it read by autoplay, neither you must use computer programs to play the CD. Only put the CD in the drive and press the front-button of the drive. You don't need the mouse or the keyboard for playing the CD. I hope it works with you as it did with me.
But I met another problem. Maybe the technicians or the techies can help:
1 - I have one DVD player which has two front buttons (one for insert/eject, and the other is the button to make the CD play).
2 - On the other hand, I bought recently a DVD writer which has only one front-button. It's the button insert/eject. I don't have the second front-button to make the CD play.
Anyone has an idea how to make the CD play to enable me using front headphone?
Thanks.
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@Simon
The phono socket on the front of the drive(s)should be usable independent of an O/S, I just can not think what you problem is, will WMP play ordinary music Cd's?
Brian ???
This is a player that will play anything download it and try it
http://www.bsplayer.org/ (http://www.bsplayer.org/)
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Simon, dont know if anybody else has suggested this but ;D have you looked in the volume control centre to see if it has been disabled in there or even if the volume is turned down low or has it even been ticked?
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Thanks to all who are trying to help with this! :)
To add to my recap:
4. There is only one button on the front of each drive, which is the draw open / close button.
Brian - I could try that, but is there any reason why it should play in that, but not in any other software? :-\ Yes, standard audio CDs play fine in WMP and / or Winamp.
Hook - I've had a look in where you suggested, and everything is enabled, and at medium (default) volume. There's no actual enabled / disable function for the headphones though.
If I put a CD in to one of the drives, I get the box with the options as to what to do, i.e., open in Explorer, Play in WMP, etc. If I select 'Do Nothing', I then have no way to make the CD start to play, without launching one of the software components. If I block Auto Play, then the CD does nothing when inserted into the drive.
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is there any reason why it should play in that, but not in any other software?
Its free!!
it Has it own set of codecs.
it will play DVDs SVCDs VCDs and ordinary CDs
Brian :P
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Doesn't work with that either, Brian. ::)
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Simon, here what I could find on a HP site. It worked with me:
http://h20015.www2.hp.com/hub_search/document.jhtml;jsessionid=
MDSK2PGRCF53BQFIOGBENZQ?reg=na&cc=us&docName=lpg40191&lc=en (http://h20015.www2.hp.com/hub_search/document.jhtml;jsessionid=<br />MDSK2PGRCF53BQFIOGBENZQ?reg=na&cc=us&docName=lpg40191&lc=en)
Information
To listen to music with headphones on the DVD/CD drive, digital audio must be disabled for the drives in Device Manager or Multimedia Properties. Disabling the digital audio option will not have an effect on other devices on the system.
In Windows XP, digital audio must also be disabled in Windows Media Player for the CD recorder in order to hear audio with headphones.
Windows XP
1. Click Start, Control Panel.
2. Double-click the System icon.
3. Click the Hardware tab, then Device Manager.
4. Double-click DVD/CD ROM drives.
5. Double-click the HP CD-Writer drive and click the Properties tab
6. In the box labeled Digital CD Playback, remove the check from the Enable digital CD audio for this CD-ROM device box (see Figure 1).
7. Click OK and restart the system if prompted.
8. Insert an audio CD and try listening to the music.
Disable digital audio in Windows Media Player (Windows XP only)
Use the following information to disable digital audio in Windows XP.
1. Click Start, choose All Programs, choose Accessories, choose Entertainment then choose Windows Media Player.
2. Click Tools on the Windows Media Player menu bar then choose Options.
3. In the Options window, click the Devices tab.
4. Highlight DVD/CD-RW Drive, click Properties (See Figure 3).
5. Click the Audio tab in the Playback section, verify that Analog is selected (See Figure 4).
6. Click OK, and then OK again to save the settings and close the Media Player Options window.
7. Insert an audio CD and try listening to the music.
Hope that helps.
/me edited url link to fit page. :)
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You won't believe it Joudi, but that's just what I've been doing! ;D ;D
I had gone into the Drive Properties before, and unticked the 'Enable digital CD audio for this CD-ROM device' box, but I've just been looking at the options of Windows Media Player. I found the options below, and changed it from Digital to Analogue, and it now plays through headphones!!
This means I will have to use WMP instead of Winamp to listen through headphones, but at least it's sorted!
Thanks for the info Joudi! :)
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Will have to remember that 1 ;D
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I believe that you will only get audio through the CD-rom jack if the cd is encoded with CDDA audio files (and nothing else).
I haven't tested this although I remember a little about that from way back, but the best thing you can do to test this, is stick in a regular AUDIO CD and try listening to that... I think THAT will work.
--note-- just been recapping on your post, and noticed that you have tried regular audio: could there be a mainboard communication problem, as both drives are not working?? THey certainly SHOULD be as (as was mentioned) the CD-ROM board itself contains the hardware to send the CDDA audio to the jack (There is no requirement for any software to control this as such).
A very strange one.
Why not have a search for a DOS based CD player (I remember using them a long time ago). Make yourself a boot disk, and run that to see if it plays - that way you can rule out any Windows involvement. :-[
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What about if the player is only connected by the eide cable to the board and no digital cable is connected and the Digital box is ticked or is that to simple ???
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I think, now it's sorted, I'll leave it at that, but thanks Ket! ;) :)