I have two DVD/CD player/recorders in my computer. Both are set for 'enable digital audio' in properties. Yet, I can't get any software (with one exception) to either play a CD or rip files if digital audio is checked (it will play through standard or analogue, but still won't allow ripping). The exception is Windows Media Player, which works perfectly. Even so, I can't burn CDS with any program.  Any ideas? Thanks.Lewsha...... So we have 2 cd/dvd  r/w drives ......

Are you able to play cds on both ok ?
Are you able to play dvds on both ok ?

What burning software are you using ?
When you look at them in the hardware device manager .....do they both say they are working ok ?

Which software are you trying to use to listen to ( or watch ) the cds or dvds ...other than WMP?

let us know
dl65  

I can play cds on either, but only when digital audio is not enabled through the software.

All is fine according to the device manager.

Software - it doesn't seem to matter; WinAmp, Foobar, QCD (my current CHOICE) -- none will play unless I disable digital audio in the software. Yet, why would WMP WORK, and allow me to burn and rip?

Weird: The dvd sides to my dual disks play fine (video and/or music) through any dvd software player, including the music.

Thanks. LewLewsha.....Thats really odd , I just checked two of my pcs that I use regularly to burn both audio and video cds and dvds and they are all set to Enable digital Audio.
There is a note to say ........
You can have Windows use digital instead of Analog Playback of cd audio . This feature MAY NOT WORK with all cd-Roms , disable if you are having problems with CD Audio.
Have you tried using NERO to burn ?
Are you trying to burn copy protected audio cd's ?

let us know

dl65  
Yes, very odd, but there just has to be some simple solution. I have indeed used Nero, and I know that the drives can, in principle,  allow digital extraction because it works fine through WMP. I guess one question is: What is it about Windows Media that lets me play CDs, and rip them, while other software doesn't?

More tomorrow, perhaps...

Thanks.What if you untag enable digital audioI've tried everything (well, everything that I've thought of...) and only WMP works. I can now make an image of a CD through media player, and burn that image to ANOTHER CD, but it won't play through all venues, and its a bit cumbersome.

When I use Nero to burn, it hangs up both of my drives so I have to use the old paper clip to remove the disks. I also get some weird "unknown SCSI error". Perhaps this is part of the problem. In the hardware properties, both of the drives say "SCSI" but I'm pretty sure that they are IDE drives. I'll go back into my box and check them out again, but if I remember correctly they appear to cable directly to the ASUS A8V motherboard's IDE interface (I also have a RAID 0 configuration for my hard drives).  

Sorry for being redundant, but all this may not matter, since WMP works for playing & ripping, nothing else does, and it will at least make an image of an audio or any disk I put in, which can then secondarily be burned to another disk.

Thanks.update codecs......have you tried power dvd to play them? are you trying to copy dvds??if so your need an encoder.. i would disconnect one of the drives and test it out.the newer one?....it maybe a firmware issue...