Problems accessing my DVD writer

Hello, just bought a new computer which uses a Asus P5B Series motherboard. Not familiar with SATA and IDE interfaces as I never touch those before. Do I still connect the DVD-writer as I normally do in the days when SATA is not out yet? Cos sometimes I'm able to read my DVD, sometimes I'm not, giving me I/O errors.

I believe the DVD drive only supports one type of interface. I have not seen a device that supports both. And I have not seen (are those out yet?) optical drive models that actually make use of the SATA interface, so I assume your drive is still using the old IDE PATA flat cable.

Does the drive consistently throw out read errors on all media? Or just particular discs? I would plug it on another motherboard/PC and test it out.

I've tried two drives already. Both have the same problem...

Sometimes, after booting, the drive can read any media... But after awhile, the drive stop spinning, and os throws I/O error.

Sometimes, even after booting, the drive dun even spin.

Different IDE cable, power cable, or change to the other IDE port - Secondary to Primary or vice versa. Also ensure all the jumpers are set to the correct Master/Slave drives. If all these fail, I'd say you may have a faulty motherboard.

Sigh... you know what? It is really media bad... I've never seen media bad bring down entire dvd-drive... :(