[nikoniko]

Well, I'll miss the old PC when I'm gone. I'm not taking it back to Japan with me -- it was expensive sending over here to the US, and I only used it a few times before going to my favorite computer store and putting together a nice new custom system. It's much cheaper to build a custom PC here than in Japan, even including the overseas shipping charges when I go home. The old system and whatever's left of this huge stack of CDs will be bequeathed to a friend of mine when I leave, assuming I don't destroy the computer before then. I'm going to hold on to this drive, though, since I think it's the key component which Starforce doesn't like or which doesn't like Starforce.

Anyway, I did a new test tonight, this time with Splinter Cell 3: Chaos Theory, generously donated by my friend Alex. I performed the same test I used with Still Life, and ended up with the same detrimental results to burning and reading burned discs. I also tried running the game, but Starforce failed to validate the disc. I've sent an e-mail to Starforce tech support to ask their advice, so we'll see if they offer some workaround. In the past they were difficult to deal with, but perhaps I'll find them more helpful this time.

While digging around a bit, I discovered something that may be a huge clue as to what's going here and why the drive is failing. I observed that after installing Starforce and doing the reboot, my burner had downshifted to PIO-mode operation. This in itself is enough to sabotage disc burning and the reading of some CDs, and is probably the key reason Starforce can't validate the disc. The drive would usually be switched to this mode if Windows were receiving too many errors from the drive, and since the CD isn't scratched and worked fine for my friend, it seems likely that the Starforce driver is the culprit. And when problems like this arise, Windows sometimes does not restore the drive to DMA operation even when the errors disappear, so that would explain why the problems still manifest after Starforce is uninstalled. I just tried setting the drive back to DMA mode manually, but Windows refuses to do it. The next time I uninstall Starforce, I'll try setting DMA again when I'm done. Once that's accomplished, assuming it lets me do it, I imagine the drive should work fine. That sort of solution is definitely preferable to restoring Windows from a backup to get the drive working again. If it doesn't work out, then I may be pursuing the wrong lead or have too small a part of the overall picture.

Hmm... maybe I won't wait for Starforce any longer, as I'm eager to follow through on that idea. Here we go with the uninstall... I'll post an update here later.