Media Player Can't Open CDAudio After Opening CD-ROM File

 Last reviewed: November 22, 1994
Article ID: Q85002
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.0, 3.0a, 3.1, 3.11

SYMPTOMS

This information applies to the Media Player and to Windows version 3.1.

If you play a disk and you have configured the Media Player for CDAudio by choosing CDAudio from the Device menu, you may receive the following error message 

   System Error - Cannot read from drive <x>
where <x> is the drive letter of the CD-ROM. After selecting Cancel, another error is displayed: 

   Cannot open file or device

WORKAROUND

There are two possible workarounds for this problem:

  • Open a different device from the Media Player Device menu (WaveAudio, MIDI Sequencer, or Animation). Open a file, and then choose CDAudio from the Device menu again.
  • Exit the Media Player and restart it. CDAudio will now function correctly.

This problem occurs when you attempt to open a file after changing CD-ROM disks. The CD-ROM is still using the previous default directory, which is now invalid because you have changed disks. When Windows tries to open the CDAudio driver (MCICDA.DRV), it looks first in the current drive/directory, which is now invalid. Because Windows does not allow the Ignore option to be placed in the dialog box on a critical error, you cannot choose to ignore the current drive error and continue looking along the rest of the path for the driver.

KBCategory: kbmm kbtool kberrmsg
KBSubcategory: win31 win30
Additional reference words: 3.00 3.00a 3.10 3.11 CD err msg

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Last reviewed: November 22, 1994
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