Windows 8 will only recognize the Blu-Ray drive, if the Windows 8 disc is present at boot time

Question

If I have the install disc in the Blu-Ray ROM drive at boot time and subsequently remove the disc and replace it with Blu-Ray media, everything functions as I’d expect.

However, if I have no media present, or another disc in the drive at boot time, then Windows 8 does not seem to recognize that the Blu-Ray player is even present in the computer.

It is not present in My Computer, the Device Manager does not show the player, and scanning for new hardware yields nothing.

It seems that the driver is installed and working as expected, but what is it about having the Windows 8 install disc in the drive or not that would cause this kind of behavior?

Answer 1

I had this same EXACT problem - blu ray drive shows up in BIOS but no where else, unless the install media was inserted during boot up.

Easy fix:

1. Boot up with Win 8 disc in the drive.
2. Log in.
3. Shut down computer.
4. Disconnect SATA from drive.
5. Start up.
6. BIOS will probably give you a "Error loading operating system" message, simply hit reset and it should boot fine after that.
7. Then, shut down again.
8. Reconnect SATA to drive,
9. start up.

Probably another "error loading OS" message, restart, no problem. System should boot fine after that, and Windows 8 should now be reading the drive!

Answer 2

If you go into the bios ( http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ht/accessbios.htm ) and navigate to the start-up list can you post what the list is? You should see a cd-rom of sorts and that should be at the top of the list. As long as you don't save anything (unless you move the cdrom up on the list) you shouldn't mess anything up.

Also note that if you don't see it on the list there may be another issue and you can respond and I will see if I can help at that point.