How can I fix my (DVD RW) Optical Drive?

Asked by Walshy (177

) November 26th, 2010

Hey all….

I have a problem with my (standard dvd rw) optical drive not opening. I have a very high spec desktop pc, and my previous (Pioneer) optical drive was very intermittent with it’s opening, the green light would show but not open. The drive had hardly been used to be honest, but after reading various threads, it seemed liked this particular model had known issues, so I put it down to a dodgy drive and today replaced it with a good reviewed Sony Optiarc AD-7621. And the same thing is happening! Brand new drive, green light shows, still wont open. I’m pretty competent with PC’s (upgraded, modded etc) and dont normally have any problems but this is really bugging me! I have updated the firmware, i’ve uninstalled the drivers, both dvd drive and Intel RST AHCI SATA ones too….still the same. I have also tried different SATA ports, no luck. Oh, and i’ve even deleted the ‘Upperfilters’ from the Registry, but no.
By the way, it’s an X58 board with an i7 920. As far as the BIOS and device manager is concerned, the drive is functioning correctly! lol but it isnt at all! Can anyone please shed some light on this as I really would like to open this damn thing before I do a Basil Fawlty & hit it with a branch! :-)
I had one warning about an I/O error, which i’m guessing is the culprit, but I already rolled back my SATA AHCI driver. What else can I do?
Cheers people!
Walshy

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7 Answers

Have you got any drive emulation software – for example, Daemon Tools or PowerISO – installed?

the100thmonkey (11265

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Hi Monkey,
Nope I haven’t, although I’m wondering now if a anything else could be causing a conflict?
Cheers!

Walshy (177

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If you have two drives with the same issue, and it’s the sort of issue that should be independent of the software, then I would almost suspect the cables. Maybe it’s not getting enough power to trip the drive tray motor? Maybe one of the wires in one of the cables is making only intermittent contact?

jerv (31079

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I have tried different SATA cables and in differetn ports though. And I think it’s unlikely a power issue as I have the same cable powering my hard drive. My PSU is a Corsair 1000w so def enough juice!
Any other suggestions? I’m baffled…...

Walshy (177

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Ok I fixed it :-)
Thanks Jerv, it WAS a power issue….must have been a dodgy connection somewhere that was allowing enough power for the light but not enough to drive the motor.
I didnt swap this initially as it was all nicely wired in my casing and I thought it was also powering my SSD ( as mentioned above) but on close inspection it wasnt, it was a seperate feed. Connected a new power lead and voila. I have even put my other Pioneer drive back in and now that is also working fine lol….
Thanks all for your input!
Merry Christmas all of you.
Walshy

Walshy (177

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No problem.

I have found over the years that a loose pin in a Molex connector can cause all sorts of grey hairs, so after a few years of it, I now go there first :D

Happy Holidays to you and yours :)

jerv (31079

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Thanks @jerv !! Happy New Year to you and yours also ! :-)

walshy

Walshy (177

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