cd-drives keep dying in a dell pc

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M

me

hey there all,

new to this forum and seeking some answers.

I have a friend who has a pc.

they replaced a cd-drive in it 2 months ago.

now the replacement has died.

theyre both the same brand of cd drive. LG. i forget the model number.

i was thinking maybe the power-supply is faulty.

i've read heat can also kill something this way.

any other possible causes?

bottom line is we want to fix the problem and i cant find anything online
that suggests causes and things to check.

any answers will be appreciated
 
me said:
hey there all,

new to this forum and seeking some answers.

I have a friend who has a pc.

they replaced a cd-drive in it 2 months ago.

now the replacement has died.
Click to expand...

I assume you replaced the drive with a NEW one?
theyre both the same brand of cd drive. LG. i forget the model number.

i was thinking maybe the power-supply is faulty.

i've read heat can also kill something this way.

any other possible causes?

bottom line is we want to fix the problem and i cant find anything online
that suggests causes and things to check.

any answers will be appreciated
Click to expand...

Although anything is possible, I have found LG drives to be extremely
reliable and accurate. If you have had two new drives fail, I think I
would take those failed drives and try them in a different computer.
Make sure also that you test these drives with an original CD and not a
copy made on a burner. This would establish if the drives were failing
or you had another problem such as power, cabling, or software. Just a
good place to start.
 
Ken said:
I assume you replaced the drive with a NEW one?

Although anything is possible, I have found LG drives to be extremely
reliable and accurate. If you have had two new drives fail, I think I
would take those failed drives and try them in a different computer.
Make sure also that you test these drives with an original CD and not a
copy made on a burner. This would establish if the drives were failing
or you had another problem such as power, cabling, or software. Just a
good place to start.
Click to expand...

ken,

well i can only answer from what ive been told as i havent seen the pc.

a pc-tech obtained the machine and has done the replacement. no idea if the
drive was new but probably.

it took 2 months for the second drive to die.

i've passed on your reply to the person so she can look at it.

thanks majorly in advance.
 
Ken said:
I assume you replaced the drive with a NEW one?

Although anything is possible, I have found LG drives to be extremely
reliable and accurate. If you have had two new drives fail, I think I
would take those failed drives and try them in a different computer.
Make sure also that you test these drives with an original CD and not a
copy made on a burner. This would establish if the drives were failing
or you had another problem such as power, cabling, or software. Just a
good place to start.
Click to expand...

ken,

after passing on your message i was told the cd drive makes a horrid noise
and wont open. so sounds like the unit itself.
 
Does your friend smoke near the pc? Does he use disks with
labels in the cd dive? A label that comes off and gets stuck
in a cd drive will trash it. Even if labels don't come off, if they
are not centered properly they might be damaging the drive.
 
me said:
hey there all,

new to this forum and seeking some answers.

I have a friend who has a pc.

they replaced a cd-drive in it 2 months ago.

now the replacement has died.
Click to expand...

Tell them that it isn't a pizza oven... Don't put anything but CD's into it.

: )

If they have kids it could be gunk stuck on the CD, or more than one CD
being inserted at a time.
 
ken,

after passing on your message i was told the cd drive makes a horrid noise
and wont open. so sounds like the unit itself.
Click to expand...

Dell PSU are usually good, if system works properly
otherwise I'd not expect only an optical drive to be
effected.

Keep the box shut and running typical load, then open it
without haste to feel how hot the drive is getting. Heat
may be causing belt hardening which could account for this.

On the other hand, the common denominator may not be the
drive but rather the user... some people aren't too kind to
their CDROM drives, perhaps one the tray were openeed it'd
be used as a cupholder before being violently shoved shut?

If the box is under warranty get another drive set out,
asking if they had something else equivalent but if the
drive isn't covered, open it up just enough to see the belts
(might be visable by simply removing the front bezel) and
under power, try ejecting, watching the belt and any other
mechanisms you see moving/trying.
 
Although anything is possible, I have found LG drives to be extremely
ken,

after passing on your message i was told the cd drive makes a horrid noise
and wont open. so sounds like the unit itself.

they replaced the drive with another one to test. this one appeared in the
Click to expand...
device list but doesnt show up under a drive letter in MY COMPUTER.

i suggested they check the jumpers and cabling for both hard disk and cd
drive.

any other suggestions would be appreciated.
 
me said:
device list but doesnt show up under a drive letter in MY COMPUTER.

i suggested they check the jumpers and cabling for both hard disk and cd
drive.

any other suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

It may be that the first drive f'd up the IDE driver or fried the IDE
controller - I've had that happen a couple of times. Re-install the
IDE drivers to see if this fixes the problem; it's fast and worth a
try. I'd also test the second CD drive on a different computer to see
if it's actually working.

Peace!
ECM
 
ECM said:
the
device list but doesnt show up under a drive letter in MY COMPUTER.

i suggested they check the jumpers and cabling for both hard disk and cd
drive.

any other suggestions would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

It may be that the first drive f'd up the IDE driver or fried the IDE
controller - I've had that happen a couple of times. Re-install the
IDE drivers to see if this fixes the problem; it's fast and worth a
try. I'd also test the second CD drive on a different computer to see
if it's actually working.

Peace!
ECM[/QUOTE]

they took the second drive from another pc and assured me it was tested
before taken.

turns out its an analogue drive.

they claim their normal pc tech told them it wouldnt install under 98se.
even tho they downloaded drivers for it.

any ideas on this question as ive never used analogue to my knowlege.

all help so far much appreciated.
 
me said:
they took the second drive from another pc and assured me it was tested
before taken.

turns out its an analogue drive.

they claim their normal pc tech told them it wouldnt install under 98se.
even tho they downloaded drivers for it.

any ideas on this question as ive never used analogue to my knowlege.

all help so far much appreciated.
Click to expand...

"Analogue"?

An analogue connector is included on most modern CD-rom drives;
however, this is usually separate from the IDE connector. It's only
used for playing music CD's and it has nothing to do with data CD
formats. Just how old is this drive they're using?

IDE interface has been standard on CD-rom drives for 10 years at
least. If it's "analogue only" they likely need to buy a new drive - I
seriously doubt it'll work in any modern (post-1995) computer system.

ECM
 
ECM said:
"me" <[email protected]> wrote in message

"Analogue"?

An analogue connector is included on most modern CD-rom drives;
however, this is usually separate from the IDE connector. It's only
used for playing music CD's and it has nothing to do with data CD
formats. Just how old is this drive they're using?

IDE interface has been standard on CD-rom drives for 10 years at
least. If it's "analogue only" they likely need to buy a new drive - I
seriously doubt it'll work in any modern (post-1995) computer system.

ECM
Click to expand...

this person is going on what her normal tech said as to wether its analogue
or not. but its only 4 years old.

so i told her it has to be normal ide.

apparently as its panasonic it wont plug and play but needs drivers.

im trying to advise given its a long way to travel just to see the machine.
 
On Wed, 03 Nov 2004 10:52:59 GMT, "me"

this person is going on what her normal tech said as to wether its analogue
or not. but its only 4 years old.
Click to expand...

Seems a strangle thing for a tech to say, one might question
where they found this tech, how competent s/he is.

so i told her it has to be normal ide.
Click to expand...

Yes, if the cable fits in the drive it's IDE. It shouldn't
be necessary nor desired to choose a 4 year old drive
though, if nothing else there may be belts in it that
deteriorate just sitting on a shelf unused.
apparently as its panasonic it wont plug and play but needs drivers.

im trying to advise given its a long way to travel just to see the machine.
Click to expand...

It should not need any drivers, seems likely some other
cause. Any drive might come with a floppy with a DOS driver
but that doesn't mean it needs one under any modern, mature
OS.
 
me said:
hey there all,
I have a friend who has a pc.

they replaced a cd-drive in it 2 months ago.

now the replacement has died.

theyre both the same brand of cd drive. LG. i forget the model number.
Click to expand...

You have not given us details of the fault, but if the drives are not
working, but making nasty noises, then the following cannot damage them...
Open up the drives and grease all moving cogs and parts - parts can get
stuck. Clean the rubber circular part that grips onto the centre of the
drive and try it again - sometimes in older drives the CDs can slip a bit
due to the rubber getting old or dust making it slippy, if the CD is not
spinning at the speed it should be, the hears will be completely confused!!
 
Gareth Tuckwell said:
You have not given us details of the fault, but if the drives are not
working, but making nasty noises, then the following cannot damage them...
Open up the drives and grease all moving cogs and parts - parts can get
stuck. Clean the rubber circular part that grips onto the centre of the
drive and try it again - sometimes in older drives the CDs can slip a bit
due to the rubber getting old or dust making it slippy, if the CD is not
spinning at the speed it should be, the hears will be completely
confused!!
Click to expand...

That should have been *heads* not 'hears'!!
 
[snip]

Seems a strangle thing for a tech to say,
one might question where they found this
tech, how competent s/he is.
Click to expand...

[snip]

Maybe they're somehow referring to Analog vs. Digital Audio output? I
don't know why that would be important, though.
 
[snip]

Seems a strangle thing for a tech to say,
one might question where they found this
tech, how competent s/he is.
Click to expand...

[snip]

Maybe they're somehow referring to Analog vs. Digital Audio output? I
don't know why that would be important, though.
Click to expand...

It wouldn't be, I can't remember the last time I saw a
CDROM's digital output header used at all, and practically
all have an analog output for audio, which isn't needed for
function of the drive. 4 year old drives are also new
enough to allow digital audio over ATA cable as an option in
Windows (98?) or newer.
 
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