Do CDrom Drives get stuck?

[ross......]

I was given several older Pentium II computers from an office, (minus
the keyboards, mice and monitors). I took the best of each one and
made one computer. The fastest Cdrom drive was a 52X. I installed it
and all I got was lots of noise from the drive and drive error
messages on my screen. THe drive sounded like a car ready to blow a
piston rod. So, I installed a 32X drive instead. I was going to toss
that 52X in the garbage but decided to open it and see whats inside.
After I opened it I noticed the "head" did not move easily, so I
worked it back and forth a few times. I put it back together and now
it works fine. Do these things jam up from sitting? I know this
drive (or the whole computer) was not used for at least 2 years.
I must admit I was shocked when it worked, especially after I was
pretty rough with opening the case.

On thing though. When it's not being used, as long as there is a disk
in the drive, I can hear it spinning almost all the time. But the 32X
drive did the same thing. I am assuming I need to change some setting
in windows. But what? I use Win98SE.

Thank U

Ross

 

[paulmd]

I was given several older Pentium II computers from an office, (minus
the keyboards, mice and monitors). I took the best of each one and
made one computer. The fastest Cdrom drive was a 52X. I installed it
and all I got was lots of noise from the drive and drive error
messages on my screen. THe drive sounded like a car ready to blow a
piston rod. So, I installed a 32X drive instead. I was going to toss
that 52X in the garbage but decided to open it and see whats inside.
After I opened it I noticed the "head" did not move easily, so I
worked it back and forth a few times. I put it back together and now
it works fine. Do these things jam up from sitting?

Not from sitting, but they can get jammed. Optical Drives tend to live
about 8 years (some are better than others). But some of the old 4X
slowpokes seem rock solid.


I know this

drive (or the whole computer) was not used for at least 2 years.
I must admit I was shocked when it worked, especially after I was
pretty rough with opening the case.

On thing though. When it's not being used, as long as there is a disk
in the drive, I can hear it spinning almost all the time. But the 32X
drive did the same thing. I am assuming I need to change some setting
in windows. But what? I use Win98SE.

Not in Windows. Maybe a bios or firmware bug. Double check that you got
everything connected and jumpered correctly.

 

[Rod Speed]

I was given several older Pentium II computers from an office, (minus
the keyboards, mice and monitors). I took the best of each one and
made one computer. The fastest Cdrom drive was a 52X. I installed it
and all I got was lots of noise from the drive and drive error
messages on my screen. THe drive sounded like a car ready to blow a
piston rod. So, I installed a 32X drive instead. I was going to toss
that 52X in the garbage but decided to open it and see whats inside.
After I opened it I noticed the "head" did not move easily, so I
worked it back and forth a few times. I put it back together and now
it works fine. Do these things jam up from sitting?

Nope, not usually.

I know this drive (or the whole computer) was not used for at least 2 years.

I've got some older cdrom drives that havent been
used for much longer than that that still work fine.

I must admit I was shocked when it worked, especially
after I was pretty rough with opening the case.

On thing though. When it's not being used, as long as there
is a disk in the drive, I can hear it spinning almost all the time.
But the 32X drive did the same thing. I am assuming I need
to change some setting in windows. But what? I use Win98SE.

Thats what happens with SE and most of the other similar versions too.

 

[ross......]

Thanks for all replies. I guess this drive just was stuck, or maybe
one of those small ribbon cables were not plugged in tight. I pushed
all of them tight when I put the board back. It works fine now....

So there is nothing I can do with the constant spinning in Win98, huh?
It's not that big a deal, I can just remove the disk.

One other thing. It's been years since I messed with a cd drive.
Somewhere in windows there is a setting that makes the disk NOT start
when I insert it. I dislike that when they start as soon as I put them
in. Sometimes I just want to see whats on the disk, and this auto
start could insall something I dont want. For example, one started to
install adobe acrobat. I wont even use that thing, I have Foxit. How
do I stop the automatic starting.

Thanks

Ross

-----------

 

[Mike Walsh]

There is a setting in device properties in device manager to disable auto insert notification. You can also do it with TweakUI, under paranoia with a lot of other useful settings, if you have it installed.

 

[Rod Speed]

Thanks for all replies. I guess this drive just was stuck,

Yeah, it can happen, tho its not that common.

or maybe one of those small ribbon cables were not plugged in tight.

Thats possible too, but not very likely.

I pushed all of them tight when I put the board back. It works fine now....

So there is nothing I can do with the constant spinning in Win98, huh?

It should stop eventually but any activity in explorer etc starts it again.

It's not that big a deal, I can just remove the disk.

Yeah, thats what I do, when its irritating, I just remove the CD.

Its more noticeable with those older noisy drives. Modern drives
are so cheap you can fix it that way too, just get a new one.

One other thing. It's been years since I messed with a cd drive.
Somewhere in windows there is a setting that makes the disk NOT start
when I insert it. I dislike that when they start as soon as I put them in.
Sometimes I just want to see whats on the disk, and this auto start
could insall something I dont want. For example, one started to install
adobe acrobat. I wont even use that thing, I have Foxit. How
do I stop the automatic starting.

Its a setting in the device propertys. Pretty obvious, labelled autorun.

 

[HarryHydro]

Howdy!
Could it be when you took it apart, some dust may have been blown
off the lens? I have a CD that has an eye-lash type brush on it that
wipes the lens. It works great!
I know that butter-grease they use can get dry and hard. Maybe moving
the head loosened it up. Is there a worm-gear or belt to drive the
head?
You may find the 'faster' drives take a long time to get data
'started'. I used a slower drive because it would read while it's
spooling up. and some fast drive take a LONG time just to get the door
to open!
Take Care!
Harry

 

[ross......]

Thanks for the help.

I just went to CONTROL PANEL / SYSTEM / DEVICE MANAGER / PROPERTIES.
What I find are 5 settings total.
1. Disconnect
2. Sync Data Transfer
3. Auto Insert Notification
4. DMA
5. ( a place to set the drive letter)

ALL #s 1 thru 4 are DISABLED (not checked).
Honestly, I am not sure what any of them mean, and whether they should
be ON or OFF (checked or not).

#5 I do understand this one and it's set to the drive letter I chose.

I can not find any place that says autorun?????
Am i doing something wrong?

Ross

 

[John]

Thanks for the help.

I just went to CONTROL PANEL / SYSTEM / DEVICE MANAGER / PROPERTIES.
What I find are 5 settings total.
1. Disconnect
2. Sync Data Transfer
3. Auto Insert Notification
4. DMA
5. ( a place to set the drive letter)

ALL #s 1 thru 4 are DISABLED (not checked).
Honestly, I am not sure what any of them mean, and whether they should
be ON or OFF (checked or not).

#5 I do understand this one and it's set to the drive letter I chose.

I can not find any place that says autorun?????
Am i doing something wrong?

Ross

#3 is the answer, see here ..

http://www.acoustica.com/mp3-cd-burner/support/ain.htm

 

[Mike Walsh]

Thanks for the help.

I just went to CONTROL PANEL / SYSTEM / DEVICE MANAGER / PROPERTIES.
What I find are 5 settings total.
1. Disconnect

Auto Disconnect - used with SCSI
This is normally check but I don't think it has any effect with most IDE devices

2. Sync Data Transfer

Used with SCSI
Same as 1.

3. Auto Insert Notification

This should be disabled to keep programs from running automatically. With some OSs this by itself will not prevent autorun. Use TweakUI instead.

4. DMA

Direct Memory Access
This should be enabled for all IDE devices. If it is not enabled you will be running in PIO mode and have slow I/O