How to Repair an Optical Drives

Today i am going to write a simple guide on how to repair CD/DVD-ROM drives.

This method can be used for CD, CD-RW and DVD drives or any other optical drives. Firstly, you have detect or diagnose an optical drive problems.

These are some diagnose from symptoms and solutions caused by optical drives.

Common Symptoms and Solutions

I cannot access the drive and the light does not go on

• Check that the power and controller cables are securely attached to the drive.
• Verify that pin #1 of the controller cable is matched to pin #1 on the drive and on the motherboard.
• The operating system may not be configured to use or "see" the drive.
• If it never worked, verify that the jumpers on the drive are set correctly.

I cannot access the drive but the light does go on

• The CD may be damaged or unreadable.
• Try removing and reinserting the disk.
• Try cleaning the CD.
• Verify that pin #1 of the controller cable is matched to pin #1 on the drive and on the motherboard.
• If it never worked, verify that the jumpers on the drive are set correctly.

The drive drawer will not open

• Press the button once and wait at least a minute.
• In Windows, go to "My Computer", right click on the CD-ROM drive and choose "Eject" from the menu.
• With the computer unplugged, you can open most CD-ROM drawers with a unwound paper clip. Poke it, as straight as possible, into the hole and push with moderate force (the paper clip may bend a little) to force the drawer open a half inch. Now pull the drawer the rest of the way open.
• If the problem persists, check that the power connector and controller cable are securely connected to the drive.
• A CD may be jammed or broken inside the drive. Access may require the removal of the drive's outer case. If this is necessary, it is very likely that the drive will have to be replaced.

I hear it spinning and then stopping repeatedly

• The CD may be damaged or unreadable.
• Try removing and reinserting the disk.
• Try cleaning the CD.
• Verify that pin #1 of the controller cable is matched to pin #1 on the drive and on the motherboard.
• If it never worked, verify that the jumpers on the drive are set correctly.

The drive seems to transfer data too slow

• Is the drive on the same controller cable as the primary hard drive? If so, performance will be slowed because only one device can communicate at a time. Move it to the second IDE controller

Conclusion

There are times when our PC hardware at the end of its life hehe.. sometimes.. especially optical drives, floppy drive and hard disk. In my opinion, these are 3 devices that easily broken due to frequent use.

My advice is:

1. If you're using CD/DVD for playing PC games, backup your CD and make an Image of the CD/DVD. You can create an ISO image of your CD/DVD with a free burner called DeepBurner. Click to download DeepBurner. Then, use Daemon-Tools to mount or unmount CD/DVD. Click here to download daemon tools.

2. Don't put your PC in a dusty environment. Dust could kill your optical devices such as optical mouse and optical drives.

I hope this guide will help you. Good Luck!