Can a CD-ROM drive just stop working?

[SLCentral]

Dad booted up his old PC a few weeks ago after it was turned off for the night, and the CD-ROM drive stopped working. Didn't think much of it since we had just got him a new computer, but I brought the system to the basement to set up a file server, and the CD-ROM drive just doesn't work, not at bootup, not in Windows, not in Linux. Formatting didn't help, but the BIOS does detect the drive.

Possible?

BTW, it's a cheap 4x4x32 NEC CD-RW drive from too many years back to count.

 

[VirtualLarry]

It's possible for drives to "just die", some day, but the fact that the BIOS does still detect the drive is interesting. That means that the controller PCB is still functioning. Can you press the "eject" button, and does the tray come out? If you insert a disc, do you hear it spinning up at all? One of the first things to go in an older drive can often be the spindle-motor/bearings. If it doesn't spin up, those could be toast. The other possibility is that the power molex connector in the back is loose/disconnected, or there is a frayed wire somewhere. If you are using power-molex Y splitters, then that could easily be the cause. (On some drives, the electronics will still be powered solely by the IDE cable, enough to report the "identify drive" command back to the host system. Continued operation like that will likely burn out the mobo's IDE ports, though.)

Considering that you can get a replacement 52x32x52 CD-RW drive for $20, or a combo that includes a DVD-ROM 16x reader for $30, or a 16X DVD burner for $60, it's probably due for a replacement anyways. So perhaps this was the drive's way of hinting at an upgrade?

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
It's possible for drives to "just die", some day, but the fact that the BIOS does still detect the drive is interesting. That means that the controller PCB is still functioning. Can you press the "eject" button, and does the tray come out? If you insert a disc, do you hear it spinning up at all? One of the first things to go in an older drive can often be the spindle-motor/bearings. If it doesn't spin up, those could be toast. The other possibility is that the power molex connector in the back is loose/disconnected, or there is a frayed wire somewhere. If you are using power-molex Y splitters, then that could easily be the cause. (On some drives, the electronics will still be powered solely by the IDE cable, enough to report the "identify drive" command back to the host system. Continued operation like that will likely burn out the mobo's IDE ports, though.)

Considering that you can get a replacement 52x32x52 CD-RW drive for $20, or a combo that includes a DVD-ROM 16x reader for $30, or a 16X DVD burner for $60, it's probably due for a replacement anyways. So perhaps this was the drive's way of hinting at an upgrade?

Well, the tray does open up, and I can hear spinning, but the LED activity is interesting. The light stays solid for around a minute, and then turns off. Windows also shows the little cursor icon that it is reading as well, but it just cant actually read the disk. The molex cable is also securely plugged in, so I don't think its that either.

And I actually just had to replace a CD-RW drive on another PC in the house as well, and I'm just not in the mood for spending money . I'll just do a network install.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Do you smoke or have pets? Perhaps the laser lens just got dirty, or has a piece of hair/fur over it. You could always take it apart, and very gently clean the laser head, with a q-tip/cotton-swab, and perhaps some distilled water or isopropyl alcohol.

 

[SLCentral]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Do you smoke or have pets? Perhaps the laser lens just got dirty, or has a piece of hair/fur over it. You could always take it apart, and very gently clean the laser head, with a q-tip/cotton-swab, and perhaps some distilled water or isopropyl alcohol.

Don't smoke, but have a cat. But the cat never goes into the room, so I don't see how that could happen. Bah, I don't care enough to go and take it apart. I don't need a CD drive to install Linux anyways.

Thanks for all your help, guys, though.

 

[Bassyhead]

I had a Liteon DVD-ROM just up and die once. No noise, smells, or any kind of indicators.

 

[Painman]

If you want to try to clean it, don't take it apart - get one of these. It's a good idea to have one of these and plop it into your optical drives every couple months.