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CDROM INTO DVD MOD

N

nvfx

Banned
While most of you might have read it, i am copying this guide from a forum at CDRlab.

I've tried the Mod but cant seem to find any DVD Jumpers nor could i loose the lens screw cause it jammed with some liquid.

Here is the guide though...

Mod Your CD-ROM to Watch DVD Movies"
Philip Chan - 7/28/04

DISCLAIMER: This article is for information purposes only - neither Overclockers.com nor the author will be held responsible for any actual or consequent damages by anyone choosing to attempt this modification.

The DVD format is a new disc format. DVDs can store more data than CD-ROMs, and is a great format to store high-quality videos. DVD-ROM drives are getting lower and lower nowadays, around RMB$300( US$36.24) to RMB$350 (US$38.66). But isn't it a waste to buy a DVD-ROM drive just to watch movies? Why not make good use of your CD-ROM drive?

After continous tests, I found out that we can use CD-ROM drives to watch most retail DVDs. You just need to mod your CD-ROM drive a bit. It's not very complicated, most people can do it.

There are two types of CD-ROM drives we can mod:

1. 24x to 40x
2. 40x or higher

Drives slower than 24x are too old to be modded.

24x to 40x CD ROMs

Laser Head Adjustments:

The track pitch of CDs is 1.6 microns, and the track pitch of DVDs is only 0.8 microns. The minimum length of track pits of CDs is 0.843mm, and the minimum length of track pits of DVDs is 0.293mm. That's why DVD discs can store much more data in the size of a CD.

Pinpointing this situation, we need to adjust the laser head so it can read discs with smaller track pitchs and shorter track pits. Open up the CD-ROM drive, do you see a lens on the rail? That's the laser head. On the side of the laser head, there's a screw you can adjust.

This is the key of this mod.

This screw can adjust the size of the laser beam that lands on the disc. Referring to the above, after adjusting, the laser beam should be less than 0.293mm, to suit the needs of DVD discs. So turn that screw 2-3 times. I got this number through trial and error. Mark with a pencil, in case you forget how many times you turned that screw.

Speed adjustments:

DVD-ROM drives can play DVD movies smoothly at 4x speed. If we're modding a 32x CD-ROM drive, the rotation speed is obviously too high, increasing heat, and shortening the life of the drive.

So we need to decrease the speed of it.

Most people know that power supplies can provide 5V (red wire) and 12V (yellow wire) electricity output for Molex connectors. Find the Molex connector you'll plug into the modded CD-ROM drive, cut the yellow wire or insulate it with tape, so only 5V of electricity is transferred to the CD-ROM drive. The speed of the drive is now 32 * 5/17 = 9.41x and can now fulfill our requirements.

40x or higher CD ROMs

When 40x CD-ROM drives are released, most manufacturers are already producing DVD-ROM drives. To lower cost, they use the same core as DVD-ROM drives with DVD functions disabled. What we need to do here is to re-enable the DVD function.

Open up the CD-ROM, behind the circuit board, look for a jumper that says DVD JUMP. Find a jumper to connect this jumper. Thin metal wire also works fine.

OK, so the DVD function is unlocked, but we still need to decrease the speed. Use the instructions above on how to decrase the speed of the drive.

Notes:

1. Modded drives cannot be detected in POST, that means you cannot use it in DOS. But once you get into Windows, the drive works fine.
2. Modded drives have no region code problems.
3. Modded drives MIGHT NOT read DVD9 discs, that's why I said you can watch most retail DVDs in the beginning.
 
Assuming you've got a 40x, newer CD drive that has the same build as the DVD drives, simply enabling a jumper seems like a really easy and quick mod. If that's the case, I would have figured to have heard it by now.
 
wouldnt you have a problem playing different region dvds?
Click to expand...

Notes:

1. Modded drives cannot be detected in POST, that means you cannot use it in DOS. But once you get into Windows, the drive works fine.
2. Modded drives have no region code problems.
3. Modded drives MIGHT NOT read DVD9 discs, that's why I said you can watch most retail DVDs in the beginning.

great read nvfx, i am gonna try to convince my stubborn roomate so i could let him access my stuff burnt on dvdrs 🙂
 
Originally posted by: VanillaH
wouldnt you have a problem playing different region dvds?
Click to expand...

Notes:

1. Modded drives cannot be detected in POST, that means you cannot use it in DOS. But once you get into Windows, the drive works fine.
2. Modded drives have no region code problems.
3. Modded drives MIGHT NOT read DVD9 discs, that's why I said you can watch most retail DVDs in the beginning.

great read nvfx, i am gonna try to convince my stubborn roomate so i could let him access my stuff burnt on dvdrs 🙂
Click to expand...

ah, didn't see that part.
 
Did anyone try this?

I cracked open an old samsung 52x cd rom drive... no jumpers that i see....
 
Runner20 ... most of your "latest" hardware is assembled either here, or nereby in china...

So its pretty easy. India is a big computer market, so latest hardware comes here pretty often.... all hardware except high end video cards 🙁
 
I also agree on that one and if you check ebay im quite sure you could pick up a dvd rom for cheaper than $29. it would be interesting to do that though, just for the mear bragging rights = but it does seem like a waste of time.
 
That mod is the biggest load of BS that I have seen. Almost like adding a 120V AC line to your processor to speed it up some. ('cause every overclocker knows that more voltage == more speed, right?) 😛

While it may well be true that very recently-mfg drives might use the same circuit board and chipset, between both CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives, there are enough mfg-cost differences that such jumper-change is unlikely to work. The mod itself, stated the way it is, WILL NOT WORK. You will do nothing more than fry your currently-working CD-ROM drive. (The fact that it asks you to cut your power molex to reduce the speed, and the fact that it is no longer detected during POST, should be the clincher there. No POST = dead drive.)

The disc's spin speed isn't controlled directly by the voltage applied, if it were, drives would have trouble reading discs, when the 12v line coming off of the PSU was slightly-low, or in most cases, slightly-high. Rather, it's based on a feedback PLL, from the data bits read by the drive/laser-head, which tells the motor to speed up or slow down.

Not to mention, the low-level encoding/error-correction scheme used by CDs and DVDs is different, and the size of the laser "spot" on the disc while reading, is a function of the wavelength of the light, not some focus adjustment.

Basically, there are so many things wrong with that mod, that what was stated, is IMPOSSIBLE.

Now, it mght be true, that some mfg's are re-selling DVD drives, complete with a dual-focus laser head, as CD-ROM drives, but if that's true, then all you would need to mod is either a jumper, or re-flash the drive. Cutting the power molex and adjusting the laser head couldn't help here. It's also likely, that the reason that they are being sold as CD drives is because there is something faulty about them reading DVDs.

(Although, it does make me wonder, about combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW drives. Obviously, it the device does contain a laser head capable of outputting the proper wavelengths for both CD and DVD media. Assuming that that it is an integrated laser head, and capable of the output power necessary to burn CDs, then it IS theoretically possible that it could be hardware or firmware-modded to turn it into a full-fledged DVD burner too. That would be a lot more of a worthwhile hack to explore, than a CD-ROM to DVD-ROM mod.)

Edit: Btw, I found it particularly telling, that that page isn't linked from the front page on overclockers.com at all. I was going to claim fraud, but a Google search did turn it up, so I guess the existance of the original page was legit, at least, but it claims to be a translation of some Chinese page, which obviously has to be fake, for the reasons that I've explained.)
 
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