DVD/CD-RW burner drive in desktop not working

[Muse]

NEC ND-2510a IDE DVD/RW burner/player

I've had this maybe 8 years, guessing. It's always worked great, lately I've had more coasters than usual and today it won't read a disk. Toss it and get a replacement or is there something I can try to get it working again (e.g. clean the laser or something)? :'(

Are all the drives available now SATA? I don't trust my SATA controller, it's pretty bad, an early one on old mobo:

Gigabyte GA-K8n Pro motherboard
Silicon Image page for siI3512 SATA chip

I could try an SATA burner, maybe it would work OK, but I have had an issue or two with the 500GB SATA drive I have running on that SATA controller.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I've had this maybe 8 years, guessing. It's always worked great, lately I've had more coasters than usual and today it won't read a disk. Toss it and get a replacement or is there something I can try to get it working again (e.g. clean the laser or something)? :'(

Cleaning the laser certainly wont hurt anything. It might just work... 🙂

Are all the drives available now SATA? I don't trust my SATA controller, it's pretty bad, an early one on old mobo:

Gigabyte GA-K8n Pro motherboard
Silicon Image page for siI3512 SATA chip

I could try an SATA burner, maybe it would work OK, but I have had an issue or two with the 500GB SATA drive I have running on that SATA controller.

I have had bad experiences with optical drives on Silicon Image SATA controllers. Especially the early ones. That's not to say it will not work, but it might have a few kinks here and there. Your other option is an IDE-to-SATA converter, like this one + new SATA drive...

Hope it helps... 😀

 

[Dstoop]

First question is how old are the disks you're using and what brand are they? A lot of cheap brands will start giving you coasters more often than not after they've been sitting on your shelf for a few years.

Then you've got two options really- try new/different media or replace the drive. The good news is that a brand new dvd burner will cost you about the same as a decent spool of dvds these days. The bad news is that you're probably going to have a hell of a time finding an IDE burner still being sold for a decent price at any reputable retailer.

 

[Muse]

Cleaning the laser certainly wont hurt anything. It might just work... 🙂

Never done it. How would I go about it? Remove it from case, find what looks like a lens and clean it (e.g. with qtip and rubbing alcohol)? :\

I have had bad experiences with optical drives on Silicon Image SATA controllers. Especially the early ones. That's not to say it will not work, but it might have a few kinks here and there. Your other option is an IDE-to-SATA converter, like this one + new SATA drive...

Hope it helps... 😀

Hmm. Well, absent fixing the drive I guess I could try the cheap $18 Liteon SATA drive at Amazon, see if it works on the SI controller and if I'm having problems, could get the converter. I'm thinking of getting another mobo, but haven't found one yet I like for this system. Thanks for the help.

 

[Muse]

First question is how old are the disks you're using and what brand are they? A lot of cheap brands will start giving you coasters more often than not after they've been sitting on your shelf for a few years.

Then you've got two options really- try new/different media or replace the drive. The good news is that a brand new dvd burner will cost you about the same as a decent spool of dvds these days. The bad news is that you're probably going to have a hell of a time finding an IDE burner still being sold for a decent price at any reputable retailer.

I'm pretty sure I had problems with some new disks. Also, I'm right now having problems reading application install CDs, more than one. Switched OS (multiboot XP on the box), am having a little better luck in the other install, but still problems.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Never done it. How would I go about it? Remove it from case, find what looks like a lens and clean it (e.g. with qtip and rubbing alcohol)? :\

You can just use a regular CD cleaning kit, it works just as well in computer drives.

 

[Muse]

You can just use a regular CD cleaning kit, it works just as well in computer drives.

Huh, I didn't know they had such things...

Digital Innovations 60120-00 CleanDr Laser Lens Cleaner

I suppose you mean a lens cleaning kit. There are quite a few available at Amazon. I imagine it's worth a try. Besides, I can clean my other devices with it, maybe should periodically. I have plenty of laser disc reading (and writing) devices. Sometimes a movie won't play right. I can always use one of these and see if it improves things.

 

[Raincity]

Do lens cleaners really work? I thought all they do was move the dust to a different spot on the lens.

 

[Muse]

Xxxxx

 

[Muse]

Do lens cleaners really work? I thought all they do was move the dust to a different spot on the lens.

Never even heard of them before yesterday, but I read reviews on a bunch of them at Amazon and clearly it fixed (at least temporarily) problems with a lot of people's drives. I bought two different ones from Amazon, added a 3rd item to get the total over the $25 minimum for "Super Saver Shipping," i.e. free shipping. I ordered these:

Allsop 23321 Ultra Pro Carbon-Edge DVD and CD-Drive Cleaner

Digital Innovations 60120-00 CleanDr Laser Lens Cleaner

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I suppose you mean a lens cleaning kit.

I did. English is not my first language and sometimes it can be hard to translate terms exactly... 🙂

What I usually did with a bad drive (its been awhile, I don't use optical drives much anymore) was stripping the top cover off and wipe the lens with a 93% alcohol solution (rubbing alcohol in English I guess, the stuff you use for cleaning garden funiture, stainless steel and the likes). That usually did the trick. Though occasionally its the motor that's giving up, if that's the problem you can only replace the drive...

 

[bbhaag]

If you want man I have an old Samsung/Toshiba TS-H552 I can give you. You pay shipping and I'll drop it in the mail. In case the lens cleaner doesn't work.

 

[mfenn]

Do lens cleaners really work? I thought all they do was move the dust to a different spot on the lens.

They do move the dust to a different spot, but that spot is usually on the lens housing where it doesn't matter. It's only a temporary fix if the environment stays the same, since more dust will of course accumulate on the lens. Obviously, there could also be something entirely different wrong with the drive in the first place.

 

[Muse]

They do move the dust to a different spot, but that spot is usually on the lens housing where it doesn't matter. It's only a temporary fix if the environment stays the same, since more dust will of course accumulate on the lens. Obviously, there could also be something entirely different wrong with the drive in the first place.

I'm inclined to think it's that now. I yesterday received those two lens clean kits and tried them both several times and it didn't fix things. One music CD played (was slow to load), but nothing else would including the audio from the kit CD's. I heard a comical starting/stopping voice on one, couldn't even get that to happen after that.

I ordered the $17.99 Liteon burner off Amazon to replace the NEC drive. Too bad, because that drive lasted a really long time, it worked perfectly for many years. I don't burn a ton of disks, but certainly burned close to 1000 CDs/DVDs over that period. Ordered this one:

Lite-On Super AllWrite 24X SATA DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive - Bulk - IHAS124-04 Version C (Black)
http://www.amazon.com/Lite-On-Super-...=liteon+burner

 

[Muse]

If you want man I have an old Samsung/Toshiba TS-H552 I can give you. You pay shipping and I'll drop it in the mail. In case the lens cleaner doesn't work.

Oh, didn't see that. I already ordered a Lite-on. Thanks, anyway!

 

[Muse]

I did. English is not my first language and sometimes it can be hard to translate terms exactly... 🙂

What I usually did with a bad drive (its been awhile, I don't use optical drives much anymore) was stripping the top cover off and wipe the lens with a 93% alcohol solution (rubbing alcohol in English I guess, the stuff you use for cleaning garden funiture, stainless steel and the likes). That usually did the trick. Though occasionally its the motor that's giving up, if that's the problem you can only replace the drive...

Thanks, I guess I'll give that a try. I do have some rubbing alcohol of about that strength.

 

[Muse]

Thanks, I guess I'll give that a try. I do have some rubbing alcohol of about that strength.

I took the drive apart, found the lens and cleaned it with a Qtip and 91% alcohol, blew out a little dust, put it back together and it's acting about the same. Can't read some disks at all, there's one music CD it's reading but it plays haltingly! :\ Plays a few seconds, then stops, starts again in a second or 2 or 5 or ???.

The drive seems to be spinning up, then down, does whooshing. Guess it's a lost cause. My Lite-on should be here in a few days. I do have a couple of old Lite-on CDRW drives to pick from in the mean time. Hope the new drive plays OK connected to my Silicon Image SATA controller.

 

[Muse]

I ran both lens cleaning disks in the drive, the effect was pretty comical, but play seemed to improve some. I just put in the app installation CD it couldn't read before and the app is actually installing. Progress. I kind of doubt it will ever be OK again, however. I wouldn't chance burning a DVD with this thing. I have enough coasters. :\

 

[SaurusX]

My DVD burner has recently bit the dust as well. I burn a lot of discs and I have no doubt that it's just worn out. It won't open the tray sometimes and instead just makes a thumping noise like it's trying, but just can't do it. Now it fails power calibration every single time I try to burn a disc. It's essentially a DVD reader now.