Lite-on DVD does not fit into emachine

[hackmole]

I wanted to replace a cd drive in an emachine with a Lite-on it R/W DVD that came from a Compaq computer. That lite on drive has screws on the side of the metal casing of the DVD and is inserted in the front of the computer and held in place by some plastic flaps on the side of the metal frame in the Compaq case that catch those screws on the DVDs box frame.

So I took the screws off the box frame of the Lite-on DVD so it would fit into the emachine. The problem is that the screw holes on that metal box frame are not in the position they should be in to have the DVD align with the front of the emachine. I can only attach the screws to the frame of the computer if the DVD goes in about an inch from the front so there is a big gap there.

Also, I took out the DVD and CD from their box frames and tried to put the DVD into the CD rom box frame but it would not fit because there is still some kind of plastic frame holding the DVD that doesn't properly fit into the CD frame that seems to be an integral part of the DVD. Nothing fits together and it does not look good to mess with. So much for standards.

Is there any way I can fit that DVD into the emachine?

 

[Elixer]

Velcro

For what it is worth, unless it was a custom job, it should be standard parts you can swap.

I would need pics or something to see what they did, but it might just be a bracket to make it more secure.

 

[RebateMonger]

Any chance of photos, sketches, or model numbers of the PCs and CD/DVDs involved? It's difficult to tell what's going on from a verbal description in a case like this.

Compaq and eMachines have lots of manuals online, but you'd need to know the specific model to have a chance of locating the proper service manual.

Regarding standards, although there's lots of mounting systems for CD/DVD drives, I've never seen such a drive that didn't have "standard" mounting screw locations in the metal CD/DVD case. The usual differences are custom bezel systems and differences in the overall length of the drive. But the screw holes themselves have always been in the same location, measured from the front of the metal CD/DVD casing.

 

[tcsenter]

Its the extended front bezel/faceplate that he is missing. Don't bother trying to swap them, most won't fit unless the replacement drive is the same make/model. I've tried several times. You'll just have to live with the drive setting deeper by about 1/2 ~ 3/4 inch.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: tcsenter
Its the extended front bezel/faceplate that he is missing. Don't bother trying to swap them, most won't fit unless the replacement drive is the same make/model. I've tried several times. You'll just have to live with the drive setting deeper by about 1/2 ~ 3/4 inch.

That makes sense. I noted that some of the eMachine manuals had some kind of custom bezel in front of the CD/DVD drives.

I noted several eMachine DVD drives for sale on eBay, with bezel. The prices aren't totally outrageous.

It's also possible that the "velcro" answer is a possibility. If you don't mind that the front of the drive doesn't match any case curvature, you might be able to find a way to get a single screw into a drive mounting hole through the side of the drive bay housing.

 

[tcsenter]

Drilling a couple new screw holes using a tiny drill bit is also a solution, as long as you are careful. The metal used for optical drive housings is not especially hard.