My DVD rom can't read discs anymore...

[Sonikku]

I've had a Samsung DVD Rom drive in my new PC for a couple months now that has worked just fine. As of late however, whenever I insert a disc it acts as though the drive is empty. When I click the D drive in My computer it says "Please insert a disc" when there already is a disc in the machine. The Device Manager says it is "working properly" yet it most certainly is not. All the cables are connected with no problems as far as I can telll either. (I built it myself)

It worked up to this point, but after troubleshooting, updating the drivers, and doing everything I can think of the drive still can't seem to pick up on a single !@#$ disc I put in the drive. To be exact, CD's almost never work and DVD's don't work. Period. The Samsung DVD Rom's serial is TS-H352A and I'm at my whits end. I've wanted to get a NEC DVD burner off of newegg for sometime, but it's still $40 I don't have, forcing me to get this one to work. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cerb]

If it's only been a couple months, try an RMA.

 

[Zap]

Does it have a "play" button on the face to be able to play audio discs? If so, put in an audio disc, plug some headphones into the front jack and see if you can get some music to play. If so, then it may still be a Windows problem. If not, then a hardware problem and time to RMA.

 

[ronach]

Things to try before doin the RMA thing;

1 - Hit the eject button, after it opens, blow out the inside with canned air, or by mouth.

2 - Replace the ribbon cable with a new, or known good ribbon cable.

3 - Remove/uninstall the unit from device manager, shut down, completely disconnect the unit from your sys, reboot, play a game, enjoy your sys for awhile, heh, cool off, shutdown, reconnect the unit, verify it has been recognized, install only the necessary software to check out it's operation.

Hope this helps

 

[HDTVMan]

Sounds like dust try blowing some air in with the tray open like Ronach suggested.

A weird trick I heard is remove the dvd drive from the case then connect the power
insert a disc then when the drive closes and begins to spin up turn the drive upside down.
The thought is the dust particle through gravity and the force from the drive may shake the debris loose and cause the lens to self clean.

Good luck.

 

[lucky9]

I don't think I 'd want to turn a running unit upside down....especially with a disk in it.

Ronach has good things to try.