CD Writer trouble

[Steve Ellis]

Hi guys

for some reason my CD-Writer seems to have stopped working both as a writer
and a reader, it used to work fine but i've been trying to write a CD all
day and have gotten nowhere.
Basically as soon as i put a CD into it, it just freezes and i can't access
the CD. Before when you put a CD in you could hear it spin up but that
doesn't happen and it's as though the computer is waiting for it to do so.

The only thing i could think of to fix is was to reinstall it but that
didn't work.

It's made by philips and is a generic CD-Writer that came with a pre built
computer from PC World so i can't be any more specific as to the exact make.
I've also looked on the website of the comp manufacturer (Medion) and they
didn't have any CD-Writer drivers on there.

I'd really appreciated any help with this since i need to get it working
ASAP

thanks for any help you can give me

Steve

 

[Kevin Lawton]

Me too !
In my case I have a couple of DVD drives which exhibit the same behaviour.
They are detected as drives by the op system, but don't seem to know when
they've got a disk in them, or just keep trying to detect the disk forever.
I think this might be something to do with the optical whatsit which detects
a disk (CD or DVD) but am not too sure - perhaps somebody else can shed more
light on it.
Sooner or later I am going to be taking one of these drives apart to see if
there is a build-up of dust and dirt on some sensor inside.
I would be asking about drive repairers, but with the cost of new drives
being so low it probably just isn't worth it.
Anyone got any other ideas ?
Kevin.

| Hi guys
|
| for some reason my CD-Writer seems to have stopped working both as a
| writer and a reader, it used to work fine but i've been trying to
| write a CD all day and have gotten nowhere.
| Basically as soon as i put a CD into it, it just freezes and i can't
| access the CD. Before when you put a CD in you could hear it spin up
| but that doesn't happen and it's as though the computer is waiting
| for it to do so.
|
| The only thing i could think of to fix is was to reinstall it but that
| didn't work.
|
| It's made by philips and is a generic CD-Writer that came with a pre
| built computer from PC World so i can't be any more specific as to
| the exact make. I've also looked on the website of the comp
| manufacturer (Medion) and they didn't have any CD-Writer drivers on
| there.
|
| I'd really appreciated any help with this since i need to get it
| working ASAP
|
| thanks for any help you can give me
|
| Steve

 

[Shep©]

Hi guys

for some reason my CD-Writer seems to have stopped working both as a writer
and a reader, it used to work fine but i've been trying to write a CD all
day and have gotten nowhere.
Basically as soon as i put a CD into it, it just freezes and i can't access
the CD. Before when you put a CD in you could hear it spin up but that
doesn't happen and it's as though the computer is waiting for it to do so.

The only thing i could think of to fix is was to reinstall it but that
didn't work.

It's made by philips and is a generic CD-Writer that came with a pre built
computer from PC World so i can't be any more specific as to the exact make.
I've also looked on the website of the comp manufacturer (Medion) and they
didn't have any CD-Writer drivers on there.

I'd really appreciated any help with this since i need to get it working
ASAP

thanks for any help you can give me

Steve

Drive is shagged :/
Dead cheap to replace,
http://www.cclcomputers.biz/
only good gear




--
Free Windows/PC help,
http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/trouble.html
email shepATpartyheld.de
Free songs to download and,"BURN" :O)
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/nomessiahsmusic.htm

 

[Jason Brock]

Yep definately got what ya paid for. Lite-On is a great bang for buck
option. Plextor probably makes the best drives for a higher price.

 

[Steve Ellis]

really, that sucks so bad is there absolutely nothing else that might work


Oh CD-Writer i barely knew ye !!!

Steve

 

[beav AT wn DoT com DoT au]

Sooner or later I am going to be taking one of these drives apart to see if
there is a build-up of dust and dirt on some sensor inside.
I would be asking about drive repairers, but with the cost of new drives
being so low it probably just isn't worth it.
Anyone got any other ideas ?
Kevin.

The drives are dead easy to pull apart and look at. All you need is a
small-ish phillips-head in most cases. Blow it out, that might fix it...

--
-Luke-
If cars had advanced at the same rate as Micr0$oft technology, they'd be
flying by now.
But who wants a car that crashes 8 times a day?
Registered Linux User #345134

 

[kony]

really, that sucks so bad is there absolutely nothing else that might work


Oh CD-Writer i barely knew ye !!!

Steve

As cheap as they are there's not really any point to spending a lot of
time on it, but for the sake of giving it one last try you might open it,
take some pure alcohol and flush the lens... do not touch anything to the
lens, simply wet it then a moment later spray a stream of alcohol against
it, holding it with the plane of the lens at 90" to horizontal so any
deposits tend to run off the side rather than pooling and drying in the
middle. Of course if the drive is particularly dusty inside it should be
blown out prior to doing this. Most often this is an exercise in futility
but I do have a few drives salvaged by doing so. Old questionable drives
are best used for playing audio CDs, instead of adding wear or dust
accumulation to a (relatively) expensive new DVD-R.