My dvd burner has given up the ghost today and despite trying everything its
definitely dead. Getting power put burning any type of file won't burn. I've
even tried different burning programs from nero to win xp standard one.
.... but will it read discs? Is it enumerated in the bios,
does it show up in Device Manager (windows OS?)?
How long had you used it, does it have a far bit of wear
from frequent use or is it used in a dusty/smoky/etc
environment?
You might try loading another OS like a Ubuntu LiveCD, or a
separate install of Windows to see if it works, but a
replacement may only cost $25-30 or so online, maybe $5 more
factoring in the shipping cost.
So I guess the simplet thing would be to buy a new one ? (not sure if they
are fixable ?)
If the manufacturer offers a firmware update you could
always try flashing that, and some companies sell drive
cleaning discs or you could try blowing out the drive with a
can of compressed air, but IMO the odds are the drive is
unfixable unless you had some kind of malware on the system
that is interfering with windows use of it... which also
seems unlikely but scanning the system for malware is
something that you might want to do periodically regardless
of this potential failure.
The simplest thing is definitely to buy a new one,
particularly if you have backups on DVDs, it's far handier
to have a spare drive available when the present one fails.
When buying one what I am looking for, I have no idea of the type of drive
it is IDE or scuzi?? how to do you tell they apart.
SCSI is generally reserved for higher end servers or
workstations, has a wider ribbon cable. ATA (ATAPI) is the
most common on an aged drive, 40 pins and usually a ribbon
cable though occasionally the cable is rounded. SATA is a
much thinner cable and smaller connector.
The easiest might be to go ahead and pull the drive out
since you have to do it anyway to replace it, then it's
easier to look at the cable interface and read the label, or
just Google search for the drive model to get info about it.
The original system spec sheet would also likely list this.
You might also try a new data cable if you had been working
around in the system recently and possibly disturbed it, the
ribbon cables use insulation displacement connectors and
while they are generally fairly robust, if one makes bad
contact it is not always visually obvious.
Other than that I guess you just disconnect the power feed, and the ribbon
cable. align new one, usually with screws ? power feed back on, ribbon back
on and install drivers ?
No drivers are needed, though if the drive is newer than the
burning software (version) then that software might need a
data update so it recognizes the drive as a burner. Yes
screws or friction levers or rails will hold it in, though
with some cases (especially OEM mATX cases) the whole drive
cage might slide out the front before the drive can be
easily removed. With such OEM cases generally the front
plastic bezel snaps off, or at least a portion of it does,
then either screws, levers or similar are manipulated to let
loose of the removable drive cage. It should be obvious
enough what to do once you are looking at it, or if it is
not clear how to get it out the odds sway in favor of it
being in a whole cage that slides out the front.
Be sure to disconnect AC power to the system while working
inside, and check the (master/slave/single/CS) jumper to be
sure it is set correctly per it's position on the data cable
(with another drive?).
Any advice on all this as not tinkered around with a desktop in a while.
It's pretty much the same process as it was a decade ago,
but with no need for DOS drivers (unless you definitely need
to use it in DOS), and the update to the burning software if
it doesn't recognize the drive capability.
Also in windows device manager, check the properties for the
drive controller it's attached to to verify it is using DMA
instead of PIO mode.
