Not Reading CD-RWs!(only CD-R's)

[Inquirer]

Very strange: Approx. 10-yr. old Panasonic CF-25 laptop w/ swappable
CD-Rom, floppy. CD-Rom-drive will now only read from CD-R media but
not from CD-RW media !! Tried the same CD-RW in a dif. comp. and was
fine, so I know it can't be disc itself.

Thanks for any help.

 

[altcomphardware]

Very strange: Approx. 10-yr. old Panasonic CF-25 laptop w/ swappable
CD-Rom, floppy. CD-Rom-drive will now only read from CD-R media but
not from CD-RW media !! Tried the same CD-RW in a dif. comp. and was
fine, so I know it can't be disc itself.

Thanks for any help.

Try upgrading your drive's firmware. Check the manufacturer's website
for details.

 

[Rod Speed]

Very strange: Approx. 10-yr. old Panasonic CF-25 laptop w/ swappable
CD-Rom, floppy. CD-Rom-drive will now only read from CD-R media but
not from CD-RW media !! Tried the same CD-RW in a dif. comp. and was
fine, so I know it can't be disc itself.

The drive is dying. CDRWs are harder to read than CDRs.

 

[meow2222]

Very strange: Approx. 10-yr. old Panasonic CF-25 laptop w/ swappable
CD-Rom, floppy. CD-Rom-drive will now only read from CD-R media but
not from CD-RW media !! Tried the same CD-RW in a dif. comp. and was
fine, so I know it can't be disc itself.

Thanks for any help.

Common with old CDROMs. CDRW has lower contrast than CDR, so either:
- the drive never read cdrw and isnt able to
- the lens is dirty
- the drive laser has deteriorated and its unfixable


NT

 

[paulmd]

Try upgrading your drive's firmware. Check the manufacturer's website
for details.

Nobody has firmware for 10year old drives, at this late date. You can
try.... but dont get your hopes up.

 

[~misfit~]

Common with old CDROMs. CDRW has lower contrast than CDR, so either:
- the drive never read cdrw and isnt able to
- the lens is dirty
- the drive laser has deteriorated and its unfixable

The correct term is "reflectivity index". It's about 90% with pressed discs,
75% with CDRs and 60% or less with CD-RWs. This means that far less light is
reflected back to the 'reader sensor' with CDRWs.

I would think that your 10-year-old drive's laser assembly has aged to the
point where the laser just doesn't put out enough power for the reflected
light to be strong enough for the sensor to read accurately. It could be due
to a dirty lens, therefore a lens cleaner may help or it could ba as NT
suggested and the laser was never powerful enough to read CDRWs in the first
place (the way you said "will now only read from CD-R media: suggests to me
that it previously read CD-RWs).

The good thing with laptop optical drives (and also the bad thing as it
leaves them vulnerable) is that the laser assembly is usually visible when
the drawer is open. You could try some lens cleaner and very carefully
attempt to clean the lens. Be aware that a lot of these lenses are plastic
so don't use powerful solvents. Perhaps ask for gentle lens cleaner at an
opticians if it's worth it to you. If it's been around cigarette smokers
then the lens can be *really* hard to clean as there is usually a thin film
of tar deposited on the lens that dries out over time and gets very tacky
and extremely hard to remove.

Good luck.

 

[meow2222]

The correct term is "reflectivity index". It's about 90% with pressed discs,
75% with CDRs and 60% or less with CD-RWs. This means that far less light is
reflected back to the 'reader sensor' with CDRWs.

both reflectivity and contrast are important.

I would think that your 10-year-old drive's laser assembly has aged to the
point where the laser just doesn't put out enough power for the reflected
light to be strong enough for the sensor to read accurately. It could be due
to a dirty lens, therefore a lens cleaner may help or it could ba as NT
suggested and the laser was never powerful enough to read CDRWs in the first
place (the way you said "will now only read from CD-R media: suggests to me
that it previously read CD-RWs).

The good thing with laptop optical drives (and also the bad thing as it
leaves them vulnerable) is that the laser assembly is usually visible when
the drawer is open. You could try some lens cleaner and very carefully
attempt to clean the lens. Be aware that a lot of these lenses are plastic
so don't use powerful solvents. Perhaps ask for gentle lens cleaner at an
opticians if it's worth it to you. If it's been around cigarette smokers
then the lens can be *really* hard to clean as there is usually a thin film
of tar deposited on the lens that dries out over time and gets very tacky
and extremely hard to remove.

Good luck.

Be real careful if doing that, lenses are typically suspended on 2 very
fine wires with nothing else holding them, so are very fragile. Use
nothing harder than a brush used gently.


NT