CD-ROM issues

[zmerlinz]

erm well i went to copy a cd earlier and i put the cd in the burner and the reading light flashes quickly and then goes out, thus indicating that it can't read the cd, thinking this is a little weird, i put the cd in old reliable and that wont even read the cd, so i try to reboot the machine to see if that makes a difference, but no, so i have had the machine off for a few hours and they still both refuse to read any cds

i have no idea why this is happening, all i know is that it was working the other day, and the cds work in my laptop

both the CD-ROM and the burner are on the same channel, but this shouldn't make a difference for the hardware to read the cd surely ??

and i am running Linux, but they should have no bearing on it either

so anyone got any ideas why this might be happening ??

[Rick Bull]

Exactly the same thing happened to me a while back. I took it back to where I bought it from, and it had developed a fault on it. Have you tried different CDs? Maybe it's just a faulty/damaged CD. Which drive have you got? I have a Ricoh CD-RW/DVD combo. It still has errors - keeps scratching my disks.:mad:

[Si_the_geek]

My first thought is that the cables connecting them have come loose, as they are on the same one and have the same problem it seems even more likely.

[zmerlinz]

well it refuses to read any CD that i put in either of the drives,so it isn't the cd's fault

it could be the cable come loose, but even if the data cable wasn't plugged in the cd-rom would still light up to indicate that it can read the cd ??

hmmm still a little stumped at the minute

anyone else got any good ideas ?

[Si_the_geek]

actually no, if the cable is partially plugged in the drive doesn't work normally.

I would recomend just switching the computer off, opening the case, and unplug the cable and re-connect it.

This has worked for me in the past with the same problem, and at worst will only waste a few minutes of your time.

[zmerlinz]

ok then i will give it a go and see if it makes any difference :)

[zmerlinz]

well i did that and it didn't make any difference, if one of the power leads wasn't in properly or wasn't supplying suffcient power do you think this would prevent the drives reading cds ??

[Si_the_geek]

it certainly could, if one isn't connected properly then it will potentially disrupt the communication between the other and the motherboard. (as well as obviously not working itself)

[zmerlinz]

well i took the CD-ROM to bits and all of the motors seem to be working ok, so i think that the PSU isn't supplying enough power to the drives i.e. not +12V and not +5V, i will try the burner out later on someone else machine and see if that makes a difference

[Si_the_geek]

you took it to bits?? :eek:

oh well, never mind!!


I would recommend just testing one drive at a time - completely unplug the other, and see if it works then.

If it doesn't work for either drive then you should try them on the other IDE channel.

[zmerlinz]

Originally posted by Si_the_geek
you took it to bits?? :eek:

oh well, never mind!!


I would recommend just testing one drive at a time - completely unplug the other, and see if it works then.

If it doesn't work for either drive then you should try them on the other IDE channel.

done that already

oh and the one that i took to bits was my old 4 speed so no warrenties voided :), but i needed to see if the motor for the laser had burnt out or not, and luckly it hasn't which means the drives should still work, if they get enough power

[Rick Bull]

Maybe the laser's ruined?

[zmerlinz]

Originally posted by Rick Bull
Maybe the laser's ruined?

on both drives at the same time ??

unlikely

[zmerlinz]

i have a PCCHIPS motherboard and yes i know that it is crap, but it was free, there could of well been a power surge that caused it, i am getting a digital multimeter and test all of the voltages, if they are out a lot, i am taking the case back and complaining !

[Rick Bull]

Good luck :p

[zmerlinz]

well i took the burner back on Saturday, and apparently there is a fault with the drive and they had to be all re-called, but they didn't tell me what the fault was, at least i got my money back, now all i need to do is get my other CD-ROM fixed

[Rick Bull]

Exactly what happened to me :p except they swapped my drive for working version.