Before you upgrade or replace the DVD/CD-RW drive in your notebook, make sure that the drive you are buying is compatible with your computer. Some notebooks require an optical drive that works in cable select mode (CSEL). Some notebooks require master/slave (M/S) drives. Typically the drive is set to master or slave through a firmware flash. If the optical drive is not configured properly, it will not be detected by the BIOS or you will get IDE #1 error when you start the laptop. The best way to avoid these kinds of problems is to buy an optical drive designed for your laptop. If you plan to buy a generic drive, make sure to contact the seller and confirm that the drive will work in your computer.
In most cases you would be able to use the same connector board and DVD drive caddy (braces) from your old device. Just remove them from your old drive and install on a new drive.
Also make sure that your current plastic bezel (front panel) will fit a new optical drive. All bezels are different and very often you have to have a specific bezel for a specific drive. Do not hesitate to contact the seller and ask about the drive and the bezel computability.
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March 19th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Will,
I would try reinstalling Windows first. Use the recover DVD and reimage the hard drive. If you still experience the same problem even after reinstalling Windows, probably you have a faulty DVD drive.
March 18th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Hello. I’m using a Toshiba Satellite A75-S1253 Notebook. Recently i’m having troubles with the DVD drive. It’s the Matshita UJDA760 DVD/CDRW.
Sometimes, the drive won’t read any type of disc when i try it. Another strange thing is that, everytime it happens, it seems to disable or uninstall the drive device, as it dissapears from My computer place, and also from Device Manager. I attempted to re-load the driver data, but still, it doesn’t reappears, not even restarting the computer.
To make things stranger, sometimes when it attempts to read data from a disc without being recognized by device manager, the computer freezes.
I had also attempted to remove the Drive and re-install it on the notebook. But that just fixes the problem half of the time; a little time later, the problem reappears.
Is there any way to know which is the problem?, Is there any way to fix it?, or did my driver went bad?
Thank you for taking time to help me with my problem
February 19th, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Arun,
From my experience, in most cases when a DVD drive can read CDs but not DVDs (I mean read DVDs when you try open them from My Computer, not just playing DVD movies), it’s a problem with the drive and reinstalling Windows will not help. I think you’ll have to replace the drive.
Make sure to contact a seller and ask him about any compatibility issues between the DVD/CD-RW drive you are buying and your laptop. If the drive is configured differently, you can get an IDE#1 error on startup and the drive will not work.
February 16th, 2007 at 7:56 am
Thanx for ur reply. My DVD drive cant read only DVD’s. It is absolutely fine with CD’s. Would you think that installing windows fix my problem? The windows XP is on a CD. So notebook gets booted if i try with CD.
Any help on this is welcome
February 11th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Ashwin,
Try cleaning the drive lens with an alcohol wipe.
February 11th, 2007 at 9:50 am
Arun,
When I have to troubleshoot a problem like yours, I usually attempt booting the laptop from a bootable DVD disk. I use Knoppix DVD (you can download it).
1. If the laptop can boot from the DVD disk but cannot read the same disk in Windows, probably there is something wrong with software. Reinstalling the operating system usually fixes the problem.
2. If the laptop will not boot from my bootable DVD disk then something is wrong with the drive itself.
I understand that you might not have a bootable DVD for test, so I would try reinstalling the operating system. If you still cannot paly DVDs even after that, probably something is wrong with the DVD/CD-RW drive. You’ll have to replace the drive.
February 10th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Hi, I have a Toshiba Satellite 1805-S253. Recently my dvd rom drive stopped being able to properly read any burned cd’s; other cd’s and dvd’s though work fine. Does this mean my drive went bad? If so, I want to upgrade to a dvd/cdrw drive. How do I find out what other drives are compatible with this laptop?
February 8th, 2007 at 9:45 am
I am using Compaq Presario V2133AP notebook which came with Sony CD-RW CRX830E, DVD combo drive. I rarely used my disk drive. But all of a sudden, it started reading only CD-R/RW but not DVD R/RW. Previously it used to read DVD’s also and i used to play video DVD’s also.
What could be the problem? I even tried to uninstall hardware and tried to instal it again, and even cleaned the lens using Philips DVD Lens cleaner. But problem is not fixed.
Is there any way i can fix the problem? Waiting for your kind help in this regards.
December 1st, 2006 at 12:25 am
Chris,
I believe the DVD drive in this model plugs into the connector on the motherboard. You can take off the keyboard and try reseating the DVD drive. If it doesn’t help, probably you have a bad drive.
November 29th, 2006 at 10:31 pm
I was using my dads Toshiba Laptop (1805-S204). The DVD/CDRW drive doesn’t recignize the discs. They spin up but I get a message that the drive is empty. At boot up it says to check the CD-ROM Cable.
On the guides I didn’t see how to check to see if it’s plugged in. Is it hard? On the 1805 (didn’t have the -S204) I didn’t see the drive in the picture. Will I see the plug if I take off the keyboard?