CD/DVD-RW optical drive
Most modern laptops are equipped with a CD/DVD-RW drive also known as an optical disc drive which allows it to read and write data from or to a CD/DVD disc. All laptop CD/DVD drives are shaped the same but they all have different face plates also know as front bezels. On the picture above you can see three different laptop CD/DVD drives with different face plates/front bezels.
When you are replacing a failed CD/DVD drive, you have to make sure that the face plate from the old drive will fit your new drive.
On the picture below you can see two different types of connectors found in modern CD/DVD optical disc drives. One drive has a SATA connector and the other one has an older slim ATAPI connector.
An optical disc drive with a SATA connector is not interchangeable with an optical disc drive with a slim ATAPI connector and vice versa. In other words, if your laptop motherboard comes with a SATA connector for the optical drive, you can only use CD/DVD drives with SATA connectors.
On the next picture I compare a SATA connector used in laptop hard drives with a SATA connector used in CD/DVD drives. As you see, these two connectors are a little bit different. The data connector (right connector) is shaped similarly for both drives, but the power connector (left connector) is shaped differently.
By the way, you can connect a 2.5″ laptop SATA hard drive to a desktop computer using same cables as you use for a regular 3.5″ desktop hard drive.
In order to connect a Slimline SATA optical CD/DVD drive to a desktop computer, you’ll have to purchase the Slimline SATA Cable.
If you are replacing the CD/DVD disc drive in your laptop with a new one, make sure your new drive is compatible with the laptop. The best way to find a new optical disc drive is searching by the manufacturer’s part number found on the old drive.
When you install an optical drive which is not compatible with your laptop, it will not be recognized by the BIOS or you’ll get an IDE #1 ERROR on start up.
HOW TO REMOVE CD/DVD DISC DRIVE
In most laptops, the CD/DVD disc drive is secured by one or two screws on the bottom of the laptops. Remove these screws and pull the optical disc drive from the laptop.
On some other models, the optical drive is secured by one or two screws located under the keyboard. If that’s the case, you’ll have to remove the keyboard first. After that remove those screws and pull the drive from the laptop.
Laptop parts | Repair Man | 
December 26, 2008 3:01 pm
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:34 am
My CD-DVD drive fails in a very strange way. It was working fine for about 2 years but lately it has trouble reading some DVD discs and it’s getting worse. When I put a DVD disc inside, the drive starts making noises like trying to read it but it cannot. Sometimes it reads fine but on some occasion it will not read the DVD disc at all. The strange thing is that I have no problems with CDs. They all work 100% perfect. Do you think my laptop is getting old or what?
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Alina,
It sounds like your CD/DVD optical drive is getting old and failing. I’ve seen problems like that before. The optical drives fails only with DVDs but not with CDs and that indicates a problem with the drive, not the laptop.
I guess you’ll have to replace the CD/DVD drive.
March 2nd, 2009 at 1:25 pm
“The best way to find a new optical disc drive is searching by the manufacturer’s part number found on the old drive.”
What do you mean?Do I have to search for exactly the same drive?What do you mean by manufacturer’s part number, can you show with a picture.
My phillips sdvd8431 failed , and I want to replace it, but I can’t find a compatible device
thanx for the article , I’ve been searching for this info for 2 days
March 3rd, 2009 at 8:38 am
deckoff,
You’ll have to remove the DVD drive from the laptop and search for any stickers with numbers. One of the number could be the manufacturer’s part number. Google it.
If you cannot find the part number, find the drive model number and google it.
March 8th, 2009 at 3:53 am
Hi repairman,
My drive doesn’t read CD’s it also some times fail to read some DVD’s.
What should i do?
March 8th, 2009 at 10:59 am
lwebuga,
If the drive can read some DVDs but not CDs, it’s a problem with the drive. There is not much you can do to fix it. You’ll have to replace the drive.
March 27th, 2009 at 9:55 am
I’m trying to install a laptop SATA DVD drive in a new mini ITX system, but I cannot locate a power cord/adapter. Are you aware of where one may be able to be found?
Thanks,
Tim
March 27th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Tim,
Check out this store. They have a bunch of SATA cables, a few pages of listings. They sell Slimline SATA Cables for Slim Drives. I found a few of them on the second page for about $5.
April 11th, 2009 at 7:10 am
i have the same ? as the guy above me? im installing a mini itx system in my car and i need the power adapter what is it called? so i can do a search for it? is there a adapter that connects a regural Sata power to the small power adapter on my sata dvd drive
May 18th, 2009 at 6:53 am
WHERE CAN I FIND A SITE THAT STOCKS THE INTERNAL POWER SUPPLY UNIT INSIDE OF A LAPTOP COMPUTER?
May 18th, 2009 at 8:05 am
Paul Anderson,
Sorry, but I don’t understand your question. Which power supply you are looking for? Are you asking about the main battery, CMOS battery or what?
June 4th, 2009 at 11:01 am
My drive only reads cd’s with software data eg. wordperfect but will not read DVD’s or audio cd’s or cd’s with video files. What do i do?
June 6th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Missy,
The drive will not read DVDs and audio CDs at all?
Try the following.
1. Insert a DVD or audio CD into the drive.
2. Go to My Computer, right click on the CD/DVD drive and then click on Explore.
Can you see any data on DVD/audio CD this way? If not, probably you have a bad CD/DVD drive and it has to be replaced.
July 27th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Each laptop has a little black (sometimes brown) little circular piece that sits in the middle of the optical drive, so that when you place a CD or a DVD into the drive the media will snap securely into place. I’d like to know what the name of that piece is and if it’s available to order online.
July 31st, 2009 at 9:54 am
Hi!
my fujitsu lifebook optic drive is not working :[ it does not stay closed, and its impossible to find a replacement part! i even went to frys to ask if they could replace it for me and it would be around $450-$500 which is wayyy tooo much! eventhough i thought the trip to frys was worthless, i found out that a very important piece needed to close the drive was broken/cracked, do you think i can get a similar optic drive from fujitsu and remove the part that i need? or is that more on the impossible side?
THANKS!
July 31st, 2009 at 10:20 am
Amanda,
Do you know how to remove the drive from the laptop? You can search for the part number on the drive and then google it to find a replacement.
I guess it’s possible but all drives are different.
Here’s my suggestion. If you cannot find a replacement drive for your laptop, buy a portable external USB drive. You simply plug it into the USB port and it’s ready to go. Of course, you’ll have to block the door in the existing drive somehow to prevent it from opening.
Here are inexpensive USB optical drives for Fujitsu Lifebook notebooks. You’ll find one for $50-60.
August 13th, 2009 at 7:13 am
What if the drive can’t read just a certain disc? I’ve played lots of movies, lots of CDs, but there’s one single disk that I can’t play. It’s a Karaoke DVD (music + lyrics, DVD 5 format, zone 0) I tried to play on my laptop.
Do you know what’s going on?? Is it a drive problem or not??
August 13th, 2009 at 10:56 am
LM,
I really doubt that your problem is related to the drive. Most likely the problem is related to the DVD disc.
Why did you mention zone 0? Is this DVD from a foreign country? Maybe your DVD drive is locked for one country and because of that you cannot play the disc?
On a brand new DVD drive you can change the region up to 5 times and after that it gets locked on the last region you set.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Well, I live in Southamerica. In my country, we use zone 4 (and that’s the setted zone for my dvd drive); normally zone 0 can be played “universally”: my little sister can enjoy the karaoke disc with a normal dvd player. The disk can be read even by my old PC’s DVD drive, but it seems impossible for the drive on my laptop.
I’m sure i’m not gonna die, and I won’t suffer too much by this issue, but it seems really strange to me (especially when there’s no zone 0 as an option to set on the laptop dvd drive).
Thanks for your time.
August 17th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Hi,I have some problems when I read some dvd disks on my laptop, the same disk run normally in my friends’s laptop, even my laptop still new, the problem is ,in some sectors, the drive stop reading and make the laptop without responding, this didn’t happen with all disks.What do you think the problem is?.
Thanks for your help.
August 19th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Mohamad,
Not sure what’s going on. If the same disc works fine in another drive, most likely the problem is related to your drive. Either the drive is failing or maybe it is some kind of compatibility issue between the disc and drive. Is it a factory made DVD disc or home made DVD disc? I know that some DVD drives might have trouble reading discs burned in a different drive.
Just in case try cleaning the laser lens inside the drive with a cotton swab socked in alcohol.
August 21st, 2009 at 10:26 am
Hi Repair Man,
Hope you can help me with a question. I have a laptop that i’d like to remove the dvd drive and replace it with a 2.5 hard drive so i can have 2 hdd installed.
The laptop dvd drive has the slim atapi connector you show and the 2.5 hdd will be a sata drive.
I’ve checked and there’s plenty of space for the hdd, but i can’t find anywhere a converter and cable to connect the sata drive to the atapi port.
I was thinking even if I could get a cable that changes the slim atapi to a regular ide interface and then pick up an ide to sata converter – as those converters are easy to find.
What do you think – any way at all to do what i’m trying?
August 22nd, 2009 at 11:47 am
ricky,
I really doubt that you can find connector like that.
August 24th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Repair Man Says:
August 22nd, 2009 at 11:47 am
ricky,
I was thinking even if I could get a cable that changes the slim atapi to a regular ide interface
I really doubt that you can find connector like that.
Here you go –
http://www.directron.com/cddvdadapter.html?gsear=1
August 24th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Adrian is 17,
This is a good adapter, but… Using this adapter you CAN connect a laptop CD/DVD drive to a desktop computer. This adapter will fit perfectly into the IDE cable.
You CANNOT use this adapter for connecting a 2.5″ IDE hard drive into the Slim ATAPI connector in a laptop.
August 26th, 2009 at 11:42 am
I have an ASUS EEE PC laptop and the instructions call for an external optical drive to use the support dvd. I don’t have one. Can I just use a regular hard drive from my home computer?
August 26th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Cindy,
Do you mean a regular OPTICAL DRIVE from your home computer? I guess using a regular optical drive is possible but it’s way too much trouble.
1. You’ll have to remove the optical drive from your desktop.
2. You’ll have to find an external USB enclosure where you can stick the optical drive.
3. The laptop might not recognize this drive when you plug it in.
I don’t know what you are trying to do but if you have to reinstall the OS, it’s better to use an external optical drive suggested by Asus.
August 26th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Can nobody help me? I asked a question last month, but nobody replied. I’m desperately hoping that somebody out there knows the answer to my question (see below for copy and paste):
Each laptop has a little black (sometimes brown) little circular piece that sits in the middle of the optical drive, so that when you place a CD or a DVD into the drive the media will snap securely into place. I’d like to know what the name of that piece is and if it’s available to order online.
August 26th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Yousaf M. Shaikh,
This piece comes as a part of the optical drive. I really doubt that you can buy it separately. If I find where to buy it I’ll let you know.
September 2nd, 2009 at 3:36 am
Hi, I have a Sony crx800e dvd-rom, i don’t know exactly what connector has it. I made 2 pictures, and uploaded it, can someone tell me, is this a slim IDE or what?
Here is the 2 pictures about it:
http://hitmancontract.uw.hu/sonycrx800e-1.jpg
http://hitmancontract.uw.hu/sonycrx800e-2.jpg
September 8th, 2009 at 5:48 am
am having a trouble with my dvd disc drive.when i writ somethin it shows an error code “0xeb020b88″.its casued due to dust in the lens.can you tell how to clean it .i tried a lens cleaner but the drive not responding to that dvd.
September 8th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
arun,
When you open the drive you’ll find the lens inside. You can clean the lens with a cotton swab soaked in 99% alcohol.
September 8th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Feco,
It’s hard to tell because sometimes Sony uses proprietary connectors.
Also, it’s possible that there is a connector board inside the CD/DVD drive case and on your picture we see connector on that board.
September 11th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Hi I have a laptop and the DVDrw drive has failed. the drive is made by pioneer and is a DVR-K12DB. I can’t find a replacement drive anywhere so I thought I would try the closest match and got a second hand DVR-K12D (manufactured one month before my old one) It does not appear in the BIOS however but there is power getting to it as it opens and closes and the lights flash on it. Any ideas as to why it won’t work or how to find a compatible drive that will work?
September 13th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Ximon,
1. Try reconnecting the drive. Maybe it’s not making good connection with the motherboard.
2. Enter the BIOS setup menu and load default settings.
3. The new DVD drive could be defective.
4. Instead of searching for a new replacement drive by the model number, try searching by the manufacturer’s part number. Can you find any part number on the failed DVD drive? Google the part number.
September 17th, 2009 at 5:44 am
OK… so I’m the proud owner of a Blu Ray drive with a Slim Atapi connector… I’m also the proud owner of a Dell laptop with a Slim Sata connector… umm yeah, so it would be great if these companies would get on the same page and standardize these things better but since that’s an impossible task… I just want to know if there is an adapter that takes a slim atapi connection and flips it into a slim sata connection (the power side of the slim sata is smaller than a traditional sata power connection so the sata side would need to look like the one labeled “Sata Connector” in picture 2 above). Anybody know where I could get one of those ?
October 30th, 2009 at 6:48 am
How do I clean the lens on my Dell studio lap top. The discs are inserted via a thin slot on the side of the machine with no easily seen means of removing the drive to clean the lens. Any ideas please. The machine is 13 months old
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:30 am
Colin Rees,
I think you can buy a special lens cleaning CD.
A CD with small soft brushes attached to it. Ask about cleaning CD in a local electronics store.
November 12th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
I recently acquired a laptop optical drive to be used in an external case as an external optical drive for a netbook. Unfortunately, that external case requires 2 (very small) screws from the back of the optical drive – that I don’t have.
These are NOT the screws used to hold the drive inside a laptop, these are the screws that connect mounting hardware to the optical drive itself (said mounting hardware is then used by the external screws to hold the drive inside a laptop).
These screws appear to be much smaller than standard screws and I cannot seem to find them online, anywhere. Any recommendations?
November 17th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Hi guys,
Is anybody know, which model of dvd-rom driver suitable for SONY Vaio VGN-FE31Z ?
Cheers
Alex
November 17th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Alex,
Remove the original DVD-Rom drive and search for a sticker with the Sony part number. Google the part number.
If you are not sure which one is the part number, google any number you can find.
December 1st, 2009 at 7:55 am
This is kind of off topic, but my laptop died after about 5 years and I salvaged the DVD-RW. I was wondering if I can put that DVD-RW into the new desktop PC I am getting?
January 27th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
i took my dvd-rw out of my laptop can i put it into my old desktop???
January 27th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
stephen case,
Are you asking about an IDE (not SATA) DVD-RW drive? Are you trying to connect it to a PC with IDE channels?
Just search on Google for SLIM-IDE-ADAPTER and you’ll find the adapter.
This adapter will help you to connect your IDE DVD-RW drive to a regular 40-pin IDE cable in your desktop computer.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:41 am
Hi,
I have an old ide drive in my laptop, which is also really old (i.e. 2004). The drive is an old matsushita (a.k.a panasonic) uj-815. I think it is the ‘a’ model. It is a slot loader and when the disc goes inside, it seems to just spin and is not recognised. When it is ejected, it does not come out at all, except for a slight edge and I have to pull it out with my nails. Well, I think it is dead and would like to replace it. My laptop is a Mitac 8050d (a.k.a. Evesham, Time, Advent, Novatech, Tiny) and is still working well. If you have any recommendations for a replacement drive, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks in advance,
Cherry.
February 10th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
cherry,
I think you’ll have to remove the drive and search for the manufacturer’s part number on the drive.
After you find the part number, google it. Hopefully you can find a new drive this way.
Alternatively, you can buy an external USB CD/DVD drive and use it instead of the internal drive. Of course, it’s a hassle but could be a good alternative if you don’t use your CD/DVD drive very often. Also, you can use this external drive with any other computer.
February 17th, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Hello,
I need some help removing my CD/DVD optical drive from my laptop. I don’t know to remove it, it’s a gateaway laptop, model MX6959. Can you please help me?
Thanks.
February 18th, 2010 at 6:42 am
By mistake, I recently bought a Sony Optiarc BD-5730S BD S-ATA optical burner to replace a failed Panasonic / Matshita BD-MLT UJ-220. Windows Vista Device Controller shows the existing model as a UJ-220S, which made me think it is serial ATA or SATA. In fact, it is an IDE/ATAPI or PATA. Now I have to search the aftermarket for UJ-220 drives, which seem to be available only “used” (how much?), “recertified” (by whom?), or from small vendors. I’ll take a risk on one Ebay vendor, but don’t trust the UJ-220 to last any longer than its predecessor. I’ll want to use an external (and easier to replace) burner for most Blu-ray projects.
Which leads to my QUESTION: Is there any adapter cable to connect the Sony Optiarc BD-5730S BD S-ATA to an eSATA or USB2 port on my notebook so that it will work as an external drive? Most conversion cables I see on-line don’t have the distinctive “twin-L” shape (male or female?)of the SATA connector illustrated on this page. Does the right cable exist? Or would none work anyway because the DC power source must be split off and cannot come through the notebooks USB2 or eSATA port? Any advice appreciated.
February 20th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Thyme,
Yes, you can buy an adapter or even better external enclosure to connect your notebook SATA drive to a computer via USB.
You can find some cables and enclosures here.
February 20th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
Vero,
Usually there is only one screw securing CD/DVD drive on the bottom. Remove these screw and pull the CD/DVD drive from the laptop.
Here’s an example:
http://www.insidemylaptop.com/take-apart-gateway-nx570x-laptop-disassembly-guide/
Take a look at the step 4.
March 25th, 2010 at 8:00 am
Hello,
I need to changed the optical drive in my sony vgn-aw230j. I have searched around a lot and I thought the drive was held in by one screw (bottom of computer), but there seems to be more to it. I pulled out the HD drives, but couldn’t see any holding screws there. I can’t seem to find a picture of this model. Thank you for any help.
March 27th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
I can’t stand to look at that typo any more. I am hoping to have changed the drive, but at this point I am simply wanting to learn how to remove it. Tom
March 29th, 2010 at 11:02 am
Tom,
If the optical drive will not slide out after removing the screw on the bottom, it’s likely there are more screws (or one screw) securing the drive under the keyboard.
March 29th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Thanks. It probably is attached by a screw or screws under the keyboard. I guess that was why I was looking for a (dis-assembly) picture of this model. I can’t seem to figure out how to remove the keyboard.
March 31st, 2010 at 9:04 am
Tom,
I posted some disassembly instructions for Sony laptops here:
http://www.insidemylaptop.com/category/7-sony-laptops/
Take a look. Maybe one of the models will be similar to your laptop and you’ll figure out how to remove the keyboard.
Usually the keyboard is secured by a few screws on the bottom.
June 1st, 2010 at 2:07 am
My Compaq Laptop Presario C500. Its Combo CD Drive is not functioning, only displays the drive in “My Computer” icon.
Kindly advice the solution to resolve the problem.
Also advice on replacing the drive and its cost.
Regards
Manoj
June 14th, 2010 at 6:41 am
sir
i am using hcl laptop and in my laptop the dvd drives icon is showing in the my computer but when i inser a cd/dvd the drive is not able to read the data what may be the problem is that i want to change the drive or change the i can do any adjustment
please reply to me sir
June 21st, 2010 at 10:13 pm
muniasamy,
It’s hard to tell.
Try booting the laptop from a bootable CD or DVD disc. You can use Windows installation CD, recovery disc, live Linux CD, etc…
If the laptop will not start from a bootable CD/DVD, most likely you have a failed drive. In this case the drive has to be replaced.
August 17th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Am using hcl laptop..the dvd drive icon doesnt appear in my my computer screen but when i check through device manager it says my device is working properly..but i cant read any disc in that…help me to troubleshoot this problem
August 18th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
vasanth,
1. Remove DVD drive from the device manager, restart the laptop and let it re-detect the drive.
if it doesn’t help,
2. Fix registry entry for DVD drive: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982116
August 20th, 2010 at 8:23 pm
can i convert my dvd drive of my hcl laptop as external drive by connectind any USB convertor to my drive after removing it from my laptop.
August 22nd, 2010 at 7:36 pm
vasanth,
Yes, you can. You can purchase an external USB enclosure for notebook DVD drives.
Remove the drive, install it into the enclosure and you have an external DVD drive.
You can buy it here: external USB enclosures for laptop DVD drives.
Make sure to select the right type, it’s either IDE or SATA.
October 10th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
if your laptop cd drive failed, is it possible to connect an old desktop cd drive, it is 40 prong sticking out, and the laptop is slim atapi like in picture.
October 11th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
I don’t think you can connect the desktop drive directly to the laptop connector, but I think you can find an external USB enclosure for the desktop drive.
You install the desktop drive into the enclosure and after that connect to the laptop USB port.
October 19th, 2010 at 6:28 am
thx for the explaining KEEP IT UP……
November 20th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
hye,
my laptop compaq presario v300 won’t detect dvd drive neither in window or bios. is that mean i’ve got the problem with motherboard??? I’ve tried many time by remove dvd drive and replace with a new dvd drive which is can be detect in another laptop, but the result still same. lately my head feel dizzy thinking of this problem. Can someone tell me what exactly problem do i faced??
sorry for my poor english..
December 7th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
wan,
Sounds like a problem with the motherboard board to me.
I guess you’ll have to use an external USB optical drive instead.
Probably the laptop not worth replacing the motherboard.
December 20th, 2010 at 5:13 am
You provide an excellent repair guide advice, but no recommendation list on where to find the spares when disaster strikes. I’m looking for a sony vaio vgn-s4xp replacement DVD writer for example. I’m sure many of your readers would welcome such a list. Best Regards.
January 25th, 2011 at 7:55 am
I have a IBM R40 and would like to install a cd bunner the part # I have now is a 08k9645 do you know what the part # is fgor a bunner I can use thank you, Tom
January 28th, 2011 at 11:27 pm
Tom Frahs,
I’m not sure about the part number but you can find a new replacement DVD burner for your ThinkPad R40 notebook here.
March 10th, 2011 at 11:05 pm
I would like to buy a new internal copact CD/DVD for laptop Pkard Bell Easy Note model:MZ35. It is ATA conector. Please, tell me how much with all cost for have in few days in Bucharest and if I do not disturb I would like to pay with cash money when it’s delivered in my hands.
Thank you and with your permision,
Best regards.
Michael
April 28th, 2011 at 3:54 am
Hi,
Thanks in advance for help.
, but I don’t know if it will fit into my laptop. The last solution is to by Teac DV-W28E – I hope this will fit and work without problems since it comes from the same manufacturer as the original one and it has ATAPI connector.
So, I have 6 years old Fujitsu Siemens Laptop E8020 with a CD-RW/DVD combo drive (it can not burn DVDs). I want to buy a CD/DVD-RW drive for it. Old CD-RW/DVD drive is Teac DW-224E-CF5. On the Internet site (http://www.teac.co.jp/dspd/product/optical/dw-224ec.html) only DW-224E-C can be seen, but I think it’s the same product.
So, I want to buy a PHILIPS SDVD8821H or SAMSUNG TS-L632 or SONY AD-7560A. All of them are DVD-RW burner with IDE/ATAPI connector, I hope
Thanks for answer.
Regards.
May 3rd, 2011 at 9:08 am
Roland,
Sorry, cannot help you with this one.
Most likely the new DVD drive will fit physically but I’m not sure if it will work. It depends on the original DVD drive configuration (is it configured as CableSelect or Slave?).
If the original DVD drive still works, I would suggest buying an external USB DVD drive. How often you have to burn DVDs? Probably not every day.
Just buy an external DVD burner and use it when you need it.
May 18th, 2011 at 2:53 am
Hi again,
you are right about how often I need to burn one DVD. Not every day, but when you are traveling it is not so handy to care additional external DVD burner with power supply.
I have one additional question:
Regarding cable select or slave option. I thought that this can be easily changed with a jumper on the burner. Right or?
Thanks again for help.
Regards,
Roland
June 19th, 2011 at 6:50 pm
i have inserted very old cd trying 2 make a copy when i eject only the half part of the cd came out..i haven’t opened my laptop yet. im just checking what ican see from outside it seems the dvd writer is clear i tried to insert another cd and it’s working i checked the place where the incident happened i can’t see the other half of the old cd..i was worrying maybe it goes to the sensitive part of the laptop..pleAse help me..ill be happy if i could hear from you..BIG thank’s! please send or post me a reply
July 28th, 2011 at 11:05 am
Hi,
I was wondering if you can help me. I have just borrowed a neoware laptop on which, unfortunately, I can not find an optical disk drive. I was just wondering if it was hidden or if there was anything you could reccomend for me to do.
Many thanks.
August 1st, 2011 at 3:23 am
hi i have a laptop with a cd dvd/rw. with atapi connector. it happened that my writer got faulty. and when i searched, i found out the problem too. there is a strip or say ribbon cable below the tray, it was long and it actually got stuck in b/w the tray n base n it developed crack.
So i opened my drive fully n found out that this cable can be changed.
now the question is where can i get this cable??? or i will have to search for another faulty writer to replace it with.
August 17th, 2011 at 4:34 am
Hi, i’ve the DVD burner from my Sony Vaio. It stopped working after i burned the DVD, and there was some slight clicking sound when it happened, after that moment, the drive doesn’t recognise any of the optical disks. I’ve went through other sources also, read that optical calibration is necessary. So i’m looking forward to how to calibrate the potentiometers in that drive, cause there is very small spaces. For those of desktop ones its easy to calibrate while the disk is reading, but its hard to do for the laptop ones. Plz, reply soon on my query. Thanks in advance.
September 28th, 2011 at 9:10 am
Well I have a gateway p172s with a TS-T632A optical drive. It has always had trouble with recognizing blank media, I can find no new firmware nor drivers for it. It now does not see any media. Is there a good replacement for this drive, it has the slimline connector and is a slot loader.
Thanks for any help.
Mike Grant.
October 18th, 2011 at 7:57 am
I was just wondering if the Dell Laptop DVD drivew are different than the ones in the pictures as they do not match the connectors on my Dell Latitude! Do you have an USB enclosure for the Dell Latitudes?
THanks!
October 25th, 2011 at 9:37 am
I would be very grateful if anybody could advice me how to replace DVD RW drive in Acer Aspire 3660. Can’t find anything on the internet and after checking all the screws on the bottom came to realise that none are responsible for holding unit in place. PC World employee didn’t have a clue either. Is there a way to crack this “mysterious” model as DVD RW drive is on its last legs?
Many thanks
November 2nd, 2011 at 4:26 pm
@ Nick,
I don’t have instructions for this model, but if you cannot find correct screws on the bottom, most likely the are located under the keyboard.
On some laptops it’s necessary to remove the keyboard in order to remove the DVD drive.
November 2nd, 2011 at 4:37 pm
Greg,
I cannot tell without looking at the drive you are using. Different laptop might use different DVD drives.
January 29th, 2012 at 11:12 pm
im having atapi connector dvd rom and i want to convert it to sata or usb so is it possible to convert that particular drive
as it no more use in that particlar laptop
waiting for the reply