CD drive on laptop not working - any ideas?

PigginSkint

Hi All

My OH got me an ipod shuffle for my birthday in February. I want to put some of my CDs onto it but itunes is not finding anything on the CD drive. I have tried a couple of other things as well (e.g. one of my son's computer games) but it is just not finding anything.

It has certainly worked previously because I have used it to install software (e.g. for my printer) onto my laptop.

Any ideas what is happening and what I can do to put it right?

It is a CD drive which can slide out of the laptop quite easily so it makes me wonder whether something has happened to the connection.

Any suggestions gratefully received!

closed

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2372

Chartered_Eng

PigginSkint wrote: »

Hi All

Any ideas what is happening and what I can do to put it right?

It is a CD drive which can slide out of the laptop quite easily so it makes me wonder whether something has happened to the connection.

Any suggestions gratefully received!

If the Apple web site does not give any hints on what the trouble could be try ejecting and re-inserting the CD drive as this will wipe the contacts and restore any doggy connections. Also look at the pins and make sure none are bent over if it is one of these types (some have comb type connectors).

CD/DVD drives have two heads, one for CD's and another for DVD's. So if the drive reads one (DVD's) but not the other (CD's) then it could be burnt out. One thing to try is a CD head cleaner disk as this may remove any dirt they may be deposited on the optics of the head. These disks cost around £5 from Maplins (xxx.maplin.co.uk/cd-laser-lens-cleaner-3123).

If your portable is a Windows based machine then if there is a system profiler then use this to see if the system recognises that there is a CD/DVD drive attached.

KillerWatt

Chartered_Eng wrote: »

CD/DVD drives have two heads, one for CD's and another for DVD's.

Wrong I'm afraid

Chartered_Eng

KillerWatt wrote: »

Wrong I'm afraid

Modern CD/DVD drives have one arm and two heads or lasers, one for CD's and the other for DVD's.

DVD uses 650 nm wavelength laser diode light as opposed to 780 nm for CD. This permits a smaller pit to be etched on the media surface compared to CDs (0.74 µm for DVD versus 1.6 µm for CD), allowing in part for a DVD's increased storage capacity.

For this reason it has been known for a drive to loose the ability to recognise a DVD but still 'see' CD's or visa versa.

Browntoa

try this

http://support.microsoft.com/mats/cd_dvd_drive_problems/en-us

PigginSkint

Thanks everyone for your advice and suggestions. As it happens, my best friend from school and her boyfriend came to visit us on Sunday. He works in IT so he had a look at it for me. As I suspected, the CD drive is kn*ckered! So I will have to get a replacement. Luckily there is a computer repair shop in our town (which is where I got my computer from in the first place - it is a reconditioned on) so hopefully it shouldn't cost me too much.

Thanks again everyone!