Laptop DVD drive problems

50Twuncle

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Have you used the Try Ubuntu option as of yet?

Not on this laptop - I have it installed on my own though !!

50Twuncle

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Have you used the Try Ubuntu option as of yet?

If I did install Ubuntu - Which I can't (the laptop will not boot from USB) - What would that prove ?
Whether the CD drive works ?
OK - So I discover that it does - but that won't help me to install Windows (7 or XP) - The drivers appear correct (it appears in the device manager as the correct model of DVDROM) - It is just a DVDRAM in "my computer" and is not recognised under Windows XP !
I have removed the device and let it be automatically detected and it simply appears as previous (ie DVD RAM)

Dave_C_2

The following may help, On my XP desktop the DVD drive shows up as:

• DVD-RAM drive when it's empty.
• With the XP disk in it shows as VX2HO_EN.
• With a blank DVD disk in it shows as CD Drive but Nero still works fine.
• Otherwise it shows the DVD disk name both data and movie.
• I assume you mean this fix

Sorry I can't be more help

Dave

50Twuncle

Dave_C wrote: »

The following may help, On my XP desktop the DVD drive shows up as:

• DVD-RAM drive when it's empty.
• With the XP disk in it shows as VX2HO_EN.
• With a blank DVD disk in it shows as CD Drive but Nero still works fine.
• Otherwise it shows the DVD disk name both data and movie.
• I assume you mean this fix

Sorry I can't be more help

Dave

It makes no difference whether a disk is in the drive or not !!
That is the fix
I think that the end is nigh for the old beast - the battery died completely 5 years ago - meaning that it has to be plugged in to run....
Thanks anyway
PC World - here we come - Toshiba Satellite C850D looks OK - £299 (reduced by £200)

Toxteth_OGrady

ISTR back in the day on XP that optical devices would occasionally manifest ASPI layer problems resulting in symptoms like yours. Worth a shot at trying this:

http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/aspisetup.cfm

or the aspi_you diagnostic here:

http://www.nu2.nu/aspi/

or you can google "fixaspi"

Avoriaz

Maybe you could buy an Acer Aspire 5000, working or spares and repair, (or just the DVD drive) cheaply on Ebay or similar and see if swapping the DVD drives over fixes your problem.

Then sell what you don't need and get some of your money back.

Although, after five years, does it owe you much? A new one is always nice.

Personally I would avoid PC World as you can probably do better elsewhere.

But if it has what you want at a sensible price, and is convenient then go for it.

Good luck

50Twuncle

Toxteth_OGrady wrote: »

ISTR back in the day on XP that optical devices would occasionally manifest ASPI layer problems resulting in symptoms like yours. Worth a shot at trying this:

http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/aspisetup.cfm

or the aspi_you diagnostic here:

http://www.nu2.nu/aspi/

or you can google "fixaspi"

Thanks - I will give that a go....

50Twuncle

Avoriaz wrote: »

Maybe you could buy an Acer Aspire 5000, working or spares and repair, (or just the DVD drive) cheaply on Ebay or similar and see if swapping the DVD drives over fixes your problem.

Then sell what you don't need and get some of your money back.

Although, after five years, does it owe you much? A new one is always nice.

Personally I would avoid PC World as you can probably do better elsewhere.

But if it has what you want at a sensible price, and is convenient then go for it.

Good luck

Thanks - but I can't be bothered reviving such an old piece of kit - the battery is dead too !!
PC world has never done me any harm - it is local and convenient and if it offers what I consider a good deal - I will spend my money there !

Jamie_Cortez

21Twinkle wrote: »

Thanks - but I can't be bothered reviving such an old piece of kit - the battery is dead too !!
PC world has never done me any harm - it is local and convenient and if it offers what I consider a good deal - I will spend my money there !

Problem with PC world is the hard sell, and usually over the top pricing.
As others have suggested, depending on its intended use you may be better off looking elsewhere.

NiftyDigits

Have you actually created the bootable USB drive? e.g Ubuntu or Windows 7.

Try creating it, popping it in, rebooting, hitting F12 on reboot and choosing to boot from HDD. If you are lucky USB might pop up as an option.