Why is my CD-R not working?

therecklessone

Can anyone shed any light on this?

My CD-R is currently not working. There appears to be no power going to it (can't open the tray) and its not registering as a drive when I check my computer's devices. I've installed no new software, and I haven't deleted anything. Its just acting the bo**ox.

This happened before with another drive, and this drive is a replacement for that. Since I installed it (about four weeks ago) I've had no problems...that is, until today.

OS is ME if thats any help (or hindrance)

I'll open her up and check the cables are connected properly, but I sincerely doubt thats the problem.

I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Kali

switch ide cables, or if it was on ide0 switch it to ide1 etc... also try it in a different pc if you're able, always best to doublecheck components before writing them off.

MrVestek

Sounds to me like the power cable from the psu has slipped out, try fiddling about with it to get it working again, if not try the IDE thing as sugested above, and if all else fails, tis, for want of a better phrase, feckerd.

therecklessone

Ok, tried the IDE cable thing. Swapped the one I got with the computer for the one that came with new drive. No joy. I don't believe that the IDE is the problem, as I also have a DVD drive running off the same cable and that works fine.

Set-up is as follows:

DVD master drive, CD-R slave. Both are running off secondary IDE connector.

Power set-up is Floppy Drive into CD-R into DVD then into PSU.

Note, both the floppy and DVD are working fine.

I've tried disconnecting the power cable from the CD-R, then reconnecting. No joy. There are also other power supply cables in the computer, I've tried connecting one of them with no success.

Getting increasingly pi**ed off.

MrVestek

Just a question but, i dont suppose its one of these 52x drives is it? If so, at times they can be prone to running the at too many rpm and will actually fracture the disc inside the drive. Just wondering, did this happen? If so it could have damaged a power dongle inside the drive. And if its nothing to do with connections and the like, im afraid it has just failed. I know how horrible it can be to just have things fail, as my motherboard failed the other week for little or no reason, can be a right pain in the sun not shining area.

therecklessone

52x it is, Sony model CRX225A.

I'll try the old drive, that might at least register as a drive. Then I'll try putting the new one in my mate's computer, see if it works there.

Thanks.

Anyone else with ideas keep posting please, I need all the help I can get.

therecklessone

I wouldn't mind only I only bought this bloody thing less than three weeks ago...

Anyway, replaced the new Sony with the old Philips one, that registered as a drive at least. Suggests the problem is indeed to do with power, rang Sony and I have to send it back.

On a related topic, the drive was bought to replace the Philips one as a result of a number of problems I was experiencing. I'd a feeling the original drive was acting up, and I noticed my computer was freezing quite a lot, usually about 15 minutes after switching on. Eventually, I couldn't boot the machine without it freezing immeadiately.

When I say freeze, I mean the machine wouldn't respond to any input for about 2 minutes, but registered any attempt and then actioned them every 2 minutes or so, e.g. ctrl-alt-del wouldn't do anything initially, but after a period of time the close program window would open. Do it again, and after another period the machine would restart. Same story with moving the mouse, no movement shown, but after say 2 minutes the cursor would appear at new location on screen.

Seemed very strange, but stopped after I disconnected the original CD-R drive.

Any thoughts?