What to do if the disk drive breaks. Typical faults of laser drives
DVD player disk drive
Laser disk drives have become widespread in electronics. Any DVD player, CD/MP3 radio, or stereo system includes a laser drive.
In most cases, such devices end up in repair due to a breakdown. laser drives.
The malfunctions caused by a breakdown of the laser drive are quite similar and boil down to one thing - the laser disc is either unreadable, or music (CD/MP3) or video (DVD) playback fails.
It should be noted that the service life of the laser diode, which is included in any disk device, is on average 3-5 years. It is naive to think that a DVD player will work for 10 years or more! Check your DVD player's manual...
In general, the first thing you need to ask when they bring any disk drive to you for repair is how old the device is and how intensively it was used. If the answer is 3 or more years, then the likelihood that the optical unit is faulty increases sharply. How often the device was used is also important, because a laser drive is an electronic-mechanical device. The number of miniature motors in one laser drive is unlikely to be less than 2-3.
First of three– spindle drive. He is responsible for promoting the laser disc. Very large number malfunctions are associated with it. Here's an example.
Second– drive of the optical unit. This drive is responsible for positioning the laser head along the disk. Quite rarely it fails.
Third– loading/unloading drive ( LOAD ). Unloading and loading a disc into the drive. Malfunctions of this engine are quite rare, and are usually easy to repair.
In practice, such a malfunction occurs. Mostly CD/MP3 car radio .
The sound often disappears during playback. It suddenly appears and also disappears. There is “stuttering”.
U DVD players The malfunction manifests itself as follows.
It takes a very long time to read the disc, after which the message ( ERROR or NO DISK ). It is possible that the disk may randomly freeze. Reinstalling the disc solves the problem and the recorded disc plays normally.
The reason for this “incomprehensible” behavior is not due to a malfunction of the optical laser unit, but to a malfunction of the spindle drive.
The fact is that the spindle motor must spin up at a certain speed. The speed is adjusted by the system feedback. So you don’t have to think that the disk is spinning on its own. I applied 3 volts to the engine and that’s it! No! The disc rotation speed is regulated by a complex adjustment system. If the spindle motor is faulty, then even the correction system does not cope well and failures occur. The engine does not produce the required speed, “fails”.
Therefore, if the malfunction described below occurs, do not rush to replace the optical laser unit!
Replacing the spindle drive is cheaper than buying an optical laser unit. You can temporarily replace the drive with a motor from another device or find a suitable one in the storage room.
A very common problem is with CD/MP3 radios with vertical disc installation.
The disk spins up, but the disk does not boot. Writes ERROR or NO DISK .
The optical laser unit is protected from dust and dirt. A thin, fine dust deposit on the top lens is enough to make the disc unreadable. Radios with vertical disk installation are more vulnerable to dust; the disk is loaded from above and the amount of dust entering increases.
In this case, disc car radios are more protected; they have slot loading of the disc.
Fine dust deposits can be removed from the surface of the laser unit lens with a regular cotton swab or just a piece of cotton wool. Wet cotton wool with cleaning agents No need, you can ruin the lens! We rub a cotton swab over the surface of the lens in a circular motion 3-4 times. We make sure that there are no large dust residues on the lens and that’s it!
You should not press on the lens; it is attached to spring wires! They supply power to the focusing electromagnet. They are quite strong, but with excessive force they can be damaged.
It is not uncommon that after such simple cleaning, the operation of the device is completely restored.
The main difficulty in this operation is to correctly disassemble the device and get to the laser head. This is most difficult to do on music centers with a 3-disc loading unit or changer (when the discs are placed in a box - like plates in a dryer), as well as on car CD/MP3 players and DVD players with slot-loading discs.
Therefore, on the pages of the site I also posted information on disassembling various CD drives.
Drive repair. Prevention and treatment.
The main causes of drive malfunctions are mechanical failures. They make up about 75-80% of the total number of malfunctions and repairs associated with it. Moreover, most often the reasons for the failure of DVD drives (any kind, not just computer ones) are contamination of the moving parts of the disc transport mechanism and dust accumulated on the optics. Repairing a disk drive is almost guaranteed to be equivalent to the cost of a new one, so we read carefully and weigh whether the skin is worth the candle.
Is the disc still in the drive? Emergency holes for a thin screwdriver blade will force the tray to open.
Repairing a disk drive is not a trivial task.
The presence of dust and dirt on the moving parts of the mechanism, especially on the edges of the moving carriage slides, makes it impossible to lock the drive mechanism that holds the disk, as a result of which the device does not lock the disk and constantly throws it out. If, on the contrary, the drive ejects the tray and immediately takes it back, then most likely the cause of the defect is a failure of the tray position sensor. The drive detects that the tray has been ejected using a contact sensor, which you should find and try to correct its position, repair or replace. Repairing the drive as such is not necessary here; from time to time, just check to ensure that dirt does not accumulate in the places where the slide moves.
The optical drive system often fails due to dust accumulated on the focal lens or prism. If blowing through the device does not help, you can try to wipe off dust from the lens with a soft flannel or a brush/stick, as in the picture.
Remember that under no circumstances should you use alcohol or solvents for cleaning!
The focal lenses of most modern optical drives are made of organic plastic, and solvent will irreversibly damage their surface. It is best to wipe a heavily soiled lens with a piece of hard paper (at worst, with a cotton swab, being careful not to leave any lint). This operation is carried out extremely carefully, since the suspension of the laser itself can be damaged. Repairing the drive in this case will be expensive, almost equal to the cost of the drive itself.
The situation is more complicated with the prism that stands behind the lens - it is extremely difficult to get to it. Moreover, the head, as a rule, is not dismountable, but even if it is disassembled, its settings can be lost. Therefore, for most drives, contamination of the lens means its complete unsuitability. Sometimes the optical system fails even because of an ordinary hair caught on the prism - in this case, again, you can try to blow through the system with a powerful stream of air. Otherwise, repairing the drive (its cost) will be unreasonably high.
By the way, it is not recommended to use special discs supposedly designed specifically for this purpose to clean optics. Most of them will not only fail to clean your drive, but may even seriously damage it. After all, modern optical drives spin the disk to a very high speed and at the same time have a very delicate read head, so if you value your device, then do not clean it using such devices. This will no longer be repairing the drive, but almost deliberately disabling the drive.
However, most drives operating under normal conditions do not reach the stage where increased dust levels can cause failures. Most often, the plastic of the lens simply becomes cloudy from time to time and/or from overheating of the drive in the system unit. Repairing a disk drive involves an expensive replacement of the laser read head. However, such a malfunction accounts for no more than 10% of cases. Here we can, of course, advise increasing the intensity of the laser glow. To do this, adjust the variable resistor installed on the carriage with the laser. Turn the slider of this variable resistor clockwise by 20-30°, and then check the rotation of the drive motor when installing the disk. If the disk does not begin to rotate, then turn the variable resistor slider another 20-30°, and continue this until the engine starts (it should start and rotate at a constant speed for some time - about 10-20 seconds) .
The need to rotate the variable resistor that regulates the intensity of the laser glow is due to the fact that over time the power of the laser light flux decreases (aging of elements, clouding of the lens, etc.), however, after such adjustment, the optical system usually still does not last long. This kind of alleged disk drive repair is no longer practiced.
You are unlikely to be able to fix other malfunctions of the optical-electronic information reading system on your own. Despite its small size, the optical system of a DVD drive is a very complex and precise optical device, including servo systems for platter rotation control, laser reader positioning, autofocus, radial tracking, and laser diode sensing and control systems. Repairing the drive in this case is not worth it.
Characteristic signs of a malfunction are either the lack of rotation of the disk, or, conversely, its constant acceleration to maximum rotation speed. When you try to remove a disk from a faulty drive using the controls, the carriage opens with the disk rotating on it.
Until the disk drive repair began...
In the operation of a working system, the following phases should be clearly visible:
Start and smooth acceleration of the disk;
Steady rotation mode;
Braking interval to a complete stop;
Using the carriage tray, remove the disk from the motor spindle and take it out of the drive.
You can verify that the optical drive system is operating correctly by opening the device and observing its operation. You can verify whether the disk spins up after installation by connecting only the power cord to the drive (the data cable is not connected). If the disk does not rotate after installation, then check whether the laser lights up when the carriage is installed in the working position, but without the disk. Sometimes the laser glow is not visible in daylight, so the room needs to be darkened. Observation of the laser lens should be carried out from different angles.
In modern optical devices, the presence of a disk is monitored by the laser itself. If a photosensor installed in a laser carriage receives a reflected signal from a disk, then the electronic circuit perceives this signal as “the presence of a disk” and only after that generates a command to turn on the main rotation motor. Consequently, if the intensity of the laser glow is insufficient, the disk will not spin up and repair of the disk drive will become inevitable.
The servo system for positioning the information reading head ensures a smooth approach of the head to a given recording track with an error not exceeding half the track width in the search modes for the required piece of information and normal playback. The reading head, and with it the laser beam, moves across the disk field by the head motor. Engine operation is controlled by forward and reverse motion signals from the control processor, as well as signals generated by the radial error processor. Characteristic signs of a malfunction are both erratic movement of the head along the guides and its immobility.
Drive repair. Before the malfunction...
You can visually check the correct operation of the focusing system. At the moment the disk starts, the control processor generates correction signals that provide multiple (two or three attempts) vertical movement of the focal lens necessary to accurately focus the beam on the disk track. When a focus is detected, a signal is generated that allows information to be read. If after two or three attempts this signal does not appear, then the control processor turns off all systems and the disk stops. Thus, the performance of the focusing system can be judged both by the characteristic movements of the focal lens at the moment the disk starts, and by the signal that starts the disk acceleration mode when the laser beam is successfully focused. Other parameters for the correct operation of the optical system are not visually determined.
Optical drives also have many mechanical components that require lubrication of rubbing parts. Lack of lubrication leads to the fact that the drive has difficulty pushing out the carriage with the disk, and the carriage lock may even jam, and then using the disk drive will become impossible at all. Lubricant must be applied carefully, after completely disassembling the device (the places where it is required are usually clearly visible). Before lubrication, it is a good idea to clean the lubrication points from dust and dirt. The fact is that if you miss the moment when it is necessary to apply lubricant, then the difficulty in sliding will lead to mechanical breakdowns of the parts of the transport mechanism or disruption of its adjustments, which, in turn, will entail either stopping the carriage mechanism in an intermediate position, or slipping the disk in rotation time.
A similar situation can also arise due to clogging of the friction surfaces of the disc holder due to the frequent use of dirty DVDs, which ultimately leads to unreliable operation of the drive, even to its complete stop.
Contamination of the disk drive seat and weak pressing of the disk to the seat can be eliminated by cleaning the disk seat with any woven material soaked in alcohol.
You can check whether the pressing force of the disc to the seat is sufficient when trying to play a regular disc. If there are no errors or glitches when playing the disc, but the disc with computer data is still readable unstable, you can take additional measures - bend the springs or increase the weight to increase the pressure on the disc from above.
Other mechanical failures include jamming of the disk on the transport carriage (in this case, the disk does not unwind at all). Sometimes this happens because the disk seat spontaneously lowers along the motor shaft and the disk touches the elements of the transport carriage. To eliminate this defect, the seat is moved upward along the shaft and its height is selected “at random” so that the disk rotates without touching the structural elements, and also so that the drive ensures stable reading of all disks. After this, the position of the disk seat is carefully fixed on the shaft.
However, the listed mechanical faults relate mainly to simple mechanisms of relatively cheap drives. Expensive models, as a rule, have complex mechanisms, for which the main type of mechanical failure is irreparable breakdown of mechanism parts. Most often this happens because the user, instead of using the control buttons, pushes the carriage with the disk inside the drive with his hand. The consequences of such actions can be the most unpleasant. If a dirty and neglected mechanism is sufficiently cleaned, wiped and lubricated for it to perform its functions properly again, then haste and excessive force applied to the disk tray can cause breakdowns, which will lead to expensive and time-consuming repairs of the disk drive.
Finally, electronic components may malfunction. However, their share is unlikely to exceed even a small fraction of all breakdowns. Unfortunately, modern optical drives are quite complex. electronic systems, and the faulty microcircuit is appearance no different from the correct one. Accordingly, repairing a disk drive at home without preparation is impossible.
Now drives can cost less than some network card or video cards, but this does not mean that they are designed just as simply. The optical drive has a rather complex design and, in addition to the mechanical part, contains at least two microcontrollers, a signal processor (DSP), a secondary voltage source, circuits for controlling the mechanics, etc. Moreover, most of the microcircuits used in modern drives are specialized, and therefore, repairing the drive in its electronic part is hardly advisable.
Note that it is quite difficult to diagnose electronic failures in an optical drive, even with a sufficient degree of reliability. Indeed, depending on the manufacturer’s choice for specific model error correction strategies and, accordingly, the complexity of the processor and the device as a whole; in practice, a particular drive can operate with various disks differently. This, by the way, explains the often encountered situation when your disk can be easily read on a colleague’s machine, but your own PC does not even see it. In cheap models, the correction system can correct only one or two minor errors in the information frame, but a complex, expensive system can restore even serious and extensive destruction of information, and it does this in several stages using a complex algorithm. So repairing the drive in this case will not work due to the absence of a malfunction as such.
Each manufacturer uses its own set of chips or completes it with products from different manufacturers, and, of course, does not provide descriptions. Due to the fact that for everyone specific device it is necessary to look for specifications for almost each microcircuit separately; often even service center specialists cannot always restore the functionality of your device. If only because repairing the drive will not be economically justified.
In short, if after cleaning, checking all wires and connections, as well as system settings, your DVD drive does not work, and its warranty has already expired, in the end you may be faced with a situation where you simply have to throw out the old one and buy a new one.
Due to the fact that the previous article on our site about problems with a computer’s disk drive caused quite a stir among readers, we decided to develop this topic in the next publication.
A non-working disk drive is a common problem that every personal computer user has probably encountered.
Moreover, a broken drive is also the most common breakdown that all service centers encounter.
But since we don’t want to throw away a non-working drive, we’ll try to restore it by going through a number of possible procedures.
True, in 50% of cases, all these independent repair methods do not work and do not give any result, but trying is not torture, and new disk The gadfly also costs money. This means that we will study the problem, and the main thing is to understand and identify the exact cause of the malfunction.
Why the disk drive of a computer or laptop does not work: tests
If the control light on the drive lights up when turned on, and data from the device does not enter the computer, then one thing is clear - power is being supplied to it, and the problem must be looked for in the further data supply path (bus, motherboard, failure of the drive itself).
We do the following:
- disconnect the information bus from motherboard and the drive and reconnect it (perhaps the contact is broken somewhere);
- carefully, using a vacuum cleaner, removes all existing dust and dirt from the motherboard (especially its contacts), in order to avoid interfering with normal contact.
2. Check if the drive opens computer (laptop). When you press the corresponding button or when you issue a special command from operating system the drive carriage should move out.
If the drive does not open at all, consider yourself lucky, since this is the easiest failure, which consists of an elastic band (pass), transmitting forward mechanical movements.
By opening the drive (which must first be disconnected) and replacing the drive, you can fix the problem even on your own.
To open a non-working drive, you can use a needle to pry it up. By the way, a special hidden button for opening the drive will not help you in this case, since its operation is also based on the actions of the belt.
3. The drive opens normally, the system sees the drive, but the inserted disk slows down the entire computer, the system freezes and thinks for a long time.
The presumable reason is a conflict in the settings of the computer or laptop devices due to the fact that system programs interfere with each other.
This problem can be solved by connecting the drive (communication bus) through some other port. Usually, on normal motherboards, several are provided for this (2-4 connection connectors). So, you can try some other connector.
In the case where the freezing problem does not stop after reconnection, the reason will most likely be in the drive itself, which may already be old and decrepit, working on its last legs.
This (old) computer disk drive may not work as it should, and no “medicine” will save it. Only complete drive replacement!
A standard problem with old disk drives: difficulties with reading and writing disks, problems with autoloading disks. Typically, such troubles begin after 3 years of operation, but when the drive is used a lot and often (discs are written, mainly), its end can come within a year.
If the computer's disk drive breaks down, and not some other device, or software(i.e. not drivers, not connectors, not belts), it is simply replaced with a new one.
Alternatively, you may have just received a low-quality DVD!
4. Burnt out drive electronics– there is a hardware failure of the device, and it is no longer possible to fix such problems on your own. Moreover, the drive is unlikely to be repaired even at a service center, or you will not like the price of such repairs.
Any repair in this case is only a temporary solution to the problem, but the old and restored computer drive will still have to be replaced.
You can identify burnt elements of a disk drive chip by simply smelling it. If there is a burning smell, the problem becomes obvious. If you don’t hear any burning, you can open the drive and visually assess the condition of its insides for burnt elements and the presence of dust.
5. Unclear reason. Perhaps the real reason for your drive failure is already described in the paragraphs above, but you simply cannot identify and classify it yourself.
Well, most often the PC user is not a service center employee and cannot determine the cause of the breakdown on his own. In this case, there is only one way - to the workshop - to a special master!
Contacting service center It is better to clarify in advance the likely cost of repair work and the feasibility of carrying out such work.
In most situations, it will be even cheaper for you to purchase a new drive, since repairing the old one will take time, require money for travel, to pay for repairs, and will only temporarily relieve you of the problem.
The fact is that there is no way to rejuvenate an old disk drive.
If the drive parts have begun to exhaust their service life, it will still regularly cause you trouble, and it is easier and cheaper to replace it immediately.
Nevertheless, it is still worth contacting a specialist, at least to get an accurate diagnosis, no matter how terrifying it turns out to be. Well, don’t be upset, because any equipment breaks down at some point and that’s normal.
- How to clean laptop DVD
Although DVDs are already becoming obsolete, they are still available on many computers and laptops. Many have a license Windows system, which is stored on disk and requires a DVD drive to install (although it can be written to a flash drive and installed from it). Therefore, I want to consider in this article how you can clean the DVD drive in your computer or laptop yourself, using simple tools.
I have been using the method described below for many years and it has proven to be very effective.
The reason that the DVD drive began to work poorly, does not read discs or does so intermittently, most often is dust getting on the laser lens. This is what we will clean.
Required tools:
- Philips screwdriver (cross);
- A regular paperclip (it needs to be bent);
- Cotton swab or swab.
How to clean your computer's DVD drive
First, remove the DVD drive from the computer. You don't need to do this on a laptop.
Turn it upside down and unscrew the 4 screws that secure the lid.
Very carefully remove the lid and set aside. We will see a board with electronic components.
Now we place the drive so that its front panel faces us. We insert our straightened paper clip into the small hole intended for emergency opening of the drive tray. Feel free to press on the paper clip until the tray comes out of its place a little.
We manually pull out the tray to about half its length. Now remove the front plastic panel. To do this, you can press the side latches with a screwdriver.
Side bezel latches 
Now turn the drive over with the cover down and carefully remove it from there.
We take out the DVD drive from the cover Now you can see the very laser lens that needs to be cleaned. Look at it carefully. Most likely you will find small hairs or dust on it.
Do not try to remove dirt with your hands. There may be greasy stains that will be difficult to remove.
Take a cotton swab and lightly brush the dirt off the lens. There is no need to polish the lens, just remove dust and hair.
Cleaning the lens with a cotton swab After this procedure for cleaning the drive, you need to reassemble it in the reverse order.
How to clean laptop DVD
The procedure is the same as with a computer drive. Just don't need to take anything apart.
Simply slide out the DVD tray and gently wipe the lens with a Q-tip.
Most likely, after such manipulations, the DVD drive will begin to read discs it previously ignored. If there is no noticeable improvement, most likely it cannot be helped and only needs replacement.
If you liked this tutorial, please like and share it with your friends.
PCgu.ru
How to fix the built-in optical drive in a laptop with your own hands
A broken DVD or CD drive in laptops is the most common defect in devices that have been in use for more than 2-3 years. Dust, which will definitely settle on the focusing lens after many years of operation, will certainly, if it does not lead to a complete failure of the disk drive, make its operation less reliable and fast. The reason for a complete refusal to perceive or record information from a computer onto optical media may lie in both a hardware and software malfunction of the system. Remember: the optical drive in laptops may refuse to read information from DVD discs for so many reasons.
Firstly, it is necessary to 100% eliminate the possibility of a software failure in the operating system. You can simply insert a disk into the drive that can be used as a boot disk. Either an installation distribution with Windows or some kind of service disk designed to work with a hard drive, as well as for treating viruses, banners, preparing the system for installing an operating system from scratch, etc. will be suitable. The main thing is to set in the BIOS that the DVD drive is the first one to boot, i.e. precisely from him, and not from hard drive, you need to download. Probably, many who independently installed the operating system either from a disk or from a flash drive know what we are talking about. If loading such a disk is quite successful, then the problem should be looked for in the installed operating system, namely: in the drivers, as well as in software products, which can in one way or another change the system configuration of virtual and physical optical drives. Remove all dubious software for burning and copying DVDs, and also check in the device manager whether your drive is detected correctly or not. Of course, it is almost impossible to describe all software malfunctions in one article, but we can give universal advice: perform a system restore.
Secondly, if the drive refuses to accept boot disk, then most likely there is a hardware problem. Often the solution to the problem comes down to cleaning the focusing lens. Dust falling on this lens prevents the beam of the laser head from normally transmitting the signal reflected from the DVD disc. If at any stage of operation this led to read or write errors, then one “fine” day the drive may simply refuse to read a completely clean and new disk. The most correct way to solve this problem is to clean the focusing lens.
The whole truth about cleaning discs
Nowadays, so-called cleaning discs have become widespread. The idea behind such discs is certainly good, but the technical execution is not always acceptable. Some samples can, instead of being useful, simply “finish off” the sensitive mechanisms and optics of the laser head. Also, incorrect use of cleaning discs can lead to the user simply completely destroying the drive. The instructions for such disks are often written in either English or Chinese, which makes understanding the principle of operation, purpose and use of such a disk simply inaccessible to a Russian-speaking person. The main mistake users make is incorrectly applying the cleaning liquid. As a rule, it needs to be applied only to certain cleaning bumps, and very little at that, placing the disk at approximately an angle of 45 degrees relative to the horizon line. Excessive amounts of this liquid simply flood the laser head, making reading information virtually impossible.
If we talk about Chinese cleaning discs in the 100-150 ruble category, then their purchase will not be justified both from a practical and economic point of view. And if your problem is not in the lens, then this is money thrown away. To protect the reputation of cleaning discs, we note that new contactless cleaning discs are now appearing. Their main difference is that they work like wind turbines, that is, they blow air through the laser head without direct contact. We recommend purchasing these cleaning discs without fear of damaging the sensitive elements of the optical drive.
How to clean a DVD drive without a cleaning disc
Many repairmen, although they themselves sometimes recommend using cleaning discs, never use them. The cleaning disc is a solution for novice users and housewives. You can clean the disk drive much more professionally and efficiently only when you remove it from the laptop and disassemble it. To disassemble the drive, no complex equipment or conditions are needed. All you need is a table, a set of screwdrivers, a paper clip, a needle, a syringe, ear sticks, and isopropyl alcohol.
How to remove a disk drive
First, you need to turn off the power to the laptop. Turn it face down and remove the battery.
No matter how funny and unreliable this may seem, the fact remains: on all modern laptops, the entire drive is secured to the laptop using one screw. We take a thin Phillips screwdriver and remove it.
Also this method You can use it when you urgently need to remove a disk, but the electricity is turned off and the battery is low. After inserting a needle or paper clip into the technological hole, the disk drive will obediently open, and you can pull it out completely by pulling the disk tray.
How to disassemble a disk drive
Turning open optical drive face down, you can see the rear panel cover, which hides many important elements of the laser system.
Remove the 4 retaining screws and the cover will obediently come off without the slightest effort on your part. After removing the cover of the rear panel of the laser drive, we have access to the back of the laser diode, as well as the optical system.
Then you can put on the cover and tighten the 4 mounting screws.
How to clean a focusing lens
The lens is very sensitive to touch, so it is better not to touch it again with your hands or tools. To begin with, you can try to limit yourself to blowing from a can of compressed air.
If this does not help, we recommend using an ear stick pre-moistened in 90% isopropyl alcohol to wipe the lens. Use the other dry and clean end of the stick to remove the remaining alcohol. Remember that using cologne, moonshine, or vodka for these purposes is simply unacceptable. You will only do harm. Isopropyl alcohol evaporates quickly, is relatively non-toxic, and also does not leave marks on glass and lenses, which is very important for the technical task at hand. Then you need to dry everything again using a can of compressed air. All that remains is to assemble everything, insert the drive and screw in the fastening screw. Assembly is simple and intuitive.
Finally, we note that in some cases, the breakdown still cannot be eliminated, since it may lie in a burnt-out LED laser, worn-out mechanics, burnt-out driver microcircuits, etc. Therefore, the last repair option is to completely replace the DVD drive.
muzhik-v-dome.ru
DIY DVD drive repair
How to repair a CD-DVD drive yourself?This is a short story with pictures about how you can revive a CD-DVD, and probably a Blu-Ray drive, without resorting to the expensive help of specialists. There are several common reasons that can lead to complete or partial drive failure. Eliminating these causes is not a repair, but rather a maintenance of the CD-DVD-ROM and can easily be performed by a user who has some skills in working with electronic equipment. More details at oldoctober.com
The most common causes of drive failure.
- Worn drive belt (passenger).
- Increased friction in the loading mechanism.
- The laser lens is dirty.
- Reduced laser efficiency.
To eliminate any of these causes, partial disassembly of the drive is required. The design of the drives may vary, so the accompanying pictures should not be taken absolutely.
Tools and materials.
For preventive maintenance we will need the following tools, materials and components. oldoctober.com
- Paper clip.
- Phillips screwdriver.
- Medium size brush.
- Calico (cotton fabric).
- Silicone grease SI-130.
- Passik.
- Cleaning cloth.
- Thin screwdriver.
- Tweezers.
Let's begin. Disconnect the cables from the drive and unscrew the mounting screws. We remove the drive from the system unit case.
Disassembly.
Disassembling any CD-DVD drive begins with pulling out the tray. To pull out the tray, you first need to make a simple device from a paper clip.
Carefully, by inserting the end of a paper clip into the technological hole on the front panel of the drive, we feel for the part of the mechanism that is responsible for locking the tray. This part is located exactly opposite the hole. We press on it and the tray extends slightly. Now you can pull it out with your fingers.
We release the latches securing the front panel of the drive. First, press out one of the side latches.
Then, press the latch located at the bottom of the drive and the other side latch.
Pull out the front panel, unscrew the four Phillips head screws and remove the metal casing panels.
We press the latches and separate the tray from the main mechanism.
Thoroughly clean the mechanism from dust and dirt using a brush. If the old lubricant is heavily contaminated, then remove it using calico and apply new lubricant.
We replace the worn belt with a new one. Then we wipe the belt and the internal surfaces of the pulleys with a cleaning cloth or calico soaked in alcohol.
Wipe the laser lens with a cleaning cloth. Dust deposited on the top surface of the lens may not be visible naked eye, but she is almost always present there.
If the drive is very old or is known to have had too many discs written to it and is having a read or write problem, you can try increasing the laser current. This rather delicate operation requires patience and can take quite a long time. Do not attempt this procedure if your drive simply does not read several old discs or discs recorded on other people's drives. This can be caused by a lot of different reasons, and the laser current value is in 38th place here.
It is best to regulate the laser current when the drive is in a semi-disassembled state.
To start the drive without a casing and front panel, you will have to remove the front wall of the disk tray.
Somewhere on the carriage with the laser installed there is a small-sized potentiometer, the position of the slider of which determines the laser current. The location of this potentiometer depends on the drive design.
Before turning this screw, be sure to sketch the position of the slot in order to have a reference point, and in general, so that if something happens, you can return it to its original position.
By turning the screw 10-15 degrees, first in one direction and then in the other, each time we check the reading quality in some program, for example, Nero DiscSpeed.
It is only advisable to check on several types of media at once, for example, CD-R and CD-RW or DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, etc. It's probably not necessary to check all supported media types, but at least check the ones you use all the time.
Multi-purpose universal drives are rather compromise products and therefore they often read some types of disks better and others worse. For example, by increasing the laser current, you can get perfect CD-R reading and make half of your CD-RWs unreadable.
Assembly does not present any difficulties, except for one thing. When inserting the tray into the loading mechanism, you need to align the loading mechanism slide lock with the guide groove located at the bottom of the tray.
The slider is usually spring-loaded, so before inserting the tray into the guides, you need to fix the slider in the correct position using tweezers or another suitable tool. In the photo, the position of the slider is fixed using an awl.
If, quite by chance, you happen to have a small set of belts of different diameters at your disposal, then you just need to choose a suitable copy. If you don’t have such a set, you’ll have to buy a belt.
And although the era of video and audio tape recorders has passed, you can still buy an assortment of rubber belts at all kinds of radio markets.
When buying a belt, you need to pay attention to several of its parameters, such as: cross-section, diameter, elasticity and quality of vulcanization of the rubber from which it is made.
The cross-section of the belt can also be determined by eye, since the likelihood that you will be able to find a belt with a strictly appropriate cross-section is small.
The diameter of the belt can be determined by applying the old belt to the new one and making sure that the diameter of the new one is slightly smaller than the old one.
Elasticity can be measured using a makeshift stand, like the one in the picture.
I usually check the properties of the belt by touch without any dynamometers.
The quality of rubber vulcanization can be determined by color and tactile sensations. The color of the “wrong” rubber is deep black, and the surface is smooth and highly reflective. While “correct” rubber has a slightly grayish tint and a more matte surface.
Also, the quality of rubber vulcanization can be determined by the time it takes to restore the original size. To test, you need to strongly stretch the belt with your fingers and very quickly throw it flat onto a flat surface. The faster the belt takes on its original size, the higher its quality. If you can notice by eye how the diameter of the belt changes, that is, it seems to shrink, then such a belt will not last long and it is better not to use it at all. However, it is not a fact that you will find a belt at the market high quality, and even exactly the same as required. Therefore, in the absence of anything better, you can buy what you have, but adjusted for diameter, cross-section and elasticity.
And so, all these four parameters affect the properties of the belt. When choosing a belt, you need to take them all into account. If the cross section of the belt is slightly smaller, then you need to choose a belt that is a little shorter and vice versa. If the quality of vulcanization is low, then you need to choose either a slightly larger cross-section or a slightly smaller diameter.
If the belt is pulled too tight, it can lead to jamming or premature wear of the disk loading mechanism. If the belt is tensioned too loosely, this may cause it to slip relative to the engine pulley.
If there are several belts with similar properties at the market, then it is better to buy several different ones at once so that you can choose the most suitable one at home. The price of a belt for a CD-DVD drive can range from $0.3 to $0.7.
Related topics.
Reducing the noise of the computer system unit.
How to disassemble and lubricate a fan if it rattles.
Installing Skype on PC-586.
oldoctober.com
Cleaning the DVD Drive
As I have written before in other articles, the biggest problem for a computer is dust. It gets packed in everywhere possible in such quantities that sometimes you are simply amazed. The DVD optical drive is no exception.
Dust, if the device is not cleaned, affects the operation of the drive tray, reduces the accuracy of the laser mechanism and affects the quality of the clamping mechanics. In general, your DVD drive should be cleaned at least once a year. Optimally – once every six months.
To clean and maintain the DVD drive, you will need lubricant, cotton swabs and alcohol. After removing the DVD drive from the system unit, you need to remove its front panel. The first step is to pull out the drive tray. This is done using any long and thin object (a needle, a paper clip, a piece of wire 3 cm long).
There is a small hole on the front panel of any DVD drive (item 2 in the bottom photo). Behind it (on the inside of the panel) is a mechanism for manually opening the tray. You need to press this mechanism through the hole with a little force and the tray will extend 1-2 centimeters, after which it can be pulled out all the way manually.
Next, you need to remove the dust cover from the tray. To do this, you need to turn the drive over and, bending the cover with your fingers, pull it down. On the lid, as a rule, there are two latches (item 1 in the bottom photo) and two guides on which the lid is held. It comes off without much effort.
Next, you need to recess the front panel latches. As a rule, there are four of them (two on the bottom, two on the sides) or five (two on the sides, three on the bottom). After removing the front panel, unscrew the bolts (4 or 5 pieces) on the bottom cover of the DVD drive and remove the cover.
If the drive does not work, it is recommended to check whether the laser of the DVD drive is working properly. You can fix this problem by following the advice of experienced professionals.from 120 rub. RUB
If your CD-ROM does not work in your computer, first of all, you should think about the cause of the malfunction. The problem can manifest itself in several ways, for example:
- your dvd-rom does not read all discs
- does not read a certain disk or several
- you can't upload other information
- The drive tray won't open
When you are faced with the fact that only a certain disk cannot be read, there is a possibility that it is not the drive itself that is faulty, but the disk itself. Unfortunately, physical abnormalities cannot be detected in all cases. Such damage may be a microcrack that cannot be seen with the naked eye or even with a magnifying glass.
It is important to note that you should not use damaging substances to clean disks, as this may cause the disk to lose its ability to store and reproduce information. This result may be due to the use of aggressive, caustic liquids and detergents.
Exists special program Nero and its analogues, with the help of which discs with physical damage are reproduced.
However, damaged disks damage the drive and are therefore unusable.
Why doesn't the disk drive work?
Low battery charge can also cause incorrect operation drive and prevent reading. In this situation, it is worth connecting the computer to the network and observing whether the drive spins or not. If your system unit was subjected to unwanted physical influences, this could lead to damage to the integrity of the contacts, which could cause the DVD-Rom to break down.
Let's say you are sure that everything is fine with the disk and you know that the disk drive is not working. This may be due to a dirty laser lens or dust. Cleaning of this device carried out in the service, but it is not recommended to do this on your own. Service kits are often used to clean lenses from dust and dirt.
In fact, it is advisable to take your computer to a service center at least once a year to avoid contamination and damage to the device. When your computer is regularly serviced, breakdowns occur less frequently, and you don’t have to rack your brains about what’s broken again and where to go about it.
In the case when the disk drive does not work due to contamination of the lens, it can be cleaned with pieces of cotton wool, or better yet, with a swab, so as not to contaminate the optical media.
The procedure is quite complex and painstaking. This entails a number of complex manipulations; you will have to remove the drive and disassemble it.
You have to be very careful because there is a high chance that you will break the device permanently.
The next reason for the failure of the disk drive may be a decrease in the power characteristics of the laser. The power is adjusted using a special screw located on the box. This way you can increase the laser power.
This is usually done by specialists, so it will be quite difficult for a person without professional skills. It is not recommended to do this yourself, since again there is a high probability of breaking the drive.
If you have the opportunity, then move the drive to another system unit or replace it with a working one. At home, this is practically unattainable if you do not have a home mini service center.
If not so long ago a DVD-rom refused to record information, and then stopped playing it altogether, most likely it has completely failed and needs to be replaced. Disk drives for blue-ray media are generally a separate issue. You definitely don’t need to try to fix them yourself.
In this case, you should definitely contact the service center. They use a different type of laser, and only experienced technicians can fix the problem.
The disk drive does not work, maybe the reason is a virus?
A drive malfunction can also be due to a flaw in the operating system, due to infection with a virus.
This requires a complete investigation and neutralization of the threat. Next, it is recommended to restart the PC.
Sometimes the violations are very serious, and everything can be fixed only after reinstalling the operating system. Use a bootable USB flash drive.
The drive is not connected correctly
- Check your BIOS settings. Sometimes you can fix problems in this way, but only if they involve incorrect connection of the drive at the BIOS level.
