Issue with DVD drive is driving me nuts

[Stingray]

I have a strange problem with my DVD drive. Until a few hours ago it was reading DVD R discs just fine. But all off a sudden it stopped reading them. When the DVD is inserted into the drive it makes all sorts of sounds like it’s trying to read something but nothing comes up. It’s still however is reading CDs just fine but not DVDs. Any idea guys what might have gone wrong? Did the laser go out?

[pianowizard]

I can't offer any help here but would like to make a general comment. In my experience, laptop optical drives develop problems more easily than desktop ones, and are also more expensive to replace. That's why I always try to avoid using laptop optical drives and use the optical drives on nearby desktop computers instead.

BTW, I have a DVD burner drive for Dell laptops that can read DVDs fine but not CDs, the opposite of the problem you have!

[rkawakami]

I don't have any T4x systems (yet) but you should be able to check both CD and DVD capabilities using PC Doctor. You have not specified your model but since you've posted in this conference, you should find a version of PC Doctor DOS that runs on the T4x systems in one of these links:

PC Doctor for DOS - ThinkPad T40/p, T41/p, T42/p (floppy)
PC Doctor for DOS - ThinkPad T40/p, T41/p, T42/p (CD)

Basically, you create the disk(s) and boot your laptop from the floppies or CD. There should be a CD/DVD diagnostic in one of the PC Doctor menus which can run several tests on the drive/media. What the program will do is to attempt to read all of the sectors from the disk that is in the drive using a couple of different access methods; linear, random and funnel. You should use a DATA disk that is almost completely full since the diagnostic can only read sectors that are being used. If the diag passes with a CD but not a DVD, then most likely the problem is that the laser for the DVD has become defective. Try using both DVD-R and DVD+R disks (if the drive supports it), as well as a DVD movie.

As a last chance, you could try carefully cleaning the lens with a cotton swab dipped in a small amount of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. There may be something on the lens which interferes with DVD pickup, but not for CDs.

[pianowizard]

But PC Doctor can only confirm that there is a problem, no? It won't tell you specifically which part of the drive needs to be fixed/replaced.

[rkawakami]

Correct. The check will be made on the hardware for both the CD and DVD sections of the drive. Many things are common between the two systems, yet if the program proves that CDs are read without any problems and that any DVDs cannot, that would indicate (to me) that there's a problem with the laser pickup for the DVD. As much as that can tell you what's wrong, the OP does not have any real recourse other than to replace the entire drive. I don't know of any repairs that can be cheaply made on optical drives; it's usually not worth the effort to replace the laser carriage just by itself.

[GACrabill]

Have you looked at the optical pickup with a magnifying glass while the drawer is open ?

I once had a problem writing CDs (usually in the Verify step) and created one or two coasters before visually inspecting the optical pickup. It was kind of dusty so I cleaned the dust off (two years ago) and I have not had a problem since.

[rkawakami]

As I already outlined four posts up.

[FelixGordon]

Hi.

I'm having the same problem with the multi burner in my T42p. Fortunately it's still under warranty.

Unfortunately I'm travelling out of the country for three months, and I'm stuck with it until I get back.

Frustrating, and it looks like a bunch of people are having this or similar problems. :/