Ultrabay 2000 DVD/CD drive problem

[dsvochak]

I've accumulated 3 Ultrabay 2000 DVD/CD drives. Two are Hitichi GD-5200's and one is a Toshiba SD-C2512. The Toshiba has the newest manufacture date (August, 2001). Recently, the Toshiba has started acting up. The Hitachi's, in the same machines, work fine.

First, when empty it's begin identifying itself as a "DVD Drive" in "My Computer". (The Hitichis are identified as "CD Drives", probably meaningless but interesting). It's also giving sporadic read errors, with ATAPI timeout errors showing up in the event log.

PC Doctor's CD tests don't show anything wrong. Cleaning the drive made no difference.

Is it likely the Toshiba is on it's way out? Any other tests I could run? Is there a difference between the Toshiba and the Hitachis in reliability?

Any guesses appreciated.