How can I test an optical drive for failure or partial failure

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snowctrl

snowctrl

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Sep 10, 2013
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I have an LG BH10LS30 blu-ray writer drive, which sometimes works, sometimes doesn't.

The reality is I probably should have sent it back when I bought it, but it only ever got rare use since it is used mainly to back data up to Blu-Ray or DVD, and since it did seem to work most of the time at least initially, it was a while before I realized there might be a problem

However, I am now at the point where I must find out for certain whether the drive really is faulty or not... but how to test it?

That is my question... is there particular software I can use for diagnosis?

This drive has been fitted internally and externally at different points on different machines and I can see no correlation between when it does and doesn't work and how it is connected to what PC. Hence wanting some proper diagnosis methodology...

It always shows up correctly in Device Manager btw
 
Solution
Phillip Corcoran
There is no software I'm aware of for conclusive testing of optical drives. They can only be tested by a process of elimination ie swapping it out for a different one, or trying the suspect one on another PC, then drawing your own conclusions in a logical manner.
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Phillip Corcoran

Phillip Corcoran

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Sep 7, 2013
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There is no software I'm aware of for conclusive testing of optical drives. They can only be tested by a process of elimination ie swapping it out for a different one, or trying the suspect one on another PC, then drawing your own conclusions in a logical manner.
 
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Solution
jsmithepa

jsmithepa

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Jun 14, 2014
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Call Sony, am sure they got the proper equipment at the lab ^), but no there is no consumer-grade precise troubleshooting method. Computer parts these days are commodity item, when they fail, and they do, the ole days of 20 years old Trinitron no longer exists, people just chug them.

So... this is what I would do, use it to rip a few CD/DVD/BR, configure your ripping software to allow no more than, say, 2 reading errors, so when it ocurrs, it will be reported to you. A heathy drive should not report any error at all. You maybe willing to live with a few errors during a whole rip but certainly if it keeps stopping, chug the thing.

To rest burning, again burn a few CD/DVD/BR, yes it gonna cost a few bux, but I wouldn't trust anything else. Turn on verify, that way the system read back the data after the burn and compare and report any discrepancy. This will take longer obviously. A heathy drive should report zero errors.

Don't be surprised you may need a new drive. In my experience, increasingly, they make these things non-durable.
 
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