Help with a DVD drive that won't open... not what you think though!

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
L

Lutzie

Reputable
May 2, 2015
4
0
4,510
My PC has an odd issue. The DVD drive won't open. Not only that if I do open it manually using a pin in the hole and put in a disc, it doesn't spin up. So I took it back, replaced for the same DVD drive. Same problem. I put the drive in my wifes PC (Her PC is an identical build) and it works fine. I put her own fully working DVD drive into my PC... doesn't work. I swapped SATA cables. No changed. I swapped the SATA and power cables with the ones that are connected to the SSD... PC boots fine still, but still no DVD drive. Windows can see the drive, as can the BIOS, but nothing can open the drive on my PC, only wifes. Any ideas?

Using Win8.1 64bit, i5 4690k, 8gb RAM, 3gb vid card, Crucial 250gb SSD.

I was going to do a side by side check of the BIOS with my wifes PC, but her keyboard isn't being powered faster enough; windows boots in about 6 seconds so I can't get to her BIOS. Another problem for another day!

Update:
I've been looking the properties of the drive.
According to windows:
Property: Has Problem = <false>
Property: Is Connected = <true>
Property: Is Present = <true>

Under General it says that the device is working properly, and for the driver the best driver is installed.

And yet... it isn't. It's just a plain DVD drive:

This one in fact. Nothing fancy.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
L

Lutzie

Reputable
May 2, 2015
4
0
4,510
Alexoiu: Yup. Still a no go.
Outlander: Done that. Didn't work. :(

As I say, works fine in the wifes PC though. Problem must be windows, or power I suspect. But all leads work fine with the SSD with the OS on it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
L

Lutzie

Reputable
May 2, 2015
4
0
4,510
Alexiou: You mean disconnet SATA lead? Just tried that, and only the power lead is connected, and it didn't work.

As full power the max draw on the PSU is meant to be in the region of 540w. The PSU is 650w Should be PLENTY of room there.

Also, if I disconnect the working back up HDD and leave the DVD drive in, it still doesn't work. The PSU can power everything plus HDD, so disconnected HDD would release more than enough to power an eject button.

So don't think it's that.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
L

Lutzie

Reputable
May 2, 2015
4
0
4,510
I've checked the BIOS with my wife's PC and aside from a couple of subtle differences in boot order priority they're the same. Altering these didn't affect anything. Both BIOS's can see the drive perfectly fine.

I've also plugged in the drive into her PC, again using that same SATA cable whilst also keeping her own DVD drive in there... Windows recognised both drives right away and both of them worked fine. I can safely say that the drive and the SATA cable work fine. The SATA cable is a replacement too, came with the replacement drive. It also works fine with both the SSD and the HDD. I can safely rule out a bad SATA cable, and a bad DVD drive. Both work fine in the other PC, ergo problem must be in my PC.

This must mean one of the following is true:

1) the power lead in my PC will power the SSD and the HDD at the same time, but not the DVD on it's own.
2) The PSU isn't capable of powering DVD drives
3) There's some other hardware failure somewhere that only affects the DVD drive. (As BIOS can see drive suggest not motherboard)
4) there's a setting somewhere in windows that is preventing it from opening. (registry?!)

I can't think of any other scenario. Can anyone else???

My next step, is to put everything back in it's original configuration and then start swapping other components one at a time (starting with the PSU) and seeing if the problem migrates from one PC to the other.

So damned frustrating.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom