EMachines CD/DVD disc drive won't read

[Glen12]

I have an eMachines T3830 running on windows XP that won't read any cd's or dvd's I put in it. The drive shows up in the my computer file. When I put a disc in the tray it makes sounds like it's trying to read it and then it stops and it doesn't show anything in the cd/dvd drive. (The drive still shows up, but it doesn't show there being anything on the disc or playing it like it should). The disc icon appears next to my cursor when it is trying to read a cd then it disappears when it fails. It's like it can't tell that there is a disc in it when there is one. The discs are clean and without scratches. Also I've tried them on some of my other computers and they read just fine. Any suggestions on how to fix this like downloading some driver or tinkering with the operating system. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Glen.

 

[r_manic]

It's either your drive is no longer working properly, not properly connected to your eMachines' mobo, or something in Windows got corrupted.

To test the first possibility, try the drive with another computer. The second requires checking all connections inside the case, and the third requires a registry restore or even an OS reinstall.

 

[bliq]

the failure mode for many older opticals is that the laser stops functioning. I've had 3 or 4 drives out of the hundreds that have passed through my hands fail in that manner.

 

[Glen12]

I tried putting the drive on another computer and there is still the same problem. All the connections look ok. Reinstalling the OS is out of the question because that's what I wanted to use the cd/dvd drive for to reinstall the OS as it has been having many problems like crashing frequently and randomly. The OS is on a disc, but how am I suppose to reinstall the OS if the disc drive is not working to read the disc and install it from the disc in the first place?

 

[A_Crete]

I am having a similiar problem with my emachine. We have a T3642 desktop and I am having trouble getting it to recognize any disc. I was trying to install new software and when I inserted the disc my computer did not recognize it. I installed a new drive and I am still having the same problem. When I first insert the disc I can hear it spin like it is trying to read the disc but nothing shows up on the desktop. I even tried connecting it to our vacant expandable drive only to have the same result. Any ideas??

 

[Guest]

I am having a similiar problem with my emachine. We have a T3642 desktop and I am having trouble getting it to recognize any disc. I was trying to install new software and when I inserted the disc my computer did not recognize it. I installed a new drive and I am still having the same problem. When I first insert the disc I can hear it spin like it is trying to read the disc but nothing shows up on the desktop. I even tried connecting it to our vacant expandable drive only to have the same result. Any ideas??

I have the same problem but how to you reinstall OS if the drives not seeing CDs

 

[Ziminy13]

DO NOT BUY A NEW DRIVE
Why this information is not easy to find is beyond me.
Try this:

Device Manager
IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers
>right click
Primary IDE Channel (I do secondary as well)
Properties
Advanced Settings
Transfer Mode
>Change from DMA to PIO

This worked for me both times this problem cropped up.
Don't know why so many "EXPERT" sites never have an answer for this common problem.

Quit telling people to buy new drives when you don't know what's wrong.

 

[aford10]

This topic has been closed by Aford10