Drive death

Ok, here's the deal. I have an old Philips 2412A drive that I've been using for the past couple years. It's always been sketchy as far as reading discs, for example, not recognizing a disc on one try, but upon re-entry, everything is kosher. Well, as of late it decided to never recognize a disc. No cd's get recognized at all. That is, data, audio, or CD-R. The indicator (disc inserted) light doesn't even come on any more.

I checked the IDE and power cables. I checked for foreign objects. I uninstalled the drive through the OS and allowed it to reinstall itself. I've searched for a newer driver, but can't find one at all. Spy/malware checked out fine. It's not overheating as per the case temp. reading.


I figure it's gone to where all the old drives go to die. I've already ordered a newer (and one with a better reputation..) drive and it's on the way. What I want to know, is there anything I forgot to check?