DVD drive help!

[Feenix]

Hi.

I have a HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GT32N ATA dvd drive on an Acer laptop using Windows 7 x64.  The drive wont read any disks at all.  Not getting any error codes, and I have deleted the upper and lower filters from the registry (as per a few tutorials I have found on the subject).  Checked in device manager and it is said to be working properly, though it clearly isnt.  I tried updating the driver, but apparently I have the latest one according to windows.

At a bit of a loose end and would appreciate any help/advice that anyone may have.  Cheers, guys.  :-)

Feenix   

[Allan]

1. Uninstall the drive through Device Manager.
Restart computer. The drive will be automatically reinstalled.
or...

2. Delete Upper & Lower Filters
 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982116
Restart computer.
or...

3. Download, and run Restore Missing CD Drive patch
Double click on cdgone.zip to unzip it.
Right click on cdgone.reg, click Merge.
Accept registry merge.
Restart computer.
or...

4. Go to Device Manager, click a "+" sign next to IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.
You'll see two items:
- ATA Channel0 (or Primary Channel)
- ATA Channel1 (or Secondary Channel)
Right click on each of them, and click Uninstall. Confirm.
Restart Windows. They'll be automatically reinstalled.

[ninjatex]

The first step in diagnosing this is determining whether it's a hardware or software issue. I would suggest (from a different computer), downloading and burning the Ubuntu Live CD from ubuntu.com. If you are unable to boot from that CD on the computer with the CD drive issues, then either the drive has failed or it somehow got disabled in the BIOS settings.

[Feenix]

Hey, guys.

OK.  Alan, I tried all the steps youve listed to no avail.  Ninjatex, I actually use a ubuntu partition for working with Ruby on Rails and had to install the live disc through an external drive.  Im interested in what you said about the drive being disabled somehow in BIOS.  How can I tell if that has happened and how can I fix it?  If you are referring to the boot order, I have moved it up and down and nothing seems to change - the hard drive is top of the list, the dvd drive is second on the list - I repeat, it wont recognise a single disc so I have to use an external drive for everything.

Cheers.  :-)

Feenix

[Allan]

To test the drive, insert a BOOTABLE disc and see if the system recognizes it at boot (make sure the optical drive is at the top of the device boot order in bios)

[ninjatex]

I actually use a ubuntu partition for working with Ruby on Rails and had to install the live disc through an external drive.  Im interested in what you said about the drive being disabled somehow in BIOS.  How can I tell if that has happened and how can I fix it?  If you are referring to the boot order, I have moved it up and down and nothing seems to change - the hard drive is top of the list, the dvd drive is second on the list - I repeat, it wont recognise a single disc so I have to use an external drive for everything.

Sounds like either your drive has gone bad (happens all the time) or the port the drive connects to has gone bad (happens rarely). Have you tried re-seating the drive (remove it, plug it back in)? If that doesn't fix it, you'll have to buy a new drive. You can get some decent drives on ebay used, that's where I would look.

[Feenix]

Tried re-seating the drive, and cleaning the lens again - almost played an audio cd but not quite.  Might try deleting the driver entirely and downloading it in case its become corrupted or something, but otherwise it sounds like ebay is the place to be.   

Cheers, guys.

Feenix

[Allan]

1) Optical drives do not use 3rd party drivers.
2) Sounds like the drive needs to be replaced.