DVD/CD Drive freezes when I insert a dvd or music cd

[aewwea]

Help!  DVD/CD drive freezes when I insert a dvd or music cd.  What casues this?

[Allan]

Does the same thing happen in safe mode?

[Kurtiskain]

Do you mean the computer locks up for 30 seconds or so? or the drive completely stops functioning?

[aewwea]

Yes, same thing happens in safe mode.  No, it doesnt lock up for 30 seconds or so, it just doesn't do anything and the screen goes dark and I have to reboot.  Data cds work just fine.  I hate to buy a new drive if it is something else causing the problem.  Thanks for the replys, any ideas?

[Kurtiskain]

That's a real stumper...but it does sound like the drive is not liking the different CD modes. eg the data CD plays because it reads with the lazer at a certain power level, but the DVDs or Audio CDs require more, and it is struggling due to a malfunctioning transistor or something.

That being said, it could also be the power supply about to die aswell, try and borrow both a DVD drive and a power supply of greater or equal wattage, to see if either of these eliminate the issue.

[aewwea]

Thanks Kurtiskain.  You've been more helpful than HP tech support, none of them seemed to want to answer why a data cd would work but cds and dvds wouldn't.  Your explaination makes a lot of sense. One of the techs had suggested a power issue and had me check the connections inside to make sure they weren't loose.  They are tight.  When you say power supply, you are talking about the power strip that everything gets plugged into, correct?

[Kurtiskain]

When you say power supply, you are talking about the power strip that everything gets plugged into, correct?

Not quite 

Inside the case itself is a box where the power gets input from the wall, and looks something like this:



The power supply converts the 120V or 240V (depending on where you live in the world, of course) to the 12V, 5V and 3.3V portions the computer needs.

If the 12V is fine, the Hard drives should still function normally, but if the 3.3V is faulty the DVD/CD drive may struggle and or cause a short.

If possible, try a friends DVD reader/writer to cross out the issue of your own optical drive.

If it isn't that, it is definitely pointing to a power supply issue.