There are many reasons why drives may not work: applications do not match each other, problems with drivers, drive failures. To decide what to do if the disk drive on your laptop does not work, you need to identify the cause of the damage.
1. The problem is in the storage medium
If the storage medium is not detected by the drive, and there is damage on the surface of the drive, then the storage medium may be the cause of the malfunction. Also, difficulty in reading information from disks may be due to the nuances of some manufacturers. For example, not every drive is capable of reading information from L-PRO products.
2. The disk drive does not see the disk on the laptop
You can identify problems with the laser emitter if the information reader does not detect disks. In this case, the device can be disassembled and the laser head can be cleaned of dust by wiping it with a cotton swab.
To analyze the operation of the drive elements and determine why the drive on the laptop does not work, and which of the elements is faulty, you can also try connecting the drive to another PC.
The drive uses various modes to process data. If one of them does not function due to lack of power or insufficient power, the disks are partially identified or not identified at all. For example, a disk drive can open and read information from a DVD, but at the same time completely ignore the existence of a CD.
As a rule, the main cause of product malfunction is wear and incorrect operation of the laser head. In this case, there is only one way out - replace the product.
3. The laptop drive does not see the disk. What to do?
In addition to failure of device parts, problems related to the OS may arise. In the case where the reading device identifies data disks as disks that do not contain any information, you first need to update the drivers. To perform this procedure: go to Device Manager, remove the controllers and restart the computer. After the reboot, the computer device will independently install the program and restart its work.
If these actions do not lead to the desired result, you will have to download the drivers to an external storage device from the website of the developer of this technology.
You should remember that programs such as alcohol or daemon tools can suppress the normal functioning of the drive. The best solution would be to remove them along with the device that controls the data reader.
4. The drive is working, but disabled in BIOS
In this case, just enter the BIOS and activate the drive by selecting the line “CD-ROM. ENABLED" and "DVD-ROM. ENABLED".
5. Laptop drive cannot be read
All of the above did not bring a positive result, and you are still wondering: why did the disk drive on the laptop stop working? In addition, the drive is not even detected by the laptop. This may indicate that the drive itself or the controller is damaged. In this case, the drive must be replaced.
6. No access to recorded files on the disk
This is a systemic issue. In this case, the drive operates normally, since the program opens and operates the files.
You need to reinstall the program or update to the latest version of the Nero and Roxy application, which are responsible for recording data, by contacting the official website of the program developers.
Note
If your computer already has utilities that read disk data, similar to NERO StartSmart, Roxio InCD, you need to remove applications and the disk drive from Device Manager.
Laboratory work No. 4
Topic: Disk drive (drive)
Goal: To know the insides of the drive, how it works, DVD discs.
Explanation of the work.
CD-ROM drive device.
A CD-ROM drive is a complex electronic-optical-mechanical device for reading information from laser disks. A typical drive consists of an electronics board (sometimes two or even three boards - a spindle control circuit and an opto-receiver amplifier separately), a spindle assembly, an optical read head with a drive for its movement and disk loading mechanics.
A typical drive consists of an electronics board, a spindle motor, an optical readhead system, and a disk loading system. The electronics board contains all the drive control circuits, the interface with the computer controller, the interface connectors and the audio signal output. Most drives use a single electronics board, but some models have separate circuits on small auxiliary boards.
Spindle assembly (the motor and the spindle itself with the disk holder) are used to rotate the disk. Typically the disk rotates at a constant linear speed, which means that the spindle changes speed depending on the radius of the track from which the optical head is currently reading information. As the head moves from the outer radius of the disk to the inner radius, the disk must quickly increase its rotational speed by approximately doubling, so good dynamic response is required from the spindle motor. The motor is used for both acceleration and deceleration of the disk.
The spindle itself is fixed to the axis of the spindle motor (or in its own bearings), to which the disk is pressed after loading. The surface of the spindle is sometimes covered with rubber or soft plastic to prevent the disc from slipping, although in more advanced designs only the upper clamp is rubberized to increase the accuracy of the disc being installed on the spindle. The disk is pressed against the spindle using the upper clamp located on the other side of the disk. In some designs, the spindle and clamp contain permanent magnets, the attractive force of which forces the clamp through the disk to the spindle. Other designs use coil or flat springs for this purpose.
Optical head system consists of the head itself and its movement system. The head contains a laser emitter based on an infrared laser LED, a focusing system, a photodetector and a pre-amplifier. Focusing system It is a movable lens driven by an electromagnetic voice coil system, similar to the movable loudspeaker system. Changes in the magnetic field strength cause the lens to move and the laser beam to refocus. Thanks to its low inertia, such a system effectively tracks the vertical runout of the disk even at significant rotation speeds.
Head movement system has its own drive motor, which drives the carriage with the optical head using a gear or worm gear. To eliminate backlash, a connection with an initial voltage is used: with a worm gear - spring-loaded balls, with a gear - pairs of gears spring-loaded in opposite directions. The motor used is usually a stepper motor, and much less often a brushed DC motor.
Disc loading system There are three options: using a special cassette for the disk (caddy), inserted into the receiving niche of the drive (similar to how a 3" floppy disk is inserted into the drive), using a retractable tray (tray), on which the disk itself is placed, and using a retractable mechanism. Systems with Tray usually contain a special motor that allows the tray to extend, although there are designs (for example, Sony CDU31) without a special drive that are pushed in by hand. Systems with a retracting mechanism are usually used in compact CD-Changers for 4-5 discs, and necessarily contain a motor for drawing in and ejecting disks through a narrow charging slot.
On the front panel The drive usually contains an Eject button for loading/unloading a disc, a drive access indicator, and a headphone jack with an electronic or mechanical volume control. A number of models have added a Play/Next button to start playing audio discs and switch between audio tracks.
Most drives also have a small hole on the front panel, designed for emergency removal of the disk in cases where this cannot be done in the usual way - for example, if the tray drive or the entire CD-ROM fails, if there is a power failure, etc. You usually need to insert a pin or a straightened paper clip into the hole and gently press - this unlocks the tray or disk case, and it can be pulled out manually (although there are drives, for example Hitachi, in which you need to insert a small screwdriver into such a hole and rotate it located behind the front drive panel axle with slot).
How a DVD drive works
What does it consist of?
1. All you can see without opening its case is the tray, which plays the role of a sliding tray where you insert the disk so that the drive can begin working with it later.
2. Hidden in its vast part is a motor that forces the tray to move out of its garage (body) and then return to its original place, regardless of whether it is empty or with contents - a disk.
3. A motor, thanks to which the disk rotates around its axis to the speed declared by the manufacturer. For example, if it is a regular disk type - CD, the reading speed can reach 52X and higher.
4. A motor that allows the structure on which the drive laser is located to move.
5. Board - playing a major role in operation. A kind of computer that receives the master’s commands and forces them to be carried out by the other components listed above, in order to then turn to the master again and send him the result of their actions.
How does it work?
1. The very first thing the drive does after a disk has been placed in it is trying to read data from it. To do this, he uses all of the above components, but the first of them is the tray and its components.
2. Then the design comes into play, which is driven by the motor from point 4, where we describe what the drive consists of. It contains a laser that emits a “beam of light.”
3. The light beam, thanks to a special “guide prism” and its other components, penetrates the surface of the “reflecting mirror”, which, due to the subsequent movement of the structure with the laser, reflects it onto the surface of the inserted disk.
4. When the beam reaches the target, it is reflected again, but from the very surface of the disk. The beam reflected from the disk again appears at the “reflecting mirror”. And here the guiding prism comes into play again, with the help of which the resulting beam penetrates the “photosensitive device” that generates electrical impulses.
5. The final stage can be considered “chewing” the received information by using microcircuits, which in turn send the received data to the computer, or receive it, and, depending on the type of command, get to work.
DVD capacity (layers and sides)
There are currently four main types of DVD discs, classified by the number of sides (single- or double-sided) and layers (single- and double-layer).
· DVD-5 - single-sided single-layer disk with a capacity of 4.7 GB. Consists of two substrates connected to each other. One of them contains a recorded layer, which is called the zero layer, the second is completely empty. Single-layer discs typically use an aluminum coating.
· DVD-9 - single-sided double-layer disk with a capacity of 8.5 GB. Consists of two stamped substrates connected in such a way that both recorded layers are on the same side of the disc; on the other side there is an empty substrate. The outer (zero) stamped layer is covered with a translucent gold film that reflects the laser beam focused on this layer and transmits the beam that is focused on the lower layer. A single variable-focus laser is used to read both layers.
· DVD-10 - double-sided single-layer disk with a capacity of 9.4 GB. Consists of two stamped substrates connected to each other by their back sides. The recorded layer (zero layer on each side) is usually coated with aluminum. Please note that this type of disc is double-sided; The reading laser is located at the bottom of the drive, so to read the second side the disc must be removed and flipped over.
· DVD-18 - double-sided double-layer disk with a capacity of 17.1 GB. Combines two recording layers on each side. The sides of the disc, each formed by two stamped layers, are joined together with their backs facing each other. The outer layers (layer 0 on each side of the disc) are coated with a translucent gold film, the inner layers (layer 1 on each side) are coated with aluminum. The reflectivity of a single-layer disk is 45–85%, and that of a two-layer disk is 18–30%. Various reflective properties are compensated for by an automatic gain control (AGC) circuit.
Control questions:
1. What is a disk drive for?
2. What does a disk drive consist of?
3. How the drive works
4. What drive companies do you know?
5. DVD capacity
Related information.
Has your disk drive suddenly stopped working? The reasons may be completely different and in this article we will look at the most popular, and also look at ways to solve them.
1. Complete failure
If your drive is many years old, and yesterday it suddenly stopped reading discs, then perhaps its service life has come to an end. In this case, you can test the drive on another computer and if it doesn’t start there, then the drive is probably broken. But we have 4 more options, why might the disk drive not work?, so read them before you make a conclusion.
2. Disabled in BIOS
If you recently wandered through the BIOS settings and changed something, then maybe you accidentally disabled it? Make sure this is not the case. Find instructions on the Internet on how to enable the drive in the BIOS and after logging in, see if it is disabled.
3. Windows is slow
It happens that something is screwed up in Windows and the system simply does not see your DVD drive. Need to try go to Device Manager and see if everything is in order there and if there is an unknown sign opposite some devices.
4. Laser is clogged
If in the section Computer The drive is displayed, but does not read discs, it is possible the laser in the disk drive, which reads information from disks, could simply be clogged. You need to open the device and clean the head with a regular cotton swab. There are also special discs with a cleaning agent applied for these purposes. By inserting a disk into the drive, it will spin and clean disk drive laser head.
5. The laser head is broken
All equipment breaks down sooner or later, and the disk drive laser is no exception. In this case you need replace the drive. It costs about 10 dollars. If you don’t want to bother with replacing the old one (opening the system unit, removing the drive and installing a new one), then you can buy an external one. It really costs more, but it connects much easier, usually like a mouse or keyboard, it is inserted into any free USB connector. Suitable for both laptops and computers.
Of course, these are not all the reasons why doesn't the disk drive work?! You may have another reason. And I told those that I myself know.
Sometimes on forums you can come across the question: “The disk drive does not work, what should I do?” Indeed, even such a seemingly reliable device as a CD drive can fail. As usually happens, the causes of a malfunction can be very different, and it is possible to accurately determine the source of the failure only after analyzing some indirect factors.
If the disk drive does not work, we will indicate what to do next.
Overheat
Some users have noticed that after burning several discs in a row, the drive may refuse to read new ones or begin to write subsequent ones with errors. What’s interesting: after 10-20 minutes everything returns to normal on its own. Miracles and silicon logic are not compatible, so this strange behavior of the reading device can be explained quite simply - it overheats. Despite the fact that the laser beam has little power, with its continuous use the internal temperature of the drive increases, which affects the operation of all its systems - hence the problem. It is often aggravated by the fact that the air flows in the closed case of the system unit of the average user do not blow on the drives. Thus, to the question: “The disk drive does not work, what should I do?” - you can answer as follows: it is necessary to fix the device so that there is free space around it in which the temperature could dissipate, or install an additional fan.
This is the most common reason why topics are created on the Internet: “The disk drive is not working, what should I do?” With the advent of the SATA standard, the computer community happily forgot the problems associated with the incompatibility of IDE devices. Now all the nuances of configuration have been taken over by the controller, freeing the user from the need to monitor the correct setting of operating modes - Slave or Master. However, sometimes you can come across the question: “When using a CD or DVD, the computer freezes: what should I do?” In this case, you need to turn off the computer, open the cover of the system case and remove the SATA cable from the board and drive, and then connect it back. The cheap interface wires used in most computers do not have metal retainers, which is why the constant vibration of the drive breaks the contact and the device stops working. If this does not help, then you need to connect the cable to another SATA port on the motherboard and replace the wire with a new one (the absence of external damage does not mean anything).
BIOS
All modern BIOS provide the ability to switch controller modes: IDE, RAID, AHCI. If there are no problems with hard drives, then some older models of compact drives may refuse to work normally in any of the modes due to compatibility issues. To solve this, you can try to switch the controller to the desired command system (go to the BIOS - DEL button when turning on the computer) or flash the BIOS file with the current version.
Software glitch
No less often the cause of problems is errors in the driver. In Windows, you need to go to “Computer - Properties - Device Manager - DVD Drives” and remove the drive from the list. After a reboot, it will be re-detected and the problem may go away.
The disk drive does not open, what should I do?
In this case, you need to right-click on the drive letter in Explorer and select the “Eject” command. If the carriage extends, then the mechanics are faulty, otherwise, most likely, you will have to think about changing the drive to a new one.
Despite the fact that the use of CD/DVD drives is gradually giving way to other methods of reading information, nevertheless, for a number of operations it is still quite relevant, for example, for installing an operating system stored on a disk. Therefore, the failure of this device can be very inappropriate. Let's figure out what causes the drive to not read discs and how to solve this problem in Windows 7.
We will not focus on such a banal reason for the problem of reading information from an optical drive as a defect in the disk itself, but will focus on malfunctions of the drive and the system. Among the main causes of the problem we are studying may be:
- Drive hardware faults;
- OS failure;
- Driver problems.
Below we will look at various ways to solve the problem in as much detail as possible.
Method 1: Solving hardware problems
First of all, let's focus on solving hardware problems. The reason that the drive does not read discs may be its failure or incorrect connection. First you need to check the connection of the cables to the SATA or IDE ports. They should be inserted into the connectors as tightly as possible. You can also try reconnecting the device to an alternative port (usually there are several of them). If the cause of the problem lies in the cable itself, you can try cleaning the contacts, but it is better to replace it with a new one.
However, it is quite possible that the drive itself is broken. One indirect confirmation of this may be the fact that it reads DVDs, but does not read CDs, or vice versa. This indicates defects in the operation of the laser. Malfunction can be expressed in various forms: from failure of microcircuits due to overheating to dust settling on the lens. In the first case, you cannot do without the services of a professional technician, but it is even better to purchase a working CD/DVD-ROM. In the second case, you can try to clean the lens with a cotton swab yourself. Although for some device models this is quite problematic, since they are not designed by the manufacturers for disassembly.
Method 2: Enable in Device Manager
However, even a working drive can be disabled due to some kind of failure or intentional actions. "Device Manager". Therefore, it is imperative to check this option and, if necessary, activate the drive.
- Click "Start". Go to "Control Panel".
- Go to "System and safety".
- Now press "Device Manager".
- Will start "Device Manager". In the list of equipment, click on the name "DVD and CD-ROM drives". If this name does not appear or the drive name does not appear when you click on it, this means either a hardware failure of the drive or it is disabled. For the procedure in the first case, see Method 1. If the DVD/CD-ROM is simply disabled, then the problem can be solved right there.
- Click on the horizontal menu "Action". Choose "Update hardware configuration".
- A new device search will be performed.
- After that click on again "DVD and CD-ROM drives". This time, if everything is fine with the drive hardware, its name should be displayed.
Method 3: Reinstalling drivers
The next reason why the drive may not see the disk is incorrectly installed drivers. In this case, you need to reinstall them.
If this method does not help, you can use specialized ones.
Method 4: Uninstall programs
The problem with reading disks through the drive can be caused by the installation of individual programs that create virtual drives. These include others. Then you need to try to remove this software, but it is better to do this not using Windows tools, but by using specialized applications, for example.
- Launch the Uninstall Tool. In the list that opens in the application window, find the program that can create virtual disks, select it and click "Uninstallation".
- After this, the standard uninstaller of the selected application will launch. Act according to the recommendations displayed in its window.
- After uninstallation, the Uninstall Tool will scan your system for residual files and registry entries.
- If uninstalled items are detected, the Uninstall Tool will display a list of them. In order to completely remove them from your computer, just click the button "Delete".
- After the procedure for removing residual elements is completed, you need to exit the information window indicating the successful completion of the procedure by simply clicking the button "Close".
Method 5: System Restore
In some cases, even if the above programs are removed, the problem with reading disks may persist, since this software has managed to make the appropriate changes to the system. In this and some other cases, it makes sense to roll back the OS to a restore point created before the described malfunction occurred.
- Click "Start". Go to "All programs".
- Go to the directory "Standard".
- Open the folder "Service".
- Find the inscription "System Restore" and click on it.
- The standard OS recovery utility will launch. Click "Further".
- The next window will present a list of restore points. Select the most recent one that was created before the drive problem occurred, and click "Further".
- In the next window, to start the recovery procedure to the selected point, click "Ready".
- The computer will restart and the recovery procedure will occur. After this, you can check the drive for functionality.
As you can see, the reason that the drive has stopped seeing disks can be various factors, both hardware and software. But if an ordinary user is not always able to solve a hardware problem on his own, then in case of software errors there are action algorithms that almost everyone can operate.