Windows 7 upgrade has now lost CD/DVD drive on laptop

[PCVirgin]

I recently upgraded my 3 year old HP laptop from Windows Vista to Windows 7 Ultimate.

Subsequently to this upgrade the laptop no longer recognises the CD/DVD drive. I've ene removed said drive, started, shut down and restarted laptop, added drive and it still does not recognise it.

Can anyone help?

 

[kjv1611]

Except, the OP in this case says it doesn't show in BIOS either - no software (inside an OS) could cause such an issue.

I know the issue of which you're talking, roland63. I've had the exact same issue, myself, in the past with our laptop. Very annoying indeed. <argh!>

 

[PCVirgin]

thanks but I just reinstalled the factory default software to the machine :-(

 

[ponoodle]

If two drives now don't show in the BIOS or the OS, but they both spin, I would say that part of the connection is bad at the MB. The power pin is good, but the data path is bad? Have you tried these drives on another laptop?

 

[PCVirgin]

I have no other HP laptop to try the drives to see whether the orignal still 'works'.

If it is the MB at fault is it worth fixing, using an external drive or buying a new laptop?

 

[ponoodle]

The new MB would be over $100, and swapping it out would take a while. Most of that time is just taking the laptop apart and putting it back together. If you can get by with the external, that's what I would do.

 

[rclarke250]

You don't need an hp laptop, any laptop with the same controller will work, may have to remove the drive bezel, but that is just plastic. Open with a paper clip in the emergency release, and remove the tray door, close the tray, remove the bezel. Now you have to find a laptop that has the same interface, may have to remove the drive connector or card from back of the drive. Should be either ide, or sata, just locate another lappy with the same controller, if you have to move over the card or adapter from the other laptops drive to make it work, do it. All ODD for laptops will be the same dimensions once brought down to the oem drive unit, and all specific laptop stuff removed. It's bezels and interpossers and what not that allow them to mount in a particular model and work. That being said, I agree it most likely is a bad port on the motherboard, or corresponding hardware between the motherboard,an the ODD. And the motherboard replacement is not something for the novice on a laptop, nothing like a PC. And almost always is too expensive to replace on a 3 yr old unit.

 

[kjv1611]

It would also depend (personally) on how much you use your CD/DVD drive. If you rarely touch it, I'd say go with a USB drive and be done with it.

If you want to find a replacement mobo and WANT to try and tinker with swapping that out, then the cheapest way may be to look for a "broken" laptop on eBay or in Craigslist or something. Of course, you'll be dealing with used parts, and you'll want to make sure that the motherboard isn't what's broken in the other laptop for sure. Either that or look to see if you happen to find a used motherboard that'll work. Some people tear apart used/broken machines, and sell for parts.

 

[flyboytim]

I have recently had a DVD RW failure on my laptop. The drive in question is a Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7530B.

The failure initially was just the inability to read disks, but rapidly progressed to failure to eject, and a long wait between BIOS and Bootloading.

On removal of the drive (a single screw removed fron the underside of the case, a paperclip insertion to open the drive gate, and withdrawal from the main body of the laptop.), the BIOS - Bootloader delay disappeared, but Windows 7 complained, requiring both a chkdsk and reboot and a safemode boot then reboot before starting properly. (neither Linux nor Windows XP had any difficulties starting with the drive removed)

On examination of the failed drive, it was apparent that between the fixed and sliding parts of the drive, the Flat Conductor Cable (FCC, ribbon cable) has been repeatedly trapped, crimped, scraped and folded beneath the drive outer case (aluminium) and the inner sliding disk holder (also aluminium), from the scour marks on the aluminium faces of both surfaces.

It was likely that not only had the cables developed breaks in several of their conductors, but also had lost their insulation through abrasion and shorted to the grounded aluminium casing.

Upon Googling the part number of the FCC ribbon cable, which was:

AWM 20696 E221612 80C 30V VW-1 P-TWO

it seems that this is a common part in many different DVD drive models, as well as being a common point of failure.

With direct reference to this thread, it would seem likely that if this mode of failure, with a combination of open circuits and shorting to other conductors, had happened to the OPs drive, further components on the Laptop may have suffered damage too, thus causing apparent failure in replacement drives.

In order to mimimize the occurrence of this problem, always fully extend the drive drawer before closing the drive - a partially open drive drawer is more likely to trap a loop of cable than if the cable is near its fully extended position before the drawer is closed.

A modification to the unlabelled side of the ribbon, for instance, a strip of OHP transparency film affixed to the free section of the cable with a flexible latex contact adhesive could prevent future entrapment.

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