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[Naked Snake]

My friend had his new Toshiba laptop for less than a month and the optical drive stopped reading CDs or DVDs for no apparent reason... The drive shows up fine in My Computer and Device Manager, and is "working properly" according to its properties. But when a disc is inserted it makes a very weird loud noise repeatedly for a while and nothing happens. Windows and other programs always think there is no disc in the drive. The laser lens appears to be perfectly clean and nothing looks abnormal when examining the ejected tray.

The laptop was bought online and isn't covered by a warrantee in this country, are there any "first aid" steps we can try before pronouncing the drive prematurely dead?

Model # is HL-DT-ST GCC-4243N

 

[DarienA]

Bought online and isn't covered by a warranty in this country?!?! WTH does that mean?

Anyway it sounds like either the motor is screwed for spinning the CD or for moving the laser up and down the track.

That's not a good thing, I don't have any suggestions except that IMO that's not going to be fixable... hope somebody else has better news for ya, good luck.

 

[Naked Snake]

Bought online and isn't covered by a warranty in this country?!?! WTH does that mean?

Ok let me clarify, it was bought from Amazon.com and we're located in Jordan... "this country" =/= USA

Anyway it sounds like either the motor is screwed for spinning the CD or for moving the laser up and down the track.

That's not a good thing, I don't have any suggestions except that IMO that's not going to be fixable... hope somebody else has better news for ya, good luck.

Ouch, when my friend asked a local chain for computers about fixing it they said if it required any parts they'll have to be imported from Germany & he'll have to pay for parts + shipping + labor... I figured he's better off buying a new drive altogether.

 

[Kobun Heat]

How did I know this was exactly the part that I had problems with?

My Toshiba laptop CD-RW/DVD combo drive crapped out on me a few months ago, with the exact same symptoms. The drive was installed right, Windows recognized it as being there, but whenever I put a disc in it just made a weird noise and didn't recognize it.

To verify beyond a doubt that it's a hardware problem, try using a boot CD. If you have a spare Windows install CD around, try booting from that. If it won't, then the drive is fuxxored. If you don't have a warranty, you're stuck buying another. The official list price for these things is outrageous, so you might check eBay for your part number.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Also, forget about having somebody fix it. These things are built (or SHOULD be built) such that you can remove and replace the drive by yourself in about five minutes with the right screwdrivers.

 

[Shompola]

Doesn't Toshiba have an office or representative in Jordan? If yes can't they repair it?

 

[Naked Snake]

To verify beyond a doubt that it's a hardware problem, try using a boot CD. If you have a spare Windows install CD around, try booting from that. If it won't, then the drive is fuxxored.

I thought of that and tried it long ago (set the boot priority in BIOS to CD) and it didn't boot. So I guess it is dead.

If you don't have a warranty, you're stuck buying another. The official list price for these things is outrageous, so you might check eBay for your part number.

What?? Can't it be replaced by a different model? I never dealt with a laptop before, but I though most laptop drives and accessories would be compatible between brands like in the PC world.

 

[DarienA]

What?? Can't it be replaced by a different model? I never dealt with a laptop before, but I though most laptop drives and accessories would be compatible between brands like in the PC world.

No because the casing around the drive is different on each laptop, and too my knowledge they don't just come off like PC drives.

 

[Kobun Heat]

You can't just replace it with any old laptop drive; you have to find out from the laptop manufacturer what models are compatible with your hardware.

I called Toshiba's hardware division -- not the usual customer support, the actual people who actually know about the hardware -- and they said that my drive was dead and that the cheapest option was to buy another.