The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    DVD-ROM stop working

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by paulsiu, Dec 14, 2006.

  1. paulsiu

    paulsiu Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    14
    Messages:
    98
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I have a old Toshiba laptop that started displaying IDE #1 error recently. Now the DVD-ROM won't show up. Since the hard disk is still working, can I assume that the IDE controller is working and that the DVD-ROM has died?

    Note that the BIOS can see the CD-ROM. It just fails during boot up and cannot be accessed.

    What should I do next. Should I try reflashing the bios on the DVD Drive?

    Paul
     
    paulsiu, Dec 14, 2006
    #1
  2. Gator

    Gator Go Gators!

    Reputations:
    890
    Messages:
    1,889
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    How old is your Toshiba? I'd try a driver update for your DVD-ROM first. Of course, these optical drives tend to wear out after four or five years. My old laptop's DVD-ROM died after four years.
     
    Gator, Dec 15, 2006
    #2
  3. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    22,339
    Messages:
    36,639
    Likes Received:
    5,080
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Sometimes I have a similar problem with my Dell desktop; neither CD drive (I have two installed) shows up, and in order to get them recognized, it needs a restart. If restarting isn't doing anything for you, then reinstalling it might do something; Right-click My Computer, Properties, Hardware tab, Device Manager, then find your optical drive. Right-click it, uninstall, and restart. It will be automatically installed on restart (that is, if the channel works and the drive is still working too).

    If the drive is broken, then they can be replaced. Check www.Newegg.com or www.ZipZoomFly.com for aftermarket ones. Make sure you can remove the current drive first though.
     
    Charles P. Jefferies, Dec 15, 2006
    #3