HP nc8430 optical drive functions incosistently

Since I bought this laptop last July, I have had continual problems with the optical drive (DVD-/+RW, CD-RW combo drive). What happens is that it works perfectly well for about a week, and then, for no obvious reason, it completely fails to function. Sometimes, cleaning the optical eye with a q-tip and a bit of alcohol fixes it. Sometimes, just shutting down the laptop and cold-booting it back up fixes it. But only for a couple of days, and then it will fail again.

Also noteworthy is the fact that the device manager reports the DVD region settings incorrectly when this occurs. I have never set the DVD region, so I should have no region set and five changes left (indeed, I confirmed this the day I got the new drive). Now that it's failing to function, it reports that I only have two changes left. If the drive starts functioning properly again, region settings will be reported correctly (five changes left).

I have been through a total of four optical drives now via HP warranty replacements (including the original, so I'm on my third replacement now, which is an LG HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-T20N). They have all been completely different makes and models, and they all have this same problem.

I was beginning to think that it was the motherboard or some other internal component that HP doesn't consider user-replaceable. However...

1. I can't really send my laptop in for repair right now because I need it for work and my old desktop would need to be upgraded first to be at all sufficient to handle my work tasks.

2. It just doesn't make sense that it would work, then all-of-a-sudden fail with no obvious explanation. This behaviour isn't consistent with internal hardware failure.

3. There appear to be other people with this same or similar model having the same problems. Every statement I've read about this has noted that replacing the motherboard does not fix this problem.

Like I said, cold-booting the laptop or cleaning the optical eye sometimes helps. I have also reseated the drive, which results in the same temporary solution. "Temporary" is the key word here. There are no additional/updated drives or firmware for the drive. I have updated the BIOS, updated drivers where I could, etc.

Is anyone else here experiencing these problems with an HP laptop? Did you fix the problem? How?

 

Nobody else knows anything about this?

 

check out www.rpc1.org the forums section.

 

have you tried removing the drive and putting it back in?

 

Yes, as you can see, I said "I have tried reseating the drive". The result is that it fixes it for a little while (could be a day, could be a week) and just starts failing again.

 

You probably need a new optical drive. It is a very common failure item on the nc8430/nw8440, with symptoms similar to what you're describing.

I know this because the freshmen and sophomores at my school all have nw8440s (I'm also a sophomore), and several of my classmates have complained about the optical drive. Our computer help desk at our school used to "fix" this issue by re-seating the drive cable that goes to the motherboard, which would indeed fix the issue....temporarily (for like 5 seconds in some cases). Replacing the optical drive with a new one was the only method that would truly resolve the issue.

 

I alone had about 4 replacements within a year on the ODD for the nc8430. I was getting pretty tired of it.

Keep harassing HP about it, until they finally decide to replace the laptop. Let them replace whatever parts they want to, and the minute you hit needing a 4th or 5th major replacement, ask for a new laptop without this issue.

Assuming it takes them that many times to fix it.

 

Like I said, I've already been through three -- I'm on my fourth.

Assuming by "major parts", you mean motherboard and not the optical drive, that will simply have to wait. I need it for work right now and my old desktop isn't enough to sustain me right now (I plan on upgrading it soon).

 

Oh, I mean things like the motherboard, HDD, LCD, the big stuff.

HP did at one point want to examine my laptop to see if the motherboard was the cause of the ODD failures.

 

^ So...was it? I have my doubts since... *checks if CD-ROM works* ...it's working today. It wasn't working yesterday, and I have changed nothing.

The completely sporadic nature of this problem just doesn't indicate to me that it's a motherboard failure.

 

Uber-bump ...

Anyone?

 

Well, as per your PM...sorry I haven't been back!

Eventually, I swapped my drive so many times I finally got one that continued to work and it stayed working.

The more I think about it...the more I realize that if it was a motherboard problem, it would probably be more consistent.

 

Thanks a lot for responding.

Really! How many times did you replace the drive? I'm on my third replacement.

My sentiments exactly. If it were a motherboard/controller problem, I'd expect the connection to any new drive to fail immediately.

 

I was on my fourth one. They seemed to go on average of about once every two months. After installing the 4th drive, the nc8430 started having major problems (unrelated to the swapping) that eventually led to it being returned to HP for my 8710p.

 

Could we say buggy firmware or bad production batch? The same drive is being used by other manufacturers, but we don't observe the same problem. In fact, the one on mine is perfectly fine, but mine's the LightScribe version.

 

It's got to be buggy firmware or some sort of bizarre driver conflict. Everything works perfectly fine before Windows (eg.: I have no problems using a bootable CD).

Anyway, I called HP again about this. After a number of troubleshooting steps, they suggested that it was a software conflict. I restored a system image of a clean Windows installation, and the optical drive worked. So now, I've gone back to my existing installation, and -- go figure -- the drive is working now. No doubt it will fail again in who-knows-how-long.

Fortunately, when this happens again, and after re-installing Windows (ugh... but, it's time, anyway), I'll be able to report this to HP programmers so, maybe, they can actually do something about this. Even if it is a software conflict, I think the burden is probably on HP, anyway. I've never had this sort of problem with any other computer with the software I use.

 

A guy over at C|Net forums suggested that it may be something with the RAM. I'll check it out.

 

If you download and run MemTest86+ you'll know for sure after about 8 hours.

 

i have the same problem on my nc8430 as well. i bought this laptop about a year an a half ago and about 2 or 3 months ago i started noticing that when i watch DVDs it will freeze up and i will have to open then close my drive.

So far i have not had any problems with burning discs, only reading, and it is becoming more and more frequent.

im not sure if it is under warrenty still hopefully it is because i watch a lot of movies on my computer and it sucks when they freeze up all the time.

 

70%-80% of the time we get a unit with a DVDRW issue in, we test the Hard drive, its almost always bad...

something you can try....

Remove the DVDRW locking screw pull out your drive look on the back theres a bracket.... those things bend soo easily, even just from ware and tear.... remove those screws and slightly bend it so that it makes almost a pocket of space between the bracket and the drive, then screw the bracket back ok, it should go flush with it... try it then....

 

hmm. i tried this and got about 20 minutes into a dvd when instead of just freezing up ike normaly the movie started skipping through and about 30 minutes of video time past ony showing a few frames.


my drive will start clicking and making noises and such. so by bending this bracket not much was changed. any other suggestions before i i try getting a replacement disc drive?

 

You should scan your Hard Drive then.... cause DVDRWs don't normally make clicking noises... I've seen drives completely crushed, and still some what function without clicking....

 

Boot into Ubuntu or Safe mode... i recommend Ubuntu because safe mode is still using your HDD.

 

hmmm, i don't think that its my hard drive. But in case it is what is a recommended program to test it to make sure.

 

Spinrite: is a good Quick SMART history reader...

PC Doctor: is the most Reliable hard drive testing tool...

Trouble Shooter: is good for testing RAM

 

This is a common problem with HP laptops,Their quality has deteriorated sharply.
My HP DV9000 is a mess.
Battery went in Smoke (literallly) just after warranty.
Optical drive at times does not eject,or it Ejects suddely when burning disk,Ruining the burn media.

Cruse it!

 

Just thought I should update the thread regarding the possibility of the fault lying with the hard drive.

I upgraded my hard drive a few months ago from the existing 80GB to a new 250GB drive. Additionally, I reinstalled Windows XP to have a fresh start.

After both of those things, I still have problems with the optical drive, even with a clean factory install using HP's factory discs on a new hard drive. Ugh.