Averatech 6200 series laptop - optical drive issue

My 6200 series laptop has developed a new quirk... the CD/DVD drive pops open. I'm just wondering if anyone else out there has experienced this? I'm trying to dig into whether this could be from a recent Windows XP update or some other software... but I'm at a loss right now.

Also I'm thinking it could just be a hardware failure. Having never replaced a cd drive in a laptop before, I'm not sure what is what. Are they essentially industry standards that mean I could find a compatible drive, plug it it in, put the present bezel on it, load drivers and go on with it?

 

There is a standard (I think) but if the manufacturer wants to tweak that standard then they can. My old HP ze4281 had a special adaptor for its CDROM that had to be installed in the actual drive itself, not just plugged on. Look on the net for a service manual, that will help you judge if you're up to performing the replacement yourself or you may need to get a professional to do it. Laptops are generally not all that easy to open, but the service manual or an online guide will really help you.

Grand Admiral

 

I wish I could find a service manual for this Averatec... but aside from the users manual, it either does not exist or Averatec is keeping it under lock and key. Also Averatech killed their official forums a long time ago, then an unofficial forum has had a message about recovering the site for years now and it looks like the third Averatec specific forum is kaput as well.

In any regards, getting the drive out isn't really a problem, I'm just not sure if I need to be looking for a drive to match the one in the laptop or what. In addition to that, I'm not sure it is the drive to begin with as I'm trying to decipher if it is hardware or software induced.

 

My E1200 stopped reading CDs and DVDs around Xmas 2006 and would not play at all - I used the 'innards' of an external DVD burner I had handy to replace the faulty drive - but as you probably haven't got one lying around, try this URL

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/145255 (That's in U.K.)
I've no idea where you live, but Ebuyer is also in US of A

it shows 'slimline' drives for laptops, among them..

Pioneer KD-08 Slimline Notebook DVDRW Black Bare Drive - OEM @ £25.09

LiteOn DS-8A1P-21C Slim 8X DVD?RW DL/RAM 8x8x5x IDE - OEM @ £26.00

Optiarc 8X Slim Notebook DVDRW Black Bare Drive - OEM @ £28.86

there are others, but they're expensive eek: )

Remove all the parts from the old drive, that aren't on the new drive and fit
them to your new drive to make it compatible with your laptop.

Slide in the new drive and reboot the laptop and it should automatically accept the new drive.

One advantage - you should be able to burn DVDs too...

Brian E1200
Averatec 3350 UE1 (E1200) Pentium M715 1.5G Centrino
12.1" 1024x768 XGA TFT SCREEN 1Gb RAM 120 GB HDD
802.11g WLAN 10/100 Ethernet LAN 56k data/fax modem

 

Averatec 6200 uses the same slimtype DVD drive as other brand laptops.
However, the difference is the door. Look at your combo drive if there is a screw to hold the door. If it has then you have to look at the model of your drive and find the exact one. If there is no screw, then you can buy any slimtype DVD drive, then reuse your bracket and your old door ( just spap in ).
Most laptops use the same standard slimtype DVD drive, but the difference is how the drive mounted to the base and the design of the door.

 

I think it is a snap on, which means the possibilities could be many in terms of replacements. This is a back burner issue right now, but at some point I'm going to tackle it, thanks for the feedback/input.

 

That's great. You can buy any slimtype DVD drive since it has standard configuration that your original bracket and door will fit.