Dead CD ROM or DVD ROM drive, repair or replace?

Repair of components is not economically viable. A really observant and talented individual could repair a failed cd rom, if it was a
mechanical failure. Or if you had two of the same model drives, one that failed
electronically and one that failed mechanically, you could change out the bad circuit
board on the mechanical failed drive for the good circuit board and save your self thirty
dollars. Or you could go buy a brand new one and replace it. Remember, Safety First!
Before you loosen up the drive you should disconnect the power cable, the drive
cable, and the Audio cable. If you can not get your hand into the space to disconnect the
cables pull the drive carefully out until you can gripe the cables. Usually the IDE Drive
Cable will pull loose with a little force, there is a latch on the Audio cable. The cable that
will give you problems is the power cable, they are made to not vibrate loose. You can
use a pair of pliers to wiggle it loose, do not squeeze it to hard, it is plastic and will break,
with a firm grip on the plug, working it back and forth while pulling gently will get it
loose.
Note the wide cable, it is the IDE Connection cable, it will have a red stripe down one
side. This indicates the # 1 pin side of the cable connector. Some cables that have been in
the computer for a long time tend to harden from time and heat, you should not have to
change the routing of the cable. Some cable connectors have a guide pin that will match
the connector on the drive, this keeps you from connecting the cable backwards, some
don't that is why you have to note the stripe. Look at both drives, the IDE cable connector
should be orientated the same, note the notch for the cable in the connector on the drive,
are they both orientated the same or are they opposite? If they are opposite then you will
have to reorient the IDE cable before you install the drive.
Look at the back of the drive, next to the cable connectors there should be a double row
of small brass pins. These pins are called jumper pins. You will see one or two small
plastic covers (called Jumpers) over some of the pins. On the drive there should be a
diagram that will tell you what the covered pins do, this is the drive selection.
Your choices for the drive selection are:
Master
Slave
Cable select
Set the old drive aside, check the new drive, you need to match the drive select pin
setting on the new drive to what the old drive has. Either Master (two drives on same
cable and this is the primary drive), Slave (two drives on the same cable and this is the
secondary drive), or Cable Select (best selection for a single drive on a cable).
Once you have the drive selection set, reverse the removal sequence to install the drive.
Once you have the cables reconnected and the drive back in it's bay put the cover back on
the computer. I do not recommend powering up the computer with the cover off.
Check the drive:
When you power up the drive the startup sequence checks all drives, you should see
the cd drive activity light come on, push the drive eject button, the tray should open if
not, power the system down, you have a problem. (go to trouble shooting)
If you have power to the drive let the computer power up, put a cd in the drive, see if you
can access the drive. Access?
Yes? you are done.

Posted in: COMPUTER, HARDWARE