DVD rewriter drive recognition, or not.

P

pjon

Member
Three year old 17.3" Cosmos Series laptop with Win 10 Home.

I phoned tech. support re an intermittent failure of the p.c. to recognise the DVD optical drive. Sometimes showing in "This P.C.", sometimes not. It's a 12.7mm internal LG drive. I was advised that it was probably the drive starting to fail so I purchased a replacement, exactly the same make, model etc.. According to LG it's a plug and play device, no drivers needed. The same thing is happening with the new drive.
LG support suggest it is probably a fault with the operating system or the p.c. itself.
Anyone have any ideas? Possible solutions would be appreciated.
On a different tack, the Windows 10 recovery c.d. supplied with the machine, when inserted and the drive is working, comes up with a message about an invalid key, key not recognised or similar. Have PCS sent the wrong c.d. for this laptop? So I can't even carry out any sort of recovery.
Not having much success with this machine. I know it is almost three years old but it should last longer than it has before faults develope. It needed a new keyboard some months ago too.:eek:
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
pjon said:
Three year old 17.3" Cosmos Series laptop with Win 10 Home.

I phoned tech. support re an intermittent failure of the p.c. to recognise the DVD optical drive. Sometimes showing in "This P.C.", sometimes not. It's a 12.7mm internal LG drive. I was advised that it was probably the drive starting to fail so I purchased a replacement, exactly the same make, model etc.. According to LG it's a plug and play device, no drivers needed. The same thing is happening with the new drive.
LG support suggest it is probably a fault with the operating system or the p.c. itself.
Anyone have any ideas? Possible solutions would be appreciated.
On a different tack, the Windows 10 recovery c.d. supplied with the machine, when inserted and the drive is working, comes up with a message about an invalid key, key not recognised or similar. Have PCS sent the wrong c.d. for this laptop? So I can't even carry out any sort of recovery.
Not having much success with this machine. I know it is almost three years old but it should last longer than it has before faults develope. It needed a new keyboard some months ago too.:eek:
Click to expand...

What makes you think it's not recognising the DVD drive? What error does it produce?

It's not an OS issue and there are no reports on any version of windows with DVD drives not being recognised.

When reinstalling windows, you would download windows 10 to a usb from here:
https://www.techspot.com/downloads/6734-windows-10-installation-tool.html

The recovery cd will be very outdated.
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
There are drivers for DVD drives, but they're built in to Windows (cdrom.sys). You do know that there is an option to not show empty drives in File Explorer? My DVD drive doesn't show in Explorer unless there is a dic in it, could that be what you're seeing?

Regarding the install DVD, any Windows 10 Home DVD should work if you have a valid Windows 10 Home license in your motherboard. Are you sure the DVD you have is for Home and not Pro? It's not impossible that PCS shipped a Windows 10 Pro DVD to you, that would certainly fail with an invalid key.

You could also download the latest copy of Windows 10 Home from Microsoft, burn it to a USB stick and install from there.
 
P

pjon

Member
"What makes you think it's not recognising the DVD drive? What error does it produce?"
There are no errors displayed.
When I open "This P.C./My computer" under "Devices and Drives" only the main HDD (C) shows. the DVD drive does not show nor do any media inserted. It will eject the tray to insert media, spins up and nothing happens.
If the P.C. is shut down/restarted and I am lucky the drive will be recognised and show in My Computer (F) or not as the case may be. When it does randomly show then it works normally until the next time it doesn't.
When it is not recognised it is not listed in devices using device manager. It is listed when recognised. It was there and working when I started the p.c. earlier and it has now disappeared quite randomly for no apparent reason.
Edited to add that after just restarting the laptop it is there again and listed in device manager.
 
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P

pjon

Member
IMG_20190114_152433499.jpgIMG_20190114_152353148.jpgIMG_20190114_123204607.jpg


Now you see it, now you don't.
 

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P

pjon

Member
No media in the drive when those pics. were taken. When it is "missing", inserting media only results in the drive spinning up and nothing happening. With media inserted when it isn't "missing" it works as it should.
The tech. at PCS could only suggest a failing drive. The same is happening with a brand new exact same make and model fitted. Two failing drives, one of them new, doubtful.

"My DVD drive doesn't show in Explorer unless there is a dic in it, could that be what you're seeing?" - No.
 
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SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
pjon said:
No media in the drive when those pics. were taken. When it is "missing", inserting media only results in the drive spinning up and nothing happening. With media inserted when it isn't "missing" it works as it should.
The tech. at PCS could only suggest a failing drive. The same is happening with a brand new exact same make and model fitted. Two failing drives, one of them new, doubtful.
Click to expand...

I would do a windows reinstall from scratch, personally, sounds like the driver may be corrupted in some way.

Have you had any other symptoms of bluescreens or freezing or any unusual behaviour recently?
 
P

pjon

Member
SpyderTracks said:
I would do a windows reinstall from scratch, personally, sounds like the driver may be corrupted in some way.

Have you had any other symptoms of bluescreens or freezing or any unusual behaviour recently?
Click to expand...

The p.c. is and has worked perfectly other than this optical drive anomoly.
Just taken a couple of pics. with it "missing" and, as can be seen the F drive does list in My Computer on the left and in file explorer. Both have ? and media is in the drive. It spun up, made all the relevant noises and nothing else happens.
I'll try and show the pics.,they need resizing first.
If the recovery disc supplied with the machine worked I would try a new install.
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
pjon said:
No media in the drive when those pics. were taken. When it is "missing", inserting media only results in the drive spinning up and nothing happening. With media inserted when it isn't "missing" it works as it should.
The tech. at PCS could only suggest a failing drive. The same is happening with a brand new exact same make and model fitted. Two failing drives, one of them new, doubtful.
Click to expand...

How many different disks did you try? Did you try commercially produced disks (movies for example)?

What happens if you put a new and empty writeable disk in there?

Is there any pattern to when it shows and when it doesn't? (It might be subtle).

Has this problem existed from day 1? If not, when did it start to happen and what changed at that time?

This doesn't sound like a Windows problem to me, although a clean install is the way to test that.
 
P

pjon

Member
I carried out a fresh install from the recovery partition on the HDD. A wasted effort because it has made no difference.
It doesn't matter what type of media is in the drive, blank, audio etc.. When the drive doesn't show, inserting any type of disc is the same, it spins up and nothing else happens. As previously stated, if it is showing then all's well.
It might have been like this from day 1 but I can't really and honestly confirm that because, up until a few days ago, when I went to copy some music onto a disc and nothing happened other than a message to insert a disc into the drive - there was a disc. Looked in "This PC" and the drive was no showing. So it might have been like this for a while and I have been lucky with it working.
Although everything else works perfectly this is not acceptable for a nearly three years old laptop. Cheap Chinese tat built to a price.
It replaced an old Toshiba laptop which gave years of service and is still going strong - gave it to a friend.
 
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Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Toshiba also build in China (Hangzhou) - almost everyone does, which is why the USA trade war is a big deal for consumers for a lot of PC tech
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
pjon said:
I carried out a fresh install from the recovery partition on the HDD. A wasted effort because it has made no difference.
It doesn't matter what type of media is in the drive, blank, audio etc.. When the drive doesn't show, inserting any type of disc is the same, it spins up and nothing else happens. As previously stated, if it is showing then all's well.
It might have been like this from day 1 but I can't really and honestly confirm that because, up until a few days ago, when I went to copy some music onto a disc and nothing happened other than a message to insert a disc into the drive - there was a disc. Looked in "This PC" and the drive was no showing. So it might have been like this for a while and I have been lucky with it working.
Although everything else works perfectly this is not acceptable for a nearly three years old laptop. Cheap Chinese tat built to a price.
It replaced an old Toshiba laptop which gave years of service and is still going strong - gave it to a friend.
Click to expand...

It's my understanding that PCS don't put a recovery partition on their laptops?
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
pjon said:
I carried out a fresh install from the recovery partition on the HDD. A wasted effort because it has made no difference.
It doesn't matter what type of media is in the drive, blank, audio etc.. When the drive doesn't show, inserting any type of disc is the same, it spins up and nothing else happens. As previously stated, if it is showing then all's well.
It might have been like this from day 1 but I can't really and honestly confirm that because, up until a few days ago, when I went to copy some music onto a disc and nothing happened other than a message to insert a disc into the drive - there was a disc. Looked in "This PC" and the drive was no showing. So it might have been like this for a while and I have been lucky with it working.
Although everything else works perfectly this is not acceptable for a nearly three years old laptop. Cheap Chinese tat built to a price.
It replaced an old Toshiba laptop which gave years of service and is still going strong - gave it to a friend.
Click to expand...

That’s not a full reinstall.
 
T

Tony1044

Prolific Poster
My dad has something similar on a hand-me-down Dell I gave to him.

I noticed that when it disappeared, going into device manager and doing a rescan usually brought it back.

I did no further investigation though, as he never used the DVD drive.
 
P

pjon

Member
SpyderTracks said:
That’s not a full reinstall.
Click to expand...

Well, I'm certainly not going to waste another three hours and have everything wiped from the laptop. Where do I obtain a full install? The laptop was supplied, allegedly, with a Widows 10 c.d.. That, as supplied with it, does not work.
Reminds me of the old TINY computers. Tough Its Now Yours. That appears to be the mantra of PCS now. I've purchased four of their p.c.s over the years, three desktops and this laptop. No more, it's just overpriced tat now.

"You don’t need the recovery disc, you can download direct from Microsoft and install to usb." That will be £119 please![rollinglaugh]
 
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Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
That will be £119 please!
Click to expand...
wut? You download Windows 10 for free with no need to pay a penny or even log in, direct from MS https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

It's much faster to install off USB than CD too.

Moreover, your CD when you got the PC will be an old version of Windows 10 anyway - so after installing it you'd then get fed an even larger raft of updates.

You've clearly made your mind up that it's all PCS's fault. But in fairness you're making excuses to not troubleshoot and apparently avoid accepting you didn't follow the community's recommendations.
 
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