General advice regarding DVD Drive Repair

[Neil Wiltshire]

I recently purchased a large batch of faulty DVD R/RWs of all varieties. I realise that as a rule these devices are not worth repairing as the cost of a new drive is small these days. BUT ....
Almost all of these drives have read and/or write errors and I'd really like to try to repair them, to say that I tried and failed is good enough.

If anyone can point me to a web site where someone has posted their efforts, or offer advice, I would be grateful.

These units are already faulty, so I'm not worried about breaking them.

Thanks for your help

[setarip]

"or offer advice"

1) Before presuming the drives are faulty, try running a DVD/CD cleaning disc on them. Maxell makes one that retails for approximately $10US

2) Try "matching them up" and possibly combining good parts from like drives to make a few good drives...

3) Seek information regarding accessing diagnostic mode (usually included under "hacks") at:

https://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdwriters

for burners

(If necessary, open the Device Manager in the Control Panel to determine the make and model number)

AND

https://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdplayers

for players/DVD-ROMs

[Mig$y]

Hi Neil

In addition to "setarips" reply, ensure they all have the latest firmware installed also. It's amazing how many posters when completing a f/w update seem to resolve their problems.

I'm sure a couple of our reg' posters are Hardware tech's, Experi-Mentor being one of them. He/they may be able to offer you some more advice.

[Experi-Mentor]

hi neil

will need a count, brand/model #, hope there's some fault discriptions writen on them (?), & some pc/electronic/hardware knowledge.

1st, check the media compatibilities for each model. no need to spend hours on a burner if it don't support a certain media type

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdwriters

what progs do you have installed (dvdshrink, nero etc) ?

[Neil Wiltshire]

Hey, thanks guys, I am genuinely overwhelmed with your kind responses.

I have set aside 15 x Pioneer DVR103BA to start testing, but I'm going to need a good methodical approach and some fairly accurate diagnoses by myself or I could be testing them forever.

In reply to Experi-Mentor, there are no fault reports and i'm OK taking them to bits, cleaning out the dirt or even soldering, but as far as replaceable components goes, I haven't seen many 'easy ones' in them.

I have Nero, DVDshrink, PowerDVD 5, WinDVD, but not alot else.

Quick question to speed up the testing process. If I can write/verify a CDR, can I assume that reading a CD and read/writing a CDRW are also OK ?

And te same for a DVD. If I write/verify one is that good enough to say DVD functionality is fine ?

I also accept that even after I have tested and fixed one and labelled it 'Good' that it may still exhibit a fault later down the line.

Once again, a big thanks for your help.
Now for some long days in front of the PC ....

[Experi-Mentor]

ah well. guess we'll have to work without any fault reports

to make it easier, hope you have "at/xt" power supply handy (?) (a "test bench" would be a real gem )

assuming that you don't know "any" info/condition - plug each one to see if there's any power problems 1st (no data cable connection is needed). to quickly test, open & close tray. if the trays fail, then separate & put it aside for "ron" (later-on (lol au joke)), a "gentle" shake to hear if anything is broken/rattling inside & give it quick visual to see if it's been dropped or has major cosmetic damage, no bent/broken pins (both, power & data connectors). you can do this to "all" the other drives also.

http://support.packardbell.com/se/my...form_eMove_iXtreme_P4#

have a old (unwated but working) dvd & cd to insert for testing.
the drives that pass the above tests - insert both cd/dvd (not at the same time) & time the initialization process (when the led goes out). should take around 10 - 15 seconds (if working correctly). longer if faulty.

## Quick question to speed up the testing process. If I can write/verify a CDR, can I assume that reading a CD and read/writing a CDRW are also OK ? And the same for a DVD. If I write/verify one is that good enough to say DVD functionality is fine ?
##
"rw" media is different. i wouldn't just assume the above. i know it's a pain to test/erase/burn over & over but, it's up to you.
btw, what sort of place did you buy these dvd units from ?

## Now for some long days in front of the PC .... ##
shouldn't take that long
also, buy a "lens cleaning kit"(important). oh, & a large hammer too (just kidding about the "lens cleaning kit" (lol))

if at any stage something is unclear or you're unsure ......

[Experi-Mentor]

i'm sure "sfheath" (& other techs) would like to join in. so feel free to share your inputs

[sfheath]

Hey, just resurrected two CD drives here myself. Ditched the third that wouldn't open but the two wouldn't read CDR.
I ran a lens cleaner through them but still no go. I thought, what the heck? Open 'em up to examine the lenses. Seemed nice and clear but wiped my finger across them all the same!
Hey presto! reconnected, both read files/folders from the test CDR I used earlier!

Shouldn't bother with Experi-Mentors hammer - a duff CD drive makes a rather good one itself

btw my two reincarnations were a Samsung CD and LG DVD-ROM.

[Neil Wiltshire]

I'm back from the day job and I'm just about to start the 1st stages of testing.

Regarding lens cleaning kits. As yet, I don't have one. Is there a particular style I should be looking for ?
I took a look at a few listed on ebay and they all appear to be a disk that you put into the drive and it 'cleans' the lens. Do they actually work or am I better off with some kind of cleaning fluid, a piece of cloth and cleaning the lens manually.

You see a few of the drives I have here look like they spent their lives at a pipe smokers convention. Very yellowed casings. I'll bet the some smoke and tar entered the drives and coated the lens. I've yet to test them, but I'm just inspecting visually first.

sfheath has made drive recovery sound easy, so I'm all keen now

Thanks again for all of your help

[sfheath]

Hi Neil, since you're taking them apart anyway, your lens 'kit' will only need to consist of lint-free cotton buds and some iso-propyl alchohol .. or meths.
A colleague suggests my greasy finger might have masked a scratch into thinking it's ok again. He's a photographer so has come across similar with negatives.
Good luck

[Experi-Mentor]

## sfheath has made drive recovery sound easy, so I'm all keen now ##
it's not hard
sfheath does it with his eyes closed right ? (lol)

[sfheath]

absolutely! some of my best work is done with my eyes shut!