Member Avatar for jdcampb2

Hello, when I turn my computer on, I get a boot failure, but I can't open the cd rom drive to check for a disk or put a disk in to help it boot.
I assume the failure to boot and the lack of power to the cd rom drive is connected. ?
Any help or adive would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by darren2005

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Short, practical troubleshooting steps to isolate whether the problem is the optical drive, a PSU rail, or the motherboard. This builds on points raised by and and adds clear, safe checks plus recovery options for the situation described by (boot failure with the CD tray not opening).

Immediate safe checks include cutting mains power and opening the case for a visual inspection of power connectors and the drive socket for loose pins, melted plastic, or damaged insulation. Look for any front-panel LED or button response. The drive's small emergency-eject pinhole will mechanically release the tray with a straightened paperclip even when the drive has no electronics power; that helps confirm whether a disc is stuck. Reseat the drive power plug and, if another unused Molex or SATA power lead is available, swap it to see whether the original cable or rail is at fault.

If the drive still shows no power, a live-voltage check or part swap will isolate the cause. Typical Molex expectations are about +5 volts (red) and +12 volts (yellow), within roughly a 5 percent tolerance; large deviations or missing rails implicate the PSU. Meter skills are required for live checks—if not comfortable, move the drive to another PC or try a known-good PSU instead. For older PATA drives verify jumpers and ribbon orientation; for SATA drives try a different data cable and motherboard port.

When the optical device cannot be used for repair media, booting from USB (a Linux live image or Windows recovery stick) enables boot-record repair and data rescue. Replacing a dead optical drive is usually the least expensive fix; if voltages look bad then bench-testing or replacing the PSU is the next step. If live electrical checks are unfamiliar, professional bench diagnosis is the safest route.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

power supply going bad perhaps

Member Avatar for darren2005

Hello, when I turn my computer on, I get a boot failure, but I can't open the cd rom drive to check for a disk or put a disk in to help it boot.
I assume the failure to boot and the lack of power to the cd rom drive is connected. ?
Any help or adive would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Has the system ever booted OK or is this the first boot?

What PSU have you got? You may not have enough power going to the drive (it does happen!). Try unplugging everything else (apart from what needed to boot) but leave the drive plugged. See what happens then? Also make sure that all you cables are in the correct place. Boot failure may suggest incorrect cable configuration.

Also, do you have a spare CD drive, just incase it could be the drive?

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