About 4 weeks ago my cd drive started to screw up. Sometimes it didn't scan my TFT, but mostly it did. I didn't think much of it until like 2 weeks later, my CD just plain wasnt scanned at all. I then tried everything i knew: reinstalling my CD Drive manually, using troubleshooter, unplugging the drive then replugging it, etc., but it still won't work. DEvice manager says its fine, but it still won't scan. Probably the only solution left is to buy a new CD Drive but im hoping to see if i can fix it without buying anything. I use a Mitsumi CR-48x GTE by the way.

Dani AI

Generated

Short summary and what to try next. has a Mitsumi CR-48x GTE, the tray closes and the disc spins but Windows XP never enumerates any discs (LED flashes ~2s then stops). Because the drive sometimes read discs before and now reads none, this points to either a hardware/read-head issue or a configuration/cable/jumper problem rather than a single scratched disc.

Stepwise checks (non-destructive first)

  • Reboot and check BIOS/Setup: does the BIOS list the optical drive before Windows loads? If the BIOS does not see it, the fault is hardware/cable/jumper/BIOS-level. If the BIOS sees it but Windows does not, the problem is in Windows (drivers/filters).
  • Test outside Windows: try to boot from a known-good bootable CD. If it boots, the drive and cabling are OK and the issue is in XP.
  • Swap cables/power/jumpers: reseat the Molex power, replace the IDE cable with a known-good 80-conductor cable, and set the drive jumpers correctly (Master/Slave/Cable Select per the sticker on the drive). Move the drive to the other IDE channel if possible.

Windows-specific items

  • With XP, check and back up the registry first. Remove UpperFilters and LowerFilters at:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
    (export the key, then delete the two values if present and reboot). Also uninstall the IDE controller in Device Manager so Windows redetects it on reboot.

Lens/hardware notes and final options

  • Try a commercial lens-cleaning disc first. If comfortable and careful, a single gentle clean of the lens with 90%+ isopropyl on a cotton swab can help; otherwise get a shop to do it. Laser diodes and optics fail with age — if the drive still fails after the steps above, replacement is usually the cheapest reliable fix. ’s idea (test the drive in another PC) or having a tech inspect the laser (as suggested) will quickly confirm a hardware failure.

Recommended Answers

All 21 Replies

Sometimes it didn't scan my TFT, but mostly it did

???? Your CD-ROM drive is scanning your Monitor? Or what do you mean with 'TFT'?


Since CD-ROM drives don't have the brightest future, they are very cheap. Buy a new one I would say.


Michael

I meant frozen throne, for wc3, and i want to see if i can fix it without buying a new one

Do other CDs get recognised correctly? If so, then clean the CD in question, or have the scratches removed from it.

Well i only use my warcraft cd for most of the time, but before it stopped scanning completely, it stopped scanning cds containing vid files. So the problem must be the drive, and not the cd. also, when i put a cd in, the light flashes for 2 secs, then it stops.

Please pop a software program CD in the drive and let us know if it is detected. Please try with a data CD and let us know if THAT is detected and read.


If no CDs at all get detected, please tell us which version of Windows you use, so that we can assist you in determining if it is actually the drive at fault. In the vast majority of cases such as yours, the drive itself is usually quite OK.

well nothing got detected, and i use windows xp pro.

Look for software which loads into the system tray are (Such as the 'Disk Detector' for Creative soundcards or other similar software) and disable it from loading at startup.

Uninstall CD burning software

Right-Click 'My Computer' and choose Hardware > devoce Manager. Uninstall the CD/DVD drives from there.

Reboot and allow the drives to be detected and reinstalled. See if the CDs autodetect then.

3 responses: 1: no software of the kind u mentioned above. 2: i didnt install my burner software yet 3: i tried what u told me to do and it didnt work

oh yeah another thing: drive rotates the discs, but doesn't scan

Is there a second computer that you could test it with? If it fails on a second computer, then it's very likely that your CD-ROM is broken.


Michael

i dont have a second computer, yet...

Using Windows XP? Try this:

Moved to the correct section, by the way.

it couldnt detect any problems, but the problem is still there. It said "either the device is malfunctionning or windows cannot detect the problem"

Borrow a drive from someone and try it out. If it works then you know that your own drive is stuffed.

well besides that, is there anyway to fix it?

Ultimate solution:

Format, and perform a clean, fresh install. If the drive is physically connected and jumpered correctly, enabled in BIOS, and it still doesn't work, then the drive is no good.

reformat the whole freaking computer?

You've eliminated the sensible alternatives as possibilities. Those are:

*Try the drive in another PC
*Try another drive in your PC.

Uninstall/reinstall of the drive doesn't help. The repair tool reports no error. Not a lot left, is there?

i guess... well thank you for your help

oh yeah i remembered, this happened before with another drive, a samsung dvd drive.

remove cd-rom and set laser properly(take help of service eng)

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