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How To Troubleshoot CDROM Drive Problems

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There is no simple electronic diagnostics that exist for the Cdrom drive.You can ensure that all connections seated correctly and that the jumpers or DIP switches are in the right position and problems will still occur.

You can check edge connectors and chips on the expansion cards and check to see if the circuits are complete,but most disk drives will still find a way to malfunction or stop working altogether.

Many troubleshooting procedures may have simple solutions.Make it a practice to start with the easiestproblem solving techniques first.You'll be shocked at the many hours lost in troubleshooting simply because of one overlooked procedure.

Let's start with the obvious troubleshooting steps and go on from there.Remember to always and forever,remove ESD or Electro-Static Discharge by grounding yourself before touching any of the components within the computer.

The CDROM does not respond with no power light

First try re-booting the system since it is possible the controller or power connection may have failed. If the cdrom drive failed after re-booting,remove the system unit cover after unplugging the PC and disconnecting all peripherals.Locate the CDROM drive disconnect the power connector.Check for power by connecting the spare connector to the drive.

If the drive works,the connector is faulty.If the drive does not work,use a multimeter to check for power to the drive.If the drive does not work and there
is power from the power supply,the drive is bad and should be replaced.If the multimeter reveals no power at the connector, Use the spare connector and realize that the power supply is slowly going bad.

The CDROM Fails With The Power Light On

With the power light on,we know the drive is receiving power.We turn our attention to the drive's Ribbon Cable.Check the cable to be sure it is secure to the drive.If so,disconnect the cable and look at the connector at the rear of the drive for bent or broken pins.

If possible,connect a known good Ribbon Cable and see if the drive works.
If the drive fails to work with another cable,check to see if the drive's jumper is
set to slave instead of master.

The CDROM Drive has stopped working

First chcek the cdrom for dirt.A dirty cd will cause the drive to fail.If cleaning the cd does not correct the problem,try re-installing the Device Drivers.Reinstalling the device drivers can sometimes be done from your setup cdrom or from a diskette.Check your documentation to find how to install these drivers.

If you're running Windows 98, take a look at your config.Sys and also your Autoexec.bat files to be sure the cdrom driveis being loaded into memory.Look
for a line in the Config.Sys file something like this..

DEVICEHIGH=C:MTMCDAI.SYS /D:123

And there should be a file similiar to this in your computer's autoexec.bat file...

C:WINDOWSCOMMANDMSCDEX.EXE /D:123

If you have worked in the system unit,check for any loose connections at the drive and controller.Getting your cdrom running when it fails can most likely be corrected simply by cleaning the cdrom and/or checking to see if the device
drivers are loaded into memory.Be sure to check drive cables and connections when troubleshooting your cdrom drive.

Got cdrom drive problems, most drive problems can be corrected with patience and calmness by first checking the obvious. Is the cdrom dirty, does the hight on the front of the drive flash. Your drive may be working just great now, but be ready when it suddenly becide to quit on you.

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Otis F. Cooper
Softsale Software
5550 Pickering Ct.
Colorado Springs,Co 80911
allaboutpc@juno.com
http://www.ultimatepcrepair.com
719-390-6935

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