DVD writer unable to recognize media...

[johnruiz]

after attempting to backup a badly scratched DVD(scratches all over) using DVDFab Decrypter yesterday. I let the drive try to backup the disk for aproximately three hours than I got worried and gave up on backing it up. Now when I put in any type of media the drive would not see it. The drive still have power, the tray ejects and Windows sees it. I have tried restarting the PC and flashing the drive already, didn't work.

Any suggestions? My drive is a Benq DW222A. Had it for a little over a year.

[ROF]

Clean the laser head. After three hours of reading and re-reading a nasty disc you can get a grime build up on the laser. Never allow this to happen, always stop it after a few minutes of non-seek. Continually doing this will burn out your drive really quick.

[redwudz]

You didn't report a speed problem, but you should check to see if the drive is still in DMA mode. After 6 unsuccessful reads the drive will revert to PIO. It would still read and burn, but very slowly. This shouldn't affect recognizing media, though.

[johnruiz]

That was the first thing I did, checking DMA/PIO mode. DMA did not revert to PIO mode. "Clean the laser head"? I want to dissemble the drive and clean it. Can you tell me what it looks like and are there pictures I can find on the net? Also, what do I clean it with? Thanks.

[redwudz]

This is from a CD player, but a DVD player looks the same.



I use a damp foam tipped Q-tip cleaner and denatured alcohol. You can use a cotton Q-tip, but it may leave fibers. You can also use isopropyl alcohol, but get the 99% as the lower % is mostly water. Don't use a wet Q-tip, just damp to avoid washing the lube off the slide. Be gentle.

As far as taking the drive apart, you're on your own there. Look at it this way, if the drive is inoperative, you have little to lose, especially with the price of drives lately.

[johnruiz]

Cool. I'll give it a try.

Thanks.