Blu-Ray External Drive not detecting disk, no ejecting, no light.

[Spareb]

So, my Blu-Ray drive has failed somehow, not sure how to fix it.

It's the second one to have failed on me. Came from Ebay, it's a Pioneer drive BDR-TD05FAD March 2013.

I got it in a red External ODD&HDD Drive enclosure.

It came with a USB-A to 5V barrel plug, a SATA to USB-A (blue end) wire, which I put in the back of my motherboard.

It also came with a USB-A blue-end female port to USB-A blue-end male port that could plug into a blue-end USB-A female port to come out as a USB-C blue-end male port (make sense?) This I used for the barrel USB wire since my Samsung super-fast charger bricks have USB-C only.

It literally now refuses to open the tray, MKV detects it but can't eject it and explorer just says "An error occurred while ejecting 'BD-Re Drive'. No light comes on or anything. It first couldn't detect any disks, then couldn't eject, now no light is even present.

Debating if I just take it out, unscrew the top to find the issue somehow?

[hech54]

Ebay doesn't manufacture or even sell anything.....SELLERS do.
The little pin hole next to the power button should eject the tray IF this is a simply a stuck disk situation, I'm probably not understanding the complete problem though.

[Spareb]

The problem is now my drive won't read the disk, plus file explorer cannot seem to get the drive to automatically eject the tray.

[The_Doman]

Things i would do:

Try using a USB 2.0 port for the data/sata connection.
Try using the barrel plug directly on a USB3.0 port for power without the extra USB extension/adapter cable.
USB 2.0 will not have sufficient power to run the drive, which, from what I read, needs 1~1.5A.
This is just to test if it behaves better or normally without the extra cabling.
Try only reading discs, as I assume you need more dedicated power for burning.

[cholla]

Adding to The_Doman's advice:
Get a 5V "wall wart" to power this drive.
I assume the 5V is for power in to this enclosure.

"RED" is not much of a description for an enclosure.
Brand & model can make a difference.
For example I have a SYBA enclosure that does not work with CDs because of the chip it has.
The drive I have in it works fine for CDs in another brand enclosure.

If you do not have it install ImgBurn.
It has a couple of "arrows" for close & eject. I have found these usually work better than Windows Explorer eject.

[Spareb]

Things i would do:

Try using a USB 2.0 port for the data/sata connection.
Try using the barrel plug directly on a USB3.0 port for power without the extra USB extension/adapter cable.
USB 2.0 will not have sufficient power to run the drive, which, from what I read, needs 1~1.5A.
This is just to test if it behaves better or normally without the extra cabling.
Try only reading discs, as I assume you need more dedicated power for burning.

Did all of that, even used the USB 2.0 and barrel wire to USB on my motherboard too and I got nowhere.

I got it from Ebay, it comes in an enclosure with not a SATA (like I thought) but with a SATA to USB 3.0 Micro-B port, which you then use a wire which goes into a USB 3.0 (that you plug in). It also comes with the barrel wire.

It additionally comes with a 3.0 USB-A to USB-A/USB-C wire, which I used for the power barrel wire at times into my Samsung Super Fast Charging block (since the blocks are USB-C and I only have so many high-speed ports until I recently realised I also have my RSHTECH Powered-Hub USB 3.0 Hub, no idea if it would have done any difference since the issue occurred beforehand.

As said before, first the drive will be unable to find any disk (for some reason), then the eject stops working, followed by the light. Windows file manager (and ImgBurn) both cannot make it eject anything and I have to do so manually (MakeMKV can detect when its been ejected, starts to read the Blu-Ray or DVD and stops).

Any other suggestions? This is the second drive I have from this vendor and either I did something bad, or they are somehow faulty or have a timebomb or something. Let me know if anyone has a spare Blu-Ray reader.

[Spareb]

Adding to The_Doman's advice:
Get a 5V "wall wart" to power this drive.
I assume the 5V is for power in to this enclosure.

"RED" is not much of a description for an enclosure.
Brand & model can make a difference.
For example I have a SYBA enclosure that does not work with CDs because of the chip it has.
The drive I have in it works fine for CDs in another brand enclosure.

If you do not have it install ImgBurn.
It has a couple of "arrows" for close & eject. I have found these usually work better than Windows Explorer eject.

They did not for me, but then again my drive is basically cooked, so...

[Alwyn]

If you're stuck with a external setup, I'd be inclined to get full size drive and put it into a 5.25 enclosure.

I have run a naked full size DVD drive a few times now for testing DVDs using a Simplecom SA491 SATA to USB adaptor box.

[Spareb]

If you're stuck with a external setup, I'd be inclined to get full size drive and put it into a 5.25 enclosure.

I have run a naked full size DVD drive a few times now for testing DVDs using a Simplecom SA491 SATA to USB adaptor box.

Except both were working fine and HAD enclosures (the same one!) and both worked for a while, then both suffered the same symptoms as the other.

(I asked them for a replacement drive and then that one died too)

[Alwyn]

Those are now 13 years old. At least their build quality was consistent!

[cholla]

If you're stuck with a external setup, I'd be inclined to get full size drive and put it into a 5.25 enclosure.

I have run a naked full size DVD drive a few times now for testing DVDs using a Simplecom SA491 SATA to USB adaptor box.

I have 3 optical drives in different enclosures.
To clarify a "full size drive" is called a half-height drive.
This confuses some people. I'm sure Alwyn knows this.
I only have full enclosures for my drives.
I need to get me an adapter for testing drives so I do not need to remove one from an enclosure to test another drive.
Right now I have 3 enclosures with drives ready to go. One has a blu ray drive in it.
As above I do not recommend the SYBA enclosures.At least not the model I have.

Spareb has a slim drive. Not considered the best.
I have two of those as internal drives.
One in my laptop & one in a small form PC.
The laptop drive is either a good or bad reader depending on how you look at it.
I have used it to finish a scratched DVD when nothing else would finish in IsoPuzzle.

[Alwyn]

To clarify a "full size drive" is called a half-height drive.
This confuses some people. I'm sure Alwyn knows this.

I'm talking about one of these, which slides into a 5.25 inch bay on the PC:

https://www.pioneer.com.au/shop/uncategorized/bdr-212dbk/

[cholla]

@ Alwyn,
I just pointing out the terminology.
Most of us have never seen a full height drive in a computer.

[Spareb]

@ Alwyn,
I just pointing out the terminology.
Most of us have never seen a full height drive in a computer.

I have a montech air 903 max but I'm also looking into if I would actually need a new one or if the m2ts files I have (by MakeMKV backups), for both collections, is enough.

[Spareb]

If you're stuck with a external setup, I'd be inclined to get full size drive and put it into a 5.25 enclosure.

I have run a naked full size DVD drive a few times now for testing DVDs using a Simplecom SA491 SATA to USB adaptor box.

I have 3 optical drives in different enclosures.
To clarify a "full size drive" is called a half-height drive.
This confuses some people. I'm sure Alwyn knows this.
I only have full enclosures for my drives.
I need to get me an adapter for testing drives so I do not need to remove one from an enclosure to test another drive.
Right now I have 3 enclosures with drives ready to go. One has a blu ray drive in it.
As above I do not recommend the SYBA enclosures.At least not the model I have.

Spareb has a slim drive. Not considered the best.
I have two of those as internal drives.
One in my laptop & one in a small form PC.
The laptop drive is either a good or bad reader depending on how you look at it.
I have used it to finish a scratched DVD when nothing else would finish in IsoPuzzle.

Maybe, What are the options for 1920 1080 and then what are they for 4K UHD?
I only want genuine 4K files and if they don't provide, why should I get the artificially upscaled instead of letting a program on my own (or something) do that?

[Alwyn]

I only want genuine 4K files and if they don't provide

The burner has nothing to do with the makeup of the files that are either burnt to disk or are ripped from it. The burner will either rip or it won't. It wont' convert any files from 4k to HD as part of the ripping process AFAIK.

If those two burners were ripping OK but have now failed, I suggest you use another type of burner, as per my post #8 (my BD burner is the Pioneer BDR-212; I don't know if it will rip 4k videos). Or I see a number of slimline 12.7mm burners are available.

[cholla]

My BD optical drive is a WH16NS40. The firmware has been flashed to read & write blu ray UHD.
It still can read & write regular blu ray discs as well.
It is in a Vantec NexStar DX enclosure model NST-53653-bk.
Both my BD drive & Alwyn's are half-height optical drives.

@ Spareb,
The montech air 903 max does not appear to have any drive bays for mounting any optical drive.half-height or slim.
As I wrote most of us have never even seen a full-height optical drive.
I had to look hard for even a picture.

[Attachment 94153 - Click to enlarge]

@ Alwyn,
Your Pioneer BDR-212 does not read or write 4K UHD with original firmware.
It is supposed to be able to have the firmware flashed if it was manufactured before a certain year before 2023.
I'm not necessarily recommending this as it can "brick" a drive if not done correctly.

[Spareb]

I only want genuine 4K files and if they don't provide

The burner has nothing to do with the makeup of the files that are either burnt to disk or are ripped from it. The burner will either rip or it won't. It wont' convert any files from 4k to HD as part of the ripping process AFAIK.

If those two burners were ripping OK but have now failed, I suggest you use another type of burner, as per my post #8 (my BD burner is the Pioneer BDR-212; I don't know if it will rip 4k videos). Or I see a number of slimline 12.7mm burners are available.

Sorry forgot to reply. I meant that I am searching for a 1920 1080 drive OR, if I can find one that is good and available, maybe look into a 4K UHD one IF it's worth it.

[Spareb]

My BD optical drive is a WH16NS40. The firmware has been flashed to read & write blu ray UHD.
It still can read & write regular blu ray discs as well.
It is in a Vantec NexStar DX enclosure model NST-53653-bk.
Both my BD drive & Alwyn's are half-height optical drives.

@ Spareb,
The montech air 903 max does not appear to have any drive bays for mounting any optical drive.half-height or slim.
As I wrote most of us have never even seen a full-height optical drive.
I had to look hard for even a picture.

[Attachment 94153 - Click to enlarge]

@ Alwyn,
Your Pioneer BDR-212 does not read or write 4K UHD with original firmware.
It is supposed to be able to have the firmware flashed if it was manufactured before a certain year before 2023.
I'm not necessarily recommending this as it can "brick" a drive if not done correctly.

Those things are EXPENSIVE and I wanted a slim drive that was reliable.

(And to find out why this 'No Disk' problem keeps happening. I realise that this happened on the Verbatim Amazon drive too.)

[cholla]

Those things are EXPENSIVE and I wanted a slim drive that was reliable.
(And to find out why this 'No Disk' problem keeps happening. I realise that this happened on the Verbatim Amazon drive too.)

I did not realize the WH16NS40 drives had went up so much in price.
I believe I paid 80 dollars for mine new in 2017.
I had to do the firmware flash myself but it worked.

The only slim 12.7mm drives I have are just DVD reader/writers.
The one in my laptop has been dependable for this.its' brand is TSSTcorp.
I do not know how well their blu ray drive are as I have never had one.

For the "NO Disk" problem I believe your enclosure is the cause.
I believe it is "cooking" the drives you install in it.

[Spareb]

My BD optical drive is a WH16NS40. The firmware has been flashed to read & write blu ray UHD.
It still can read & write regular blu ray discs as well.
It is in a Vantec NexStar DX enclosure model NST-53653-bk.
Both my BD drive & Alwyn's are half-height optical drives.

@ Spareb,
The montech air 903 max does not appear to have any drive bays for mounting any optical drive.half-height or slim.
As I wrote most of us have never even seen a full-height optical drive.
I had to look hard for even a picture.

[Attachment 94153 - Click to enlarge]

@ Alwyn,
Your Pioneer BDR-212 does not read or write 4K UHD with original firmware.
It is supposed to be able to have the firmware flashed if it was manufactured before a certain year before 2023.
I'm not necessarily recommending this as it can "brick" a drive if not done correctly.

Those things are EXPENSIVE and I wanted a slim drive that was reliable.

(And to find out why this 'No Disk' problem keeps happening. I realise that this happened on the Verbatim Amazon drive too.)

BREAKING NEWS:

My old Amazon Blu-Ray Drive:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FPC2VKPX

It STILL works somehow.

How do I prevent the issue of it suddenly not being able to not detect disks (and then gradually dying like the previous three did. First was the Verbatim, then the two Ebay ones (same enclosure, both backed up all the disks and then when retrying, died soon after reattempting) and now this I am trying to be EXTRA careful for.

I have disabled in power plan the USB selective suspend and in the Device Manager, the exact USB slot I have disabled its 'USB Root Hub (USB 3.0)' (the "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" setting) but left the overall 'USB Mass Storage Device' as enabled for this option, my guess so it can power off other USB devices as long as they aren't the USB the drive is in? IDK how Windows 11 works at times.

In MakeMKV anything to change or whatever? Should I use ImgBurn instead, for some reason?

I will be making backups and this time, not deleting everything except the m2ts files.

Oh, should I be using my RSHTECH 7-Port USB 3.0 Hub (RSH-518) and have it plugged into that whole the hub is connected to my extension and the back of my computer (directly in motherboard's USB slots)? It's currently plugged directly in my motherboard's USB slots on the back, but I have a powered HUB available.