External Comstar DVD/CD Burner won't boot up but fan still turns on

[smiles]

I bought this Comstar/Pioneer External DVD/CD Burner 4 months ago, it broke 3 weeks owning it. I tried returning it but the Ebay jerk never responded. So I am stuck with a $50 burner and am trying to fix it. It froze up burning one day. I managed to get the disc out but it hasn't ejected/worked since. I took it apart and managed to get it to respond once, then nothing. I took out my DVD burner from my desktop to hook up to the wires in the external. It didn't make it work either. The fan is the only thing it does when hooked up.

So I think I have figured it isn't the burner itself but the components to make it external vs. internal. Now the question is where can I get the parts to replace the little circuit board inside the external to see if this fixes it?

I am going to see if the external drive will hook up in the computer to see if that makes it work. If it does, my theory about the circuit board in the back of the external by the power supply would be correct. Any suggestions on how to fix the circuit board or replace the part would be helpful.

Thanks

[Krispy Kritter]

Typically, you can remove the drive from it's external enclosure and install it into your pc to verify operation. If you install it and it works, then you do most likely have an enclosure issue. Your best bet, would likely be to hit newegg (or something similar...at least something besides ebay with no warranty) and get a new enclosure. You can get one for usb2 or sata, whichever you need.

[smiles]

So technically just the enclosure unit can be bought? that's awesome...I was planning on placing the external into the desktop to test it...that was my last rational thought...but got to busy. I won't get a chance to try it until Saturday. So I will be searching newegg for that part in the meantime while waiting to test the drive.

Thanks for now. I will hit in here again if something else pops up in my venture.

[redwudz]

This should get you to enclosures that will work for DVD/CD drives on Neweggs site: Home > Computer Hardware > Computer Cases > External Enclosures (x) > Size : 5.25" (x) > Internal Interface : IDE (x) > AC Adapter : Yes (x) > External Interface : USB 2.0 (x) > Fan : Yes (x) (1-20 of 20 Results) They range from about $18US to $43US.

And welcome to our forums.

[smiles]

I started with Ebay to get a base price....and I usually don't have a problem with them but the last one was very bad...but I found some on newegg....I was trying to determine the difference of 5.25 and 3.5 and realized HDD's are much less wide....just figured they would be in the same case, ummmmm, no.

I found one about $18 on ebay but may just go with the 19$ on newegg b/c I like their customer service way better. So what I gather from the description and your information...I technically don't have to get the chip but they just sell the whole enclosure that I need and take my internal drive and pop it right in there and voila`! and external dvd/cd burner that I don't need to spend and arm and leg for?

The Sony external markets for about $109 and by buying them separately, I get the Sony that I like and for half the price that I would spend on an LG.

This is why I like taking things apart.

And thanks for the welcome

[redwudz]

You would have likely never found a compatible circuit board anyway.

For most of those external DVD cases, all you need is a few minutes and a Phillips screwdriver and toss about any DVD drive in there. I would get one with a fan. A DVD burner can run fairly warm at times and a little air circulation helps a lot.

The cheapest ones have a plastic case, the better ones, usually aluminum. Some enclosure chipsets work better than others, but most any of those there will be a better deal than Ebay or a $100 factory made external burner.

[oldandinthe way]

Unfortunately there are real differences in the chipsets used for the USB interfaces. Time to google search to find which are the clunker chipsets. This is the reason many of the component suppliers on the net identify which chipset is used in each enclosure.

PS most LG drives are superior to SONY drives (SONY rebadges other peoples drives). And BEST-BUY freguently sells an external LG for about 60 bucks. You missed a sale last week.

[smiles]

I did see one LG Lightscribe for $64.99 but didn't have that kind of money, so decided to figure out what was wrong with the last and see if I could fix.

I would definately rate my LG very high, never had a problem with it. Now my laptop burner...that's another story.

What just google "chipsets"? or something like "external usb chipset"?

Thanks.

[oldandinthe way]

USB chipset, usb bridge chipset or IDE to USB chipset

I remember that Cypress was one maker but I can't remember if they were good or bad.

[Seeker47]

You would have likely never found a compatible circuit board anyway.

For most of those external DVD cases, all you need is a few minutes and a Phillips screwdriver and toss about any DVD drive in there. I would get one with a fan. A DVD burner can run fairly warm at times and a little air circulation helps a lot.

The cheapest ones have a plastic case, the better ones, usually aluminum. Some enclosure chipsets work better than others, but most any of those there will be a better deal than Ebay or a $100 factory made external burner.

Yes, but several more recent model burners (like Pioneers, from at least model 111 on) now require 80-wire IDE cabling, and a particular chipset for the enclosure. I've gone thru several enclosures that did NOT work. I'd rather select an aluminum enclosure of my own choosing -- with a fan, as you said -- but the ready-made externals (such as the Pioneer one that was on sale recently at Fry's) should already have the compatibility issue solved.

[budz]

There's a huge thread regarding EXTERNAL ENCLOSURES at Cdfreaks.com. Different chipsets were compatible with different internal dvd burners. Such as the Benq dvd burners were compatible w/ PROLIFIC chipsets. I believe the cypress chipsets were compatible w/PIONEER drives.

[oldfart13]

My latest LGs won't rip discs (4163 and H22L) so I'm going with a Liteon next unless the last of the Pioneers go on sale again.....