November 06, 2008
Hey, Wonderduck... What Ever Happened With That DVD Drive?
Some months ago, I asked for advice regarding a DVD drive that kept ejecting at random times completely on its own.
Well, reader pxcasey suggested that it was probably just a defective drive. Guess what? Defective drive, yep.
Thanks to the untimely demise of Momzerduck's computer*, I now have an exact duplicate of the original DVD drive (just made by LiteOn, instead of a company who's name doesn't even appear on the case). After an hour's worth of installation struggle, I just gave it a test-run... total and complete success. No ejecting on its own, no hesitation in reading, no problems of any sort.
...and before you all begin to think I'm a complete incompetent when it comes to installing computer hardware (I heard a lot of you thinking "one hour to install a drive? The hell?"), one of the bottom corners of the drive was poorly constructed. When I slid it into the drive bay, the corner actually bent... and I couldn't flatten it without a hammer, which would probably be bad for the drive. But what should have been a quick pop out/pop in thing became a little more complex. After a quick and dirty bit of case modding involving a screwdriver and one of the install rails, I was eventually able to get the thing installed. And all is right with Chiyo-chan once again!
*Momzerduck's motherboard kicked the bucket, I think because of a particularly nasty thunderstorm. It wasn't zorched immediately, but lingered for a couple of weeks. I troubleshot everything I could, and then it was time to call in the big guns: my uncle, JDuck, who works at Lawrence-Livermore Labs. He has a collection of diagnostic tools that'd make your head spin, and he was able to confirm the death of the mobo. Unfortunately, Momzerduck's 'puter used a BTX mobo. It was actually cheaper for JDuck to buy a slightly used ATX system and install the hard-drive from the dead one in it. Miracles of miracles, there wasn't even a problem with the system recognizing the old install of Windows, a stroke of luck and a huge saver of time. Anyway, JDuck sent me the spare DVD drive, and the rest is history.
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Well, reader pxcasey suggested that it was probably just a defective drive. Guess what? Defective drive, yep.
Thanks to the untimely demise of Momzerduck's computer*, I now have an exact duplicate of the original DVD drive (just made by LiteOn, instead of a company who's name doesn't even appear on the case). After an hour's worth of installation struggle, I just gave it a test-run... total and complete success. No ejecting on its own, no hesitation in reading, no problems of any sort.
...and before you all begin to think I'm a complete incompetent when it comes to installing computer hardware (I heard a lot of you thinking "one hour to install a drive? The hell?"), one of the bottom corners of the drive was poorly constructed. When I slid it into the drive bay, the corner actually bent... and I couldn't flatten it without a hammer, which would probably be bad for the drive. But what should have been a quick pop out/pop in thing became a little more complex. After a quick and dirty bit of case modding involving a screwdriver and one of the install rails, I was eventually able to get the thing installed. And all is right with Chiyo-chan once again!
*Momzerduck's motherboard kicked the bucket, I think because of a particularly nasty thunderstorm. It wasn't zorched immediately, but lingered for a couple of weeks. I troubleshot everything I could, and then it was time to call in the big guns: my uncle, JDuck, who works at Lawrence-Livermore Labs. He has a collection of diagnostic tools that'd make your head spin, and he was able to confirm the death of the mobo. Unfortunately, Momzerduck's 'puter used a BTX mobo. It was actually cheaper for JDuck to buy a slightly used ATX system and install the hard-drive from the dead one in it. Miracles of miracles, there wasn't even a problem with the system recognizing the old install of Windows, a stroke of luck and a huge saver of time. Anyway, JDuck sent me the spare DVD drive, and the rest is history.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:07 PM
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1
Miracles of miracles, there wasn't even a problem with the system recognizing the old install of Windows
That's a surprise. An OEM copy of Windows is supposed to be locked to one motherboard once activated. That's not true for an off-the-shelf boxed version, but I doubt that's what your mother's PC had installed.
That's a surprise. An OEM copy of Windows is supposed to be locked to one motherboard once activated. That's not true for an off-the-shelf boxed version, but I doubt that's what your mother's PC had installed.
Posted by: Andrew F. at November 07, 2008 05:12 PM (Z7FKt)
2
Quite true, it was the plain vanilla OEM copy. Perhaps Unca JDuck performed some wizardry on the new system that I'm not aware of, but still and all.
Posted by: Wonderduck at November 07, 2008 05:55 PM (hplPV)
3
Ah, BTX, the PC industry's answer to Beta.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at November 11, 2008 09:56 PM (PiXy!)
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