Clicking drive on CD ROM

[news.rcn.com]

My CDROM has stopped working. Explorer can see the drive but when I put a
disc in, it clicks relatively slowly four or five times and then gives up
reading the disc

I did have a problem with Easy CD Creator a month or so ago when I had to
uninstall the program and it deleted the CD keys from the registry so the
whole computer coulndt see any CD drives. Someone with access to the MS
knowledge base pointed me to a Microsoft patch which indirectly put the XP
CD keys back in the registry so I SUSPECT this is nothing to do with that
problem unless anyone knows otherwise (other CD reader/writers arent working
at optimum either and none will write at the moment and the internal CD
writing function of XP has NEVER worked since, - which might be a problem
with SP2?) but this clicking seems to be a symptom of the internal CD ROM
drive on my Sony PCG-F590 computer:

Are these symptoms of a dead drive? non-focussing laser? or merely a laser
needing cleaning. Are there any serviceable/cleanable parts on a Sony Vaio
internal CD drive?

 

[Bob Shuman]

Carefully clean the drive and lens and then see what happens. If it does
not fix it, replace it as they are cheap and you will get a speed
improvement in the process.

Bob

 

[news.rcn.com]

I can't really replace it as it is internal to the notebook, - it isn't one
of those drives designed to be switched with a floppy: Can I carefully clean
it with a q-tip and rubbing alcohol or MUST I use CCL4? Also, which bits
need cleaning apart obviously from what looks like the lens? Is there a bit
on the motor I can lubricate with WD40 or wet/dry teflon spray?

 

[Tom MacIntyre]

I can't really replace it as it is internal to the notebook, - it isn't one
of those drives designed to be switched with a floppy: Can I carefully clean
it with a q-tip and rubbing alcohol or MUST I use CCL4? Also, which bits
need cleaning apart obviously from what looks like the lens? Is there a bit
on the motor I can lubricate with WD40 or wet/dry teflon spray?

WD-40 is more of a solvent than a lubricant. I sometimes use it on
squeaky wheels on the mail carts at work as a temporary fix. I
wouldn't go near a laptop with it.

Tom

 

[Arfa Daily]

The top bearing on the turntable motor can be lubed, as can the top bearing
on the sled motor. The sled slides and drive gears can be lubed. Use a very
light synthetic machine oil for lubing all these points. Sewing machine oil
is fine. I use Electrolube " CMO " ( clear mechanical oil ) product.

However, I fear that none of this will help. Unless the click has an obvious
mechanical reason, such as the sled being stuck at one end of the track, as
sometimes happens, causing the drive pawl to slip, then what you are hearing
is almost certainly the laser lens hitting on the bottom of the disc, due to
the focus servo not getting any initial lock data from the disc. Very often,
this is due to a weak or defective laser diode or pickup diode assembly (
neither serviceable ) in the optical block.

It's worth just checking and remaking all the socketed connections to the
deck. Carefully examine the laser flexiprint at any points where it bends a
lot ( near the laser / near the opposite end ) for any ' split ' damage.

If you reach the point where you are confident that only replacement is
going to effect a repair, you can try turning up the laser A LITTLE. There
will be a tiny pot on the laser's pcb. Power up is usually clockwise. Try
going up just a FEW degrees. Try a pressed audio CD or data CD rather than a
burnt CD as the reflectivity of a factory mastered disc is higher than a MO
disc. If the drive can read these, but struggles with MO discs, this is
usually indicative of laser trouble.

Use turning up the laser ONLY as a last resort, and only to prove the point.
If it does restore drive operation, it won't last ....

Hope this helps

Geoff