Laptop not recognizing CD ROM drive anymore

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 1 Sep 2002 9:38 pm

I have a CD ROM/DVD drive in my laptop (IBM ThinkPad) and for some reason, the laptop doesn't seem to recognize anymore that it's there. I used to be able to use it all the time; now, nothing. Any suggestions for how to get it reinstalled or whatever it is I have to do to get it working again? The manual doesn't seem to be of much help. Thanks.
jc

Mark Ardito · Post by **Mark Ardito** » 2 Sep 2002 5:42 am

Jim,

Does you ThinkPad laptop have the removable drives? Try removing the drive and booting the machine without it. Then power down and put it back and then boot up again.

If that doesn't work, look in Device Manager and see if there are any conflicts going on.

After that I would check the BIOS at bootup and make sure the bay is set to "Auto-Detect".

Let me know
Mark

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Sho~Bud Pro I, Fender D-8 (C6&E13) http://www.darkmagneto.com

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 2 Sep 2002 6:57 am

Thanks for your reply, Mark. Yes, it has removable drives. I have indeed booted without the drive in, and rebooted after putting it back in: no difference.

As for checking BIOS, it's not like my desktop; I can't just hit F1 during startup to get to BIOS. There is a configuration menu, however, after fully booting up, but I don't see any help there. If I go to Startup/Settings/Hardware, I can get to Device Manager, but the CDROM/DVD drive is not even listed in it. When I just look at "My Computer", I see icons for A, C and D drives, but none for the CDROM/DVD. I believe it used to be there.

Mark Ardito · Post by **Mark Ardito** » 2 Sep 2002 8:13 am

Jim,

How old is the machine? The company I work for uses all Dell laptops with the docking stations. I am constantly having to ship back removable drives and having Dell send me out new ones. Maybe check with IBM and see if the part is still under warranty. Dell is really good about that stuff and I am sure IBM would be also. If the drive still doesn't work after the trying a new one, then it might be the laptop motherboard which has the plug built right on it. IBM will come out and change that for you if it is still under warranty.

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Sho~Bud Pro I, Fender D-8 (C6&E13) http://www.darkmagneto.com

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 2 Sep 2002 1:10 pm

Too old for warranty work anymore. I suppose I could reinitialize the whole hard drive with factory settings, but I'd have to reinstall all my software. Ugh.

Mark Ardito · Post by **Mark Ardito** » 2 Sep 2002 2:02 pm

Jim,

Do you have another drive you could throw into that bay and make sure the bay works?

At least if you could do that you could narrow it down to the drive as being bad.

Mark

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Sho~Bud Pro I, Fender D-8 (C6&E13) http://www.darkmagneto.com

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 2 Sep 2002 2:59 pm

Well, yes, my floppy "A" drive works just fine in that bay. Does that help?

Mark Ardito · Post by **Mark Ardito** » 2 Sep 2002 3:03 pm

Jim,

Well, if you know the A:\ drive works in the bay, then it has to be the CD drive that is not working. I would give it a shot and call IBM tech support tomorrow and ask them about the drive and how much it is to replace.

Mark

Mark Herrick · Post by **Mark Herrick** » 2 Sep 2002 4:20 pm

I also have a ThinkPad with the removeable CD and Floppy drives. I recall once having one or the other of the drives not recognized when I inserted it. Turned out to be lint stuck in the connector on the drive itself...

Mark Ardito · Post by **Mark Ardito** » 4 Sep 2002 5:47 am

Jim,

Did you look on the drive and see if there was any debris or lint on the contacts? Just curious to see if this worked.

Mark

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Sho~Bud Pro I, Fender D-8 (C6&E13) http://www.darkmagneto.com

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 4 Sep 2002 6:17 am

I sprayed it with Dust-Off just to be sure. Didn't help, though.

Lem Smith · Post by **Lem Smith** » 6 Sep 2002 10:54 pm

Try here Jimbeaux

Hope this helps,
Lem