IF YOU HAVE DVD/CD DRIVE PROBLEMS - READ THIS>

[Blencogo]

Several members seem to have problems with their CD/DVD drives at the moment. As far as I know, there is no magic solution but you could try some or all of the following: -

1. See if there is an updated driver or updated firmware for your drive at Vaio-Link. Some Sony drives are re-badged from other manufacturers and you may have to search for updated downloads. For example, if you have a Sony DW-D56A drive, you can get a firmware download from HERE (Use PFS2). Many other drives are also supported on this site.

2. Use System Restore to return your Vaio to the configuration when it was last working normally.
Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> System Restore - choose a restore date before you had the problem.

3. Look in Device Manager to see if there are any errors against your DVD/CD-ROM drive.
Start -> Right-Click My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager - expand DVD/CD-ROM Drives and check the status. If there is an Error Code or a yellow triangle with a ! or ? come back here with the number and we may be able to help.

4. If there is no error and the drive is reported as working normally, try Uninstalling the drive by right-clicking on it in Device Manager and choosing Uninstall. Re-booting your Vaio will reinstall the drivers.

5. Try some different software to read/write your discs and see if that works. Also try a different brand of discs - Sony, TDK and Verbatim seem favourites.

6. Try a liquid lens cleaner on the lens and polish with a microfibre cloth ? this can sometimes help.

7. If your drive works with either CDs or DVDs only make sure the ribbon cable is not preventing the reader head from moving freely - check that the laser head in the drive can move freely for the whole range of its travel. The disc information is held on the outside tracks for DVDs and the inner tracks for CDs.

8. Last resort is to perform a full C:\ Drive System Recovery from your Recovery Discs. Make sure you back up all your Data as the contents of C:\ will be lost and your Vaio returned to the factory configuration.

If none of these work, you may have a hardware problem and you need to contact Vaio-Link. There is no point contacting them until you have carried out a Drive C:\ Recovery as this is the first thing they will ask you to do.

[xs2ahmed]

Hello, Please help I have not received any answers to my previous post several weeks so I am putting up back again.
I have Sony Vaio VGN FE31h. Due to a disk problem I had to format my drive and reinstall Windows XP followed by all the drivers of sony Vaio downloaded from Vaio website. every thing is working fine now except that my DVD/CD drive (MATSHITS DVD-RAM UJ-850S) is now only reading DVDs but does not read CD's anymore.
I have tried on internet to see for solutions but couldnt find any..
Please help me, I was waiting for any replies on this subject after my last post but so far no answers, please help , I have exams coming I desperately need to get it working..
Thanks in advance...

[Blencogo]

Hi xs2ahmed.

Does the drive burn CDs?

As you say, XP supports CD read/write using XP drivers. XP needs additional software to burn DVDs but you have a CD problem.

This sounds like a drive fault to me and you may have to replace the drive.

A straight replacement can be expensive at about £150:

http://www.server-parts.com/cd/parts/UJ-810B.htm

But you can buy a good one to fit for about £25:

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/CD%2FDVD+Drives/Internal/IDE/LG+8x+DVD-RW+Slimline-Laptop+...

You may have to be inventive to attach the original faceplate to match your Vaio.

Your drive is only held by two screws and should be easy to change in a few minutes: -

[orange78]

HI,
I have VGN-A 317M with the grabber DW-56A which doesn't work anymore. It no longer reads or writes cd or dvd. I try to find a grabber which fits my notebooks.
I read the DW-56A post but the models which may fit my notebooks are no longer available.

I think to get the Optiarc AD7590A. Do you think if it may fit my pc ? Or another model ?
Thanks and regards

[losthighway]

The Pioneer DVD-K17 that came with my VGN-FZ18L packed up last week. It could read CDs OK, but couldn't read DVDs or write CDs. I tried some of the suggested fixes (registry changes, reinstalling drivers, sliding the bracket up and down, cleaning the lens etc) but to no avail.

So, I ordered an replacement drive from Amazon - the Pioneer KD-08 - for £27. It was easy to fit (15 mins). Just a few simple steps required:

- Remove battery from laptop
- Undo the 2 DVD drive retaining screws (as shown in previous post) and remove drive
- Remove the 2 metal brackets secured to sides of drive with 2 small screws and attach to new drive
- Remove plastic fascia from new drive (held on with 3 lugs)
- Remove plastic fascia from old drive and clip on to new drive
- Put new drive in laptop, secure with the screws.
- Add laptop battery and startup!

Vista found the new drive, and installed the drivers automatically.

I now have a fully functional DVD/CD writer again!

[accioly69]

Hi, i just purchased a Sony Vaio VGN-NS20Z less than week ago, and today is the first time that i put a game in the DVD driver, so, the light of the driver is orange and doesnt work, a tried to put CD, DVD, and drive couldnt read nothing, so, im very upset about this cause my notebook is brand new and now i cant use properly. Please, somebody could help me?! The drive is a MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ880AS. Thanks.

[sim09_2000]

hello, i have the same problem as the post below, has any1 come up with a solution??? i have updated all software, tried reinstalling windows to previous settings, and still the problem persists..... is it a faulty disk drive????

any help would be grateful thanx


Hi Everyboday! I have a VGN-FW21Z running on Vista Home Premium x64 SP1 with latest updates. My problem is that my optical drive (Matshita UJ230AS) disappears from system without any error. When i scan for hardware changes, Vista finds it again, installs correctly, using it, but after some time it disappears again. Anyone knows a solution for this problem?

Thanks for all your help in advance!

[billyflapper]

Hi everyone, i have a Sony Vaio vgn-nr21zt which has an 'Optiarc AD-7560A ATA' and was working fine for the first few months however recently i've had some problems. It reads CD's and DVD's that i've burnt fine, however when i try to play a film DVD i have no luck, it speeds up and slows down constantly and when i click it in my computer it ejects and says please insert a disc. I tried a few ideas on here to fix it but no luck so far, i tried uninstalling the driver and updating it, made sure that its on the correct dvd region, and i think the lens can move freely so i'm not sure what else to try, if anyone could help i'd be grateful!

[andmccou]

Hi there,

I am currently experiencing a problem when trying to burn CDs.
My G drive (MATSHITA BD-MLT UJ-220S ATA Device) is recognised and properties for this include a Burning tab, however no program I have for burning will allow this drive to bun. Roxio EMC 9 cannot find a drive and WMP looks like its burning an audio CD then has an error for every file (Windows has chosen drive G as the default for burning and shows this as the only available drive).
I have removed Lower Filters following using regedit as described above, and now no Upper or Lower filters now exist.
I have also uninstalled the DVD/CD drive from Device Manager and rebooted to see if this would resolve the problem, however it hads not.
There are no unknown or hidden devices found here either, nor any exclamation marks in yellow boxes.
Within My Computer, I have a separate CD Drive (H) which when I right click has "Install or run program" as the first option, and on trying to click open states: "This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action. Create an association in the Set Associations control panel.".
I have been unable to burn for months and restore points don't seem to resolve the issue either.
Is there another solution that can allow my laptop (Sony VGN-AR51M) running Vista x32 SP2 to burn discs or even allow me to play CDs/DVDs again?

Thanks in advance!

Meant to add - Click to DVD BD also cannot find a drive.

ETA - I can play DVDs via WMP and Blu-ray Discs via Win DVD, so playing CDs and any type of burning are what I am currently unable to do.

[educonde7]

well you may not know this vaio model VGN-FW41M because it is Europe only but im speaking in this board because my country's is inactive.

I brought that sony model 2 weeks ago and it comes with Optiarc BD ROM BC-5500S4 ATA Device. Suddently it stop working. Whenever i start up my pc, close the drive or put a CD/DVD it starts making a strange noise each 2 seconds until it stops and it does nothing. It is detected as "fully operacional" in device manager but the problem is that it says the drive is empty always even if there is some disk in it.

P.S. ive tried system restore, deleting and installing drivers already

[jedusi]

I also have a AR31S which seems to have been working fine until I uploaded the latest frimware patch for the DVD drive.

Now when I load an Adobe DVD it refuses to read it or even acknowledge that there is anything in the drive (although I can hear it spinning up and buffering).

Suggestions would be welcome as I have an urgent need to get photoshop loaded. This has never been an issue before and the drive seems to read other media without an issue.