Use a pair of tweezers, forceps or small pointy pliers to put the drive belt back on. Replacing the drive belt is the reverse procedure. Prices range from reasonable to outrageous. Xbox 360 replacement drive belts may fit some CD / DVD drives. Buy a new one: When both of the above methods fail, you’ll need to find an original rubber belt. I’ve used the microwave oven to boil the rubber drive belt in water.ģ. I’ve had a 50% success rate using this method. Well it looks a bit crazy, but putting the old rubber belt in boiling water for 10 – 15 minutes seems to magically restore the belt to a usable state. Depends on the state of the original rubber drive belt…sometimes old rubber cannot be restored. Not sure why or how it works but it seems the restore the rubber belt back to working condition. I’ve been using the microwave oven for this method with good results. Put the old belt in a cup of boiling water for 15 minutes, dry it off and see how it goes. Restore the old belt by using boiling water: I’ve had a 50% success rate by using this method.
#Cd player for pc troubleshooting driver
Rubber bands: Cheap and they work well, but have a limited life.Ĭhoose a rubber band slightly undersize of the original rubber driver belt so it has good tension.Ģ. It depends on the quality of the rubber band. I’ve had one CD drive going for at least a year with a rubber band drive belt and is still going strong. The downside of rubber bands is they may only last 3 – 6 months. Some of the smaller sized rubber bands are harder to find though. Priced at a few cents they are cheap and work surprisingly well. Rubber band: This is the cheapest way to replace a belt and they are usually pretty easy to find at supermarkets and stationary shops. These are not always easy to find, so you must be prepared to improvise. They can range from 20mm to 50mm in diameter. Original drive belts for CDROMs and DVDs come in a variety of different sizes. Remove the old drive belt with the paperclip from the small pulley side, then remove it from the larger pulley. Open the drive door manually with a paper clip if you can’t open it with the eject button. Some manufacturers try to reduce costs by using crap belts.
The quality of the original belts varies from good to crap. Check out how some belts are distorted into an oval shape rather than the original round shape. Here’s a selection different size drive belts I’ve removed from old CDROMs. Inside a CDRW drive showing the rubber drive belt and pulleys.ĬD / DVD drive belts come in a variety of different sizes depending make and model of the drive. For retro PC restorers, getting a classic 1x, 2 x or 4x speed CDROM back into working order is a bonus as it adds the retro appeal.įortunately, the rubber belt can be easily replaced even without taking the CD / DVD drive from the case or disassembling the drive itself. Older CDROM’s from the 1990’s and early 2000’s are prime candidates for stuck door syndrome and even worse if they have been left unused for a few years, such as in on old PC. Original drive belts only have a life span of 3 – 5 years, so this fault may appear even on modern DVD burners and Blu-Ray drives. This causes the drive motor pulley to slip resulting in a clicking / whirling sound and a non opening door. The reason for the drive door not opening in 99% of cases is the rubber belt becoming hard and stretched due to age. Some have read and motor related errors, but quite a few have the door stuck fault which is easily fixable…so don’t be so hasty when it comes to throwing out these drives. Many old drives have been thrown out due to this problem which is actually quite easy to fix. Many problems can occur in older DVD and CDROM drives but stuck doors are one of the most common problems I’ve seen on old CDROM / DVD drives.
#Cd player for pc troubleshooting how to
Here’s how to do it.įixing old CDROM drives is usually not worth the effort these days as they are cheap and plentiful. Fortunately there’s an easy fix which takes as little as 10 minutes. Have you ever had the frustrating experience of being unable to open the drive door on your CD or DVD drive? Well in 99% of cases it’s due to the rubber drive belt becoming loose, hard or broken.