CD Drive stopped working

Yes It is a laptop. I did manage to shut down the computer, unplug the main cable, remove the battery but can not manage to remove the DVD drive as I can not see any catch underneath .I can not find a catch to remove the DVD drive. Do I have to unscrew all the screws on the back or what? I am not sure if I can manage to do so. I worry about making any mistake and loosing this computer too. I put the battery back and plug in to main. Stared the computer and I now do not see any of two CD/DVD icons on computer either.I put the DVD and see if works but does not see any thing on the screen.
I am afraid to say that I am not very good with computer. You are so kind to help me but I am useless. I hope you will forgive me for any inconvenience I may have caused. I may give up using DVD drive at the end. I love my Ubuntu. This is the best operating system I have ever had and I do not want to loose it. Once again I warmly appreciate your kind support and thank you so much indeed. I wish I could know more about computer.

Some of the drives are held in place by a screw, see the following video which will show you how its done, you can also search online for your make & model which you neglected to tell us!. :smiley:

It varies from model to model so look on YouTube for your model!. :smiley:

Hi Wolfman,
Thank you for the video. My Acer computer`has the same outlay as in the video so I have managed to remove CD/DVD drive from my computer. I than followed your instruction which you advised me to do in your last reply but having same problem. Unable to mount location again. I am now confused and do not know what more we can do to solve the problem.

Okay, make sure the drive has been replaced in the laptop correctly and boot your computer, put a film disk (DVD) in the drive then open VLC > Media > Open disk and does your readout for the drive show:

/dev/sr0

or

/dev/sr1

?.

You have tried the best you possibly could to help me to solve the problem. If we can not manage, please do not worry. I can manage without using CD and DVD as long as I can use this excellent Ubuntu for other services. I am not and never going back to Microsoft who has not only destroyed my computer and two other hard drives but entire life long work too.
I do not know how I would thank you for your prompt kind and generous support you are providing me.
Best wishes,
Kirti

Never say die @glenbuckarts, open your home folder (caja), click on File System > dev > disk > by-id and make a screenshot please, mine looks like this:

I have opened the Home Folder but can not find the location of File System

"File System" is on the left hand side of the list in the home folder!.

Another thought, did you follow this advice when you created your version of Ubuntu?:

If in doubt, try booting the Ubuntu disk and see if the live disk starts, if it starts okay, then the problem might lie with the way you have installed and/or missing packages.

You can start your currently installed version and open Welcome > Software > Fixes > Resolve broken packages and see if this can fix the problem!. (Are you running 15.10 or the dev version 16.04?).

The other alternative is to start from scratch!.

You are absolutely right. I think I did not use slow speed when I created Ubuntu on my computer because I did not know. I just insert Ubuntu CD and done it as exactly I did with other software to download. Is by any chance I can formate the drive and reinstall Ubuntu from the scratch?

By the way I forgot to mention that before I sent you the last message, I did try to put Ubuntu disk in and it did not work.

There sure is my friend, take a look below and follow the guide step for step and you won’t lose any of your data or settings!. :smiley: (Back-up your important files if you have any anyway for that just in case scenario!).

CREATE A NEW DISK FIRST, BURNED AT THE SLOWEST POSSIBLE SPEED!.

Do you have Windows installed and does that work?.

Also, some laptops (mine included) won’t read the disk drive straight away, when you see the grub menu, press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart the laptop, you might have to do it 2 or 3 times before the drive kicks in!. Make sure you have the Ubuntu disk in the drive first!.

You can also try booting into Ubuntu and see if the drive is there again, if not, log out and open the drive, place a disk in the drive and then log back in again, you might need to do this several times before the disk finally bites!.

I have tried both way to reboot my computer and still unable to mount CD. Never mind. You have tried the best way you possibly could. I have at the end lost my patience and gave up. I would not like to waste your more time. I am happy with Ubuntu system who has kept me in touch with wider audience world wide. It will be nice if CD player is working but I have left no choice than to accept to let it go.
Once again thank you so much indeed for your kind and generous support you have provided me all the time. Please keep in touch.

1 Like

Hi @glenbuckarts ,

you are not wasting my time so don’t worry about that, everything that has been written thus far may well help someone else with a similar problem!. :smiley:

The other alternative is to take your laptop to a qualified PC mechanic or maybe buy a 2nd hand CD/DVD drive from somewhere and that might fix the problem, if it is indeed a mechanical problem in the first place!.

Like I said in my previous post:

Also, some laptops (mine included) won’t read the disk drive straight away, when you see the grub menu, press Ctrl + Alt + Del to restart the laptop, you might have to do it 2 or 3 times before the drive kicks in!. Make sure you have the Ubuntu disk in the drive first!.

You can always try a USB install:

And see the following also:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/FromUSBStick

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Win32DiskImager/iso2usb

Hi wolfman,
I am just letting you know that I put the Ubuntu CD in CD drive and use Ctrl, Alt and Del keys to shut down computer and turn it on again. I noticed my computer recognized the Ubuntu CD but when I use other CDs it does not recognize and comes up with same message that unable to mount location. I have now no choice than to take my laptop to the shop and see if they can help.
Thank you.

Okay but don’t let the shop give you loads of BS just so they can make a sale!. Check that it works correctly before you leave the shop!. :smiley:

I think I will leave it for the time being. It may start in few log on processes. I do not think that any thing is wrong with CD ROM drive. It was working perfectly like a new one before I installed clean Ubuntu. I have a hope that it will be OK with in few days.I would like to be patience at this moment, give up thinking about CD ROM and get on with this excellent Ubuntu OS which I really enjoy.

1 Like

Hi @glenbuckarts,

don’t forget what we discussed earlier about burning the disks at the slowest possible speed, if the opportunity arises; you should re-burn the disk at the slowest possible speed to increase stability on your system. :smiley:

What a luck! Ubuntu has finally recognized CD player. I noticed that after inserting Ubuntu CD I replaced with Adobe Photo Shop CD to see if I can download the software and it did recognized it as well. thanks goodness that I do not have to install Ubuntu again. Once again thank a million for your kind and generous assistance.

1 Like

Cannot show this email

Click here to show this message

POP3 delayed message: gLyc - Date: 10/18/2018 6:11:30 (ubuntu-mate)