Annoying issue with old DVD-ROM drive

[nickshanks1]

Having the most annoying issue... I have a Portege 7020CT with the 10/100 Network Dock II. Specs for the dock can be found here: https://minuszerodegrees.net/manuals/Toshiba/ … cifications.pdf (scroll down a bit). The specs clearly state, the dock PA3007U, can support CD-R & CD-RW. I have burned several CD-RWs and CD-Rs using ImgBurn, MagicISO (Mode 1 & Mode 2/XA), with and without finalizing the disc and also using Windows XP's default burning capabilities using Explorer on a ThinkPad T41.

None of these discs will read in the old Portege!

However, I have Flight Simulator 98 and Microsoft Golf on CD-ROMs. Those read fine. I wrote some notes for myself years ago that says 'mode 2 burning on magiciso did work once out of two tries. what i have found to work is really using windows to create a MASTERED cd/dvd, then writing files to it.'

Would the speed at which I write the CD affect the laptop that tries to read it? For example, 52x capable CD-R, I write to it at 10x... would this necessarily stop the laptop from reading it? Would doing 4x help?

 

The drive model is a Toshiba SD-C2402. Manual here: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/567771/Tosh … -Rom-Drive.html

So as mentioned, CD-ROMs read absolutely fine. Tried several. I managed to get a couple of old imation DVD-Rs to read (they were burned 15+ years ago). Whenever I insert a DVD-R or DVD+RW, the drive sounds like it tries to read it but ImgBurn reports that it can't read TOC. When a CD goes in it doesn't even try to read it, it's almost as if the laser thinks nothing is in the drive.

Why could this be? Media or drive problem?

[nickshanks1]

The reason I don’t think the drive is failed is because it has read a couple of old imations as mentioned but also still reads CD-ROMs fine! I should try with a DVD-ROM. 
 

But the fact it’s a media problem also doesn’t sit well with me because when I bought the dock for the Portege I also bought some Verbatim CD-Rs and got these to work fine, I installed Windows 2000. But now those discs don’t work at all. 

Could it be the burner I’m using?

So again, media or drive problem?

[dbminter]

If I were to analyze this situation, I'd first ask how old the drive is and how much use has it gotten.  Depending on the answers to those, it could be a drive issue.

 

To answer if it were a media issue, it would depend on the manufacturer of the recordable discs in question.  You say you were using Verbatim CD-R, but if they were the CMC Magnetics junk, I can see them having read back issues 15 years later.  And if the DVD-R were also CMC's, that could explain it.

 

However, pressed discs (The ROM kind.) being readable and the recordable not being readable could be indicative of a failing laser issue.  Pressed discs have a lower read failure rate than recordable discs using organic dyes.  And, given how it seems "universal" across the board that pressed discs can be read but not recordable discs, I would lean towards the issue being the drive needing replacing.

 

You could invest $25 in a USB DVD drive and see if it can read those recordable discs.  If it can, you know the issue is your old drive had died/is dying.

[nickshanks1]

21 minutes ago, dbminter said:

If I were to analyze this situation, I'd first ask how old the drive is and how much use has it gotten.  Depending on the answers to those, it could be a drive issue.

 

To answer if it were a media issue, it would depend on the manufacturer of the recordable discs in question.  You say you were using Verbatim CD-R, but if they were the CMC Magnetics junk, I can see them having read back issues 15 years later.  And if the DVD-R were also CMC's, that could explain it.

 

However, pressed discs (The ROM kind.) being readable and the recordable not being readable could be indicative of a failing laser issue.  Pressed discs have a lower read failure rate than recordable discs using organic dyes.  And, given how it seems "universal" across the board that pressed discs can be read but not recordable discs, I would lean towards the issue being the drive needing replacing.

 

You could invest $25 in a USB DVD drive and see if it can read those recordable discs.  If it can, you know the issue is your old drive had died/is dying.

Hey! Thank you for the help. I bought some new CD-RWs and DVD-RWs from a guy on eBay (probably cheap junk) but works fine on my old Dell Latitude and two old ThinkPads so I guess its the drive, or at least that the drive is so old it can't read recordable discs. I can also confirm that I can read my old Verbatim CD-Rs on those three laptops listed above. 

I'm unsure how much use its gotten as I bought the dock (which contains the drive) second-hand. Took the dock apart and can see the drive is from April 2001 so yeah it's pretty old. Since buying and using the dock successfully in 2015, it has just been sitting in a draw (in a laptop bag) so it just baffles me that it could degrade when not even in use. The drive uses a 50-pin JAE connector (see attached, correct me if I'm wrong) so I need to find one that uses a similar interface to that while also being as new (little use and 20+ years old) as possible. I have found similar drives on eBay being sold pretty cheap:

• https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125007241647 (2502, Jan 2002)
• https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/115709049106 (2502, Dec 2001)
• https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/303271710360 (2612, Jun 2003)
• https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/356248995373 (2502, Jan 2001)

They look like pretty good options but do you know of any good slim laptop drives that use this 50-pin JAE interface?

In the meantime, I've ordered an external USB CD/DVD drive as well as some Verbatim DataLife 52x CD-Rs and Verbatim Super Azo CD-Rs.

[dbminter]

Hm, yeah, I don't think I've ever seen that kind of interface before.

[nickshanks1]

Just now, dbminter said:

Hm, yeah, I don't think I've ever seen that kind of interface before.

Thought so - neither have I

Are Azo discs meant to be good?

[dbminter]

AZO discs are some of the best out there.  AZO are Verbatim's DataLife Plus series.  Unlike their Life Series, which are the CMC Magnetics crap, the DataLife Plus series are sometimes labeled as AZO, which are the better brands of discs out there.  So, yeah, basically look for DataLife Plus and/or AZO when shopping Verbatim brand discs.

[nickshanks1]

Thank you - I'll bear that in mind. Have I bought the same thing?

• https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LCS3AGK?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
• https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00097CE30?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

[dbminter]

I'm based in the United States, so I can't say for absolutely 99.99% certainty (Nothing is 100% certain.  A basic law of probability and statistics.  ) but I would say those are the same as the ones I've bought from Amazon.com over the years:

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00008L3HV?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_4

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001LS35W?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1