CD player does not read CD-RW

[Tobim6]

Hello my CD player does not read a CD-RW. I don't know what the issue is its old but it says it should read CD-RW. ChatGPT told me it can be because my CD-RW can be read only at a higher speed which this old player can't do is that true?

[dbminter]

Could be a few things.

 

Though I generally don't trust anything AI says or does, ChatGPT's initial overview could be correct.  The CD-RW may be newer enough over your older CD player that the player's laser can't read through the reflective laser.

 

It's also possible the CD player doesn't support playback of CD-RW at all.  CD-RW is not something generally universally supported even on modern players.

 

It's also possible that CD player may support CD-RW but just doesn't like that particular brand/manufacturer of CD-RW.

[Tobim6]

The CD player says CD-R/RW.

I tried using my Verbatim 8-12x CD-RW and 16-24x CD-RW. With both the drive just doesnt find the data track and no disc.

[dbminter]

Well, I hate to come across as pedantic but it's not a data track the CD player looks for.  Data tracks only apply to CD's on PC's.  Audio CD is its very own unique beast that a standalone CD player reads.

 

Now, that does actually beg a question.  Is this CD-RW you're attempting to play on the standalone CD player an Audio CD disc or a Mixed Mode disc with audio tracks and a data track or tracks on it?  If it's Mixed Mode, the CD player may not read it because it can't differentiate between the tracks.  If it is Mixed Mode, try writing an Audio CD to the CD-RW and see if your standalone CD player will play the CD-RW as an Audio CD.

 

Also, do you happen to know how old your standalone CD player is?

[Tobim6]

Hello I am trying to play an Audio CD-RW and I burned the exact same way to a CD-R and it would read it.

 

9 minutes ago, dbminter said:

Also, do you happen to know how old your standalone CD player is?

Sorry I don't remember and I can't find any good information about it on the internet at all.

[dbminter]

Rewritable media have a different reflectivity on the data surface than WORM media.  So, it's not unheard of for a CD-R to be readable but not a CD-RW.  For instance, my 1997 Playstation would play Audio CD's burned to CD-R's from TDK and Verbatim, but would not read any CD-RW's I threw at it around 2005.

[Tobim6]

Hello I found the CD player with wayback machine and it seems to be from about 2005

https://web.archive.org/web/20060319003652/http://www.denver-electronics.com/pages/webside2.asp?articleGuid=7812&menuGuid=5387&subMenuguid=5391

[Kabombon]

I have a system similar to yours @Tobim6 from SONY which I refurbished (cleaned the dust, changed the thermal paste, and the CD tray couldn't open so after I dissasembled it entirely I saw the rubber, which is used exactly like on the electric generators in car engines, being hard like a piece of plastic, so after replacement the tray had no issues).
Fairly old hardware and it's a combo of CD Player and Music Casette Player, 125-150W stereo system (2.0).

I doubt systems like ours would play CD-RW, especially considering they have a degree of reflection at 15–25% compared to CD-R discs of 40–70%.
According to Wikipedia on CD-RW stucture information:

Quote

The reflective layer is, however, a silver-indium-antimony-tellurium (AgInSbTe) alloy with a polycrystalline structure and reflective properties in its original state. When writing the laser beam uses its maximum power (8-14 mW) to heat the material to 500–700 °C causing material liquefaction. In this state, the alloy loses its polycrystalline structure and reflectivity and assumes an amorphous state. The lost reflectivity serves the same function as bumps on manufactured CDs. The polycrystalline state of the disc forms the trenches. The scanning signal when reading is created by strong or weak reflection of the laser beam. To erase the disc, the write beam heats the amorphous regions with low power to about 200 °C. The alloy is not melted, but returns to the polycrystalline state and is again reflective.

While for CD-R structure information:

Quote

The pregroove is molded into the top side of the polycarbonate disc, where the pits and lands would be molded if it were a pressed, nonrecordable Red Book CD. The bottom side, which faces the laser beam in the player or drive, is flat and smooth. The polycarbonate disc is coated on the pregroove side with a very thin layer of organic dye. Then, on top of the dye is coated a thin, reflecting layer of silver, a silver alloy, or gold. Finally, a protective coating of a photo-polymerizable lacquer is applied on top of the metal reflector and cured with UV light.

TLDR: You need a stronger CD Player to read CD-RW because of it's low reflectivity.

[Tobim6]

7 hours ago, Kabombon said:

You need a stronger CD Player to read CD-RW because of it's low reflectivity.

But it says it should do CD-RW. Can the laser like wear out and not read CD-RW anymore?

[dbminter]

It's always possible.

[Kabombon]

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But it says it should do CD-RW. Can the laser like wear out and not read CD-RW anymore?

Yes, the laser can wear out from multiple reasons. There's a way to increase it's power by slightly rotating a screw inside the CD drive which controls how many mW the laser gets. Nintendo GameCube consoles had this little trick to fix the console from being unable to read games anymore. You can also clean the laser lens with alcohol.

Look on YouTube for tutorials on this, it should solve your problem. Though if you aren't confident on dissasembling the whole machine and putting it back together correctly, I suggest you to not try this @Tobim6

[dbminter]

I was not aware of this screw hack.

[Tobim6]

I am confident about disassembling and I am aware of this potentiometer adjustment but i think only some drives have it

[Kabombon]

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I am confident about disassembling and I am aware of this potentiometer adjustment but i think only some drives have it

Unfortunately there's no way of knowing beforehand if the drive you're working on has or not a potentiometer unless you find information which specifies it on the internet or you open it up.

It's worth a try @Tobim6 😁

Quote

I was not aware of this screw hack.

It's handy to know this kind of stuff if you work on old CD or DVD drives.

[dbminter]

I've never disassembled an optical drive, so I've never seen inside one.  I've handled many internal half height drives, just never seen their innards.