anyone else have their laptop's DVD+-RW drive die?

my dvd rewrite drive on my emachines m6809 started to die a few months ago, at first it couldn't write anything, now i can't read anything but burned cds. I bought this laptop right before leaving the country to study abroad so i didn't purchase any warranty, nor was there any place i could send it to. when i bought it i figured being the same base model as some more expensive laptops i shouldn't have a problem...
my writer is a LG electronics gwa-4040n (emachines neglected to release the bios updates on these things btw, LG doesn't hand out the updates for OEM models). i think some people may have a differrent one.
took it to a local shop where they fix these things and they told me the laser head on the drive was busted. (yeah, i tried cleaning it long ago).
i'm beginning the think that while arima did a decent job on the hardware, emachines swapped in the cheapest **** they could find (my hinges are cracked too, but i honestly dont care).
so i'm curious if anyone else has had hardware problems with their laptop dvd writers, especially ones that have some same model as me. i'll go buy myself a new one soon, and it won't be LG...

 

I updated the firmware on my drive and it works great. I have a New DVD / CDRW I can sell you for $50.00 shipped if you are interesed it. I took it out of my notebook when I first purchased it I works great but I wanted to burn DVDs so I installed a DVD burner in it's place.

Proud Leader Of The " Geek Squad"

 

did you have the same drive, and what firmware did you use? firmware updates seem to be "unsupported" by emachines. my problems emerged shortly after trying to change my drive to RPC1 using firmware from http://tdb.rpc1.org , god only knows if that had anything to do with it.
i'm not even in the same hemisphere, and a non-dvd burning slimdrive is $50.00 new. sheesh.

 

Where did you get a firmware update?

 

I got my firmware from here:

http://www.cdrinfo.com/forum/tt.asp?forumid=88

 

I have the same problem on my M6809. My DVD RW just couldn't read anything. I've tried cleaning it but to no avail. Did the firmware update helped?

 

Might want to update firmware and/or ide drivers if available.

 

I managed to scavenge an old hard disk and CD-ROM from my old notebook and installed it on my m6809. Formatted the hard disk and did a clean install of windows XP. After that I reinstalled my DVD burner and it still doesn't work. The M6809 detects the DVD burner without any problems. It just can't read any disk, DVD or CD. I've clean it with every conceiveable method, the disk and the DVD burner. Any other suggestions??? It was working fine 2 weeks ago. Does this mean my DVD burner is kaput?? Just when my warranty expires!! Anybody updated their firmware for the dvd burner?

 

What drive is it?

 

Nero Info tool list it as Slimtype DVDRW SDW-431S, firmware revision: MBS2. I believe the manufacturer is Liteon but I can't find an update to this burner. The one listed above is for Slimtype DVDRW SDW-431S X.

Under the BIOS for M6809, there is an option to boot from a Removable Drive. Can I boot from an external hard drive or an external DVD burner connected to the USB or Firewire?

 

No firmware updates available for the 431 on LiteOn's webiste. When you cleaned it, did you use one of those cleaning discs? I would recommend against that. They can sometimes scratch the lens. Blowing it out with a can of compressed air is a better idea. I would try to update the idea drivers. If that fails, a new drive may be in order. I would recommend the NEC 6650 available on NewEgg for $99. Good Luck.

 

Thanks. I tried the compressed air first. It didn't work so I tried the CD cleaner. Didn't work too. Might buy a new DVD burner. Is the socket for the NEC 6650 compatible for the M6809? I notice you have a thinkpad.

 

It is too thick for my ThinkPad. I have it in an external case. I leave the battery in the bay.

 

I've got a M6809. Recently had the hinges repaired (at no cost) by eMachines, because "It's a known problem"... but now my Pioneer DVR-12KD stoped reading and writing anything to do with DVD format... it will read Data CD's, VCD's, even burn the last... but won't do anything regarding DVD format. The laser simply seeks to no end... any one else have this problem? I restored the sys. to manufacture's spec's using the recovery dvd... (Had to buy a 2.5 to 3.5 HDD Adapter and plug the HDD in my descktop to use the optical DVD drive there to restore the HDD). And, as suspected, no difference.

 

i bought a new slimdrive to replace the old one, but somehow my laptop killed it too. i couldnt send stuff in much because i went abroad. oh yeah, my usb 2.0 slots have power issues, making my external harddrive enclosure un-usable. god, emachines deserves some lawsuits.
so in the end, i wont upgrade this laptop when i crave more power... and i am forced to get a firewire connection for anything serious. i'll get a desktop type burner and enclosure for it. blah.

 

I have a similar problem. I upgraded the firmware of the DVD-RW GWA-4040n on my Emachines M6811 with the firmware provided by "The Dangerous Brothers," and now my burner will only read and not write. I tried to revert back to the "original" that the Dangerous Brothers provided, but it still seems to have the same problem. I need to find another source of firmware, unless I have already screwed my burner up beyond all reason.