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    Lenovo Thinkpad R40e DVDROM failure

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by supersi, Jan 23, 2007.

  1. supersi

    supersi Newbie

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    I have Lenovo Thinkpad R40e running windows xp pro. The DVD rom all of a sudden has stopped working. It won't show in my computer or device manager.
    I rebooted into BIOS and under boot priority it had a big exclamation mark!
    Back in windows I tried to detect it as new hardware but no joy.

    I thought that maybe it needs a driver/firmware upgrade. Problem is the DVD Rom is not working and I don't have a 1.44 floppy drive onboard so can I run a setup disk from a USB flash drive?
    I tried to format it as an msdos startup disk but that is blanked-out.

    Help!!
     
    supersi, Jan 23, 2007
    #1
  2. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    Does the optical drive get detected by the BIOS? It should be identifed by its model number.

    I'm not sure if a firmware update would work if the computer isn't seeing the optical drive.

    My first suggestion would be to unintall the secondary IDE channel then detect new hardware. The optical drive is most probably on this channel and redecting the channel might flush out a software problem.

    My second suggestion would be to get out a screwdriver (assuming that it is not a modular drive) and try to physically remove and reconnect it. This should fix any connection problem. The drive may be held in place by only one screw about 6 inches in from the front of the drive. This screw may be on the bottom of the computer or under the keyboard. Or there may be instructions somewhere on the www.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Jan 23, 2007
    #2
  3. supersi

    supersi Newbie

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    No the optical drive doesn't display a number in BIOS, it just doesn't show as a device. I'll try your suggestions.
     
    supersi, Jan 24, 2007
    #3