cd/dvd/rw not spinning is it broke!

[volrider]

Wonder if anyone can help please I have an Amilo 1630 laptop 14 months old and the optical drive has stopped seeing discs! it spins up then stops, tries again almost think it's going to work then it spins down, the drive sounds like its working but no disc reading by the look of it? Am I in the wrong forum, if so I do appologise but I haven't a clue what to do with this one? Not sure if it's hardware or software.. the drive is a H-L Data Storage GCA-4080N Many thanks

[SirQUK]

Hi volrider and welcome to our forums It could be a few reasons. Do you get an error message at all when this happens?

[volrider]

Thank you for the welcome, I think internet forums are superb for info and this one is as good as it gets, saves a lot of head scratching Ok , no I get no error messages, I put a CD / DVD in and the drive spins up slows down repeats this cycle but never fires anything up, I get the disc icon (as if its reading) occasionally, this continues until I eject the CD it seems if it's trying, so i assume power to the drive is there. This happens on any disc of either format. It worked fine prior to this with no warning of it happening. many thanks Tony

[SirQUK]

Before deciding that the drive is goosed could you please try the filter info utility that ulukai has posted in this thread. Upper filters can cause loads of headaches and I would like to rule them out of the equation b4 decalaring the drive dead. Could you post the contents of the text file thats created with the filter check prog into this thread please?

[volrider]

will do many thanks

[volrider]

I ran the prog this is what it reported Filter Check Tool v3.4 An Upper Filter found is: GEARAspiWDM Filterdriver properties are: No Lower Filters found.

[Ulukai]

I've checked out the net on Gear, it does cause a lot of problems in the same area as you are getting them. Looking for a fix now. *update* I found a possible one, install the latest compatible gear security driver, found here That may do the trick, don't forget to reboot and check afterwards.

[SirQUK]

Cheers for the fix ulukai. Lets hope it helps

[volrider]

Many thanks for this I will try out out and report back

[volrider]

Ok installed the driver sadly still the same filter log below Filter Check Tool v3.4 An Upper Filter found is: GEARAspiWDM Filterdriver properties are: No Lower Filters found. If the drive is faulty can another drive be fitted ie: not an original as I have seen some advertised for "notebooks" I was wondering f the dimensions and connections are standard, if so I can replace mine for about £60 rather than the £200 quoted by the manufacturer!! Other than that it will have to be an external USB DVD drive

[SirQUK]

I would try unistalling the software that installed the gear filters - this should unistall it from your system.

[volrider]

I took it to the local PC shop and they have confirmed the drive is faulty, £90 and I am back on the road again. Many thanks for all your help, it has made me learn a few things I did not know Now I must write a letter to Fujitsu congratulating them on producing hardware that lasts 14 months!!!

[SirQUK]

Glad you are back up and running volrider. We have to eliminate filter issues before saying the drive is bad as on our forums lots of 'broken' drives have made miraculous revivals after such filters have been removed . Happy burning once again!

[volrider]

I think the gear filters were installed with that horrid I Tunes, I can't see how to unistall that anywhere? is it possible? many thanks again for all your help very much appreciated

[SirQUK]

http://blog.core10.co.uk/2004/12/uninstalling-and-removing-itunes-from.aspx Removal of iTunes

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