slipping a disc
December 28, 2010 9:20 AM

CD drive won't rip CDs, will barely play songs. Help!

In the middle of a very extensive CD-ripping project, my CD drive seems to have crapped out. Horrible timing. This seems to have been precipitated by me trying to rip a ridiculously scratchy disc which, understandably, didn't really work. Not as understandably, no discs now work. Windows Media and iTunes will recognize them, but they "error" when I try to rip. When I try to play a song, it plays the first half-second and then the song "continues" playing, but no sound comes out. Any ideas? (Please talk to me like I'm a third-grader here.) Thanks in advance. Windows, Dell Inspiron laptop.
posted by threeants to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)
Have you tried fully powering off your computer (unplugging, removing battery) and rebooting?

Recently my LG brand DVD drive crapped out after only about 6 months of use. The read and write rates were terrible and it wouldn't play DVDs. I was about to order a new drive but decided at the last minute to check for any firmware updates for the drive. There was one, and it fixed it right up. So as a last resort, you might check for a firmware update for your drive.
posted by DarkForest at 9:38 AM on December 28, 2010


Yeah, I've rebooted. The weird thing is, my ripping was working fine and quite fast, just dandy, and then all of a sudden I force this skritchy disc on it and it stops working.
posted by threeants at 9:44 AM on December 28, 2010


Have you tried cleaning the drive?
posted by wongcorgi at 9:49 AM on December 28, 2010


Hmm, I blew on it a bit, but it looks as clean as can be.
posted by threeants at 9:49 AM on December 28, 2010


Well, the problem somehow solved itself with a few hours away from the computer. Clearly it knew the sleuths of Mefi were in hot pursuit and chickened out! Thanks for the help, folks.
posted by threeants at 2:24 PM on December 28, 2010


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