Won't play cds, will play dvds

April 8, 2007 5:24 AM

My laptop's cd/dvd drive has stopped reading cds, but will still play dvds.

It's a Sony Vaio pcg-k74. I can access data from dvds and play them, but when I put a cd in the drive, it doesn't recognize that I've inserted anything.

posted by Sar to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Weird. My computer did the exact opposite a couple of years ago. Turned out to be a known issue with the laser in that DVD model.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 6:27 AM on April 8, 2007

The CD and DVD function in the drive are handled by different lasers underneath the head of the drive. My guess is the CD laser may have burnt out. Good luck with this!
posted by dyno04 at 6:38 AM on April 8, 2007

my laptop has the exact opposite problem. at first it started out all quiet, meaning nothing would happen, but now if i try to feed it a dvd it makes some scary angry screeching sounds at me.

i did some research on it and apparently it's pretty common for a laptop drive to burn out on you after a couple years use. solution: replace the drive.

but before you do that reinstall your drivers and all that junk and if it's still not working, then most likely your drive is on its way to its deathbed and you will have to replace it.
posted by tastycracker at 9:08 AM on April 8, 2007

Try going to the Sony website and download the driver and reinstalling.
posted by k8t at 12:23 PM on April 8, 2007

Sony optical drive mechanisms really, really suck.

Replace it with a Toshiba, LiteOn or LG drive if possible.
posted by flabdablet at 8:46 PM on April 8, 2007

dyno05 is correct. This is a fairly common failure mode for CD/DVD drives. CD read/write and DVD read/write functions each use a separate laser, so when the CD laser dies you can still use DVDs.

The only sensible fix is to replace the drive. Laptop CD/DVD recorders are generally not as well regarded as normal PC drives, but you should be able to get a decent replacement. (In most cases the drives are standard with a removable faceplate, but YMMV as I'm not familiar with your particular laptop model.)

Hope this helps.
posted by reptile at 7:16 AM on April 9, 2007