DVD Optical Drive LG GSA H55N - laser comes on at the outermost track, moves to inner most track - returns without spinning

Hi, I have the above mentioned drive. It doesn't work. It never worked to t he best of my memory.

I opened it up, placed a CD in it and powered it on - the red laser turns o n and the "Optical Pickup" (Lens mechanism) shoots the laser out at the out ermost track of my CD - then it moved the lens up/down and then the Sled/co rkscrew-motor-thing turns and the lens moves to the innermost part of my CD (near the spindle) and the laser comes on again and the disc does a half a revolution half-hearted spin; the laser turns off and it goes back and i g et "Medium not found". After this one attempt no further attempts are made no matter how many times i type mount /whatever - i have to eject the tray.

  1. I wanted to know what the laser is doing here - moving to the inner trac k (Power calibration area)??

When i put the cover on - i obviously can't see what's going on but i think the spindle spins the CD for a longer period of time. NO CD/DVD is recogni sed - is this fixable? I tried twiddling with the rheostat/trimmer-pot(2 te rminal with a dial to vary R) - they are at 90deg to each other - no luck - didn't do anything.

  1. Which one is for the CD? And the other for the DVD?

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I have a second drive same model that is now starting to act flaky - refuse s to recognise CD/DVD's that i've burnt but will play stamped discs (CDs). I set the trimpot to 0 (the beveled edge of the dial was parallel to the ba se of the pot-side-where-the two SMD leads enter) and I think this helped b ut if i turn the dial it acts flaky (in either direction +0(clockwise) or -

0(anti-clock)) and refuses to recognise my DVDs/CDs.

  1. Unfortunately I need it to recognise my old XP-SP2 CD and that fails (Bu rnt not stamped) - is there any way to salvage components and fix this.

The lens is shiny enough no visible crud and cleaning didn't help - i used water and some cotton wrapped around a screwdriver - very gently. The laser on my second drive(the one that works somewhat) is a LOT brighter and stay s on longer than the first drive. Both drives are new and have seen little use.

  1. Any suggestions, advice, reading links - i'm interested in this stuff (i 've checked the Service Manuals, and Sams FAQ) - i'd like something a bit m ore friendly - like a text book, or technical documentation-well written)
Reply to
vek.m1234
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Typical problems can be traced to the following common problems:

1) Lens is dirty with smoke film or just dust. Try cleaning with a cotton swab and alcohol.

2) Spindle motor has a bad spot resulting in the "spin-up" taking too long and thus failing to read properly. Repalce this motor.

3) Laser is starting to fail because of use. Normally woth DVD players, a common way to verify this is to try reading a CD. If the DVD won't read bu t a CD will, it is likely that the laser is becoming weak. Replace optics.

In general, the adjustments you are playing with are there for the factory to compensate for slight manufacturing differences in the optics and once s et should not be moved without using the proper test equipment. At this po int, your best bet is to replace the reader with a replacement. These are cheap and easily found. Don't waste your time trying to repair it.

Dan

Reply to
dansabrservices

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