Problem with Dell Inspiron CD drive...

[Dreamstalker]

Recently I noticed an interesting problem with my CD/DVD drive. When reading certain discs, I get this loud buzzing that is silenced somewhat by pressing on the drive so it is recessed further into the case (I'm thinking that electrical tape to hold it in my help, but I seem to have misplaced the roll I have). The CDs it does this with are clean as far as I know.

It doesn't do this with all discs, and it happens most often with DVDs. The laptop's OOW now; is there a way to fix this?

[ozzlo]

ahhh u my freind are missing a very tiny screw which holds your D-Bay components in place... I lost my screw when unwrapping the lappy the very first day and sometimes I have to push the drive in cause it comes out if that button on the side is pressed.

Find a good show to watch then call tech support and put it on speaker phone while you are placed on hold. when u get through,give em your service tag# and ask them about the part. they usually rush overnight deleiver you a replacement.

[Mr B]

ahhh u my freind are missing a very tiny screw which holds your D-Bay components in place... I lost my screw when unwrapping the lappy the very first day and sometimes I have to push the drive in cause it comes out if that button on the side is pressed.

Find a good show to watch then call tech support and put it on speaker phone while you are placed on hold. when u get through,give em your service tag# and ask them about the part. they usually rush overnight deleiver you a replacement.

You know...that "newbie" avatar is suiting you less and less..... ;)

[Dreamstalker]

The screw wasn't missing, just loose; tightening it didn't seem to work. Could I need a new drive?

EDIT: Just found a handful of optical drive screws, but I'm guessing those are too large for a laptop.

[kayson]

I used to have the same problem. Called them up, they said it was "normal" Only thing is after a while my drive stopped reading some cds. Mainly cd-rs, but eventually all disks gave me problems. The solution? Buy a new drive :(

[ozzlo]

Vibrational resonance kills drives by shaking themselves to death. but there is a solution :)

Have you ever heard of dynamat? I was going to post an antivibration mod for inspiron cd drives but it only works if u have the correct drive demensions. here's what u do.... first of all dynamat kills frequency resonance in car stero systems and will work about the same on a cd drive... I have only done this to a few Desktop harddrives and cd drives in my day to make them ultra quiet. but the concept is still very much the same for laptop. all you need is like a 2" by 3" peice of dynamat.... first off remove your cd drive (by removing the screw first) and there should be a large sticker in a depression... simply remove the sticker and replace it with an equal sized peice of dynamat. then put the drive back in and it will vibrate less.

you may need to shave the dynamat down because it's pretty thick stuff... the dynamat will work in two ways to reduce vibration... it will make the drive a much tighter fit in the bay which obviously will make it vibrate less and also the dynamat material has a very un-natural resonance which will help cancel with the resonance of the drive.

[Dreamstalker]

What are the needed drive dimensions? The only place I could find dynamat online has it in 4-sq.-ft. sheets and I don't think I could possibly use that much (storage is also an issue in my current place). Would an auto part store have it in smaller amounts, or is that the minimum it comes in?