Dell Precision M2400 Mobile Workstation notebook 
RRP: $3251.20
RRP: $3251.20
Tue, 24/03/2009 - 17:30
DVD-RAM drive not working properly in Satellite A100
DVD-RAM drive not working properly in Satellite A100
I have a Toshiba Satellite A100 PSAA9A-10U038 Laptop in which the Matshita DVD-RAM UJ-841S optical drive has a major problem.
I have just rebuilt the unit from the Toshiba supplied Product Recovery DVD-ROM, so that part works OK. XP SP3 - fully up-to-date.
I can both read data and play music CDs with no trouble. I can read data DVDs and install software from a DVD BUT I am unable to read or play DVD Movies or similar.
When I attempt to burn either a CD or DVD using the Toshiba supplied "Sonic RecordNow" software, I get an error message telling me: "Please attach a drive, and click check for drives above".
It shows in the Device Manager as fully functioning.
A web search shows that there are many others with the same problem but none of the offered solutions has worked. The Toshiba Support website is of little help as it seems to be mainly Vista oriented.
Has anyone out there had a similar problem and preferably found a fix?
(I've also downloaded and applied what was supposedly a later DVD-RAM driver from the Toshiba website but the driver version didn't change.)
Thanks
Bob Davies
18%
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hi bob i too have a similar
hi bob
i too have a similar problem with my toshiba laptop satellite A100.... need a help
I also had trouble with my
I also had trouble with my Toshiba A100 DVD drive and fixed it by unscrewing the holding screw on the back, sliding out the drive and reinserting it a few times to ensure the contacts were cleaned. It fixed my problem.
Update Sonic
Since you did a product recovery, you might need to update your Sonic software. I've not used Sonic in a while so i'm not sure if it can update itself. Maybe check here for an update that's relevent to you:
http://support.sonic.com/desktop/downloads.asp?product=recordnow
Hope this helps.
interesting
i too have had problems with my UJ-841S drive. It was fine for a year or so and then i couldn't read or write cd's with iTunes. Nero 6 started to spit the proverbial dummy big-time. dvd's (reading) were fine. put up with it for months. Contacted toshiba service who said it would take more than a week and > $300aud to fix. So i ignored it and for less than half the price bought an external usb dvd-writer. Then hey presto, the original internal drive started working again. i'm not sure that i trust it entirely but it seems to be working ok. No known software changes could have resurrected it. I lean towards either a connection or a rogue piece of fluff, hair or something in the drive. Only a theory.