How to Repair a CD-ROM Drive

A computer without a CD-ROM drive can be pretty useless, as you won't be able to rip music, play CD-based games or install new software. Rather than buying a whole new CD-ROM drive or immediately contacting the manufacturer, you can attempt to repair the drive yourself by checking for physical damage or necessary software updates.

Repair a CD-

• 
  How Do I Get My Computer to Boot From CD-ROM?

Instructions

1. • 1
     Press the eject button on the CD-ROM drive to see if it has power at all and will open on its own. Unfold a standard paper clip and use it to pry open the drive if the power light comes on but it won't eject. Check to see if there is a broken piece of plastic or some kind of debris that is preventing the drive from opening and closing properly.
   • 2
     Access your computer's "Start" menu and then navigate to the Control Panel option. Click on "Device Manager" and then click on the "+" sign located to the left of the CD-Drive option to expand the menu. Right click the brand name of your CD-ROM drive and then choose "Settings." Click on the check box next to the "Auto Insert" option if it is not already checked. Click "OK" and then re-start your computer and attempt to use the CD-ROM drive again.
   • 

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   • 3
     Power your computer completely off and then remove the power cable. Unplug all of the cables for your computer's peripherals and then set the computer case on its side. Take a screwdriver and pull out the four case screws on the sides of the case, or instead just slide the case panel backwards if it does not use screws. Take out the screws that mount the CD-ROM drive to the case and then unplug the long yellow SATA cables connected from the drive to the motherboard and power supply. Check to see if the cables are frayed and need to be replaced. Use a bottle of canned air to remove any dust or debris built up on or around the drive.
   • 4
     Check the back end of the drive and see if the sliding plastic knob is set to the "Master" setting. Slide the knob over to the "Slave" setting if it isn't already there.
   • 5
     Place the CD-ROM drive back in the drive bay, put the screws back in place and then plug the cables back in. Put the side panel back on the case and reconnect all of the cables. Turn the computer back on.
   • 6
     Click on the Control Panel again and then choose the Device Manager. Right-click on your CD-ROM drive and again choose settings. Click on the "Drivers" tab and then click on "Check For Drivers." Choose the option to download and install a new driver if a more up-to-date version is currently available.
   • 7
     Contact the manufacturer of your CD-ROM drive for a replacement or repair job through the warranty if it still is not working.

Tips & Warnings

• Try using a different CD in the drive in case the CD you are using is scratched, dirty or defective. Depending on the brand of CD-ROM drive you have it may not have a label for "Master" or "Slave" but instead may be color coded. In that event check the manual that came with your drive to see which color indicates the "Slave" setting.
• 
  The warranty provided through the CD-ROM's manufacturer will be voided if you physically open up the drive and attempt to tinker with the internal components.

How to test LCD screen inverter in a laptop

In this post I explain how I test the LCD screen inverter board in a laptop computer.

The screen inverter failure is very similar to the backlight lamp failure. In both cases the screen gets very dark and the image on the screen becomes very faint, barely visible under a bright light.

If you suspect the inverter board failure, I know only one reliable way to test that. It’s either replacing the inverter board with a known good one and see if it works, or connecting a known good backlight lamp and see if your presumably bad inverter lights it up.

In most cases I go with the second method – testing the laptop with a known good backlight lamp. Why? Because backlight lamps are pretty much universal. The same backlight lamp will work with many different inverters as long as they have matching connectors. I’ll talk about these connectors later.

The inverter board is located inside the display panel under the LCD screen. In most laptops you can access the inverter board if you remove the LCD screen bezel. The inverter board has connectors on both ends. The left side of the inverter is connected to the LCD cable. The right side of the inverter is connected to the backlight lamp which is mounted inside the LCD screen. Check out this display diagram.

To make sure that inverter board is getting power from the motherboard (via the LCD cable), you can test it with a multimeter. In my case I connected the “+” lead of the multimeter to the pin 1 on the connector and the “-” lead to the ground trace around the screw hole. I got about 19.4V DC on that side of the inverter, so it’s getting power from the motherboard.

WARNING! If you accidentally short something on the inverter while testing it, you can damage the inverter or even the motherboard. Proceed on your own risk! Not sure? Don’t do that!

So, the inverter is getting power from the motherboard, but the screen is still dark. Apparently, it’s either bad inverter or failed backlight. Let’s test it with a known good backlight.

Here’s what I’m going to do:
1. I will unplug the LCD screen from the right side of the inverter. Basically, I’m unplugging the LCD backligth lamp which is located inside the screen.
2. I will plug in my known good backlight lamp which you can see on the picture below. Please notice that my test backlight lamp is shorter than the screen, but for the test purpose that’s OK.

Results I’m expecting:
1. If my test backlight lights up, the backlight lamp inside the screen is bad and there is nothing wrong with the inverter board. If that’s the case, you’ll have to replace the LCD screen or replace the backligth lamp (which is not easy at all).
2. If my known good backlight lamp stays dark after I turn on the laptop, most likely we have a faulty inverter board. If that’s the case, you’ll have toreplace the inverter board and it’s relatively easy.

There are two different types of backlight connectors, you can see them on the picture below. The top one (big) is not as common as the bottom one (small). I do most of my test with a backligth lamp which has a small connector.

IMPORTANT! If you decide to buy a new backlight lamp for test, you have to make sure that the connector on the lamp matches the connector on the inverter. Very often backligth lamps are sold without any wires attached. If you plan to use this backlight as a test equipment, you’ll have to find one with wires as I have on the picture 3.

You can buy a cheap backlight lamp with wires here.

Finally, when you ready to test the laptop, unplug the LCD screen from the right side of the inverter.

Plug in your test backlight lamp and turn on the laptop.

In my case, the backlight lamp lights up, so the inverter board works properly.

A key fell off the laptop keyboard. Fixing the problem.

One or more keys fell off the laptop keyboard and you are not sure how to put them back? Don’t worry, most likely you can fix the keyboard and it’s not necessary to buy a new one. There is no universal repair guide because all keyboards are different. Here’s what I usually do in this case.

Situation 1. The key cap and key retainer fell off the keyboard and you cannot figure out how to assemble them back.

ReplacementLaptopKeys.com has the right Laptop Key  for you.

Carefully remove the cap from any other working key so the key retainer stays connected to the keyboard.

Take a closer look at the key retainer, it’s connected to the keyboard at four different points.

Assemble the disconnected retainer the same way as one on the keyboard and put it back in place.

Put the key cap on the retainer and snap the cap back in place.

Situation 2. The key fell off the keyboard and you lost the cap or the retainer. In this case you can purchase a single key here, just search for it. (Search examples: “Dell keyboard key”, “Toshiba keyboard key”, “HP keyboard key”, etc… )
After you found a new key, put it back in place the same way as I described in the situation 1.

Installing the space bar key.

The space bar key is connected to the keyboard a little bit differently then any other key.

There is a metal retainer connected to the space bar key (on some keyboard models). Separate the retainer from the space bar key with a flat head screwdriver.

Install the retainer back in place as it shown on the picture. You have to engage the retainer with the small hooks on the keyboard.

Put the space bar key back in place and gently press on it with fingers until it snaps back in place.

That’s it. The space bar key is installed back in place and should work as before. If you still cannot fix your keyboard, then you’ll have to find a new one  and replace it.

Here’s another technique you can use to fix a broken keyboard key.

As you see on the picture below the keyboard is missing the U key. The key cap, retainer and even silicone membrane were lost. Let’s see if it’s possible to temporarily fix the U key without buying any spare parts.

Personally, I cannot use keyboard without U key but I can live without a key located on the side from the right ALT – the “Right clicker” key. In the following guide I will remove one key I never use and install it in the place of missing U.

Carefully remove the key cap with your fingers.

Remove the retainer. The retainer has two pieces connected to each other. If one piece got disconnected from the other, connect them back together.

The silicon membrane is glued to the keyboard. Very very slowly separate the membrane from the keyboard with a sharp knife. While creating this disassembly guide I damaged one membrane because I wasn’t careful enough.
Again, you have to be very careful removing the membrane.
If you damage the membrane you’ll end up with two broken keys instead of just one.

The silicon membrane has been removed.

Now apply some superglue on the bottom edge of the membrane, just enough to keep the membrane in the place.

Carefully place the membrane in the center of the U. Make sure the membrane is positioned correctly. Wait until the glue cures.

Install the retainer.

Position the key cap above the retainer. Gently press on the key cap until it clips in and connects to the retainer.

Now you can use the U key again.

Troubleshooting. Why the key will not clip on.

Turn the key upside down and take a closer look at the locking clips. It’s possible that one of the clips is damaged and because of that the key will not clip on the retainer. If that’s the case, you’ll have to purchase a new key.

On the next picture you can see that one of the clips is missing, it’s broken. This key will not stay connected to the retainer either. If that’s the case, you’ll have to purchase a new key.

It’s possible that the key is fine, but the retainer itself is broken. On the next picture you can see that one of the tips is missing on the retainer. The left tip is OK, but the right one is missing. If that’s the case, you’ll have to purchase a new retainer.

Here’s one more picture. In this case two parts of the retainer will not stay connected to each other. It happens because one of the tips is broken. The left tip is OK, but the right one is missing. If that’s the case, you’ll have to purchase a new retainer.

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