Win 7 SP1. I tried to burn a movie onto a DVD the other day (after not using the DVD player/burner for longer than I can remember) and realized that my computer no longer recognized my DVD burner/player. Nowhere to be found. I thought I had a bad DVD burner so I bought a new one. Still no joy. I've Googled this problem endlessly (as well as YouTubed it) and have tried most/all of the recommended solutions including messing with the registration. Nothing. I hate Windows Updates but I'm in the middle of downloading all 138 missed updates to see if one of those will fix the problem. I've looked in BIOS/UEFI but wasn't sure enough about anything to try and make any changes. I've reverted back to an older restore point, too.

Before I give up and take this to a "real" professional, does anybody have any suggestions?

Can we assume that it did show up in BIOS and that you have not made any changes there since the last time it did work?
Have you tried booting from a bootable CD/DVD just to see if it works?
Have you tried reseating the cables and swapping cables and interfaces?
The above steps could help eliminate the possibility of a hardware problem.

quote Originally posted by williegoat: Can we assume that it did show up in BIOS and that you have not made any changes there since the last time it did work? Have you tried booting from a bootable CD/DVD just to see if it works? Have you tried reseating the cables and swapping cables and interfaces? The above steps could help eliminate the possibility of a hardware problem.

It did NOT show up in BIOS. The computer doesn't see it at all. Auto play doesn't work. (The CD/DVD drawer opens/closes so it's getting power but nothing else.) I have NOT tried reseating/moving cables. Good idea (and I should have thought of that first).

It could be a bad or loose SATA cable or a dead interface on the MoBo.

quote Originally posted by williegoat: It could be a bad or loose SATA cable or a dead interface on the MoBo.

D'oh NM. I just saw his reply about the drawer opening and closing.

My mind went to a problem with the SATA cable or with the power connection.

[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 09-03-2017).]

Ever hear the phrase, "...can't see the forest for the trees..."? Yup. That's been me with this problem. While I'm not a computer professional or expert, I've messed with them long enough to know that the FIRST thing you check when it comes to a hardware problem is the cables. Instead of that, I've spent 5 hours today (and probably a total of 8 or 9 hours over the past few days) trying to figure this out. While looking for the BIG fixes, I couldn't see the tiny ones.

What was the problem, you ask? A bad...bloody...cable. (Sometimes, I'm surprised I made it this long in life. I feel like such an idiot right now although that feeling will go away.) I'll bet my old SODD (Stupid Optical Disk Drive) is just fine. Oh, well. At least I have a spare for next time.

Thank you, Mr. Goat.

Have you tried going to the dvd makers site and downloading the latest driver for the unit??
windows 7 service pack 1 will not have it in it.. It will have a "basic " driver that isn't working .
Go download the driver and see if that works..
Also in device manager any yellow triangles beside anything with a "!" in it?
many times just deleting using the device manager and then restarting the computer will find it.. If it is connected correctly..

quote Originally posted by E.Furgal: Have you tried going to the dvd makers site and downloading the latest driver for the unit?? windows 7 service pack 1 will not have it in it.. It will have a "basic " driver that isn't working . Go download the driver and see if that works.. Also in device manager any yellow triangles beside anything with a "!" in it? many times just deleting using the device manager and then restarting the computer will find it.. If it is connected correctly..

Thanks for the help but I got it to work. Bad SATA cable.

quote Originally posted by Monkeyman: What was the problem, you ask? A bad...bloody...cable. (Sometimes, I'm surprised I made it this long in life. I feel like such an idiot right now although that feeling will go away.) I'll bet my old SODD (Stupid Optical Disk Drive) is just fine. Oh, well. At least I have a spare for next time.

SATA cables have a long history of problems.
1 big problem is Many cables are cheapest as possible and ends fail w/o warning and no-one touching them to break them.
First thing is switch cables anytime BIOS and OS can't see a drive. Even when drives have power but won't spin.

Drives should spin w/ power on but many can be set to not spin until bus reset etc. IOW Bad data cables can fake a bad drive.

Next Many think a cable for SATA 1 = SATA 2 = SATA 3 etc and Worse believe claims Tom's, YT, etc saying no difference. Testing is not simple as Ohm/continuity test.

While you don't need to spend a fortune for "best cables..."
SATA 1-2 cables on SATA 3 ports and drives can cause a lot of data errors and slow the system.
Many SATA 3 and up cables have better shielding etc and won't see that in basic tests.
So Make sure you have SATA 3 600mbs cables on SATA 3 ports. Most are labeled in the package and cable ends.
(SATA 3 cables will for older ports too. Better cable shields may help them.)

Is similar to have wrong network and current TV cables...
Example: Many building have old TV cable but causes a lot of problems because of poor shielding and too thin handle signal for STB and DOCSIS 3/3.1 Cable modems.

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