Question External portable DVD won’t read discs

[thaugen]

I have a new Lenovo laptop and bought an external portable CD/DVD so I could load some programs that only come on CD. The drive is SATA in ODD caddy with permanently attached USB 3.0 cable. Matsushita DVD-RAM model UJ880AS drive.
When I insert a known good CD and close the drive it comes on, clicks twice and then shuts itself down.
The instructions in fractured English say go to My Computer, Removable storage devices, click on DVD icon, then right click and “Select pop up in the tray into the desk to read.”

I am new to windows 10 but I could not find a my computer so I went to settings instead and found the DVD listed under other devices. I cannot figure out a way to Select pop up so I need help getting this drive to work.

 

[Paperdoc]

I can't find full specs on that optical drive, but I suspect it requires more power than it can get from a standard USB 3 port. If it was DESIGNED to run with only a USB 3 connection, then maybe I am wrong. But look closely at whether it has a jack for connecting a small power supply "wall wart" to give it the power it needs. If it came with such an accessory, try using that to give it power.

 

[Steltek]

I'm not surprised you can't find the "My Computer" icon, as it was went away with Windows XP.

The Win8/Win10 equivalent is called "This PC". It won't display on the desktop unless you change the desktop icon settings to allow it to. However, you can search for the "This PC" app in the Win10 search box and run it from there. You should also be able to see the DVD drive in Windows Explorer (hold down the Windows key and hit E, then click on the "This PC" section on the left side pane -- any CD/DVD drives should appear under the removable storage section). You should be able to right-click on the CD/DVD drive, hit "Create Shortcut" and answer yes to have the shortcut created on your desktop.

FYI, that particular model DVD-RAM drive has been around at least 10+ years, so I'm not surprised that there isn't any information available on it. Being a laptop drive (which it is), it shouldn't require an external power source but it very well could require a driver that might not be available any longer if it isn't working right (or a firmware update, which won't be forthcoming since support has probably long since ended).

 

[thaugen]

I'm not surprised you can't find the "My Computer" icon, as it was went away with Windows XP.

The Win8/Win10 equivalent is called "This PC". It won't display on the desktop unless you change the desktop icon settings to allow it to. However, you can search for the "This PC" app in the Win10 search box and run it from there. You should also be able to see the DVD drive in Windows Explorer (hold down the Windows key and hit E, then click on the "This PC" section on the left side pane -- any CD/DVD drives should appear under the removable storage section). You should be able to right-click on the CD/DVD drive, hit "Create Shortcut" and answer yes to have the shortcut created on your desktop.

FYI, that particular model DVD-RAM drive has been around at least 10+ years, so I'm not surprised that there isn't any information available on it. Being a laptop drive (which it is), it shouldn't require an external power source but it very well could require a driver that might not be available any longer if it isn't working right (or a firmware update, which won't be forthcoming since support has probably long since ended).

Thanks for the reply. I can see the icon for the drive but no matter what I do from there all that happens is either the drive opens or it clicks a couple of times, the light flashes a couple of times and then nothing else happens. I just want to make sure it is DOA before I contact the seller. The driver is said to be 10.0 183 62 1 so Should I look for that driver somewhere? I just assumed since it did not come with any installation disc, it would use whatever driver windows users. I appreciate the help.

 

[Steltek]

Thanks for the reply. I can see the icon for the drive but no matter what I do from there all that happens is either the drive opens or it clicks a couple of times, the light flashes a couple of times and then nothing else happens. I just want to make sure it is DOA before I contact the seller. The driver is said to be 10.0 183 62 1 so Should I look for that driver somewhere? I just assumed since it did not come with any installation disc, it would use whatever driver windows users. I appreciate the help.

Just off the top of my head, I'm going to guess that the drive is defective.

If you have access to another computer to try it on, that would be a good idea so you can eliminate your machine as the source of the problem. You also might try connecting the drive to a USB 2.0 port (if there is one on your computer) to see if it starts working. Just because it has a permanent USB3.0 cable doesn't mean the drive adapter itself is USB3.0.

One other thing you might try is to try to read a different type of disc as I saw quite a few (old) accounts by people online who had this drive but it would read/write one type of disc but not another - i.e. if you are using a CD now, try reading or writing a DVD on it.

 

[thaugen]

I'm not surprised you can't find the "My Computer" icon, as it was went away with Windows XP.

The Win8/Win10 equivalent is called "This PC". It won't display on the desktop unless you change the desktop icon settings to allow it to. However, you can search for the "This PC" app in the Win10 search box and run it from there. You should also be able to see the DVD drive in Windows Explorer (hold down the Windows key and hit E, then click on the "This PC" section on the left side pane -- any CD/DVD drives should appear under the removable storage section). You should be able to right-click on the CD/DVD drive, hit "Create Shortcut" and answer yes to have the shortcut created on your desktop.

FYI, that particular model DVD-RAM drive has been around at least 10+ years, so I'm not surprised that there isn't any information available on it. Being a laptop drive (which it is), it shouldn't require an external power source but it very well could require a driver that might not be available any longer if it isn't working right (or a firmware update, which won't be forthcoming since support has probably long since ended).

 

[dlerious]

Sounds like a bad drive.

 

[Paperdoc]

I'm back to my comments on power. I note a post above says this unit is over 10 years old, and a "laptop drive". USB 3 had not been introduced then. At that time, NO external HDD drive, including the "laptop" models designed for minium power consumption, could run on the power available from a single USB 2 port. I expect that applies also to optical drives. Two solutions were offered at that time. One was the unit came with its own "wall wart" power brick that you had to connect via a jack to give it enough power. The other option was that some came with a special cable with TWO heads on one end, each ending in a standard USB 2 Type A plug. You had to plug BOTH into separate USB 2 ports to get enough power for it to work. So, if yours does not have a power jack and a power brick to use, try asking around at used computer parts shops if they have any of those two-headed old USB 2 cables. Then you need to connect to two separate ports on your computer.