I have a Toshiba SD-C2502 DVD drive on my laptop…
It used to work o.k. untill recently, when I discovered that allthough it can still read DVD’s, it started not to be able to read CD’s… :o
I’ve done some search on the internet but found nothing relevant…
Cleaning the lens, obviously doesn’t work, cause it doesn’t even recognize the cleaning-cd in the first place…
Any help or suggestion will be highly appreciated…
I know this is what they always say, but it seems relevant nonetheless… have you tried updating the drivers?
What drivers???
Do you mean the DVD’s firmware??? Yeah it passed through my mind but the problem is that when I checked the internet I found a site with firmware for my drive, but there were lot’s of files and there wasn’t any information on which was the right one to download…
Have you ever tried to flash a DVD-rom??? I tell you if you flash it with the wrong firmware you can trash it big time…
Anyway thanks PlantPerson…
I think PlantPerson means “drivers” not “firmware” 
The drivers installed on your laptop are most likely Microsoft drivers… you can probably get the real drivers from Toshiba’s website. Then just uninstall the drive in Device Manager, and re-install it (after rebooting) with the Toshiba drivers.
But like I tell everyone, don’t do this until another person agrees with me, because I dont want to unknowingly mislead you…
How old is the drive / laptop?
Could simply be wear and tear.
This looks like a similar situation:
http://www.maxpc.co.uk/tips/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=29183&subsectionid=719
I got a dvd player and cd audio system included another things, because the cd and dvd player didn’t work. I started searching for the problem, and first thing I saw, some dust on the laser eye, cleaned it, and now I’ve got a full audio/dvd system in my closet that I have to place somewhere in my room, it works perfect now 
I hope cds and dvds get replaced soon. I’ve always hated how easily something can go wrong with them. I studied the whole cd process at uni and it just seems that there is so much that can go wrong. In fact, 2/3 of the physical space on a cd is taken up by error correction codes (see bottom of the link):
http://www.ee.washington.edu/conselec/CE/kuhn/cdmulti/95x7/iec908.htm
If there was a way to do lossless data I/O, cds would store about 2GB and I imagine dvds about 12GB.
What pisses me off most is when I rent a dvd from the video store and it stops half way through because of scratches.
Flash media has its problems too but I quite like it. I would love to see cheap 1-2GB flash cards from movie stores. With the new H264 codec, dvd quality movies would fit on them just fine and no annoying scratches would stop it. It also wouldn’t make any noise.
osxrules… i recently saw a thing that prevents cd’s from getting scratched… it like snaps onto the cd, and you can still use it in a cd player or drive without taking the thing off. i’ll try to find the link…and about the no-data-storage thing… that’s why i got a usb Zip drive 
A while ago, I saw a article about 3,5 inch floppy that can handle 100.000 gig with ease. That means 100.000 gig on a new technology that doesn’t use cd’s or dvd’s. It is a technology that has been developed for 14 years now, and finally they got suceeded. But the problem is, will we ever see this product in a near computer shop? and will it be expensive? :-?
Wow, that’s cool!
I think it’ll be expensive for a while, but I don’t know…
I forgot about zip drives. I used to have one and it never gave me any trouble. The transfer was a bit slow on usb 1 then but they probably have firewire or usb 2 now. Unfortunately, the disks are still too expensive. They do have 1GB Jaz disks but they are about £60 each. I can get more storage on 2 cds for 80p.
That cd case thing sounds interesting, I think they have a similar thing for dvd-ram discs. It still wouldn’t prevent those morons scratching movies at the video rental store. Has anyone heard of the disposable dvds? They are supposed to come vacuum packed and react with the atmosphere when you open them, giving you a certain amount of days to watch the movie so you don’t have to return it.
Is this what you are talking about?
http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2001sep/bch20010906007729.htm
It sounds really cool. I agree with what it says on that link though, I reckon the future is solid state. I like the ability to increase bandwidth by stacking. It saves having to listen to a cd spin at 52x. It’s not as dangerous either:
http://www.powerlabs.org/cdexplode.htm
I suppose the 100,000 gig technology might be ok as long as it’s reliable. I remember I had floppies in my 1st year at uni - it was a nightmare. They used to get corrupted all the time and the transfer rate was rubbish. I don’t really understand why though because I think zip disks use a similar technology.
I kinda like magneto-optical disks but I think they’re expensive too:
I don’t think it is a drivers problem. And I say this, because it is on a dual boot Windows/Linux laptop. The problem appears even when I boot in Linux so I don’t think it has anything to do with Microsoft’s drivers… It sure doesn’t hurt ofcourse to give your suggestion a try though… Thanks…
About two years old…
And I also have given what you say a thought, but what puzzles me is, why this damn thing, still plays DVD’s perfectly… I mean I’m no hardware expert, but I think that if something breaks, it breaks for good… Is this possible???
JD-multi: What you propose is actually, similar to what the article provided by osxrules and actually first thing that passed through my mind, was dirt on the lens, but you see I can’t clean it, because the damned drive doesn’t recognize cleaning-cd’s… :o
Is it o.k. if I try to clean it with “something” else, by hand??? I mean I don’t want to damage the lens… Does anybody know or has been in a similar situation??? :o
The link I gave explains that combo drives have different read heads for cd and dvd. That’s because they use different frequency light to read them. So, it’s quite normal for one head to fail and the other to work.
Yeah, I had the same problem with my hi-fi, you can use a few different things to clean the head. I used the brush that came with my camera. It’s has a bubble on the end like a horn that you squeeze to blow away the dust (it’s not advisable to blow it yourself because of spit). Then you just brush the head.
You can use lots of things so long as they are not physically abrasive. I have even used methylated spirits on a cotton bud before - They’re great for cleaning read-write heads on VCRs. In general, cd cleaners don’t work all that well anyway - the same as with VCR cleaners. They don’t contact the head well enough.
My laptop has the head mounted on the tray so that I can get easy access. If your laptop’s still under warranty and you can’t easily see a way to access the head, I would recommend taking it to a repair shop, although, you might be as well getting a new drive.
I had a cd rewriter once and it accidentally fell on the floor. It works now and then but usually not. If you banged the laptop or something, it could be that the head is damaged. If not, it could have been a bad cd that did it - if it was warped or something. If it’s not that then dust is the likely cause.
No, I suppose maybe I didn’t make it clear, it’s not a combo drive, it only has just one head and that’s why I find it too weird… :o
I think I’ll try one of the things you mention there, to clean it…
In any case, I suppose even if I damage it in the end, there isn’t any other way to save it, so…
Thanks for all the help guys… 
[quote=“Timonides”]
No, I suppose maybe I didn’t make it clear, it’s not a combo drive, it only has just one head and that’s why I find it too weird… :o
I think I’ll try one of the things you mention there, to clean it…
In any case, I suppose even if I damage it in the end, there isn’t any other way to save it, so…
Thanks for all the help guys… :D[/quote]
I’d imagine you use it to read CD’s more than DVD’s? perhaps the head is more “worn” for cd reading than dvd reading?
In any case I had a dvd rom drive which would read dvds fine, but would fail on cds. Replaced it.
–
Brian
Replacing is also in my list of options, but you see I have an “itch” in my hands (:P) and I want to try to “operate” the “patient”, before I lose all hope… 
Thanks for all the help rndrbrian…
I wonder if Toshibas commonly have such problems:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/lite/t-80049.html
I see you said that the drive only has one head but I think all drives have one but they have separate lasers. Then the laser is just moved or they might be angled. I don’t think a single laser’s frequency can be adjusted between dvd and cd. It may just be that the cd laser is bust or that it’s reacting differently to any dust because of the different frequency.
If the lasers are moved, check that there is nothing obstructing the mechanism like a piece of thread. The lasers might be on a turntable thing pointing upwards under the lens.
Scroll to the bottom of this link: