Can dvd-rw be repaired?

[tecra]

clearly the price drops in dvd-rw drives is such it hardly makes sense to repair them when they inevitably give up and die.

nevertheless, can a dvd drive be tweaked or fixed once they stop being able to read dvd's properly and or write them correctly.

i am asking mostly because i have a number of dvd and dvd-rw drives which are tired and no longer read discs properly or at all.

rather than just bin them i would like a project to fix them if i can and if someone here has any advice or can point me in the direction of finding on the web where i can.

thanks

[adict2jane]

Try doing a full erase on a mac superdrive if you are able to/have access to one. I have had a couple dvd-rw's which became unreadable in all of my readers/writers (error during the lead-in). The disks just spin for a while and lock up windows no matter the drive, but my mac @ work with a pioneer 106D was able to recognise. After a full erase the disks worked again in my burners

[chef]

Nope, just use a good tool, like DVDInfo.

[jason_godly]

if you're talking about dvd-rw DRIVE, maybe try to flash a new firmware would help

[Corbus]

If you open the drive you will see the lens and the PCB; now, if the problem is the lens there are some tiny screws which can be turned to allow the lens a better focus. Now this thing I remember it was possible with old Pioneer optical drives but I have no experience of doing this.

[chef]

Flashing a new firmware cannot magically make hardware issues disappearing.

[Matth]

If it needs cleaning, then cleaning may help (open up and air duster, though not too close to the lens). Kill or cure with a cleaning disk - NOTHING is meant to contact the lens, so they can do more harm than good.

Delicate mechanical parts, delicate electronic parts, and with the current price and improved performance / new media codes of later drives, it's not worth spending much time or effort on a drive, even if it cost silly money when it WAS new.

[agomes]

You say you have a "number" of drives that gave up reading and/or writting.
How old are those units? How heavy is the workload you put on them?
How many computers do you have?
Sorry for all the questions, but it can make a difference.
What conditions your(s) pc(s) face? The media you use?
Do you have probs with other devices?
Apart from the reasons and solutions given up to now, do you have a lot of humidity that can harm the drives?
Whatever the explanation, if they do not bennefict from a guaranty, you will pay more than the actual value as Matth said.

[luminous]

I think after a while its inevitable that the lens needs a good clean,q tips and alcohol and a blast of compressed air have breathed new life into about 7 xbox dvd roms i clean for folks.Some of the lens have been really dirty and needed a good scrub.Its worth a shot before you dump them.