need help with electronics

[johncomic]

(more specifically, someone who knows about CD players and CD-ROM drives...)

my CD-ROM drive quit working a couple days ago. i stick a CD in, and it whirs for a few seconds and then says "please insert disk" or whatever message is appropriate for the app currently in use ---- bottom line is that the drive thinks that there is no disk in it, even though there is a disk in it. a few hours previous it was fine. just all of a sudden, boom: it can't "see" a thing.

what really burns me is that this has happened to every single frickin CD player or CD-ROM drive i have ever owned. it usually takes about 3 years at most for the drive to "go blind". i've lost 3 CD players and 2 CD-ROMs this way... and whenever i try taking them in to be repaired, what happens is 1) it turns out to be cheaper to buy a new one, so that's what i end up doing, and 2) the repair guy says he doesn't understand the problem, never heard of one doing that before, etc.

is it actually possible that such a problem can be so rare that no repair guys recognize it, yet can be so common with my equipment that it strikes with a 100% success rate??!!?? i ask ya!

meanwhile my brother mich has a CD player going on 15 years old that still works fine, so i know it is possible for one to live longer than 3 years... geez, i dunno....

so, has anyone out there ever had this "can't detect any disks" problem with their equipment? more importantly, does anyone know if/how it can be fixed, please?? so much music to listen to, so little time... (and so little money available to buy a replacement just now....)

Comments

[traypup.livejournal.com]

I am clueless about these things. I do know that at times I am plagued with the same sort of weirdness with my equipment that nobody else has and people think I'm insane. :( So, at least you're not alone....but I don't think that helps.