Acer 7520 - DVD Drive has suddenly stopped showing up - both BIOS & Windows 7

Hi all,

I went to play a DVD two days ago in my 7520 laptop but I noticed that the DVD drive wasn't showing in "Computer" as a drive in Windows 7. I checked in Device Manager and also noticed that I had no optical drives listed. I thought maybe this was just a glitch through hibernation as I hibernate my machine most times rather than shutting down, so I gave it a proper shut down and reboot, but then I noticed that the drive was not showing up in the BIOS either - it usually flashes up along with a lot of other hardware information very very quickly just after the RAM count, or shows in the BIOS set up under the "Boot order" screen.

I have no idea how long this could have been the case, as I do not use my ROM drive that often, but I know that I was using it 2 weeks or so ago, and I have never had a problem with it before. Any advice on this one? Is there any way I can slide the drive out then back in to see if it's a connection issue?

Thanks,

Alex

Hi thanks for the response!

Yes after viewing a video on Youtube I discovered the drive was simply held in by a single screw and removed it and then re-seated it. I have done this on 2 occasions now with no joy

Yes a replacement drive might be my only option. But then I have had this laptop for 4 years now.

Is it common for laptop ROM drives to just randomly fail? I've never had a problem with optical drives on laptops or desktops in the past.

Hi, thanks for the response.

I would try a system restore, but I am 100% sure this would not solve the problem as the drive is not showing up in the BIOS either, therefore it's not showing up in Windows. Also I can't boot off a CD for the same reason, the ROM drive is not available in the BIOS or F12 boot menu to select.

Any other ideas?

It looks like I may need to buy a new drive, but a) would it have to be the same model as the one that's in there now? and b) is there any way I can establish whether it is the drive that is faulty or the system?

Thanks,

Alex

Thanks for the link. I will give it a go with re: the upper/lower filters, but not sure if it will have any effect as the drive is not even showing in the BIOS.

This morning when I turned my laptop on though, the drive was listed in the list of hardware items that quickly flashes up, then sure enough, in Windows, the DVD drive was back showing in "Computer" - I browsed a CD and it seemed to work ok. When I went back a bit later, the drive was again missing and has not since re-appeared!! :-(

Thanks for the reply.

Feels a very long time since I made this thread, as since this, the entire laptop has self-destructed pretty much!

I now have the Acer 7520 reboot loop which I've read so much about online, probably due to a failed GPU connection on the board - I saw a video on Youtube of a guy with the exact same laptop and exact same problem holding a hairdryer underneath and after a minute or two the laptop stopped it's 3-4 second cycle reboot loop and sure enough, booted up and Windows began loading.

I dismantled the entire laptop myself and tried it too - and to my shock the laptop stayed on, so with it still apart, I connected the screen up to the internal monitor port and went into the BIOS and then noticed that my DVD drive was showing up fine! As I had dismantled the laptop, I had removed the DVD drive and the small bridge connector that connects it to the MB, and then re-connected it and it seemed OK, so maybe there was just a loose connection internally.

However, it didn't really help in the end - just before contemplating putting the laptop back together again, the reboot problem started again - it will just turn on and off continuously until the battery or AC is pulled. Also the hairdryer trick is not working now, so seems like it's screwed