Solved New laptop no longer sees new optical drive

My new laptop didn't come with an optical drive (CD/DVD burner) so I bought an external one. I connected the drive to my USB hub and used it successfully to install the DVD burning software which came with the drive. Then, I started to use it to install the software for my printer as well. I got distracted by doing too many things at once and decided to abort the install of the printer software so I exited out of that. Now, the laptop doesn't see the optical drive.

I can open and close the tray without issue so I don't think there's anything wrong with the drive. I've tried unplugging the drive from the USB hub and then plugging it in again to see if that would help but it didn't. I've tried removing and replacing the CD but that didn't change anything either.

What else can I try?

Some hubs don't supply a lot of power, so it could be the hub. Have you tried just plugging the optic drive in directly as a test?

I hadn't tried plugging the optical drive directly into the laptop since the first CD was read so effortlessly. I tried it after reading your suggestion and it worked fine. Looks like I should buy a new USB hub that supplies more power to the various devices!

Thanks very much, neemobeer!

Yes, I had a similar issue, my USB 3.0 ports would read USB flash drives fine but only list the USB hard disk folders. Trying to transfer data resulted in an error because the USB 3.0 ports did not provide enough power. I solved it buying a powered USB 3.0 hub. Not even it reads my USB disks fine, but also improved performance, they work a little faster!

RhinoCan said:

I hadn't tried plugging the optical drive directly into the laptop since the first CD was read so effortlessly. I tried it after reading your suggestion and it worked fine. Looks like I should buy a new USB hub that supplies more power to the various devices!

Thanks very much, neemobeer!

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make sure you buy powered usb hubs that provide a separate power supply (aka. power cord & ac adapter)
see this reddit topic on recommended powered usb hubs

RhinoCan said:

Looks like I should buy a new USB hub that supplies more power to the various devices!

Click to expand...

Only guaranteed if the hub itself is powered

The crazy thing is that my existing USB hub *is* powered with an A/C adapter. However, it is several years old now and may well be USB 2.0 so that might be part of my problem. Hubs don't seem very expensive so I may just buy a new one anyway, just to be sure I've got USB 3 support in it.

Yes USB 2.0 hubs may not work properly connected on USB 3.0 ports. To explain your issue, before installing the printer it doesn't exchange data with the computer because it has no drivers. Your current USB hub barely provided enough power to detect the USB DVD-RW. After installing the printer driver, it started exchanging data and reduced the available bandwidth making the DVD-RW undetectable. With a new powered USB 3.0 hub you won't have any issues. Another problem would be the DVD-RW to be detected but not able to properly recognize the disc or write to it.