computer building - Where do you put your optical disc drive?

08
2014-07
  • TheX

    My case has three places the OD drive could go, where do you prefer your drive?

    Currently my drive is in the bottom slot because that is all the longer my SATA cable allows for, but I was just curious as to where people put theirs and do the other slots hold any advantages?

    • Answers
  • Keltari

    As Ramhound and Techie007 said in the comments, it really doesnt matter where you put it... with a few exceptions.

    With any device you attach to your computer, internally or externally, just make sure it doesnt impede the operation or placement of other devices. Problems that could occur is stretching cables or putting pressure on an internal card.

    There are other things to consider, such as airflow and heat. Some cases are designed to allow air to flow along a certain path. Generally, they take new drives into account, but it cant hurt to check.

    Another factor is sound. Depending on how the case is made, putting the drive in one bay over another might make it vibrate more and sound louder.

  • Sickest

    Again, @keltari raises some good points, but i want to bring up one more.

    Consider the location of your computer, some people place their computer below the top of their desk, which would put the Tower at "leg level", which would be wise to place the optical drive at the very top of the Tower. Making it easier for you not having to bend all the way down to place the disk or retrieve the disk.

    If you place your PC/Tower on top of the desk, you would want to place the optical drive on the very bottom of the PC's slots to be able to reach the drive easier when ejected.


    • Related Question

    Macbook optical drive blocked
  • milse

    The optical drive on my Macbook seems to have some sort of blockage. When I try to insert a disk the disk seems to be hitting something inside the drive on the right side (the side nearer the monitor). Thus disks do not fit into the drive. This problem occurred a few weeks ago, but then miraculously fixed itself. It felt like I had managed to maneuver the disk over the blockage. Now the blockage is back and I can't get any disks into the drive again. Anyone ever encountered this problem before? I probably need to open up my Macbook, huh.


    • Related Answers
  • Jeff Atwood

    I solved the same problem by forcing an eject through commandline. Open a terminal and type 

    drutil eject
  • fideli

    This may not be the best solution, but I had that problem a few months ago on my Late 2008 MacBook and I just slowly but forcefully pushed a disk in and out to coax the mechanism to release. That was the best solution that I read online (I can't seem to find anything now, the search terms evade me).

    Apple user forums also recommend trying an SMC reset:

    my optical drive is blocked. No CD/DVD inserted. I tried to insert a disc. not possible. feels like a arm avoid a insert of the disc.
    when booting the mac the drive tries 3 times to eject something. (even its empty).

    …

    You could try an SMC reset … see http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2801 and http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

  • Theo Bilbao

    OK, I finally solved my problem. There was definitely some sort of rotor that was elevated near the middle right of the drive preventing me from inserting a disk. The drive was obviously in a whacked state thinking there was a disk physically in the drive even though there obviously was no disk in the drive.

    SO! The following did NOT work: system reset, sticking in a disk and banging it, forcing it, pushing it, tapping it, etc., rebooting and holding down the mouse key - EVERYTHING I read online.

    This DID work: Get a credit card and slide it into the drive below the rotor near the front edge of the drive slot (away from the screen) - it will go past the blocking rotor near the back. At that point if you move it back toward the screen you can feel the rotor still blocking. Now gently bend the credit card upward (toward the keys) while sliding it back (toward the screen) - it will pass over the top of the rotor. Now hold the credit card where it is and get a CD and slide it into the drive with the credit card shimming it over the rotor. The disk should go in as far as you want it to. I kept out just a tiny edge - enough to hold onto with my fingertips. Once it was in that far and inserted past the rotor, that was enough to reset whatever sensor on the drive was messed up and the motor came to life, the blocking rotor dropped and everything resumed functioning. I did all this while the machine was running with no stupid restarts etc.