This is driving me nuts, I have 2 different DVD-RW drives, and both come up with the same thing on startup, but the original DVD-RW drive (now gone as I fitted it to another laptop) worked fine, and an original CD-RW/DVD Combi for the Tecra A2 & Satellite A50 series I'm currently using works fine aswell. So, is there a set of drives that this laptop cannot use, or is the damned thing being stupid?

Things I have tried:
BIOS update - no change
PCs via an adaptor or other laptops - both drives worked fine
A Tecra A2 - Same result as my laptop
Threatening the laptop with a hammer - no change

The drive make and models are:
Panasonic UJ-830B - Used in my old laptop, worked fine
H-L Data Storage GMA-4082N - used in a mini-ITX PC, worked beautifully, this is the drive I wish to use

The Combi drive I'm using is a Toshiba branded one as was the original DVD-RW drive, so I'm assuming that for some reason this laptop is locked to use only Toshiba hardware, which is a bit of a pain!!! There are no options in the (ancient style) BIOS for anything to do with the optical drive, bar the boot order. So, I'm stumped, and I really would like to have a DVD-RW drive soon as I have videos I want to write to DVD!!!

Thanks in advance...

This is possible. I know in many models of HP and Compaq laptops you cannot swap out the Broadcom Wireless card, for example. I tried these experiments because I wanted to use UBUNTU and the Broadcom drivers were a pain to get working. So when I tried an Intel wireless card, the computer would not POST.

Consider an external DVD burner. Or just buy the external USB enclosure with an Internal IDE DVD drive - could be cheaper.

I discovered the solution whilst scouring Toshiba's support forum, it's a relatively simple solution, for those with fine soldering skills, basically you have to solder pins 45 and 47 together which enables Cable Select on the drive, thus enabling the use of the drive in my laptop!!!

Here's a picture I found through googling which should help others with their drive problems:

http://www.unique-develop.szm.com/slimline.jpg

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.

No problem, and I have to report, all is working well, the new drive is in, playing DVDs and writing discs, so I'm pleased...

Incidentally, the drive came out of another Toshiba (I forgot which model, but it was a sweet laptop, just a shame it was liquid damaged beyond repair), which confused me a lot when trying to swap the drives...