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Modify your CD-ROM to watch DVD movies

24 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/modify-your-cd-rom-to-watch-dvd-movies.62152/

piyushp_20
piyushp_20 Original post #1
Jul 5, 2007 at 11:31 AM
Modify Your CD-ROM to Watch DVD Movies



There are two types of CD-ROM drives we can mod:
24x to 40x
40x or higher
Drives slower than 24x are too old to be modded.
24x to 40x CD ROMs
Laser Head Adjustments:
The track pitch of CDs is 1.6 microns, and the track pitch of DVDs is only 0.8 microns. The minimum length of track pits of CDs is 0.843mm, and the minimum length of track pits of DVDs is 0.293mm. That's why DVD discs can store much more data in the size of a CD.
Pinpointing this situation, we need to adjust the laser head so it can read discs with smaller track pitchs and shorter track pits. Open up the CD-ROM drive, do you see a lens on the rail? That's the laser head. On the side of the laser head, there's a screw you can adjust.
This is the key of this mod.
This screw can adjust the size of the laser beam that lands on the disc. Referring to the above, after adjusting, the laser beam should be less than 0.293mm, to suit the needs of DVD discs. So turn that screw 2-3 times. I got this number through trial and error. Mark with a pencil, in case you forget how many times you turned that screw.
Speed adjustments:
DVD-ROM drives can play DVD movies smoothly at 4x speed. If we're modding a 32x CD-ROM drive, the rotation speed is obviously too high, increasing heat, and shortening the life of the drive.
So we need to decrease the speed of it.
Most people know that power supplies can provide 5V (red wire) and 12V (yellow wire) electricity output for Molex connectors. Find the Molex connector you'll plug into the modded CD-ROM drive, cut the yellow wire or insulate it with tape, so only 5V of electricity is transferred to the CD-ROM drive. The speed of the drive is now 32 * 5/17 = 9.41x and can now fulfill our requirements.

40x or higher CD ROMs
When 40x CD-ROM drives are released, most manufacturers are already producing DVD-ROM drives. To lower cost, they use the same core as DVD-ROM drives with DVD functions disabled. What we need to do here is to re-enable the DVD function.
Open up the CD-ROM, behind the circuit board, look for a jumper that says DVD JUMP. Find a jumper to connect this jumper. Thin metal wire also works fine.
OK, so the DVD function is unlocked, but we still need to decrease the speed. Use the instructions above on how to decrase the speed of the drive.
Notes:
Modded drives cannot be detected in POST, that means you cannot use it in DOS. But once you get into Windows, the drive works fine.
Modded drives have no region code problems.
Modded drives MIGHT NOT read DVD9 discs, that's why I said you can watch most retail DVDs in the beginning

source: techarena
B
Jul 5, 2007 at 12:51 PM
Great Post if it works.
piyushp_20
Jul 5, 2007 at 2:08 PM
thankx buddy, i found this piece of article while surfing so thought to share it with u all.

but i hvnt tried it personally as i already have a DVD writer,
please tell me if it works or not.
Gigacore
Jul 5, 2007 at 2:12 PM
nice tut buddy
saurabh kakkar
Jul 5, 2007 at 2:20 PM
piyushp_20 said:
thanks buddy, i found this piece of article while surfing so thought to share it with u all.

but i hvnt tried it personally as i already have a DVD writer,
please tell me if it works or not.

thanks Buddy for sharing Ur findings but Plz try to post any tutorial which r

tested either by u or by someone else cos Wrong info can lead to disaster

keep posting Ur findings
piyushp_20
Jul 5, 2007 at 2:24 PM
ok buddy,

next time ill do that.
Abhishek Dwivedi
Jul 5, 2007 at 3:05 PM
hey bro...can u post a few pic on this stuf...

behind the circuit board, look for a jumper that says DVD JUMP. Find a jumper to connect this jumper. Thin metal wire also works fine.


i ma kinda confused


but still gr8 job :)
xbonez
xbonez #8
Jul 5, 2007 at 3:35 PM
risky, but if it works pretty cool!

i already have a combo drive, looking for an article on converting m dvd drive into a dvd writer :))
enticer86
Jul 5, 2007 at 4:40 PM
piyushp_20 said:
thankx buddy, i found this piece of article while surfing so thought to share it with u all.

but i hvnt tried it personally as i already have a DVD writer,
please tell me if it works or not.

m sorry but i dont think this can ever work.. if it was so easy to convert CDROM to DVD, thn there wont b much diff in the cost of the two... anyways..

by the no. of posts u seem to b pretty new here... pls dont post such tutorials in first person without trying this stuff urself.. atleast mention the source.

Your other tutorial "FREE HUTCH GRPS IN SE PHONES" is completely useless as well...
zyberboy
zyberboy #10
Jul 5, 2007 at 4:57 PM
^^Huh! The thread starter has good mind to post his find, and some r trying to beat him for this.
enticer86
enticer86 #11
Jul 5, 2007 at 5:18 PM
dude... m not beating or anything.. but theres no sense in givin wrong info... lik that free gprs thread..
piyushp_20
Jul 5, 2007 at 5:55 PM
buddy,
i have already said sorry for the GPRS thread,

and for god sake stop critisising me, i just post my finds here,
and from now i get to know that for the finds u have to submit the source and m doing the same thing.
praka123
praka123 #13
Jul 5, 2007 at 5:58 PM
thx for the mod(not tried) news .yes this is a news for me :-| that cd player to play DVDs :shock: and i'd like to know that can i make my philips music system vcd player to read/play DVDs :p :D
but teh original source:
*216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:6vwMxU4UgREJ:www.xdownx.com/index.php%3Fshowtopic%3D19754+Modify+Your+CD-ROM+to+Watch+DVD+Movies&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=in
sauravktr
sauravktr #14
Jul 6, 2007 at 3:41 AM
Nice info....let me try
assasin
assasin #15
Jul 6, 2007 at 9:59 AM
piyushp_20 said:
buddy,
i have already said sorry for the GPRS thread,

and for god sake stop critisising me, i just post my finds here,
and from now i get to know that for the finds u have to submit the source and m doing the same thing.

nobody is barring u from posting ur finds.ur always welcome to post ur find and share it with all of us.
but keep one thing in mind that before posting any hardware mods,just verify whether it works or not.also try to post pics of the mod.
as far as this mod is concerned i dont think its possible,cuz cd-roms and dvd-roms hav diff lens assemblies,cuz both req laser of diff wavelenght to operate.
piyushp_20
Jul 6, 2007 at 10:05 AM
i posted this article here coz to know whether it really works or not and to get expert comments on it.
prasad_den
Jul 6, 2007 at 10:07 AM
Piyush... nice post buddy...!!Will have to try this once my CD drive gets to the point of death.. :D :D But next time post the actual source, not other forums where you got it..

@enticer: Its not always possible that everyone try everything first hand and then post the tutorial.. Just visit the actual source and find out the responses to the article.. :D
assasin
assasin #18
Jul 6, 2007 at 10:10 AM
piyushp_20 said:
i posted this article here coz to know whether it really works or not and to get expert comments on it.

WTF:mad: :mad:
wat do u mean by expert comments?:mad: :mad:
and where the hell in the first post did ya mention that 'guys i havnt tried this trick.u ppl try and tell me whether it works or not'

when u start a thread in the tutorial section its taken for granted that u hav tried it out frist urself,found it working and now ur sharing it.
enticer86
enticer86 #19
Jul 6, 2007 at 11:59 AM
assasin said:
WTF:mad: :mad:
wat do u mean by expert comments?:mad: :mad:
and where the hell in the first post did ya mention that 'guys i havnt tried this trick.u ppl try and tell me whether it works or not'

when u start a thread in the tutorial section its taken for granted that u hav tried it out frist urself,found it working and now ur sharing it.

thnks man... u got my point now...

c yaar none is perfect, n since in the tut he dint mention if he wants us to chek or smthin, someone mite ebd up badly screwing his hardware

prasad_den said:
@enticer: Its not always possible that everyone try everything first hand and then post the tutorial.. Just visit the actual source and find out the responses to the article.. :D


bro my point is that we can try the TUTORIALS, not the thing he is askin- to find if it works.... as he is saying, this is not exactly a tutorial


Infact this shud hav been in the Q n A Section i gues
ashisharya
Jul 6, 2007 at 2:45 PM
didnt b able to understand much
piyushp_20
Jul 6, 2007 at 2:54 PM
sry guys just got ur point, nw stop this.

ill try the mods myself first and then post them here.
saurabh kakkar
Jul 9, 2007 at 3:52 PM
is any one out there trying this method or this method is a complete ... beep
L
Liggy #23
Jul 10, 2007 at 10:39 PM
piyushp_20, Dude as long as you have the source, you shouldn't need to test it out yourself, This is a great post, and I think I'll rip apart some of my old cd drives to see. Most of us do have DVD drives by now, and probably an old cd drive kickin around as well. Over here they're practically the same price, same for those lightscribes! so it kinda make you wonder, what the difference between the two are.....
Rollercoaster
Jul 12, 2007 at 7:35 PM
the base concept of this mod is flawed. a dvd need a completely different type of laser to operate. i.e it does not need a narrower beam but a smaller wave length!

also a optical drives lens assembly does not have a 'screw' to narrow the beam, as it has a magnetic mechanism that it uses to move the lens to focus correctly on an optical track. It may possible have a screw (a variable resister/capacitor) to adjust the intensity of the beam.

get ur concepts right.