[ale] fried innards

[Greg Clifton]

Sean,

Does it happen often? Not in my 25 years of hardware experience, it is
actually quite rare.

The fault could be a short in the DVD, a loose connection ( perhaps from
failure to securely plug in the power connector during assembly) or a
failed power supply. If the fault is either the device or connection,
unplugging that power connection should allow the system to run again. If
power supply went over voltage on you then other things are probably fried
as well, but I would expect that to be reflected in the circuit boards
rather than the power connections.

I'm guessing the problem is with the power plug. If you have a volt meter,
you can check for the voltages. I assume this is a 5.25" DVD drive. If so,
you have a 4 pin connector with 2 black (ground), 1 yellow (12V) and 1 red
(5v)  wires in that plug. Test and see if you have voltages near those
after disconnecting the DVD.

Good luck,
Greg Clifton


On Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 2:26 PM, Sean Kilpatrick <kilpatms at gmail.com> wrote:

> **
>
> I'm working away at the keyboard, minding my own business, when I smell
> the unmistakeable odor of burning electrics and realize that the room is
> suddenly hazy -- as in filling up with smoke.
>
> WTF
>
> No flames in sight and the only thing that seems overly warm to the touch
> is the top of the computer case. So I - - -
>
> Pull the plug
>
> Open the windows
>
> Open up the box
>
> The problem is easy to see: the power plug to the CD/DVD burner has
> failed, causing a short that has melted the plug.
>
> Questions: Does this kind of thing happen often? Is it a symptom of a
> deeper problem, such as a flaky power supply?
>
>  Sean
>
>
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