How Do You Swap the Burner on a Toshiba RD-XS35?

plplplpl,

Check the thread (in this forum) titled "Tosh XS32 DVD burner".

Using information from this thread, I just recently replaced my DVD drive in my RD-XS32. After the swap, I was happier than a kid in a candy store. The new drive loads disks so much more quickly than the old one.

It actually now produces disks that I can play on other stand-alone DVD players! It didn't do that when it was new, I always had to copy them on my computer and burn a new disk. After the first 5 or 6 wasted DVD-R disks, I began using only DVD-RW disks in my Toshiba. After the replace, I can use a much wider variety of DVD disks that never used to work including DVD-RW 4X and DVD-R 16X.

I hope you can locate the thread, it is great.

I believe the XS35 used the same DVD-RAM burner as the XS32 so switchout should not be an issue. If not, I still am of the opinion that the LG GSA-4167B is simply the most versatile and dependable available, whatever the Toshiba model.

Sourced mine from Micro Devices Pro. Don't know if they ship to Canada. One thing I really love about it is the access to the drives onboard open/close button right behind a front panel PCB through the tray door should you ever get a disc that locks the machine. Sometimes resetting and powering back up with a bad disc still inside won't let the unit boot properly or respond to panel /remote buttons...so off comes the case. Not with the LG.

The XS35 and the XS32 use different burners. More importantly, the XS35's connections are different from the XS32's. The XS35 does not use the ATAPI adapter as does the XS32.

Take a look at this thread. You will find the service manuals for the different Toshi models in Post #58. Post #57 of the thread has a picture of the burner from the XS35.

I have not been able to swap the OEM burner for anything retail. But I haven't tried too hard. I still think it is possible but it hasn't been top of mind lately.

The XS35 has a ribbon cable that is attached directly to the OEM burner. You can see that in the linked post above. Other XS series drives use the same type ribbon cable but then also introduces a small circuit board "converter". The converter takes the ribbon cable in one side and converts it to a standard IDE connection.

Again not so with the XS35. The ribbon cable connects directly to the burner. The thought was to take one of the circuit board converters from another XS series unit and try it with the XS35 and a standard IDE retail burner. I tried it with an LG drive that works with other XS series units and it was a no go with the XS35.

So no success yet with replacing the OEM XS35 burner. I still believe it is possible but no success to date.

You can NOT use any other type of DVD Drive in the RD-XS35. The part number is P000459010 and it costs about 208.44 total tax and shipping included from partstore.com
That is the ONLY place that I have found that has it. I just ordered mine so I haven't installed one yet but it looks like all that you need to do is take the cover off the machine (7 screws), take out the 5 screws that hold the drive and cover in place, unplug the drive in 2 places and do the install of the new drive in reverse.
Make sure that the machine is unplugged and that you are grounded with a grounding strap. As I said before You CAN NOT use any other Drive because the connections are totally different in the RD-XS35.

hey guys,

thanks to this forum, I just swapped out my dvd burner on my RD-XS35, and it was a SNAP!!! I took the burner out of Toshiba DR5, which uses the exact same burner.

thanks, Doug

"Hey, great! Glad to hear you succeeded. So where did you get your D-R5, an Ebay parts machine or something? "

yeah, a few months ago, there was a guy selling DR-5's on e-bay for $50.00 or so each. I bought one in advance just for this purpose. The wires just pull out, a couple screws and your'e done. Toshiba wanted $145.00 for the job, which is still reasonable.

Doug

$83.95 for refurbished D-R5's at WGBD's
If a D-RW2 would work they have those for $43.95

I see what you mean I knew the XS Toshibas would go out of stock but I didn't realize the rest would also I'll try and put a item in my cart before I post any links for WGBDs anymore
edit: That site is pathetic, out of the 16 DVDRs they have listed only 3 are in stock! I might check back later but for now they sure don't have much.

Did anyone try and have success to swap a proprietary dvd burner inside RD-XS35 (same as inside RD-XS55) with any retail PC burner (even with using extra power cables, etc.)?
I do not mind loosing CD readiblity, but I am looking for any burner that support DVD-RAM writing and reading. Clearly, I missed time to buy DR5 recorders for spare parts.

My RD-XS55 decided not to recognize/read any DVDs anymore. Unplugging unit for couple hours did not help, too.

I am getting either a message "Disc is empty" or "Check the disc, it might be dirty or physically damaged." (even for pressed Hollywood movie DVDs). Both messages are usually signs of a dvd burner getting bad.

Thanks for the link. After my post, I searched and found the exactly same website. I decided to give it a try. It's not the price of retail burners or pull-outs from DR5 on eBay, but at least its price is more affordable now (and compare to a Toshiba center repair fee.)

While waiting for a replacement burner, I also cleaned the hub and lenses on the old original burner, but no success. (I already had the same problem with RD-XS54 almost 2 years ago, lenses cleaning did not remedy the "no read" problem. The only solution was a pull-out burner from another unit bought on eBay.)
While I used heavily RD-XS54 burner, I barely used the dvd drive inside RD-XS55, so it was little bit a surprise for me that it failed. Toshiba made a great features on their units, but dvd burners seems to be an expensive "junk" !!!

I received the new burner - DAV-WR542-kit from partstore.com yesterday, and I installed it today. However, after installation of a new burner, I am receiving the exactly same error messages:
"Check the disk, it might be damage physically or require cleaning." when I put a blank DVD-R or DVD-RAM media or
"Disc is empty" when I put a pressed Hollywood DVDs.

Are there any special settings that are needed to be done after the installation of a new burner? Or did I receive the burner DOA? I do not remember doing any special settings on RD-XS54 after a burner swap (it was an easy unplug & plug procedure), but it was not a proprietary burner as it is in RD-XS55 or XS35 models.

The new DAV-WR542 burner was made in Sep 2006 while the original burner inside the unit was made in April 2006. The software version is "2100" (as the original.) Could the "time" on the shelf affect the laser "aging" (based on the burner sticker, it was on the shelf for over 4 & 1/2 years)?

I am puzzled. Is it normal to receive the burner DOA from parts store online sellers?