I have a DV6815nr running Vista, system cannot see DVD

Question

I have an HP Pavilion dv6815nr. The system cannot see the DVD drive. I replaced thDVD drive. Still cannot see it. I've done the upper and lower filters in the registry. I've tried MR Fix it. Still cannot see it.
I was able to to reload the OS from the recovery cd's last week. I was able to now see the DVD. It has now disappeared again. It doesn't show up in the device manager.
This is driving me crazy. This laptop is for my son who has special needs and he really depends on this laptop.
Any body have any ideas?
Thank You
Miike

Answer 1

Unfortunately, it's probably the nVidia graphics processer on the motherboard. With these, it's not a matter of 'if' the video card will fail, but 'when'. I know it seems odd that the graphics card prevents the motherboard from recognizing your optical drive, but all kinds of wierd things happen when the old video card has run too hot.
If you are handy, I would get the parts and service manual for your model from hp.com, disassemble the laptop all the way down to the bare motherboard. Then, remove the fan from the heatsink and clean all the lint that surely covers the heatsink radiator. Look at some of the various YouTube videos that demonstrate the 'poor-boy' motherboard reflow method that uses a few seconds of heat from a pen-torch to reflow the solder on the video chip. The aluminum tape protects the rest of the motherboard from the torch. Then, reinstall the cooling unit, after fitting a copper shim where the old, ineffective thermal 'sponge' that makes up the airgap between the nVidia and the heatsink. Take this opportunity to really clean up the parts. You can test your repair for success without fully reassembling the laptop.
If you get the HP splash screen, you're good to go and reassemble the laptop. If you fail, try it again, since you have nothing to loose. Or, you can send the laptop or motherboard out for a more professional repair to someone who can reflow the nVidia. Or, you might want to order another motherboard from China for under 100 bucks.
I like to update a failed dv6000/dv9000 series laptops with the last version, most featured motherboard, since they seem to be redily available. My personal favorite motherboard that will fit your machine is the full-featured motherboard with discrete graphics subsystem memory 449902-001. To install this motherboard on your machine, you need to get a Southbridge heatsink  (ARTFBAT70040183A, or equivalent), cut the filler from the fan shroud for the added radiator and reassemble the whole mess with new soft TIM's on everything but the Northbridge, where I hand-fit a copper shim to just over a slip fit and stick the whole mess together with silver thermal compound. Once all that is done, I lift out the I/O panel for the USB ports from the bottom half and make the opening for the new HDMI connector that comes on the faster, newer motherboard, with discrete graphics. I've had good luck with Chinese reworked motherboards, but it can take 3 weeks or more, to get them from China. If you're in a rush, you'll pay just a little more from a US seller.
The most up to date motherboard I know that fits the dv6000 series without the discrete graphics is a 449903-001. Officially, I think we're only supposed to buy an exact replacement, but when the last version with the fastest bus is easier to find and the same price or less, I see no reason not to go all the way.