Replace my notebook drive in a Toshiba Satellite 5100/5105 - Experience?

Question

I plan to replace the failing CDRW/DVD-drive in my Toshiba Satellite 5100-503 (european version, it was sold as 5105 in the US and other countries).
The built-in drive is a UJDA730.
As upgrade I consider the highly regarded a Slimline DVD+/-RW drive. Unfortunately, some research on the internet revealed that upgrading a notebook's optical drive is not as straightforward as one might hope. I had no trouble removing my old drive (you only have to remove the keyboard and unscrew two screws), so I consider myself capable of putting in an new drive instead. However, two problems remain:
-mechanical compatibily: The 6500A appears to have a different front bezel layout. Its eject button and LED are in a different position than that of my current drive, so I doubt I will be able to use my old bezel with the other one. In addition, the bezel of my old drive has a recess in the lower right corner (similar to that found on some Fujitsu-Siemens notebooks), which gives room for the volume control of the notebook. So I cannot reuse the old bezel, and the NEC's bezel will probably not allow me to close the drive's tray. I wonder if some Dremel-work on the plastic parts of the NEC drive will allow me to fit it in physically. Has anybody tried that?
-electronical compatibility: notebook drives generally do not have jumpers to change their Master/Slave/cable select configuration. Instead this is set within the firmware, so changing it requires flashing a new firmware, which is not easy to come by and hard to do if your drive is not even recognized. SO I need to find out whether my notebooks needs the optical drive set to master, slave. cable select or "inverse cable select". Can anyone help me here, either by own experience or by directing me to an appropriate source on the web?

Answer 1

@chris_cool: I very well know that the drive is not removable like the one in the 5200 or many other notebooks. But it is simply wrong that it is "only replaceble with the same model". Slimline drives are standardized, so their mounting holes, connector placement etc. are not the problem. The only problem ist the front bezel (which is made of plastic, and I won't hesitate to cut it to fit to my notebook) and the master/slave setting, which, since it usually cannot be changed via jumper like in standard IDE devices, has to "fit" to the notebook. My primary question is what master/slave-setting my notebook expects from an optical drive. Since the usual system utilities cannot discern a true "master/slave" setting from a master/slave configuration derived by using "cable select", I don't see a way to find this out myself.
BTW: I don't care too much if the bezel of the new drive doesn't look too good on my notebook, as long as it works.
Especially since I will get superior functionality (DVD-recording) while probably paying less than for an original spare part. And going with an external drive is absolutely no option, since I would have no optical drive when taking the notebook along. Even if I did lug the heavy external drive around, most of them need an AC adapter. Some are powered via USB, but since my notebook has only USB 1.1 which only transfers a (theoretical!) maximum of 1,5MByte/s, this would allow reading and writing of CDs at a maximum speed of about 6x-8x. Less functionality, less comfort, and a higher price -> no option.
@danielgaspar76
Do you happen to know the configuration of the replacement drive you bought? Is it in a master, slave or "cable select" or "inverse cable select" configuration?
You say you changed the front bezel... I think this only worked because the drives are from the same manufacturer. I doubt I will be that lucky with the NEC drive, since LED, eject button etc. are in a different place. I don't mind cutting the NEC drive's bezel to fit. It won't look pretty, but I am quite confident that it can be done. Yet not a 100% sure... ;-)
I am not too much concerned about the recovery CD, since I am using Linux with the notebook anyway.