Trying to install 3.4a overheats my DVD drive!

[darkscot]

A few days ago I used the upgrade option to move from 3.4 loop3 to 3.4a. Everything went very well generally and all the software seemed updated and the users settings saved. However, after using it for a while i found several things that were broken. These seemed to be mainly graphics related such as screensaver, 3D desktop etc. As all these worked on the LiveCD I wondered if it was due to doing an upgrade instead of a complete re-install. So as my idea of a good time is installing distros I decided to do a re-install, WRONG!
Despite several attempts the installation never completes because my DVD drive overheats because, presumably, it has been running for so long (90+ minutes). Each time I do the install I select fewer packages to install but it has never got past 90% complete. It is definitely the drive overheating because if I try to read any DVD after the attempted installation it fails. If I let it cool down for a while it is fine, also no other features of the PC are affected.
I am going to try it with none of the packages selected and see if that works.
I wonder how many other people have this problem but don't realise it?

[wolfden]

never heard of a DVD drive over heating

check your fireware and make sure it is up to date

[DontPanic]

My DVD drive overheats all the time also. Probably, it's a little more complicated than attributing it just to overheating. It depends on the disc I'm using, and perhaps how I burned it.

A new DVD drive is on my shopping list. But in the meantime, I'll sometimes put a small box fan in front of my computer if I'll be using that drive for an extended period (my case covers never seem to stay on for long, so the DVD drive gets external air flow this way).

And, like wolfden says, if your fireware is running hot, that could be the problem also.

[darkscot]

I treated myself to another DVD-ROM drive and installed SL 3.4 in about 40 minutes! So it would seem that my other drive is on the way out and has been for some time.
My old drive still works fine for running games and burning CD/DVDs but obviously not for installing mega distros like Sabayon.
I wonder how many other installation problems could be associated with overheating DVD drives?

[wolfden]

a weak DVD drive will cause a mess that is for sure. I had to replace mine on my desktop. SL was first to notice problems and than as it got worse, other programs started having issues with it. It finally stopped reading all together.

So I guess it could be a sign of a bad DVD drive if people are having issues.