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What external CD/DVD/Blu-ray player works with Surface Pro using Windows 10?

Anonymous
2020-08-17T00:27:31+00:00

We have tried an external CD/DVD read write drive which worked for a while as plug&play, but when we tried a new external DVD/Blu-ray read write drive the Surface Pro 4 could not recognize it. Now neither external drive works .There seems to be no information for what hardware to use or what software to use; we would simply like to play our home media. Who has some answers? This technology was easy to find & purchase for the last few decades, but the information online about current Windows 10 / Surface doesn't help with troubleshooting. Is Surface considered a 'tablet'?

Surface | Surface Pro | Install and update

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  1. Barb Bowman 80,700 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2020-08-18T09:04:53+00:00

    Surface does not have enough power over USB for many peripherals. You DO need to
    try a POWERED USB hub with the new drive. This has resolved this issue for many
    others.

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  1. Barb Bowman 80,700 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2020-08-18T09:09:03+00:00

    Also try uninstalling and reinstalling the USB controller drivers:

    Uninstall and Reinstall all the USB Controllers
        1. Disconnect the USB CD/DVD drive from your Surface and remove any micro SD
    card in the slot.
        2. Open Device Manager
    <https://support.microsoft.com/help/4026149/windows-open-device-manager>.

        3. Expand *Universal Serial Bus Controllers*       .
        4. Right-click on every driver under the *Universal Serial Bus Controllers*
     listing, and then click *Uninstall*  to remove them one at a time.
        5. Restart the device so that Windows reinstalls the USB controller drivers
    automatically.
        6. Plug the USB peripherals in again and check if that resolves the issue.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-08-17T21:02:08+00:00

    Thank you for your time and assistance!

    We have not tried a USB hub. Both the DVD and the DVD/Blu-ray drives were purchased from different Amazon vendors 9 months apart, although they are superficially identical. The new device (DVD/Blu-ray) brand appears to be "PiAEK". It is ostensibly plug & play (as all the reviewers claim), but the baffling instructions include mention of downloading software, but no preferred brand. We've installed several apps, and can get the DVD title to show, but then we get an error that there is no disk in the drive. Device Manager will show the disk for a moment, then it disappears.

    At this point, I think we've got another lemon, but I want to see if it just isn't intended for a Surface. There are comments about it not working with a tablet, but is a Surface considered a tablet in this case?

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  2. Barb Bowman 80,700 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2020-08-17T09:20:35+00:00

    Have you tried using a powered USB Hub between these drives and your Surface?
    What is the brand and model of the device that previously worked? Do other USB
    peripherals work?
    If you go into Device Manager and expand Universal Serial Bus Controllers (USB)
    are there any yellow bangs/errors?

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