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DVD Drive Upgrade
(Thanks again to Graham Frost for this technical guide)
This document details upgrading the JVC Mininote MP-XV841 DVD Drive to a DVD burner.
The standard drive is a UJDA755 9.5mm ultra slim CD writer/DVD reader badged under Panasonic.
To make sure the Bezel/face plate fits, it needs to be replaced with an upgrade from the same Manufacturer.
I have tried the UJ-822B 2.4x DVD writer and the UJ-842B 8x DVD writer, both of which were instantly recognised by the BIOS with no problems. The UJ-842B will also write to Dual Layer media.
One small problem with the UJ-842 is that it doesn’t seem to work with region unlocking software, where as the UJ-822 appeared to read any region after using region unlocking software.
It is best to check that the new drive has a socket like the picture below to ensure compatibility
Remove AC Adaptor plug and battery from laptop before proceeding
The first thing to do is to remove the 2 screws in the bottom cover that hold the CD in, which are labelled CD. It is also best to take out the 3 screws to remove the memory cover as well as this will make removal of the DVD drive easier. These screws are highlighted in the photo
The DVD drive can now be pushed out as shown by the direction of the green arrow shown in the next photo
After the DVD drive has been removed from the laptop, the brackets from the side and back of the DVD Drive need to be removed as shown highlighted in the next photo. Then they need to be refitted to the replacement drive. It is best to do one bracket one at a time with a jeweller’s screwdriver as the screws are very small.
The Front Bezel/face plate needs to be swapped now, so the DVD drive needs to be opened. The drive can be opened using a straightened paper clip pushed into the emergency eject hole.
The clips highlighted in the next photo need to be gently prised open to remove the face plate.
Now the faceplate needs refitting to the replacement DVD drive and the DVD drive needs to be inserted back in the laptop and the screws put back in the original positions.