[scorchie]

If it SUDDENLY stopped (as you wrote), it is probably not a dirty lens on the laser... when dirty, the reading performance tends to deteriorate over time, with sporadic errors occuring and becoming worse over time. Since yours was working fine and then completely stopped working, it is more likely due to some hardware failure.

A replacement CD-ROM drive may be in order; if the unit does not come back after resting for a while, then it will likely need repair.

If some extreme condition occurred which has caused this (very high temperature, or some excessively dirty environment which may have deposited a lot of residue on the lens), it is possible that waiting for the unit to cool down, or a commercial disc cleaner, will help.

-s-