DVD drive unable to read discs

We hadn't used the DVD drive on our computer for a while (likely since an Ubuntu upgrade) and discovered recently that it was unable to read discs. I was able to find this discussion, which pointed out that Ubuntu 11.10 has a problem reading discs if the DVD drive is configured as master. I opened up the computer and found that there was no way to change the master/slave setting of the drive, since it is a SATA drive. Booting back into the BIOS settings, though, I found that the DVD drive was before the hard drive in the list of SATA devices. I opened the case back up and plugged the hard drive into the SATA 1 connector on the motherboard. Booted back up and the DVD was instantly recognized. Success!