Is my LG BP50NBP40 external DVD burner bad?

I have a seldom used external BD/RE unit LG BP50NBP40 that isn't working. I purchased it a couple of years ago to go with my new laptop that doesn't have an internal cd/dvd drive and it worked fine with both the laptop and my desktop machines for the dozen or so times that I've used it. Now File Explorer doesn't recognize it on any of my machines.

The unit spins up with a CD or DVD inserted but isn't recognized by Explorer. It does show up in Disk Management and when I click on "Properties" the return says that the device is working properly and the best driver is being used. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the unit and the results don't change. Also went through the Windows troubleshooter without success.

Is there some way that I can confirm that the unit actually is bad before I purchase a new one?

Thanks. I tried the first 4 solutions and they didn't get my drive back into File Explorer. Starting with #5 I lost my courage without backing up my system (over 500GB). So I discontinued without revising my registry. I may instead copy registry lines, append them with a word like "old" and then work on editing the keys. But I'm hoping for a more reasonable approach.
As the included screenshots show, my computer does recognize the drive and reports that it's working properly.
I'm just unable to get it to show in Explorer. I get these reports whether or not a known good CD is inserted.

Ask LG support if there is a firmware update for this DVD

I met a similar situation before. The external hard drive didn't show up in My computer, even in Disk Management. Trying hard to make it clear. Finally, the cause was found - it is not enabled in System Setup (BIOS), because different computer manufacturers have different methods to enter system BIOS.

Thomas - changed drive letter to B and still isn't recognized in File Explorer.

Cassie - The BIOS settings for my inspiron 15 7000 are quite extensive and confusing - different from previous machines. I don't find e.g., a boot sequence or drive descriptions. the drive does show up in disk management. I do see several functionality checks. A DVD or optical drive is not found. There are some choices for new or default settings and I don't feel comfortable changing those. The DVD drive worked fine with this machine's BIOS settings until a few weeks ago.

lbeck said:

Thomas - changed drive letter to B and still isn't recognized in File Explorer.

When you say not recognised: it seems Explorer can see a drive (F: in Disk Management screen shot above), but no media. I get that with nothing in the drive. So its not the BIOS. Are you sure the media in the drive is OK? It's possible for optical drives to be able to read some media types, and not others: I have had ones that could read DVDs but not CDs.