Optical drive not reading dvd's

Question

I got my alienware m17x R2 last year and a few weeks ago for some reason the Optical drive decided to stop reading any form of DVD CD that i put in. I have tried all types (dvd movie, dvd games, software) but can't figure out why it has started doing this. It reads audio CDs no problem and reads blank DVD disks and burns both audio and DVD disks yet it does not read any bought or burnt discs. My optical drive is.

IDE\CDROMHL-DT-ST_DVD+-RW_GA31N__________________A200____

i have tried "power drains" i have fully updated BIOS, i have deleted the upper and lower filters, uninstalled the drivers and reinstalled, done diagnostics on the drive which show its not reading the CDs (which i know already) i've tried cleaning the lens with a lens cleaner CD . I haven't updated the firmware as there aren't any updates as i have seen and I would like to avoid having to check the cable connections on the drive itself as it is a tough task and don't want to risk any further damage. Can anyone give me any solutions to try that i haven't already tried?

My System Information Is

OS Name	Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Version	6.1.7600 Build 7600
Other OS Description 	Not Available
OS Manufacturer	Microsoft Corporation
System Name	STEWY-PC
System Manufacturer	Alienware
System Model	M17x
System Type	x64-based PC
Processor	Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU       M 540  @ 2.53GHz, 2528 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date	Alienware A10, 17/01/2011
SMBIOS Version	2.6

Drive	D:
Description	CD-ROM Drive
Media Loaded	No
Media Type	DVD Writer
Name	HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GA31N
Manufacturer	(Standard CD-ROM drives)
Status	OK
Transfer Rate	-1.00 kbytes/sec
SCSI Target ID	1
PNP Device ID	IDE\CDROMHL-DT-ST_DVD+-RW_GA31N__________________A200____\4&35FACC8E&0&0.1.0
Driver	c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys (6.1.7600.16385, 144.00 KB (147,456 bytes), 14/07/2009 00:19)

I appreciate any help.

Thank You

DELL-Chris M · Answer

It appears to be defective. Send me the service tag number via private message so I can find the Dell part number for the drive and also check your warranty.

skarpachi · Answer

I to am having the same problem, I have an Alienware M17x Laptop, & my cd-rom will read movies, but it wil ot read any burnt cd's or DVD's that I have programs & software on. any help on this matter would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in Advance.

DELL-Chris M · Answer

skarpach, What specific CD drive? What specific M17x? (R1, R2, R3, R4)

skarpachi · Answer

The Cd rom is, Optiarc DVD+-RW AD-7640S SCSI CdRom Device. And I'm not really sure how to tell if my laptop is an R1 or R2 or R3

skarpachi · Answer

Hi chris as to my last post I've found out my Alienware M17x laptop is an R2 Model

skarpachi · Answer

I'm kinda new to owning a Alienware & I appreciate your patience, but how do I Flash my firmware?

If you could post the process Step by Step if possible, that would be the most helpful, thanks in advance..

DELL-Chris M · Answer

See if flashing the firmware fixes the issues.

DELL-Chris M · Answer

The site is not coming up for me right now. But periodically check the link I provided in my previous post. There should be step by step instructions on the page.

DELL-Chris M · Answer

1. Download the 'AD-7640S HD18.zip' file2. Unzip the file and navigate to the file inside the 'WIN' folder3. Please make sure you have the administrator right, and double click on 'Optiarc AD-7640S_HD18.exe'4. Click 'Run' and then 'Yes' to run the firmware flash utility application5. Click on 'Update' button. This may take as long as two minutes. Please wait for the process to complete6. You should see 'Update Successful'7. Windows must restart to complete this operation, please save all data and click on 'Yes' to reboot the system.

SikanderKahlon · Answer

Chris, I'm Facing The Same Problem But I Have M14x. So Can you Tell Me Step by Step Process Of Same But of m14x

mr.kundiman · Answer

Did you ever get this problem fixed i seem to be having the same problem with similar specs as well for my alienware m17x r2.. do let me know how you managed to fix it.. Thank you

skarpachi · Answer

Hey Chris,

Do you know if Dell is ever going to be releasing an UPDATED driver for GPU, I'm running an Alienware M17x R1 Laptop with 2 Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M & an Nvidia GeForce 9400. I ask because the latest driver Dell offers is more then 2yrs old & my GTX 260M #2 is overheating ( 96*C) when I play World of Warplanes & all the game settings are as LOW as possible, I own a gaming PC that I cant game on.

Is thier any suggestions you can give me with either the driver issue or the overheating issue , Please HELP

Thanks in Advance.

skarpachi · Answer

That Firmware Flash you suggested did'nt work.

Shaun13 · Answer

Hi Chris, I have my m17x r4 for 2 months now, and I didn't have any problem with it until I tried to install a game using DVD, I'm not quite sure if the problem was already there or even before I inserted the DVD installer, because I haven't used my DVD drive, so the problem is the DVD drive is not showing up from My Computer and it didn't auto-played the DVD install that I've inserted and now its stuck in the computer and could not be ejected since there's no eject button for the dvd or the drive isn't showing in My Computer. Oh, my dvd player is a blu ray player as well. Please, HELP! How can I get my optical drive back working? :(

romascopa25 · Answer

I'm having the same issue on my m17x I got on 12/2011.

One thing I found was this:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060

It didn't work for me though. It sounds like these things are just rigged with low end optical drives to me.

Locked Topics – Alienware General

Optical drive not reading dvd's

Was this post helpful?