DVD Drive not opening with button

Hi CheeseyPeas,

Please try the below mentioned steps to identify the problem:

• Run Optical Drive Troubleshooter from Windows 8 Troubleshooter.
• Run MS Fix it: http://bit.ly/ibV0SO
• Check if Optical Drive is detected in device manager and has any exclamation marks on it, and reply if there any exclamation marks on it.
• Run Dell 32 Bit Dell Diagnostics on Optical drive.to run the test please follow the below mentioned steps:

1. Switch on the computer, tap F12 at dell logo to enter “One-time boot menu”.

2. Use the up/down arrow keys to highlight “Diagnostics” and press enter.

3. Select Custom Test and select “Optical drive”.

4. If the test fails, please capture the error code and let me know for the next course of action.

Try the above steps and reply with results.

Hi Nikhil,

Thanks for your reply.

I ran all the tests and all passed with the drive operating as it should.

After a reboot the drive again didn't open when the button was pressed. I went into device manager and selected the DVD drive and I could hear it being checked by device manager. After this it responded to button presses again.

I will wait for it to stop responding again and try the other tests again while it's not responding to see if they report an error.

Thanks.

Hi Nikhil,

I have just booted the laptop today and the DVD drive again did not open when I pressed the eject button.

I ran MS Fix It and I could hear the drive being accessed. After this it opened by pressing the eject button. It then passed all of the tests again.

Do you have any ideas please?

Hi CheeseyPeas,

I would like to know the functionality of the optical drive if it is working normally or not.

If the issue still persists, please try to Eject the optical drive tray in BIOS screen. Follow the below mentioned steps:

1. Restart the system and tap F2 key at Dell logo.
2. System will enter the BIOS.
3. Try to Eject the optical drive.

Kindly post the results.

Hi Nikhil,

The optical drive functions as normal, I have been able to write discs etc.

The tray opens correctly while in the BIOS screen. It has operated normally today and has opened with the button press at all times.

Should I just monitor the situation to see if reoccurs?

Thanks.

Hi Nikhil,

I have just booted the laptop after 1 hour of being switched off and again  the drive did not open when I pressed the button.

The drive did appear in device manager and after I selected the drive in device manager it began to respond to the pressing of the button to open it.

Hi Nikhil,

There isn't any optical drive firmware there for my service tag. If I filter driver results for my service tag and Windows 8 there are no removable storage drivers.

If I select all related drivers then the only result is for DS-6E2SH. 

My optical drive is a GT80N and I cannot find firmware for it.

Please can you help locate it?

All,

I have exactly the same problem (brand-new Inspiron 15R model 7520).

After having run all tests as described above, I got a replacement DVD drive yesterday from Dell (it's a HLDS GT50N, replacing the originally installed GT80N).

After changing the drives, I still have the same problem - and it is intermittent, so it's very hard to fix / nail down. But I probably can exclude the drive as root cause now - so it must be a SW or motherboard glitch. Ejecting the drive through Winows Explorer / right click on DVD drive always works; it is only the manual opening pushing the button on the DVD drive itself.

It is a nuisance in that sense - still I think Dell should provide a fix !!

Hi,

Good to know its not just mine. Yeah def looks like software or some glitch if a drive change hasn't solved it for you.

I hope a fix comes along as its annoying.

Hi CheeseyPeas/ Wally10,

I can understand electronic devices can create confusion when they do not work the way they are designed for. I appreciate your time in trying to fix the laptop by yourself. I could get another fix for the issue after immense research.

As the optical drive is ejecting the try in the BIOS, it is not the problem with the optical drive or the hardware of the laptop, the problem seems to be with the operating system of the computer,

PC Restore should fix the problem; this would restore the computer to the factory settings. PC Restore will lead to data/application loss from the computer. Please do backup all the files and all the required information and software on an external hard drive before PC Restore. Follow the below steps to perform PC-Restore:

1. Restart the computer by tapping F8 key.
2. Go to “ADVANCED OPTIONS MENU”Select “REPAIR YOUR COMPUTER” and hit “Enter “
3. At the System Recovery Options screen,   Select “DELL DATASAFE RESTORE AND EMERGENCY BACKUP “   (the last option in the list)
4. On the “DELL DATASAFE” screen,     click on “SELECT OTHER System Backup and more options” and click NEXT  (the second option from the choices)
5. Click “RESTORE MY COMPUTER “and click NEXT
6. Click “FACTORY IMAGE” in the list and click NEXT
7. Click on “RESTORE WITHOUT PRESERVING” new or changed files and click on NEXT
8. Click YES, CONTINUE to confirm data deletion and proceed further
9. Wait for the PC-Restore to complete and at the end click on RESTART.

 Please check the functionality of the optical drive now and post the results.

Hi Nikhil,

Thank you for your reply.

I have restored the OS and at the moment the drive is working fine. I will monitor it and reply again.

Thanks.

Hi CheeseyPeas,

Glad that the issue is resolved. I appreciate all your efforts in fixing the problem.

Kindly post me if you need any further help.

Hi CheesyPeas,

have you seen any problems since you reset to the factory image ?

The reason why I ask: my laptop showed this problem from the moment it was shipped to me (with the original image / bios).

It would be helpful for me to know if your system/image now works - and could you share the bios version you have installed ?

Thanks, Wally10

Hi Wally10,

My BIOS version is A11.

I have recently done a clean Windows install from an OS disc as my recovery partition was corrupted and the recovery dvd's (via the Dell backup and restore app) didn't fix it (meant that windows repair crashed and windows refresh failed).

Not had an issue since then but keeping an eye on it!