1525 DVD tray randomly ejects on own

I am having the exact same problem and the one time my wife tried to go thru Dell online support they wanted to install remote software to make registry adjustments. Maybe it's my paranoid mentality but I wouldnt let them do it but have yet to find a fix for this problem.

-----can you try another optical drive,,possibly be a defective drive

----run spyware and anit-virus programs,  possilbe you might have pick up an unwanted pest

----or try running the optical drive on someone eles computer like yours.

Nope - No fix yet... and I've used Sysinternals process monitor to try to catch the OS or some application sending an eject call to the drive with no luck. You can see the eject if you use Windows Explorer to eject it, but not if you physically push the eject on the drive. It leads me to believe it's not the at the OS or Applcation level... it's something on the system board or something else. We've replaced the drive, freshly loaded windows, wittled away the installed software, and let the tech support tweak the reg as they needed.

Since it's happening across a variety of OS's, I'm pretty skeptical that it's a driver issue...

I wonder if that drive is shared with another laptop in Dell's lineup. It'd be interesting to see if it's happening on other machines with that drive.

Jason (still looking for an answer :( )

Dell shipped out a replacement drive and it's doing it the same... No bugs or spyware that I can find... If it were my machine, I'd flatten and reload Linux for a while - just to see if it repro's with a completely different OS - but that's not happening with my wife. :)

Jason

Thanks ronss -

Dell updated the bios, but I haven't done any looking to see if there's an updated chipset driver. I'll take a look and see if that helps. Device manager thinks everythings fine with it...

Jason

try re-installing the chipset driver..

upgrade the bios if possilbe.

go into device manager, and see if the device is working okay

i would just re-install the chipset and see if it helps. sure a strange problem you are having.

also..run the dell drivers disk,,another option.....

check the bios and see if there are any bios settings that can cause this.

for some reason, i seem to believe its hardware related . might be motherboard related...

re-install the keyboard drivers.....also,,just wonder if the keyboard might be doing this...sometimes laptops with sticky keys might do this.

Hey there ronss -

Updating the chipset drivers with an older driver version seemed to do the trick! It's been almost a week and no more drive popping!

I installed from here http://ftp.us.dell.com/video/R174692.exe

Dell had reinstalled with the latest and that didn't work.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I'm having the same problem.  I have done online sessions with thier reps who have updated drivers, but that didn't help.  I have checked for viruses and adware - nothing.  I did this chipset driver change, but I am still having the problem.  Any new ideas?

So I'm sad to report a false positive... we went a few weeks after updating the chipset drivers and the demon returned, though it's frequency is less then before. It does seem to happen more often when she is picking up or moving it... but not always related to a physical movement...

I'm still looking for new ideas as well..

Jason

I had precisely the same trouble...my contact with Dell support was very enlightening and I think I have a solution for those of you having media center control panel problems, including spontaneous CD/DVD ejection issues.  I've done this and haven't had a problem at all in over a week now.  Previously, it happened regularly, even with all the updates in place.

First, make sure all the drivers, including DVD, Chipset and System drivers are up to date.  Also install the latest BIOS--I think A08 is now the latest version.

Having done this did not solve the problem in my case but probably is a good idea.

Now..for the real solution:

The ribbon cable at the back side of the media control panel, including the CD/DVD eject button lies particularly close to various metal contact on the mother board and chassis.  You have to remove the media center panel (see link below), and tape (I used a small piece of electrical tape) to cover any exposed areas of the ribbon cable.   On mine, I taped only the two connectors (one on the media panel and one on the mother board).  You might find other areas exposed on your ribbon cable.  Just cover them with tape to insulate them from touching any metal components inside the computer.

Be careful when working with the ribbon cable--it is very fragile and disconnecting and reconnecting the cable to the connectors can be tricky so be careful not to do any unnecessary detachments.

That's all it took and my system is now working fine!

Here's the link for removing the media panel cover and accessing the ribbon cable...It's pretty easy but be careful handling the various parts:

The screws for the initial step are under the battery pack...you will have to remove the battery to access them!

Good Luck.

Ron

This worked for me:

All, I had the same problem with a 1537. I was a little reluctant to upgrade the bios on a two month old machine and even more reluctant to let the wife know I was having a problem with my birthday gift.  Tried a linux drive - same problem.

Thinking back through 20 yrs as an electronics tech in the army I went back to the basics:

1) Shut everything down

2) Disconnected AC

3) Pulled the battery and let the computer set for about 10 minutes

4) Held the power button for a "20 count" - this is an old desktop computer trick to discharge filter capacitors

5) Re-installed the battery and AC power

6) Rebooted  and 48 hrs later the cd is still in the machine!  I can now eject and put dvd's in without cringing.

I have closed the lid, moved the computer, sent email and typed this post.  I hope it continues to work but it is by FAR the longest this machine has gone without an eject.  It may make no sense to anyone- but if it works it's good by me.

Take care and good luck - bh