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February 24th, 2007 12:00

DVD DRIVE NOT READING DISCS, BUT GREEN LIGHT STAYS ON!

I have a Dimension 9150 and the DVD drive (which is a HL-DT-ST DVD ROM GDR8164B) The problem is that the drawer will not open/close via the button. The green light is permantly on as though it is trying to read a disc, but will not read any type of disc when inserted. I have rolled back and updated the drivers, tried the troubleshooter, all  without success.
Can anyone please shed some light on this problem please?
 
 
Hi Guys.
Just come off the support chatline. (1st time user and was very impressed)
Was told to shut PC down and insert a straightened paper clip into the small hole in the front of the offending drive to see if the drawer would open.  (It didn't)
On  power up hit F2 to go into the BIOS Screen and then press the button on the drawer to see if it would release then.  (It didn't)
Guess that proved that the drive was US 'cause' went back onto the chatline and support said they will send a new drive out.  (Thanks Joel) and should be here by Wednesday.  (Will post results)
Thanks again Jeff (Predator) for your help and advice.
 
And finally, Drive arrived Wednesday as promised.
Recieved a call from customer support Thursday to check it had arrived and that I was satisfied with the service.
Fitted drive today (Saturday) which took literally 5 mins and everthing hunky dory.    
Thankyou Dell for your excellent support service.


Message Edited by stuart_43 on 03-06-2007 03:25 PM

Message Edited by stuart_43 on 03-10-2007 09:43 AM

15.3K Posts

February 24th, 2007 12:00




Hi Stuart,

If you have not already done this; go to Device Manager, select the drive and click Uninstall, then shutdown.
Open the case and reseat the IDE cable going from the motherboard to the back of the drive.
Also if per chance you have Sonic`s DLA program installed, consider disabling it for now; click on the CD/RW link in my post and scroll to Section 13-0, article 12.

Best Regards





God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.



CD/RW Link


6 Posts

February 24th, 2007 13:00

Hi Jeff.
Many thanks for your quick response. Will try your advice and let you know what happens.
Kindest regards.
Stuart.

6 Posts

February 24th, 2007 14:00

Hi again Jeff.
Tried all your recommendations, but unfortunately no luck. Will have to get onto Dell as it looks as though the Drive is US.
Once again many thanks for your fast response and help.
Kind regards.
Stuart.

15.3K Posts

February 24th, 2007 14:00




Hi Stuart,

A couple more things to do before contacting Dell. Please click on the CD/RW link in my post and scroll to Section 20, article 3. This will reload the IDE controller, sometimes if the issue is a driver or IRQ conlict, this will help.
You have not recently updated your firewall, antivirus or a spyware program have you? I recall one Member mentioning this, found it one wa blocking access to his drive.

If none of the above helps, same CD/RW link, Section 12, article 3, step # 2; this is Dell diagnostic test. If you receieve any errors, give them to the Dell Tech when you make the call.

Sorry I was not able to help.

Best Regards!





God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.



CD/RW Link



Message Edited by Predator on 02-24-2007 11:54 AM

3 Posts

February 25th, 2007 02:00

I am having the same problem with the CD drive on my Dimension desktop computer.  The CD drive does not show up under "My Computer", the light is continually blinking and I can not open the drive by pushing the eject button.  I was wondering if you have been able to solve your problem and if so can you post the solution.  Thank you.

6 Posts

February 25th, 2007 10:00

Hi.
I've had no luck so far. I think the DVD Drive is US. Sorry I cant be of more help other than to suggest that you follow the advice that Predator gave me and see if that helps you.  I will post the answer to my problems once I've spoken to Dell suport.
Regards.
Stuart.

15.3K Posts

February 25th, 2007 15:00




Hi Amaram,

Please go ahead run the same steps as Stuart mentioned and see if anyhting helps your issue.

Hi Stuart,

I am just curious, did you get the chance to run the test? I received an e-mail from someone; ID did not match a Member here but issue was similar. He stated a Spindle test failure after running the test, which the majority of the time means the drive needs replacing.


Best Regards




God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do
and the eyesight to tell the difference.



CD/RW Link

3 Posts

February 25th, 2007 19:00

I uninstalled the CD drive (and secondary IDE channel) in device manager. I've opened the case and unseated the data cable and power plug from the CD drive. Then, turned on computer with the cable CD drive disconnected. I restarted the computer two times with the cable and plug disconnected from the CD drive. I then powered down and reconnected the CD drive to the data cable and power. When I restarted the computer, the CD drive light immediately comes back on and stays on. The CD drive appears under "My Computer", but I still cannot eject the CD drawer via the button on the drive or by "right-clicking" on the CD drive icon.

Last night, I even preformed a clean boot to see if this would fix the problem. It seems that the CD drive is recognized, but not accessable. Is there a way to find out what (if anything) is accessing the CD drive?

I haven't been able to access the Dell diagnostic test. When I reboot and press F12 at the Dell logo, I do not get the diagnostic test as noted in your CD/RW link (section 12, article 3, step 2).

Any other ideas of what I can try?

Thank you,
amaram

February 25th, 2007 20:00

Hi, hopefully you can help me on this one Predator...
 
My drive for my Dimension is a PHILIPS DVD-8701/96 and when it stopped opening/closing, not reading discs etc. I foolishly phoned Dell before coming here, thus spending £40 and 22 phone calls on software checks and another 17 phone calls from hardware people...
So it turns out after fiddling with Sonic DLA, Device Manager uninstalls, BIOS changes etc. they couldn't help. So I took the thing apart myself to find a Danish coin inside the drive which must have short-circuited it.
Is there anyway I can re-circuitise?*! my drive and reconnect it so it works without buying a new one?
 
Many, many thanks!! 

15.3K Posts

February 26th, 2007 01:00




Hi Amaran,

To cover as much as possible, at times a Packet Writing program can "lock " the drive for use and thus cause odd issues.
If per chance you hace one, example Sonic DLA, consider disabling or uninstalling it and see if this helps.
To disable, same CD/RW link in my post, Section 13-0, article 12.


Best Regards!





God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.



CD/RW Link

15.3K Posts

February 26th, 2007 01:00




Hi ShadowMonkey,

That my friend is a first, would be nice if it was some rare coin !
I am sorry, but very hard to say whether you could fix it without have it here setting in front of me. It could just be a lead burnt off, a circuit into or a capictor, again very hard to say.
Also considering you can pick up a very good DVD+/-RW for $32 at New Egg and most PC shops labor starts around $40 an hour (in my neck of the woods) it is simply not practical to spend a whole of time/money on these drives when the cost is as low as they are now.


Best Regards!





God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell the
difference.



CD/RW Link



Message Edited by Predator on 02-26-2007 12:50 PM

3 Posts

February 26th, 2007 05:00

I do not have Sonic DLA. Can you give me an example of what a Packet Writing program is? Thank you, amaram

February 26th, 2007 11:00

Thanks Predator!

6 Posts

February 26th, 2007 19:00

Hi Jeff.
I could not access anything from the utility partition, so I tried Hard drive diags test, which did'nt support DVD Drives. My system is a Dimmension 9150  3.4GB Dual core processor if that helps to narrow down the fault, or to test from some where else within the machine.
Regards.
Stuart.

6 Posts

March 5th, 2007 16:00



Message Edited by stuart_43 on 03-06-2007 03:26 PM
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