HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8483B

Hi. I'm working on my brother's computer here. He has Windows XP Professional 2002 SP1 installed, Optiplex GX270, HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8483B CD-RW drive.

At one point the drive icon on his machine vanished and under the Device Manager it was apparently listing with with a yellow exclamation point claiming the driver was having problems.

I found the remove filters trick (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;320553&Product=winxp) which seemed to work ok as the icon came back. However, it doesn't seem to do anything. CDs inserted into the machine are never made available. But! ... Downloading the Dell Hardware Diagnostic tool and checking the CD drive showed it able to read and write just fine.

I found a link somewhere for the Nero InfoTool which gave lots of information about the drive that it seems to be able to see just fine (while Roxio CD Creator 5.3.4.21 can't see it at all). Nero InfoTool can even see the discs that have been inserted into it (while Windows apparently can't - "Please insert disc").

However .. in running Nero InfoTool, I noticed that it said "Firmware Version: 1.03" which has me a bit worried. I'd run into the Mandrake postings a while back where it killed various HL-DT-ST drives ... but when they listed the firmware version for the -8483B (which wasn't effected by that bug), they only listed firmware version 1.01.

Looking around with Google more, I can't find any location that has firmware version 1.03 for the -8483B other than IBM. I fear he may have installed firmware from another manufacturer. I can't find the 1.01 firmware anywhere on Dell's site and all the notes I've read on Google regarding updating firmware with another manufacturer tends to say it'll cause the drive to become non-responsive.

Any ideas? Any links to the 1.01 firmware? Anyone have the GX270 with the -8483B that they can check their firmware version? If you do have that computer and are willing to check, the Nero Info Tool is here: http://www.cdspeed2000.com/files/NeroInfoTool_227.zip

Any help much appreciated.