This post is more than 5 years old
4 Posts
0
9082
August 31st, 2011 18:00
Optical Drive Partial Functionality
I have a Studio XPS 1645 with a picky optical drive. When I first received the laptop, I had trouble playing some DVD movies (though most worked), so I updated the drive firmware and system BIOS. After that, I had no trouble with DVD movies but, for some reason, the eject button no longer worked. On this machine, the eject button is a lit symbol above the keyboard along with other media buttons, rather than a physical button you push. Still, I was able to eject the DVDs in 'Computer', so I accepted the trade-off.
Now I've encountered further problems though. I tried to burn a data CD-R, but no matter which program I used, it would always fail with an error message shortly after beginning the process, with no actual data written. I borrowed a friend's external optical drive, hooked it up to my machine and, using the exact same programs and CD-Rs, I'm able to burn without a problem. So the issue is definitely my optical drive.
I thought maybe it was a driver, firmware, or BIOS issue, but I have the latest in all those categories according to the Dell support site. So I decided to try rolling back my earlier updates. I got out my system disks, popped in the DVD labeled 'Dell Drivers and Utilities Already Installed on your Computer' and... my computer doesn't even recognize that a disk has been inserted. Trying various data DVDs, some work fine, some aren't recognized at all, and some cause my system to hang up for a bit while the drive tries with futility to access the DVD. All the movie DVDs I've tried seem to work though, so this is a very picky drive.
My optical drive is a HL-DT-ST DVDRWBD CA10N made by Hitachi-LG Data Storage, and I'm on Windows 7 Home Premium. I'm using the A108 firmware from the Dell website, and the Microsoft driver version 6.1.7601.17514, which seems to be the latest Windows driver for optical drives even though it's from 2006. My system BIOS is A13.
I haven't found any other drivers to try. I can't find an earlier firmware, and reinstalling the A108 doesn't seem to make a difference. The Dell support website offers me both the A13 and A06 BIOS, but the WinPhlash program it uses to flash your system won't let me install either of them, since I already have the A13.
I ran a Dell Support Center PC Checkup scan on my optical drive and found several errors. It passed the DRAM, Flash ROM, Main IC, OPU, Spindle, Tray Out, CD Linear Seek, CD Random Seek, CD Funnel Seek, CD Linear Read Compare, CD Audio, and DVD Linear Seek tests. It then failed the DVD Random Seek test with the following results:
| Error Message: | Failed to read sector 2127153. Error code 1090H. |
| Error Message: | Failed to read sector 2975904. Error code 1090H. |
| Error Message: | Failed to read sector 2960381. Error code 1090H. |
| Error Message: | Maximum errors of 3 exceeded. Canceling test. |
| Informative Message: | Re-running the test. |
| Error Message: | Failed to read sector 119268. Error code 1090H. |
| Error Message: | Failed to read sector 171819. Error code 1090H. |
| Error Message: | Failed to read sector 180474. Error code 1090H. |
| Error Message: | Maximum errors of 3 exceeded. Canceling test. |
| Test Finished: | Failed |
Then it passed the DVD Funnel Seek test, but only because the second DVD it asked me to test is one that it has no trouble reading:
| Error Message: | Failed to read sector 0. Error code 1090H. |
| Error Message: | Failed to read sector 381758. Error code 1090H. |
| Error Message: | Failed to read sector 3817. Error code 1090H. |
| Error Message: | Maximum errors of 3 exceeded. Canceling test. |
| Informative Message: | Re-running the test. |
| Test Finished: | Passed |
And it then passed the DVD Linear Read Compare test with that DVD. However, it failed both the CD-R and CD-RW Read Write tests:
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Any suggestions on how to fix this? Are there other drivers and/or firmware out there I could use?
0 events found
osprey4
6 Operator
•
34.2K Posts
1
September 2nd, 2011 09:00
It seems you correctly diagnosed this as a "picky drive". The solution is to replace the drive. Fortunately, they're not too expensive and are easy to replace.
osprey4
6 Operator
•
34.2K Posts
0
September 1st, 2011 10:00
Hi elandreth,
Let me suggest you test the drive using the Dell diagnostics from the F12 utility partition. I've got a link to the instructions below. Be sure to have a DVD disc in the drive to perform this test.
elandreth
4 Posts
0
September 2nd, 2011 00:00
I ran the tests with two different DVDs, one that has always worked with my DVD drive, and another that my computer won't recognize when it's in this drive but works fine when using my friend's external optical drive hooked up to this computer. As a side note, the eject light-button works again while in Dell Diagnostics.
The Device Quick Check and Media Eject Test tests were grayed-out, so I didn't run them with either DVD. When the DVD that worked before is in, all four tests succeed, Built In Self Test (Test All), Confidence Test, Read Test, and Seek Test. When the DVD that works in other drives but not this one is in, the Built In Self Test (Test All) succeeds, but the other three tell me there's no disk in. They all give me a prompt with:
"No disk or cannot read from the disk inserted in your drive. You must insert a disk containing data such as a software installation disk if you would like to try again. Would you like to try again?"
Repeated tries do not change the result.
elandreth
4 Posts
0
September 3rd, 2011 16:00
That's kind of what I expected. So when running the diagnostics from outside of Windows, it bypasses any driver issues, right? What about firmware and BIOS issues? I was surprised to find the eject button working again from the diagnostics utility after updating the BIOS and firmware had killed it earlier in Windows.
Since it looks like I'm buying a new drive, are there any recommendations? I've replaced a video card and added RAM before in laptops, so I have a little experience with this but could still use advice. Is everything proprietary, so I have to buy a Dell drive? And just to be clear: this is a slot-load machine. Thanks!
osprey4
6 Operator
•
34.2K Posts
0
September 4th, 2011 13:00
Yes, the diagnostics bypass any OS involvement.
Unfortunately, with any laptop your choices will be limited. But just search your laptop model and you can find one.
thebbman
4 Posts
0
September 5th, 2011 15:00
Before you buy a new drive, try using a dvd lens cleaner disk a few times and then try and repeat your test. It could just be a dirty lens.
elandreth
4 Posts
0
September 11th, 2011 16:00
I bought a CleanDRx for Computers Laser Lens Cleaner by Digital Innovations, specifically meant for DVD and Blu-Ray. The disc is supposed to play automatically with instructions, but my optical drive is unable to read it properly and enters a continuous loop of trying to access the disc, essentially freezing my computer in the process. It looks like I have to buy a new drive.
osprey4
6 Operator
•
34.2K Posts
0
September 11th, 2011 17:00
Out of 100 drives that aren't working, a lens cleaner will fix maybe one or two.