I too have a 2 1/2 year old Inspiron 8100 with a CD/DVD fixed drive that no longer reads discs of any kind. I have tried cleaning the lens, checking drivers, etc., but no luck. When a disc is inserted into the drive, it makes a clicking sound, but will not read the disc. I've tried various discs, but the result is the same. if you come across a solution let me know, and I'll do the same. Good luck.
Thanks for the info. I haven't tried the laser cleaning yet. I might see if a friend has one to use, so I don't spend money on something that doesn't work. Thanks for the suggestion though. If I find out something that works, I'll let you guys know. Right now I am also having yet another problem opening sites in IE 6, and also Netscape 7.2. Usually it's just IE. OE works, as well as messenger programs, so it's not the connection. IE opens a few times, then the sites won't come up anymore until I restart. So now I have to get this problem solved too. It's always something with computers. Hopefully I'll figure out the CD drive problem soon, and post it here.
Just thought I would let you know that I had the same issue. A couple weeks ago I installed the latest firmware update for the DVD drive, and now it reads most discs again. At first it was reading everything, but it again seems to not be reading all of my CD's, but it still reads the majority of them. Dell told me I would have to buy a new drive. Like I said though, if you haven't tried it yet, go grab the latest firmware for the DVD drive and it may fix your problem, or at least alleviate it a little.
Thanks for the tip. Do you have a link for the site you got the firmware at? Maybe that will at least get me by until I can just buy another CD/DVD drive. I have always heard good things about Dell, that's why I got one. This one has been more of a nightmare though. I've had problems with it since the first or second month I got it. Please let me know where to get the firmware.
Actually, I got it right here from the Download area. Yours should be the same drive as mine, but verify in Device Manager that your DVD drive is a Toshiba SD-C2502. I got it by going to support.dell.com then clicking on Downloads. then I put in the model computer (Inspiron 8100) selected Removable Media Storage and looked for my DVD drive. You can try this direct link. I think it will work.
It hasn't been a perfect fix for me, as I still can sometimes not read data and audio CD's, but at least it works most of the time, unlike before i installed the update.
bacillus
2 Intern
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14.4K Posts
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September 11th, 2004 05:00
2TALL
5 Posts
0
September 11th, 2004 23:00
David:
I too have a 2 1/2 year old Inspiron 8100 with a CD/DVD fixed drive that no longer reads discs of any kind. I have tried cleaning the lens, checking drivers, etc., but no luck. When a disc is inserted into the drive, it makes a clicking sound, but will not read the disc. I've tried various discs, but the result is the same. if you come across a solution let me know, and I'll do the same. Good luck.
2TALL
Hollywood1
3 Posts
0
September 13th, 2004 03:00
Bacillus/2Tall,
Thanks for the info. I haven't tried the laser cleaning yet. I might see if a friend has one to use, so I don't spend money on something that doesn't work. Thanks for the suggestion though. If I find out something that works, I'll let you guys know. Right now I am also having yet another problem opening sites in IE 6, and also Netscape 7.2. Usually it's just IE. OE works, as well as messenger programs, so it's not the connection. IE opens a few times, then the sites won't come up anymore until I restart. So now I have to get this problem solved too. It's always something with computers. Hopefully I'll figure out the CD drive problem soon, and post it here.
Thanks
adar
22 Posts
0
September 13th, 2004 19:00
Hollywood1
3 Posts
0
September 13th, 2004 21:00
Thanks for the tip. Do you have a link for the site you got the firmware at? Maybe that will at least get me by until I can just buy another CD/DVD drive. I have always heard good things about Dell, that's why I got one. This one has been more of a nightmare though. I've had problems with it since the first or second month I got it. Please let me know where to get the firmware.
Thanks,
David
adar
22 Posts
0
September 14th, 2004 19:00
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/type.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&SystemID=INS_PNT_P3CT_8100&category=0&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=724&devlib=32
It hasn't been a perfect fix for me, as I still can sometimes not read data and audio CD's, but at least it works most of the time, unlike before i installed the update.