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ADTMW

1 Message

11412

January 3rd, 2008 23:00

DVD drive won't write or read dvd's

I have a Dell dimension 9150/XPS 400 that I purchased new from Dell in early 2006.  I have two dvd drives one a read only and the other supposed to be read/write.  We used the read/write drive for data backup and since our data has grown we now wanted to switch from cd-r's to dvd r's.  When I put a blank dvd+r in the drive it does not respond.  When I try to use roxio to backup the data is says that there is no disc in the drive.  The drive is a HL-DT-ST DVD+RW GWA4164B.  It backs up cd's (both cd-r and cd rw) just fine and reads as well.  But it won't take a dvd.
 
I have uninstalled it (device) and reinstalled it and updated the driver from the dell website.  what's the problem?  the computer says that the device is operating properly. 
 
Also, if I put a blank dvd+r in the sony DVD-ROM DDU1615 the drive says to please insert a disc into drive d.   It reads cd's and dvd movies okay.  help please.
 
thanks
 
ADTMW

Skybird

10.9K Posts

January 4th, 2008 00:00

The GWA4164B is notorious for failing in that manner.  Run the Dell
diagnostics on the drive.  The diagnostics may be on your system by
pressing F12 at startup.  Otherwise, you can boot with the Dell Resouce
disc.

The Sony DVD-ROM will not recognize a blank DVD disc because it is not
a writing drive and Windows will not recognize a Blank DVD disc.

Skybird

10.9K Posts

January 5th, 2008 18:00

eeshking,
 
There is a test as part of the diagnostics.  Usually under custom test.
You could also boot with the Dell resource disk.  But, there was a
Firmware issue here that may or may not help ...................

eeshking

5 Posts

January 5th, 2008 18:00

I have the same drive and the same problem--DVDs won't play, CDs work fine, but DVD-Rs sometimes work and sometimes don't (for reading and writing). Whenever I try to do Dell Diagnostics from the boot menu (F12), it says I can only do diagnostics on the hard disk drive, not on the DVD drive. Do you have any idea how to fix this problem with the GWA4164B? Will I have to buy a new drive? Thank you for your help.

eeshking

5 Posts

January 5th, 2008 21:00

I understand that as part of the diagnostic test there should be a test of the DVD drive. However, when I entered the boot menu (F12) and selected the fourth option in the list, which was the only one with "diagnostic" in the title, it ran through a few tests and said there was no diagnostic test for D: (my DVD drive). My Computer acts as though the drive is just fine, completely oblivious to the fact that DVDs don't play. At this point, I'm pretty much convinced it's a hardware issue and I am preparing to purchase another drive. I don't have the Dell Resource CD with me; is it very useful? Also, is there an ISO image of it so I can burn it? I downloaded the file from the link you gave me, but it told me my current driver was better than/equal to that driver.

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