sudden loss in cd-drive function?

Question

I've got a Dell Studio 1735 laptop which hasn't given me much trouble since I bought it last August. The drives have always worked fine and I've been able to rip CDs onto my computer, read DVDs and watch them, and burn both CDs and DVDs using it. However, the DVD drive suddenly stopped working and I can't figure out why. When I put a disk in, it doesn't read it at all, and if I go to Computer and look at the drive, it says it's there and in properties, it says 'this device is working properly'. The disk will just sit there, and if I double click the CD drive it will eject the disk that's already in and say 'insert a disk'. It's done this no matter what kind of disk I put in, and when I put one in at the prompt it still fails to recognize that I've inserted one. Sometimes it does the little arrow with the disk next to it for a split second after I insert the disk, but it never goes so far as to actually read the CD or DVD I've put in. I've tried updating the drive, uninstalling and reinstalling it, and nothing has worked. What's wrong with it? It does the automatic insert and eject, so at least the mechanical functions are still working, it just doesn't read anything! It also doesn't sound like the disk starts spinning when it gets inserted, the way it used to. The drive I have is TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-T633A It's been fine for months and it just suddenly stopped, I'm not sure why because even just the day before it was working without any problems at all. I tried system restore as well, in case I'd accidentally done something to the driver, but nothing has repaired this problem. A big issue is that, while I'd like to put in the driver disk that came with my laptop and see if it can't repair the drives that way, obviously it won't READ the disk and so those disks are useless. How can I fix this problem?? Thank you, Erin

Skybird · Answer

Run the Dell Diagnostics on the drive if it is on your hard drive.
Press F12 at startup while the blue Dell shows on the screen. This
will enter the boot menu. Choose Utility Partition or Diagnostics.
Run the Custom Test on the drive and have a data CD (not music CD)
ready for the test.

emonteith · Answer

So I just did this, the first part of the diagnostics test gave me three errors in memory, I wrote down the second two but missed the first one because I didn't think to start copying them down until later on when I thought to myself "maybe memory errors can have something to do with the problem at hand". Anyway, the errors I wrote down were "Memory WCMATS test, code 2000-0123" and "Memory XMATS32 test, code 2000-0123", so if that makes a difference in my cd-drive, there's that.

After that part was finished I ran the tests for the cd/dvd drive itself, and for the read and seek tests, I tried with three different discs to the message "the cd-rom does not contain any data tracks". The discs I used were an installation disc for an Epson printer, the Dell Drivers and Utilities installation disc that came with my laptop, and the installation disc for a Sims game. All three of them got the message that "the cd-rom does not contain any data tracks". Which... is obviously not true. Is this something that can be fixed, and if so, how would I go about doing that?

Thanks again,

Erin

emonteith · Answer

I'll have to check the warranty to see if I'm still covered, but if not, how much does replacing the drive cost usually? I'm very low on funds right now so I want to know if it's worth my time to take the computer in and have it looked at or whether I'll have to wait until I have some spare money for it.

Thanks for your help,

Erin

Skybird · Answer

It sounds like the drives CD laser may have failed.You might want to consider replacing the drive. If you still are within the warranty, Dell will replace the drive.

Skybird · Answer

Dell supplies a full one year warranty, otherwise, a new drive starts at about $40.00 retail.

Storage, Drives & Media

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