Thank you for using the
Dell Community Forum. Does the drive have the same problem in another system.
If yes, then throw it away.
Does another drive have the same problem in your system.
If yes, then you have a problem with the cdrom connector on the motherboard.
Can you access the drive in dos, and read a cd in dos if you boot to a dos boot disk with dos cdrom support?
If yes, then you have a windows problem not a hardware problem.
Have you tried removing and reseating the drive?
When you put a CD in the drive, do you hear hi-speed spinning and extensive back-n-forth seek noise on your drive? If yes, it means...one of the steel head-rail (mostly right hand side one looking from bottom) has broken off. Replace drive.
If no, do you see hour-glass or signs of OS getting busy? If yes, it means....you have OS that fails to see the drive for one reason or another. Fix OS.
If no, you are doomed. You have a garden-variety of problems at hand.
The term "Fixed Optical Drive" on most Dell portables is not really correct.
The optical drive as well as the media bay drive can be removed.
You'll find instructions on doing so in the service manual.
Dell™ Latitude™ C810 Service Manual .
Thanks for all the follow-ups folks.
Karell - the drive makes spinning and seek sounds for a long time. I have a second (removable) DVD-ROM which works fine. I would rule out the OS as the casue of the problem.
I can't tell if the rail is broken because (as described in my first e-mail) there is no way to eject the drive. It sounds like my drive is junked.
I took the drive out of the laptop before posting my original note (thanks to the user manual as advised by fly).
I have a quote from Dell for a replacement now - dearer than the DVD+-R/RW I just bought for my desktop computer, but not as bad as I was expecting.
It sounds like I'm not the first person to report this problem. So if I get the replacement, is there anything I can do to make it last longer than 13 months?
Looks like my next step is to get out my angle grinder to free the trapped CD from the drive :-)
Usually, there is a pin hole on the front of the drive where you can stick a needle in with force and the tray will eject.
You have to do one quick probe so that the tray would eject. If you push the needle or pin with strong force for a long moment, the tray will not get a chance to come out. Then you will think this pricking pin method does not work.
To maintain longevity on a laptop optical drive, there is one trick that almost everybody failed to follow. When you put a disc in, you are putting downward force to have the disc 'click' on the hub. Since the outer/front edge of the tray is suspended in the air.......your action is like trying to break the tray intentionally. Unfortunately all the mechanism(s) of the laptop optical drive is/are housed in the tray.
So....here is what I do. I put one hand/palm underneath the tray to give support while the other hand force the CD on the hub to achieve that 'click'.
There is not much that you can do to keep an electronic device from failing.
Some last forever, others fails within the first week of use.
There is no "sure" method of telling when an electronic device will fail.
There are formulas for finding out the average life expectancy, but what good are those?
At any rate, other then what Fly_major_fly major suggested, there is not much else you can do.
As for the cd stuck in the drive, you may have to pry the drive apart with a screw driver.
Or, if the drive has screws on the bottom of it, start undoing the screws to see where that leads you.
Karell
2 Intern
•
2.5K Posts
0
October 21st, 2003 17:00
Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.
Does the drive have the same problem in another system.
If yes, then throw it away.
Does another drive have the same problem in your system.
If yes, then you have a problem with the cdrom connector on the motherboard.
Can you access the drive in dos, and read a cd in dos if you boot to a dos boot disk with dos cdrom support?
If yes, then you have a windows problem not a hardware problem.
Have you tried removing and reseating the drive?
fly_major_fly
31 Posts
0
October 23rd, 2003 05:00
Karell.
I believe....Arvo said his/her drive is FIXED, hence not removable.
Therefore, Arvo can
- neither make sure that drive works in another system,
- nor reseat the connection as you recommended.
fly_major_fly
31 Posts
0
October 23rd, 2003 05:00
Arvo,
When you put a CD in the drive, do you hear hi-speed spinning and extensive back-n-forth seek noise on your drive? If yes, it means...one of the steel head-rail (mostly right hand side one looking from bottom) has broken off. Replace drive.
If no, do you see hour-glass or signs of OS getting busy? If yes, it means....you have OS that fails to see the drive for one reason or another. Fix OS.
If no, you are doomed. You have a garden-variety of problems at hand.
Karell
2 Intern
•
2.5K Posts
0
October 24th, 2003 14:00
The term "Fixed Optical Drive" on most Dell portables is not really correct.
The optical drive as well as the media bay drive can be removed.
You'll find instructions on doing so in the service manual.
Dell™ Latitude™ C810 Service Manual .
arvo
4 Posts
0
October 25th, 2003 12:00
Karell - the drive makes spinning and seek sounds for a long time. I have a second (removable) DVD-ROM which works fine. I would rule out the OS as the casue of the problem.
I can't tell if the rail is broken because (as described in my first e-mail) there is no way to eject the drive. It sounds like my drive is junked.
I took the drive out of the laptop before posting my original note (thanks to the user manual as advised by fly).
I have a quote from Dell for a replacement now - dearer than the DVD+-R/RW I just bought for my desktop computer, but not as bad as I was expecting.
It sounds like I'm not the first person to report this problem. So if I get the replacement, is there anything I can do to make it last longer than 13 months?
Looks like my next step is to get out my angle grinder to free the trapped CD from the drive :-)
fly_major_fly
31 Posts
0
October 25th, 2003 15:00
Usually, there is a pin hole on the front of the drive where you can stick a needle in with force and the tray will eject.
You have to do one quick probe so that the tray would eject. If you push the needle or pin with strong force for a long moment, the tray will not get a chance to come out. Then you will think this pricking pin method does not work.
To maintain longevity on a laptop optical drive, there is one trick that almost everybody failed to follow. When you put a disc in, you are putting downward force to have the disc 'click' on the hub. Since the outer/front edge of the tray is suspended in the air.......your action is like trying to break the tray intentionally. Unfortunately all the mechanism(s) of the laptop optical drive is/are housed in the tray.
So....here is what I do. I put one hand/palm underneath the tray to give support while the other hand force the CD on the hub to achieve that 'click'.
Best of luck.
arvo
4 Posts
0
October 28th, 2003 06:00
Karell
2 Intern
•
2.5K Posts
0
October 28th, 2003 14:00
There is not much that you can do to keep an electronic device from failing.
Some last forever, others fails within the first week of use.
There is no "sure" method of telling when an electronic device will fail.
There are formulas for finding out the average life expectancy, but what good are those?
At any rate, other then what Fly_major_fly major suggested, there is not much else you can do.
As for the cd stuck in the drive, you may have to pry the drive apart with a screw driver.
Or, if the drive has screws on the bottom of it, start undoing the screws to see where that leads you.
arvo
4 Posts
0
November 4th, 2003 01:00
Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.
I bought small screwdrivers and took the drive completely apart get the CD out. I kept going to see what was broken.
I couldn't find any problems, so I reassembled it. Just for curiosity I reinstalled it and tested it.
It can now read DVDs again! I haven't tried burning a CD-R or RW yet.
Maybe there was an alignment problem or some moving part got jammed. Whatever the cause, I'm happy it's working again.
Thanks,
Richard (aka arvo)