Failing DVD player.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Patrick D. Rockwell
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Patrick D. Rockwell

I have an internal DVD player in my laptop which lately
only plays DVD's. Yesterday, I WAS able to get my
Windows install CD to boot up, but now it won't run,
except every now and then. The day before I had to
make several tries before I could RIP a couple of
music CD's.

I was on the phone with a Dell Tech who asked me to
go into my BIOS to make the DVD drive my boot disk
and it wouldn't boot, so he said that it was a hardware
problem. The tech that I spoke to previously said that I
needed to re-install my operating system. Can anyone
give me some insight here?

I tend to think that it is hardware because on rare
occasions, the drive is able to read a CD Rom or
music cd. It flawlessly handle DVD movies which
I can't account for. What do you think? Is there
another way that I could test this? I was thinking
of downloading a CD/DVD driver from the net
and putting it on a 3.5 inch boot floppy, but I'm
not sure how I'd configure that floppy to load in
the driver. Would I put the driver in startup.ini?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Thanks. Would that explain why it would be able to read DVD movies,
but NOT CD roms or Music CDs exept occaisionally? Is the DVD
capability a seperate system from the CD/Music reader?

--
-------------------------------
Patrick D. Rockwell

Veritech said:
sounds like a faulty laser to me
Click to expand...
 
It sounds like the drive is failing. It would be best to test the machine
with another drive.

--

Jerry G.
=====

I have an internal DVD player in my laptop which lately
only plays DVD's. Yesterday, I WAS able to get my
Windows install CD to boot up, but now it won't run,
except every now and then. The day before I had to
make several tries before I could RIP a couple of
music CD's.

I was on the phone with a Dell Tech who asked me to
go into my BIOS to make the DVD drive my boot disk
and it wouldn't boot, so he said that it was a hardware
problem. The tech that I spoke to previously said that I
needed to re-install my operating system. Can anyone
give me some insight here?

I tend to think that it is hardware because on rare
occasions, the drive is able to read a CD Rom or
music cd. It flawlessly handle DVD movies which
I can't account for. What do you think? Is there
another way that I could test this? I was thinking
of downloading a CD/DVD driver from the net
and putting it on a 3.5 inch boot floppy, but I'm
not sure how I'd configure that floppy to load in
the driver. Would I put the driver in startup.ini?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Patrick D. Rockwell said:
Thanks. Would that explain why it would be able to read DVD movies,
but NOT CD roms or Music CDs exept occaisionally? Is the DVD
capability a seperate system from the CD/Music reader?
Click to expand...


There are dual lasers within the same assembly, one for CD wavelengths and
another for DVD---therefore the answer is yes.
 
Alpha said:
There are dual lasers within the same assembly, one for CD wavelengths and
another for DVD---therefore the answer is yes.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'm having a frustrating time getting the Dell Tech's to say the
same
thing. Some say it's a hardware problem, others say software. I hope that
it's
the former, because I REALLY don't want to re-install my OS.

The last one that I spoke to said that it was a software problem and said
that
if it were hardware, the WHOLE drive would fail. But your saying that it is
possible for one of those lasers to fail, and the other will still work?
 
The last one that I spoke to said that it was a software problem and
said that
if it were hardware, the WHOLE drive would fail. But your saying that
it is possible for one of those lasers to fail, and the other will
still work?
Click to expand...

Im not an expert about DVD or CD drives, but that sounds pretty silly to
me. Often things fail in increments. Its not always crash-bam-thank-you-
ma'am with a little puff of smoke. From what you say it sounds like the
CD reader is intermettently failing for whatever reason... yea I know,
tell you something you dont already know.

Will the rest of the drive fail because of this alone? No. You basically
now have a DVD player (which uses a different reader) that will work just
fine. Obviously it didnt completely fail. Next time of them says 'the
whole drive' mention this little fact. No dont do that... be nice to
them. Customer support is a thankless job.

Reinstalling the OS should only be done after other software
troubleshooting. Did Dell suggest simply removing the drivers and
reinstalling them when asked for after rebooting? Were they updated
recently? Were they NOT updated in a long time but the OS was? Any other
software installed recently? Did they even ask this stuff? Conflicts are
common.

Maybe someone could say something more authoritative on this, but could
it simply be dust or dirt?
 
It is very, very common for one of the lasers to fail and the other to
operate. *VERY* common in a failing drive.
 
Kev said:
I'm not an expert about DVD or CD drives, but that sounds pretty silly to
me. Often things fail in increments. Its not always crash-bam-thank-you-
ma'am with a little puff of smoke. From what you say it sounds like the
CD reader is intermittently failing for whatever reason... yea I know,
tell you something you don't already know.
Click to expand...

Well, looking back I guess it has been failing in increments. Last month,
when I got some CD's, (4 of them) I tried firing up MusicMatch 10. It
wouldn't acknowledge my drive. I found out that I could get it to work
by turning on the computer, and putting in the CD first and allowing
MusicMatch to load up automatically. I had to re-boot for each CD.
A few days ago, I had to try again and again just to rip two CD's. My
Windows install disk seemed to boot up ok but no other CD. Now,
even the Windows CD has problems.
Will the rest of the drive fail because of this alone? No. You basically
now have a DVD player (which uses a different reader) that will work just
fine. Obviously it didn't completely fail. Next time of them says 'the
whole drive' mention this little fact. No don't do that... be nice to
them. Customer support is a thankless job.

Reinstalling the OS should only be done after other software
troubleshooting. Did Dell suggest simply removing the drivers and
reinstalling them when asked for after rebooting? Were they updated
recently? Were they NOT updated in a long time but the OS was? Any other
software installed recently? Did they even ask this stuff? Conflicts are
common.
Click to expand...

Part of my dilemma is that I have my Windows install disk and my drivers
disk, but those are on CD's which I can't really read right now. I guess
next time I talk to them, I should ask if I can just download the drivers
from them and see if it was a driver problem. Basically, there was no
un-inalling or re-installing. This one tech who thought that it was
hardware related asked me to use my BIOS to make the drive bootable,
and it still wouldn't work, so he said it was a hardware problem. I"ve
noticed that in "My Computer" when I go to the properties section of the
DVD icon, and click the "AutoPlay" tab, the radio button ALWAYS
says "Prompt Me for what action to take" instead of picking one on it's
own. I've changed that setting dozens of times, and it always goes back
when I turn the computer off, and then back on again

It's frustrating that I can't get them all to make the same conclusion.
I REALLY don't want to re-install my operating system unless
it's the only way to solve this. If worst comes to worse, I can get an
exterior CD/DVD USB drive and boot off of that until I come to a decision
about what to do with my present drive and/or software.

Maybe someone could say something more authoritative on this, but could
it simply be dust or dirt?
Click to expand...

Tommorow, I'm going to look into getting a drive cleaner. I might even
take it out and clean it myself.
 
I have an internal DVD player in my laptop which lately
only plays DVD's. Yesterday, I WAS able to get my
Windows install CD to boot up, but now it won't run,
except every now and then. The day before I had to
make several tries before I could RIP a couple of
music CD's.
Click to expand...
___________________________________________________________

Before you do anything else, get a can of compressed air and blow off
the laser lens area. I have the same problem, living in a dusty area and
have to do that a couple times a year. Fixes it like magic.

This may not be your problem, but it is a Good Thing to do anyway.
 
Hi,

Lots of good observations and possibilities here. If you could attach an
external CD-ROM drive via USB and it read a CD then you could assume that
your internal DVD drive is faulty. By the way, do you back up your files? If
you don't this might be a good opportunity to think about it and actually
start backing up.
I heard you when you said that you didn't want to do it. However,
consider your computer like a car. If you had a flat tire you would change
it, and you have learned how to change it probably by necessity. Being able
to reinstall your OS, I think, is a comparable notion. What if your hard
drive simply went belly up, which isn't that uncommon.
My guess, like most everyone elses is that the drive is going. Now
you've either got to prove it to the tech or live with a non-functioning
drive, which is not acceptable. Back up and attempt a reinstall, or try the
external CD-ROM drive routine. Even if it's not under warranty you're going
to have to repair it, and at this point it's worth learning how to repair
those problems when they occur.
 
Jan Alter said:
Hi,

Lots of good observations and possibilities here. If you could attach
an external CD-ROM drive via USB and it read a CD then you could assume
that your internal DVD drive is faulty. By the way, do you back up your
files? If you don't this might be a good opportunity to think about it and
actually start backing up.
Click to expand...

Yes, I do. In fact, I have a great backup system. Absplus backup by

http://www.cmsproducts.com/

The software reminds me every 28 days. I have the 20 Gig one that
plugs into the PC slot.
I heard you when you said that you didn't want to do it. However,
consider your computer like a car. If you had a flat tire you would change
it, and you have learned how to change it probably by necessity. Being
able to reinstall your OS, I think, is a comparable notion. What if your
hard drive simply went belly up, which isn't that uncommon.
My guess, like most everyone elses is that the drive is going. Now
you've either got to prove it to the tech or live with a non-functioning
drive, which is not acceptable. Back up and attempt a reinstall, or try
the external CD-ROM drive routine. Even if it's not under warranty you're
going to have to repair it, and at this point it's worth learning how to
repair those problems when they occur.
Click to expand...

That's true. I will re-install if I have to. I need to narrow down to
problem
to my satisfaction first. My worries about having to re-install the OS is
all that software that I'll have to re-install afterwords. I have all of my
install programs in one folder, and I have EVERY disk that came with
my Dell. Another concern or question is do these disks get my computer
EXACTLY as it was on the day that I got it? Will I still have my Dell
branded utilities, like the Dell help interface. One tech told me that I
will, and I guess he's right. Isn't that what OEM software is all about?

My next step is to get a CD drive cleaner and see if that works.
 
That looks like a nifty little back up unit. My money is still on a failing
drive since your rig is new.
 
The drive is going bad, period.

Most dvd drives use seperate lasers of different wavelength to read cd's and
dvds. Its quite obvious that your drive's cd laser is on its last legs.
Unless you live in the desert or in a smoky bar, cleaning it will not fix
it.
 
Yes, I do. In fact, I have a great backup system. Absplus backup by

http://www.cmsproducts.com/

The software reminds me every 28 days. I have the 20 Gig one that
plugs into the PC slot.


That's true. I will re-install if I have to. I need to narrow down to problem
to my satisfaction first. My worries about having to re-install the OS is
all that software that I'll have to re-install afterwords. I have all of my
install programs in one folder, and I have EVERY disk that came with
my Dell. Another concern or question is do these disks get my computer
EXACTLY as it was on the day that I got it? Will I still have my Dell
branded utilities, like the Dell help interface. One tech told me that I
will, and I guess he's right. Isn't that what OEM software is all about?

My next step is to get a CD drive cleaner and see if that works.
Click to expand...

The tech who said that failure to boot proves hardware trouble is
correct.

When you are first booting, only the hardware and the BIOS are in play.
Nothing in Windows can have any effect (the fact that one can boot to,
say, a Knoppix Linux CD justifies that reasoning...).

Eventually, Windows does come into play when you boot from a Windows CD
- but it's the OS on the CD that is running, not the one on your hard
drive.

HTH,
Gino
 
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