Dell DVDRW problem

Seamu$

I have an Inspiron 630m, almost 3yo, and with a Sony DVD+-RW DW Q58A dvd burner. The drive doesn't work now, nothing happens when I put a CD or DVD in, it doesn't read any of them. It just clunks away for a few minutes and eventually stops. The Device Manager says the drive is working properly.

I've tried updating the drivers & I updated the firmware but it said it was up-to-date. I ran a "fix" file from the Doug Knox website also but none of these have worked. Is there anything else I could possibly do, or does it appear that the laser is damaged irreparably?

Would my best option be to buy a similar drive and pop it in? Is there a better drive I could get? Would I need any software or drivers if putting in a new drive? Or, final question, should I just go to the professionals here?!!!

Any advise would be appreciated! Thanks

Hal1

You could try it in another pc if you have one. Another thing is check the autoplay settings in 'my computer'. right click on the dvd drive and clcik properties. There will be an autoplay tab and you choose what happens when a disk is put in. Failing all that I would shutdown take out the drive put back in and startup again.

Run_to_da_hills

I use laptops for djing and they get abused, overheating spilling stuff on them etc, sometimes i can be lucky and just clean the laser head with a cd cleaner. I have gone through two dvd/cd rw drives on my Compaq and two on seperate dell laptops. Most of these DVD/CD Rw drives are compatible and will remove quite easily from your laptop. On the Dell Latitude and Compaq I had to remove the keyboard and find two small screws that are on a plate that is fitted to the end of the drive. I have seen new replacement drives cheap on Ebay.

Best if you can get the exact same model as what you had in (front Bezil will match the old one) and make sure its 8x speed. Dell will make a big deal of this and will rip you off. Its a 10 minute job!

Theres one on Ebay "buy it now" for e50 http://cgi.ebay.ie/SONY-DW-Q58A-Dual-Layer-DVD-RW-CDRW-Drive_W0QQitemZ150210069124QQihZ005QQcategoryZ131543QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

majiktripp

I have this exact make and model number drive myslef, its a piece of sh*t, have had others into me at work with the same thing.
Try reflashing the firmware on the drive from this here
http://support.euro.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=ie&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R104295&SystemID=XPS_M170&servicetag=&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=8102&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=1&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=32&fileid=134618
Its not from the drivers page for the 630m model but I checked that page and the Sony DVD drive isn't listed under the firmware updates.
Check yourself here,http://support.euro.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=ie&l=en&s=gen&ServiceTag=&SystemID=XPS_M140&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=
I think over time the problem will get worse instead of better.

Seamu$

Thanks for the help all. Still not having any luck I'm afraid, the only thing I haven't tried is taking the drive out and putting it back in again, will tackle that tomorrow!