Dougloid From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (5 years 11 months 3 weeks 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 671 times:
I've got a Dell Dimension 4600 running XP with a DVD read only drive and after three years I finally found a need to use it. I had a surveillance videotape put on DVD so I could review it for a case.
The drive is a Samsung S633-615E.
When I put a disk in it and push the tray shutt the light blinks on and off about four times. Nothing happens so when I go into 'my computer' and click on the drive it always says "Please insert a disk into drive D".
That happens with known good disks. So I did a little searching around and found some suggestions for fixes, such as removing the drive from the list of devices and reinstalling it. No luck. I also tried unplugging the wires and reattaching them, cold and hot. No change. Took some compressed air and shout it into the drawer-no change.
This drive is three years old and I have never used it up until this date.
Anyone have any ideas for further troubleshooting?
KevinL1011 From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 2964 posts, RR: 51 Reply 1, posted (5 years 11 months 3 weeks 6 days ago) and read 663 times:
Dudeloid!
Have you gone to "Control Panel" then "System" and checked the properties for the drive? Does it say that the device is working properly? Maybe there is an IRQ conflict.
Tip:
The CCTV system that I have at my shop uses "Nova" to backup copies and can only be read with Nova software. Once you resolve the hardware issue I hope the data is in a format that your system can read.
AeroWesty From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 18889 posts, RR: 64 Reply 2, posted (5 years 11 months 3 weeks 6 days ago) and read 661 times:
Do you have DVD player software? The Dell I got didn't have any, and I had to buy some to play DVDs.
KevinL1011 From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 2964 posts, RR: 51 Reply 3, posted (5 years 11 months 3 weeks 6 days ago) and read 659 times:
Quoting AeroWesty (Reply 2): Do you have DVD player software? The Dell I got didn't have any, and I had to buy some to play DVDs.
Yeah...stupid dell. They no longer do that and recommend getting it on line. So if your network card has issues, you're screwed! Always copy your driver files.
Dougloid From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 4, posted (5 years 11 months 3 weeks 5 days 14 hours ago) and read 633 times:
Quoting AeroWesty (Reply 2): Do you have DVD player software? The Dell I got didn't have any, and I had to buy some to play DVDs.
(The Mac did it natively. )
I've been thinking that could be a problem, but it is the next problem after I figure out why the drive does this with any disk I put into it, including a music CD that works fine in the CD drive. I read some of the archives and Klaus says that sometimes taking the drive apart and cleaning the lens can help. That may be the next thing to try unless I can get another drive on the cheap.
Sv2008 From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2006, 622 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (5 years 11 months 3 weeks 5 days 14 hours ago) and read 629 times:
it sounds like the drive might just be broken!
Even with autoplay off in windows, the drive should still pick up the disc and (start to) read it automatically. If it's not doing, could be a mechanical fault, and it's not going to worthwhile to fix it.
Dougloid From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 6, posted (5 years 11 months 3 weeks 5 days 14 hours ago) and read 626 times:
Quoting Sv2008 (Reply 5): it sounds like the drive might just be broken!
Even with autoplay off in windows, the drive should still pick up the disc and (start to) read it automatically. If it's not doing, could be a mechanical fault, and it's not going to worthwhile to fix it.
I'm thinking you may be right. I may well buy another drive today if the price is right.
Dougloid From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 7, posted (5 years 11 months 3 weeks 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 611 times:
Y'all are going to have a real laugh over how I fixed this.
I went to the local computer parts whorehouse and priced drives-from $45 to 65 bucks for a garden variety DVD r/rw device. That was about thirty bucks more than I had. So on my way home I remembered that I had a DVD/RW drive that came out of my dead TiVO player. So I struggled with getting the drive out of the computer until I got the instructions at Dell Support. Once I did, switching the drives took about five minutes.
Questions remained about firmware, proprietary software, etc etc.
It works like a champ, didn't need to screw with drivers, etc etc etc.
I'm two for two, the hard drive's in my backup computer.
Musta been doing something right today. The only thing that's different is that the green LED busy light is disabled.
Sponsor Message: 
From , joined Dec 1969, posts, 
From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 2964 posts, 
)
From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2006, 622 posts, 
Printer friendly format 
