[Phlegmbot]

My Device Manager says my DVD/D player is working. I can insert discs and eject them, but whether it's a CD or DVD, nothing gets read. And nothing can be burned.

 

I dropped my computer some weeks back, but everything else is working OK. I can't seem to get through the metal casing to see if the cables are all tight in the drive. Is there some diagnostic software I can use?

 

I tried removing and reinstalling the driver. I was concerned that it seemed to say the driver was up to date but only indicated that I've a CD-ROM drive...is that normal (see pic).

 

THANK YOU!

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Hi Phlegmbot, if you can insert and eject a CD it doesn't mean your CD-ROM is working .
If your drivers are fine i can only think about one thing, the lens.
ps: you didn't upload an image !!

[Vi-Sion]

Hi Phlegmbot, if you can insert and eject a CD it doesn't mean your CD-ROM is working .
If your drivers are fine i can only think about one thing, the lens.
ps: you didn't upload an image !!

[Phlegmbot]

Oops, sorry about the lack of image. It's attached this time. I was concerned that it only shows CD-ROM (as opposed to showing CD-ROM, DVD).

 

Is there any way to check if what you surmise about the lens is correct?

Attached Thumbnails

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[Vi-Sion]

Well you checked your cables and your drivers and both are working.
Try cleaning your lens let me know if this helped if not theres something else i want you to test .

[Phlegmbot]

I'm not sure how I'd clean the lens. The DVD player's in the computer accessible via a slot on the side (no tray or anything).

 

I have Win10 now, but this started beforehand. I had originally thought it was a program issue, but it's all programs.

[Vi-Sion]

1 more thing before cleaning youe lens try using a linux live CD, if ur CD-ROM is able to read CDs on a linux live CD taht means there's a problem with your OS.
If the you still have the same problem with linux try cleaning the lens .

If cleaning the lens didn't work as well i'm afraid you have to buy a new CD-ROM.

 

[phillpower2]

Excuse the interjection folks 

 

An observation from your screenshot Phlegmbot. the drive is shown to be an Optiarc DVD+ - RW AD-7640S, this means that Windows detects it as a DVD drive and so it is less likely (but not impossible) to be a software issue and more likely to be hardware related, as already mentioned by Vi-Sion the lens being the most likely culprit, if the drive was working properly before the computer was dropped then it more or less confirms that the drive is bad.

 

Download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here,  this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s. 

[Phlegmbot]

Thanks, both. Will try Speccy first & then post.

 

PBot

[phillpower2]

[Phlegmbot]

http://speccy.pirifo...nqXf1GlFlqxspOo

 

P.S. The drive actually DIDN'T work before the drop, but I had thought it was program specific. But I've since discovered it's not working no matter what.

Edited by Phlegmbot, 23 December 2015 - 10:31 PM.

[rshaffer61]

I would agree with the assessment put forth by both that the drive itself is the culprit. If cleaning the lens does not help then I suggest a new optical drive is in order.

[Phlegmbot]

OK. Thx.

 

The video above won't help,  b/c, as I described, my DVD doesn't have a tray that slides out.

See the computer here: http://rejoy.blog.co...5_laptop_pc.jpg

 

But I'm sure i can find a vid that explains how to get to the DVD drive inside my PC.

 

Thanks guys. Happy holidays!

[phillpower2]

Speccy detects your optical drive, its capabilities and reports that the drive itself is ok, it cannot tell us if the lens is bad but based on the fact that everything else looks ok the lens does look to have problems.

 

 

But I'm sure i can find a vid that explains how to get to the DVD drive inside my PC.

 

 

Post the model name and/or number of the Dell notebook so we can do some research.

 

Please note that if the drive needs to be professionally replaced that it could be expensive and that while it is beneficial to have the availability of an optical drive you can get by without them and use USB devices such as thumb drives and external optical drives instead.

 

http://speccy.pirifo...nqXf1GlFlqxspOo

 

P.S. The drive actually DIDN'T work before the drop, but I had thought it was program specific. But I've since discovered it's not working no matter what.

 

Windows 10 was installed on 12/10/2015, was the drive working ok up until then.

Was Windows 10 a fresh installation or an update/upgrade from Windows 7/8/8.1.

Do you have audio when you watch an online video.

 

To run a Dell diagnostic test on your optical drive click here

 

[Phlegmbot]

Hi!

 

Answers to your questions:

I have a Dell XPS 1645.

 

Windows 10 was an upgrade from Win7.

 

I do have audio when I watch videos.

 

If it turns out the drive is kaput, is there an inexpensive external drive you'd recommend (I create videos on occasion and like to burn DVDs of them).

 

The Dell Diagnostic results: After 20 mins., it doesn't seem to be working. I don't think it works with Win10 (I previously tried a diag. on a different page, and it gave me an error). Will let it keep going and post more if anything comes of it.

 

THANKS, ALL!

 

-PBOT

[Phlegmbot]

Just a quick update. I re-DL'd the Dell software for the diagnostic check and re-ran the test. It was purportedly "running the tests" this time, but after about an hour, there were no results. I'm going to try it one more time as I sit down to watch Netflix....

 

UPDATE AGAIN:

 

The tests seemed to be running this last time. It kept saying the computer passed the tests, but, ultimately, the testing froze partway through. It clearly isn't made for Win10 (b/c I've done this diagnostic before [in Win7], and it's worked fine).

Edited by Phlegmbot, 26 December 2015 - 10:19 PM.