Dvd Player Will Not Recognise Dvd

**aesop64** · November 22nd, 2004, 04:49 PM

Out of complete frustration I am posting the same problem again. NO REPLY after a month of waiting is not right. If there is somewhere else you could recommend I will try there instead, anything just please, help.
I have a Dell Dimension 4600, Running XP and I recently installed Service Pack 2. My DVD Drive is a HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8162B
I have never noticed any problems with any DVDs before, Now some Commercial dvds are not detected by my drive they spin & spin but never play(like trying to play a blank cd-r).Others are detected and play excellent. When one of the undetected dvds is in the drive, clicking the dvd player icon in My Computer or manually open (or play) and any thing else I try all say the DVD drive is empty or insert a disc! The DVDs are not -/+Rs or -/+RWs just regular movies. I have tried opening the DVD decoder or player software first and then inserting the disc, Same result with all of the following Dell's PowerDVD ,Dell's media experience, Microsofts Media player, Interactual, and a few other programs. As I said earlier the ONLY new software or hardware is Service Pack 2 which I reluctantly installed. I tried the trouble shooting guide on my PC but of course nothing really applied I also contacted DisneyDVD technical support because one of thier DVDs was one that would not play. They were very accommodating but nothing of value was gained in our conversation. The other DVDs that would not play were HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasim Volume 1 & 2. Gangs of New York, Hocus Pocus,Felix the CatHome Movies(a Soup2Nuts DVD) ect. ect. All of the DVDs will play on my stand-alone DVD player (for TV). Of course I want to get to the bottom of this! Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

**Zerotech** · November 23rd, 2004, 12:29 PM

Hi aesop64, sorry about the no-response before, that's not the usual way around here.

First off, I'd say go to www.dell.com and check the downloads for your system (there should be a service tag on the back of the system, enter that number at the support site to bring up your particular downloads). Check for a firmware update for your DVD drive.

I just did a system restore for a co-worker's home system and there was a motherboard BIOS update and a CDRW firmware update that improved system performance noticeably.

If the firmware update (if one is available) doesn't help, then quite possibly the drive itself may be failing.
One other thing to try is opening the drive door and use a little canned air to blow any dust off the reader lens.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

**aesop64** · November 23rd, 2004, 05:24 PM

Thank you for the reply, I already tried the canned air trick but I will try the other suggestion thank you again!

**aesop64** · December 6th, 2004, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by aesop64

Thank you for the reply, I already tried the canned air trick but I will try the other suggestion thank you again!

Well I just thought I would post the fix we used for this. As you stated maybe the drive itself was dying. After spending quite literally a week with Dell's tech support (which was absolutely WORTHLESS :butt: ) they reluctantly replaced the Drive (HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8162B) with a new one. The only thing I do know for sure is this DID fix the problem

! The only thing I did not care for as far as troubleshooting goes is the fact they replaced it with a different brand (a Samsung).

Although I would assume the original drive (HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8162B) was dying I can not say with absolute certainty the HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8162B is able to play all Commercial (Movies) DVD Roms. If no one else has had this exact problem with this exact DVD Drive I would then assume it was a dying duck! Thank You and GOOD LUCK!

**ikas** · December 7th, 2004, 05:39 PM

I dunno if the problem that I had is the exactly the same as yours, but a few days ago my DVD burner was unable to read a few new DVDs that I rented. I read the old DVDs fine. But the new one (spider-man 2) was just giving me problems, it would spin, then stop, back and forth then just come up telling me I have no cd in the drive.

On mine, to fix this, I bought one of those cd-rom cleaner disk at Walmart for about $10. I popped it in and ran it and it worked. It now reads the movies like there is no problem. Welps, that's what I did to mine, hope it works there if you decide to try it.

**ikas** · December 7th, 2004, 05:40 PM

I forgot to add, I updated the firmware on the drive, it made no difference :P

**aesop64** · December 8th, 2004, 10:08 AM

Uhh, thanks but as I stated in my last post the unit in question (DVD-ROM) (not a burner) was replaced by Dell. FYI tried cleaning it, did not help

**polyai** · December 18th, 2004, 11:13 PM

Same problem on My Dell 4600
Do not know when it started either after Service Pack 2 (For Win XP) or after I add LG external Drive (DVD-Burner) my DVD-ROM GDR8162B could not read any DVD disks, it only work on CD's.
Called Dell, they sugest cleare NVRAM, after the thet got BLUE screen, had to rebuild the machine, DVD-RON still do not work, so it could be a Hardware......

**aesop64** · December 19th, 2004, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by polyai

Same problem on My Dell 4600
Do not know when it started either after Service Pack 2 (For Win XP) or after I add LG external Drive (DVD-Burner) my DVD-ROM GDR8162B could not read any DVD disks, it only work on CD's.
Called Dell, they sugest cleare NVRAM, after the thet got BLUE screen, had to rebuild the machine, DVD-RON still do not work, so it could be a Hardware......

I have personally found Dell's "technicians

" to be totally Incompetent, unless the problem is extraordinarly simple they make things much worse. Sorry to hear about your computer.

**carrie640** · January 9th, 2005, 09:19 PM

LOL! OMG! Mine, too!!!! But, This started happening prior to SP2. Some will run..others won't. Some will sort of go....like...they will play, but will skip and jump (video and audio) all over the place. UGH. SOOO NOT HAPPY.

**aesop64** · January 9th, 2005, 09:56 PM

Originally Posted by carrie640

LOL! OMG! Mine, too!!!! But, This started happening prior to SP2. Some will run..others won't. Some will sort of go....like...they will play, but will skip and jump (video and audio) all over the place. UGH. SOOO NOT HAPPY.

I did find tha SP2 actually had nothing to do with the problem. Just a heads-up if you do convince Dell to replace your DVD Player, and it is under warranty as mine was, they sent a guy out from Qualex to replace it.(not something I couldn't do myself but what the hay it was free) The appointment was set up by Dell. They gave me a day that Qualex would call and confirm the appointment. Qualex called, set-up appointment with time and date, sat home all day waiting .... no-show. Called them, they blamed Dell. Took three more days for an actual tech to call and confirm, he told me his office was too far away and to set new appointment with a branch closer to me. REPEAT of the same scenerio as above!!!(As in call,confirm,no-show,blame Dell,3 days ect. ect.) But when he got here we had many laughs at Dells expense!!!! And he was an actual certified repairman! He was very knowledgeble No Dell Phone Flunky!