Friday, my DVD-ROM drive quit working properly. It will read music CDs and it will read Data CDs but when I put in a DVD and tryed to open it I would get the message "please inset a disc in drive D:". Device Manager says the drive is working properly. I spent all day Saturday with Dell tech support. I kept telling them it was a drive problem. They hade me do a system restoration (put the computer back like it was when it was new) and still the same problem. They finally decided to send me a new drive. Lucky for me everything on my computer is backed up on DVDs and my DVD+/-RW drive is working. But I did spend all day yesterday putting my computer back the way I had it. I like my Dell computer but Dell support SUCKS. I WILL NEVER AGAIN DO A SYSTEM RESTORATION. Anyway what kind of drive is a HT-DT-ST DVD ROM GDR8163B?
it is an lg drive going by the HT-DT-ST which my cd burner has. LG/Hitachi HL-DT-ST DVD-ROM GDR8163B DVD-ROM 16x, CD-ROM 52x
i have the same problem since i downloaded the "anydvd" software and i remove the program that use to play dvds . i tried to restore the system but i was to late . the restoration only restore the system from i month ago.and i remove the program like a month and a half ago.
I dont think that is the problem because i've been using AnyDVD and CloneDVD2 for a few months now. Also, when we restored the computer to the way I bought it, it still would not read DVD's. What I thought was unusual is the fact that it will pass diagnostic read test with music CDs and Data Disc, but not a DVD. I'll have a new drive sometime this week, and install it this weekend, we'll see what happens. Anyone with another Idea please let me know, I really would like to know what ya'll think. This is the weirdest computer problem that I've ever seen.
Yes it was the drive. In Fact they replaced the LG/Hitachi DVD-ROM with a Samsung DVD-ROM SD 616E. Does any one know what kind of reputation this drive has? Is it a good drive.
wrf01a: yes this drive is unreliable. DELL support is worthless. You are better to google your way to a forum like this to find answer. I updated firmware for drive....no matter. DELL wanted me to re-install XP. I would not! Takes to long...even when using Ghost 10.0! So out the drive came and in went a reliable SONY. Z
The Samsung drive doesnt access info as fast as the previous drive but it does seem to work well. Computer is under warranty for 2 more months. If it messes up later No Big Deal, Good DVD ROM drives are cheap. And I do agree, Dell Support Sucks. I get answers to most of my questions here and at Dell Community Forum. But I keep an open mind at Dell Community Forum. Moderators are probably Dell emplyees
DELL Support has become an oxymoron! Although we really like the DELL PC's (we have six 3000/8400/9100/XPS400) We have found that support cannot answer even the most simplest questions without a 45 minute wait. Last night when chatting with support the simple question was "Which serial cable adapter works with the PS2/Serial motherboard connector, a crossover or straight through cable adapter?" From the question came dubious answers like you need to buy a PCI serial card, to there is no serial connector on the motherboard to there is no serial port in the machine! As if we were not aware of those answers! 45 minutes later the support tech asked if we were really satisifed with DELL support. It seems we know more about the product then they do! At 30 minutes before.... we even remotely had an answer to the originally posted question the support rep asked if we would fill out a survey on their support service and again if we were satisified! Our response was "How can we answeer that when you have not provided an answer to the simple question after 30 minutes!" Which by the way had to be asked a total of three times during the session! New question.... Is there such a thing as DELL support? DELL Support=Oxymoron Correct and final answer "Yes Virginia there are message and info boards with qualified users that post and offer more knowledge and information than DELL Support and Googling will yield an answer faster than an online chat session to Bangladesh!
I have the HT-DT-ST DVD ROM GDR8163B drive in a Sony Vaio computer that is only 13 months old. It has the opposite problem. It will read DVDs but not CDs of any type. Reliable? Well only until the warranty runs out. Then it will promptly wither into a piece of crap.
My computer was still under warranty and they replaced the LG/Hitachi with a Samsung. Its not as fast as the original drive but it works. Its not too annoying because for Data or Music CD's I have a 3rd drive that is much faster.
