DVD will not eject

Tried a search already.

DVD in my R3 cycles and reads but will not eject with button on keyboard or thru windows.

Suggestions please.

 

try opening up a windows explorer and try it again...this happens every once in awhile for me and that seems to work.
you can also try rebooting and hitting eject at boot up

 

Appreciate that but its not a software thing as the eject symbol comes up on the screen with the flat keyboard button and also trys to cycle when I go thru the computer rightclick eject method. I hear the dvd cycle and "try" to eject and can read the dvd data as it spins up ok but simply won't spit it out/eject.

Out of warranty by 3 months and the tear down video to get to the dvd looks harsh...

any other suggestions?

 

Since its slot loading could try the cardboard trick? Its a technique used for discs stuck in a macbook since they have slot loading drives as well. not sure I would risk it though. Try looking up macbook disc eject I guess.

 

I actually just replaced my cd/dvd drive today with a bluray player. I had issues with my drive not reading burned discs. The teardown wasn't too difficult. I had a video from youtube and the service manual up on another laptop and it took me about an hour or so to do the swap. i got the replacement here Dell Alienware M15x M71x M18x Slot-in Blu-ray BD-ROM Combo Drive Replacement | eBay

 

You can try hitting the eject button from the BIOS. If that doesn't work, then you might have to remove the optical drive from your notebook and use a piece of cardboard or something to pop out the disc. These cheap (and I DO MEAN CHEAP!) optical drives they put into the Alienware notebooks are prone to malfunctioning and tend to die without cause or warning. I'm on my third since I got my system and even this replacement one doesn't work right. Unfortunately there is no manual release pinhole on the drive. I've looked and dissected a defective drive before from an R3 and that emergency eject mechanism was left out of this series of optical drives apparently.

 

All great answers, thanks!

 

Press and hold eject for 3 seconds. Hopefully will work.

 

Yeah what's up with that? I had a problem once and looked for the pinhole. It worked eventually though.

 

Design shortcoming. It's not a flaw cause I think the manufacturer left it out intentionally.

 

There's no pin hole because the eject system on slot loading drives is not the same as the one on tray loading drives.

 

If the issue persists please send us an e-mail to [email protected] and we'll be able to send you a replacement ODD.

 

Too good to be true????

 

Did exactly as you suggested and No Response from Dell......

 

Sorry about the long wait. We were out for the weekend, I'll jump on this ASAP.

 

NEVER AGAIN DELL!

Dell Rep lied and wasted my time...surprise.

L_Porras offered me a replacement optical drive as clearly stated above. He wasted hours of my time on the telephone with Dell and with multiple emails. Four days after the above email I requested an update, he now insists I have an active warranty to do what he offered.

From my 1-8-13 post above:

Out of warranty by 3 months and the tear down video to get to the dvd looks harsh...



NEVER AGAIN DELL!

 

Dr. J, sorry but i don't know what company will replace any parts when your warranty expires. Calm down and think about it for a second.
L_Porras might have missed the part where you stated that your system is no longer covered and i'm sure he only wanted to help.

 

I have to agree with Katalin. There is no way Mr. Porras would flat out lie to or intentionally mislead any customer, but especially not one here in public view. He is not that kind of person, and neither are his peers. Not recognizing the warranty was expired, he offered to assist. I realize there is a very brief comment stating that, but it is possible that anyone could miss the comment. I think Luis really deserves credit for offering to help and it is not his fault that the warranty is lapsed.

 

Agreed with Katalin and Mr. Fox, there is NO WAY Mr. Porras will lie to you and this is coming from a person who has asked for his help on multiple occasions. I firmly believe this was a misunderstanding on his part, but you also have to know that you can't get things fixed if your warranty is expired, especially after 3 months.

 

Holy site sponser Batman (?boy), they keep piling on.

Not my mistake, Dell Rep L_Porras' mistake here peeps.

He clearly enjoyed the PR of offering to help but failed miserably.

Many here know me thru my 687 posts plus PMs over the years and I am not prone to undue criticism.

Your comments are ignorant of all the information from his PMs and emails.

Did not expect the lack of support for a forum member and the one wronged here with obvious bias otherwise.

Never Again Dell...

 

And your still here huh?

I about died laughing when i read this.

Hey Dell, can i get a brand new shinny laptop free of charge since im out of warranty by 6 months?????????? Oh yeah, just ignore my service tag and it stating it's out of warranty.

Come on Louis, go ahead and make that happen!!!!

 

You did not take the time to read the full thread kiss before your foolish post and if you did then its even more foolish.

I never asked for a replacement and never ignored my service tag as you wrongly opine but when its offered and then jerked around, i am appropriately stating what happened for the benefit of the forum users.

Your ignorant post benefits no one.

Never Again Dell....

 

Your ignorant reply benefits no one...and that includes yourself.


You tried to play the system and got played by the system. That is what is hilarious. And you got caught and called on it. Didn't see you posting about that, but from reading up above..A few others already pointed it out for the forum members.

 

Hostility much? A Dell rep tried to help you and you freak out on him because he missed the blurb in your original post about you being out of warranty? You expecting AW to fix your drive despite not having a warranty?

Oh yeah, forgot....

NEVER AGAIN DELL....

 

I don't think he tried to play the system.
He even replied with "too good to be true?" after they offered a replacement.

The Dell reps have been amazing round here so I won't criticise them but if a mistake was made it was obviously an honest one.

 

That's just it. Louis made a mistake by not seeing that he was "clearly" out of warranty. So like normal, they offer to help. Saying "To good to be true" is not the same as saying "Hey Louis, you know my warranty ran out. See first post. Are you still going to be able to help me?"

The op is "not" saying he made any mistake what so ever. That it was all on dell for not seeing his first post. Or what ever excuse is easiest to choke out.

When they go try to help you it's based off your warranty/service tag. And when you input into the system, no amount of finagling is going to produce free parts without a level 3 tech authorization anyway.
So you are left with...Buy a new warranty and get part replaced or come in here and post Dell Hell for a great injustice done by mistake or Buy the part and do it your self. You see what choice was made....

 

Appreciate your singular appropriate read on this Joe.

Dell Rep had my associated account email, full name, address, phone number, order number, customer number and date of purchase, service tag, express service tag number within one hour of his unsolicited public offer to come to my aid. L_Porras by simply doing basic Dell customer service due dilligence should have quickly and easily avoided all my wasted time and effort with phone calls and email (that they simply do not appreciated in any case.)

Almost as bad is all the foolish, garbage noise from DELL sponsered site fan boys about a forum member simply stating the facts for other members to consider.

NEVER AGAIN DELL

 

Dr. J all this name calling is getting too far.
This is not a matter of being biased towards anything. For your information nobody here, including the moderators, is being sponsored by Dell or any other company.

I personally had a taste of broken Dell support a few months ago but in this case you are wrong, my friend. It's not like your warranty expired a couple of days before your optical drive broke. It's been three months!

Let's cool down now and thank God it wasn't your GPU or a more expensive part of your laptop that broke down because, honestly, how many times do you even use your optical drive nowadays?

As for your issue, you could try Radji's advice about repeatedly pressing the eject button above the keyboard after POST.
If that doesn't give any result by the time Windows starts loading, attempt a full power drain:
-unplug the system battery and charger.
-locate and disconnect the CMOS coincell battery
-Press the power button on your system for ~30 seconds or longer.
-Put everything back together and repeat Radji's advice.

Still not able to eject it? take a visual inspection of the optical drive's connection, make sure the plug didn't jump out of place.

Now if after all this you're still not able to get that DVD out, one thing left to do is to get it out by opening the optical drive's upper lid.
If you don't feel comfortable doing this, bring it to a local computer repair shop and have them do it.

As for this thread, i'm going to lock it to prevent a flame war.
If you have any questions, my inbox is open.