Slot load Dvd suddenly wont read any discs

As the Title says it just quite on me after almost 3 months. Is there a reason that has been going around these forums, or is it a rare thing?

Not sure if its the dust from Iraq that cause this but it could have been a factor, I leave here in 5 days what should i do?

 

My slot DVD did that before. I reinstalled the drivers, have you tried that?

 

I uninstalled the drivers then did a automatic update should i be using a difrent driver?

 

Are you leaving Iraq for the US in 5 days? If so my best recommend for you would be to call Dell now(if possible) and tell them you won't be back for a week or however long if parts need to be shipped, or wait til you get back then call them. Some of the problems it could be are:bad firmware, driver issues, or failure of a part(most likely the lens if that's the case) and all of those are usually easier to sort out with tech support. Honesly if they can't fix it in like a half hour on the phone they'll usually just send a new part and/or a tech if you want one.

 

Well i'm stationed in Germany so wont be going to the states but i will call tech support as soon as i can get to Germany and see what they can do.

 

*What specific media are you trying to run? CD/DVD/or game?

*Europe (Germany), Japan, South Africa are region code 2.

*USA (incl. territories), Canada are region code 1.

If you bought your rig in USA and than tried to watch a German DVD it may have changed the region code of the player. There are many other explanations as well but thought I would ask the obvious first.

*what type of antivirus are you running? and have you had any windows updates just prior to this not working?

 

Ok update it reads cds cdrs and cdrws but still wont read the dvds it was reading before this happend.

 

Your players region code was set based on which country the Windows Operating System came from. If you bought your Alienware in USA than the region code is set to play North American Disks. If you bought in Europe than it was originally set to play European disks.

Every time you insert a DVD the firmware checks the region. When a firmware has done a regioncheck it will either play or not read. You can switch back and forth "5" times and than the region code will "LOCK". Because you are stationed in Europe I am just wondering if you have watched DVD's from both regions and perhaps you have used up the 5 times?

To test this theory try a disk from the "other' region. If that disk works than you know which region you are stuck in. The other region will no longer read.

If the issue were dirt than the DVD would read sometimes. If the issue were hardware than I think the CD would also have trouble playing.

You can read about this by:
Opening PowerDVD
Opening Help Menu
Selecting List
type REGION or Country Code

You get 5 times whether you have the Blue Ray player or the DVD player.

All multi media software is very finicky. Sometimes an update, windows patch , or antivirus can disable them. If the problem is in the registry than simply installing and uninstalling may or may not work. Hopefully your issue is region code and you can find a way to change the region code back to your prefrence. I have never done this before. Whether installing or uninstalling the PowerDVD would help I don't know.

Here is a link that explains the 5x with either WinDVD or PowerDVD.

http://www.gromkov.com/faq/faq2004-0063.html

The region codes are stored in software NOT the physical drive. You should be able the edit the file and reset yourself.

 

To check your country code:

Open Cyberlink PowerDVD
Open Wrench/Screwdriver icon
Open TAB Blu-ray Disc

This tells you the Country code, Region Code, and #of remaing changes.

 

Well it just read a dvd but it sounds like crap while doing it, do you think its dirty? I am in Iraq maybe some sand got in it.

 

*You can buy a lens cleaning disk for about $15.
*Do you have the DVD or BD slot player?
*What software are you watching movies with? Power DVD or WinDVD?
*Do you have the latest drivers for that software?
*Is the last DVD you were able to run picture perfect or is there snow or pauses?

As a last resort before sending your machine for service you could reinstall to factory settings using the partition. The issue could be software/firmware/codec/drivers/corrupted registry, 3'rd party software or as you say dirt. The software required to run a DVD is very complex and leaves a lot of information in the registry. When the registry gets corrupted a fresh install of the software will sometimes NOT fix the problem. The $15 kit is a good investment as you are in a dusty environment. I would start there and see if that makes a difference.

 

My Dvd slot drive on my Alienware M17x stop reading anything .
No Cd's/Dvd's nothing works ?
Uninstalled drivers and reinstalled them and still nothing ???
Can anyone help ??
Henry