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    Optical Drive is recognized but won't read :'(

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by Ezi0, Mar 3, 2012.

  1. Ezi0

    Ezi0 Notebook Consultant

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    Hey guys,

    so I ripped out the optical drive to put in an additional harddrive which is running great. However, I can't get the optical drive to be read and I don't know why... its currently in this case Amazon.com: USB2.0 Slim DVD / CD RW Burner External Enclosure Caddy Case with SATA Connetor For all Laptop Notebook dvd cd burner[ Case only!! Drive is not included !!]: Electronics attached to my M15x. I shows up as a "hl-dt-st dvd+-rw ga31n USB Device" in device manager. So the machine is recognizing it but it simply won't read any discs :( which isn't good in case I want to do another fresh installation.

    so any help would be great.
     
    Ezi0, Mar 3, 2012
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  2. otosan

    otosan Notebook Consultant

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    Well, i will guess that it actually not get enough power, have u try using USB cable that have additional USB male plug to supply more juice?
     
    otosan, Mar 3, 2012
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  3. Alienware_M15X

    Alienware_M15X Notebook Enthusiast

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    You should test the DVD on other laptop or PC. To be sure that the DVD player is working.
     
    Alienware_M15X, Mar 3, 2012
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  4. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    Check Otosan's suggestion first. They usually need more power so you'll have to use a Y USB cable.
     
    katalin_2003, Mar 3, 2012
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  5. Ezi0

    Ezi0 Notebook Consultant

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    turns out the drive actually went bad without me realizing. I tried it on 2 other laptops. none of them could read anything off of it but still recognized the drive.

    The case has an additional usb for power so power isn't the issue.

    thanks your replies :) but it looks like I just have to go buy a new external dvd drive.
     
    Ezi0, Mar 4, 2012
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  6. emaraszek

    emaraszek Newbie

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    Same thing happened to me. 2 months after buying my m15x the optical drive stopped reading discs. Oddly enough I could read CDs but not DVDs. Dell tech came to my place and replaced the drive, everything had been working fine ever since. That was November 2010
     
    emaraszek, Apr 3, 2012
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  7. JWest

    JWest Master of Notebookery

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    Try using one of those canned air cleaners in it to give it a good cleaning inside, and also use a disc drive eye cleaner disc on it. Mine periodically stops reading discs, but it's just because it needs to be cleaned. Dust gets in there and makes it hard for it to read discs, and it can make you think there's something seriously wrong with it. I thought I had to replace mine until I found out the solution was so stupidly simple ;)
     
    JWest, Apr 3, 2012
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  8. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    That's exactly the cause most of the times. The beam gets weaker as the lens gets covered with dust and your optical drive will have a hard time reading higher density disks.
    Also, make sure you turn off your laptop and unplug the power cord and battery before attempting this (I know it might sound obvious for some of you but we had cases like this ;))
     
    katalin_2003, Apr 4, 2012
    #8