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    Problem with Studio 16 DVD drive

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by Bowlerguy92, Sep 7, 2009.

  1. Bowlerguy92

    Bowlerguy92 Notebook Deity

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    Once AGAIN a DVD drive in a Dell laptop that I have owned shows sign of death....it actually started right after I upgraded the firmware of the drive using the downloads provided from Dell.com. I have since then uninstalled that driver and installed the standard one that it always had and the issue persists.

    Basically, when the disk spins up it will go into a spasm where it will spin you will hear the read head flying around, it will slow down and spin again and you will hear the head again. This happens maybe 5 or 6 times in a row before the drive finally settles down again. All of this happens typically when I haven't called for the DVD drive at all. But even when I go to play BF2 lately it will do that thing with the drive. The game will start ok but it's loud, obnoxious, and probably killing the drive. Is this a common issue? Anything I can do?

    Thanks!
     
  2. ikjadoon

    ikjadoon Notebook Deity

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    My mom's Vostro 1510 does something similar, but I never upgraded the firmware. I have no idea what causes it.

    On hers, it only "spins" up two or three times. Mine only occurs with a disk inside. If no disk, no random reads/spin-ups.

    ~Ibrahim~
     
  3. Bowlerguy92

    Bowlerguy92 Notebook Deity

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    Can anyone help us out? I know this is old but for the love of god I have helped enough people here to deserve an answer to one of MY questions.