Problems with my new 9260 - can't read DVDs and HD error

After two and a half week my new Sager 9260 has finally arrived!
The initial joy has however vanished since I encountered two problems with my system.

First I noticed that the DVD drive can't read some DVDs. I haven't found out exactly which DVDs that causes the problem. But so far the drive can't read the installation DVD for Adobe After Effects and Alias Maya. These discs works perfectly in my two other computers. I also tested a free IdeaDisc from Artbeats and it doesn't work at all. The DVD drive spins up rapidly and tries to read the disc. But the drive gives a strange noise and can't recognize the disk. The notebook even crashed after trying to read the Maya disc for 30 sec.

I haven't found any information about this kind of problem on the forum and I'm afraid it is a hardware failure. The DVD drive is named "Optiarc DVD RW AD-7530A" and I haven't found any new firmware for it. If anyone have any tips or ideas I would appreciate it!



Secondly, after installing QuickTime and trying to open a QT-file Vista crashed with a blue screen. During the restart a noticed that my RAID 5-array were degraded and one of the hard drives showed up with an error.

Intel Matrix is now in the process of rebuilding the RAID, but the fact that this happened after just one hour of use is really strange. Does it indicate that one of the discs have a hardware error?

When I booted the computer for the first time it showed the "Windows didn't shut down correctly". Is that normal when Sager has installed the OS or does it indicate that they had some problem during the installation and had to hard reset the computer before shipping it out?

Sorry for this long post, but I wanted to give as detailed information as possible.

Thank you in advance!

 

You received the "windows didn't shut down correctly" from the QT blue-screen crash (windows didn't shut down correctly there .

The RAID-5 corruption may also be related to the BSOD crash (especially since you were performing file access when the crash occurred).

No idea on the DVDs. If they are copies then it may be due to different tolerances between DVD mechanisms. Some DVD R/RW media is not guaranteed to work in all mechanisms. If the DVDs are original stamping from the OEM, then there's definitely a mechanism error.

 

Thanks for a fast reply!
Sorry if I was unclear in my post. But I recieved the "Windows didn't shut..." when I booted the computer the FIRST time. (Before the Vista crash)

All of the DVDs I'm referring to are the original software DVDs and no copies. I guess I have to RMA the DVD drive...

 

I believe that it might be software issues.... not hardware.

The optical drive is probably not broken at all... have you tried to boot the Windows installation disc or a live CD (like Knoppix)... because if those boot, its definitely not the drive.

I would recommend to contact (email or call) the vendor before doing any RMA... so you wont waste your time, as well as their time if the issue can be fixed without sending it in.

 

I have tried the Windows installation disc shipped with the computer and it works.

But the fact that two original installations discs from two different companies (Adobe and Alias) don't work made me think that it was a hardware problem. There are no scratches or dust on the discs.

Have anyone find a site with firmware upgrades for the DVD drive?
I will contact Sager and see what they say.

 

That optical drive is a new model. Interesting that Sager is using it over the typical Pioneer and NEC-brand slim drives.

If its new, I would not think that its a firmware issue.

Note: This drive is also considered a NEC drive... as well.

If you want, you can ask them to swap your optical drive for another model (like Pioneer DVR-K17)... they will probably cross-ship the optical drive to you and you ship your current back to them.

 

The problem is that I live in Sweden and would have to pay for the shipping both ways.

I guess it will be cheaper to buy a new drive here in Sweden...
I wait and see what they say.

 

An update:
Intel Matrix just told me that the RAID has degraded because one of the disks aren't working. It's the same disk again! I have started to recreate the RAID for the second time today...

Is there any software you can recommend to scan the disk for hardware errors?

 

As a reference for anyone having problem with RAID 5 and Intel Matrix I found the solution to my problem on:
http://www.flyingnerd.com/intel-raid-problem-under-windows-vista/

Apparently there is an issue with the Intel Matrix driver that was delivered with my Sager. Installing the latest Intel Matrix (and removing two keys from the registry) solved the problem.

Sager told me that I should replace the faulty drive...