Latitude E-Series DVD Burner troubles

Since more people were discussing dvd burner related problems in other topics, I'm trying to get all information together here.

My E6400 shipped with a PLDS DU-8A2S, and I'm not able to burn any dvd. I tried burning on different media (different +R, +RW), using ImageBurn and Nero (Image and regular data dvd), and mine always throws an error while doing the lead-in after spinning up and down a few times. Log file is attached.

It also makes -A LOT- of noise when a cd is in, even when it's not used. Am I missing some firmware of drivers or is this just a messed up dvd drive. Is anyone else experiencing this and what should we do to get this fixed?

 

Lots of vibration while spinning? I get that. Makes me feel I'm using an old-school laptop from at least 5 years back.

 

This is coming up in several threads. I also have the PLDS DU-8A2S I tried 4 different DVD media. One failed on burn, one failed on verify, two were OK. The one that failed on verify seemed to be OK since I could copy it on another computer. I also had problem reading an expensive software DVD.

It's probably just a firmware problem but there's no update being offered at the moment.

I don't have any problem with the disc spinning when not being used.

The action is to hassle Dell for replacement. The burner problem is also getting a mention in my E6400 review.

John

 

Updates:

- Lots of vibration while doing software installation.

- A bit of vibration while playing audio CDs. Under this scenario, the vibration is a little more than those laptops with fixed optical drives.

 

Mine is a precision M2400 - 24x CD rom r/w...no such vibration problem.

And i can take out the cd-rom drive ( a "catch" to release it ).

I did ask abt the "weight-saver" option and DELL sales says no such option in "precision" model

Regards,

Jon Lau

 

Hm, it seems I can't burn CD's either. (Invalid address for write).
To bad I didn't test is in XP before I reformatted. I'm going to have a word with dell support tomorrow.

 

Yes, I've got the same problem. I thought it was just something I was doing wrong. I've got the same PLS DVD-+RW DU-8A2S.

Mine came with WinXP installed, but I did a clean install with Vista Business. I thought that I ordered it with Vista Business, but it showed up with XP. I'll be calling Dell's ProSupport tomorrow.

Did anyone experience an extremely long initial boot up time? Mine was like 3 minutes to just get past the BIOS screen. After that, it's just a blink and moves on.

 

Sounds the same as the Latitude D series - if the previous boot worked properly, the next boot is just a quick test, if the previous boot had any sort of problem, a full POST check is done, as memory sizes get bigger I guess that can take quite a while on newer machines.

 

If the problem can't be fixed, there seems to be another 9,5mm drive: Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7913A with Labelflash or Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7910A without Labelflash. Couldn't find any other. It has IDE/ATAPI interface, which interface uses the dell drive?

 

Well dell better will come op with a solution. Just had a chat with dell technical support and he told me to come back after running some diagnostics which I am doing right now.
I think he wants me to revert to XP since initially he said "we only support the delivered OS", but I really rather not since I just finished installed all the drivers and software...