CD drive won't stay open - closes on its' own

[news.microsoft.com]

Greetings, running Vista Home Premium 64-bit on a Dell system, has 2 optical
drives (Blu ray burner, DVD burner). If I open one or both drives, moments
later they will close on their own. This only happens when Windows is
loaded (that is if I just boot to the BIOS screen and open the drives, they
stay open), so Windows must be doing something that's causing the drives to
close on their own?

Note this is a fresh install of Vista, for various reasons we had to wipe
the system and re-install Vista and the Dell drivers from scratch, there's
no other updates (including MS Updates) applied - the Vista version is SP1
already though.

Any ideas?

Thanks
James

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, James.

Have you checked the Autoplay settings for those drives? It's been so long
since I installed Vista that I don't recall the default settings, but they
may be trying to start a program or movie.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8064.0206) in Win7 Ultimate x64 RC 7100

 

[JJB]

Hello RC, thanks for the quick response, but I'm not following. Doesn't
autoplay only kick in once you put the CD or DVD on the tray and close the
drawer, then Windows looks what's on the CD/DVD? What I'm saying if I open
the CD drawer (either of them), then don't put a CD or even touch it in any
way, that the drawer then closes again on its' own. Can autoplay be causing
this?

Thanks
James

 

[Eric]

Why do you open it and not put in a CD? Are you just slow? It's not
supposed to be used for a cupholder.
I doubt it is autoplay settings since they're supposed to tell it what to do
after you close the drive.
Do you have all Windows Updates?
Have you checked the Dell website for driver updates?

 

[JJB]

Obviously my intention is to put in a CD, however it closes before I have a
chance to do so. Yes I could move faster or just hold the drawer open, but
the point is I shouldn't have to nor risk the chance of having a CD
caught/jammed when the drawer closes and I don't have it in properly, the
drawer should stay open until I tell it to do otherwise. I've been working
with tech support but was hoping to hear if somebody else has seen this in
the past.

I doubt it's the autoplay settings too, unless Windows is doing some scan of
the optical drives constantly and this is causing the drawers to close right
away.

No, no Windows Updates, I wanted to leave the system pristine so that Dell
tech support couldn't say that maybe it was such and such update, although I
plan to push through the available Windows and MS updates unless I see other
options here.

I also have it written to look for driver updates, however the Dell tech was
on my machine remotely and was installing drivers, so you'd think they would
be the latest, but you never know.

Ciao
James

 

[Eric]

Windows should give you the option of removing any of it's updates
individually if they would cause any problems.
I have seen Windows updates break some stupid apps, but I have yet to see a
hardware problem caused by updates, more likely one would be caused by a
lack of updates.
Very few people choose to prevent Windows updates. Normally if you buy a PC
with the OS already installed, they have automatic updates enabled.
Frequently you'll want the updates because they patch security holes.

 

[JJB]

Definitely agree, it's one of my normal startup routines on a new PC, it was
just I had never seen this particular oddity before and wanted to be able to
say to Dell that it's right out of the box and nothing was updated, so if it
worked in your factory then it should work here (I know they likely don't
use CD's in the factory, but they probably test).

In any case thanks for your feedback, I'll be undertaking more of the steps
we discussed later today. If you think of any possible setting in Windows
Vista that may cause these optical drives to just keep closing on their own
then would appreciate the feedback.

Ciao
James

 

[JJB]

OK I ran all the Windows and MS Updates, the problem still happens.

I found a firmware update for one of the optical drives, updated, rebooted,
confirmed it applied, but the problem with the door closing on its' own
persists.

I then swapped one of the optical drives for another drive in another system
(other system runs Vista 32-bit Home Premium), the problem stayed on the
system (that is the drive from the other system started closing on its' own
once booted in the problem system), when I put the drive back in the working
Vista 32-bit system the problem went away, so the problem is definitely on
the Vista 64-bit system, it's not the physical drives themselves.

Thinking that maybe the Dell tech who re-installed the system drivers may
have grabbed an old one or an incorrect one, I wiped / re-installed Vista
again, but even during the Vista setup (where it's expanding/copying files)
the drawer would close on its' own. After the setup completed (didn't
install any patches or even have the network cable connected), the drawer is
still closing on its' own (both drives), and still not doing it in the BIOS
(so only when Windows is loaded).

I wonder... the system came with a botched drive image, the
installer/factory had left their diagnostics (partially in Spanish!)
partitions setup as opposed to the proper image for the system, which is why
the Dell tech had to wipe/re-install in the first place with me. Is it
possible that the 2 optical drives, or somewhere in the BIOS, that they have
it set to some diagnostic mode?

Cheers
James

 

[Alan Montgomery]

OK I ran all the Windows and MS Updates, the problem still happens.

I found a firmware update for one of the optical drives, updated,
rebooted,
confirmed it applied, but the problem with the door closing on its' own
persists.

I then swapped one of the optical drives for another drive in another
system
(other system runs Vista 32-bit Home Premium), the problem stayed on the
system (that is the drive from the other system started closing on its'
own
once booted in the problem system), when I put the drive back in the
working
Vista 32-bit system the problem went away, so the problem is definitely
on
the Vista 64-bit system, it's not the physical drives themselves.

How about trying it with only one of the drives installed - just
disconnect one and try it, then reconnect it and disconnect the other and
try it again.
What interface are the connected to, and how are they set (master/slave,
primary/secondary)? What about other drives on the system - i.e. the disk
drives?
Have you tried connecting one of them to a different channel?

Does it make a difference if you open it from explorer/windows, or by
pressing the button on the drive door?

Did DELL sell it with two drives? or did you add one of them yourself?

Put a disk in when it is booting - does it read correctly in windows
explorer?
Does selecting eject in explorer on the empty drive open the empty drive?
Does selecting eject in explorer on the occupied drive open the occupied
drive?

 

[JJB]

Problem is fixed now, while it was still happening after the fresh Vista
install, once I installed all the driver updates (latest ones from the Dell
web site, not from the drivers CD that came with the system), the problem
stopped, and I "think" it was right after installing the Intel Matrox
management for the RAID 1 that comes on that system (but can't swear to it
that it was at this point, think it was though).

I've answered some of your questions below.

Thanks
James

How about trying it with only one of the drives installed - just
disconnect one and try it, then reconnect it and disconnect the other and
try it again.
What interface are the connected to, and how are they set (master/slave,
primary/secondary)? What about other drives on the system - i.e. the disk
drives?
Have you tried connecting one of them to a different channel?

They're both hooked up as SATA drives, sorry, don't have the other info
you're asking...

Does it make a difference if you open it from explorer/windows, or by
pressing the button on the drive door?

No diff, tried both

Did DELL sell it with two drives? or did you add one of them yourself?

Comes from Dell with the drives and hookups all done by Dell

Put a disk in when it is booting - does it read correctly in windows
explorer?

Yes it can boot to CD/DVD (which is how I re-installed Windows Vista), and I
can read off of it once in Windows

Does selecting eject in explorer on the empty drive open the empty drive?
Does selecting eject in explorer on the occupied drive open the occupied
drive?

Both work