[lgp]

My DVD drive is stalling when trying to play a DVD. The DVD works fine on a different computer. It will play for a few seconds and stall. Sometimes it fails to start altogether. I have deleted the "UpperFilters" and "LowerFilters" in the registry. I have cleaned the DVD drive. I have tried different player applications. When I replaced the DVD drive with a different DVD drive known to be good, I get a "boot device not found" error message from the BIOS when I start my computer. This DVD drive does work on a different computer. When I re-install my original DVD drive, I have no problem booting but the original problem remains. Any ideas as to why the original DVD drive stalls? Also, any ideas why installing a different DVD drive disables ALL boot devices?

Configuration: DELL 8200 Inspiron laptop, Windows XP SP3, Media Player 11, fixed-bay internal DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive

Thanks, Lane

[Gr3iz]

It looks like the laptop has enough horsepower to run a DVD. See if maybe you can find updated video drivers, perhaps.

How much RAM have you got? What else is running at the time?

[lgp]

I updated the Video Adapter driver. There are no updates available for the monitor driver and the CD/DVD drivers. I still have the issue. I have tried some more testing and have no problem playing a movie recorded on a CD-R. I also can play a DVD that came in the mail as a advertisement for Shell Oil with no problems which has a silver recording surface. I have several DVD+R's that are recordings of services at my church. These DVDs work on another Desktop computer but not on my laptop. They have a purple recording surface. The model of the CD/DVD drive is "SAMSUNG CDRW/DVD SN-324B". I have 1 GB of RAM which I believe is the maximum the Inspiron 8200 can handle. I have no other applications running on the taskbar. I do have several resident applications running:
Zone Alarm
Spybot teatimmer
McAfee anti-virus
Win Patrol
Skype
and the standard apps that run with Windows.
Thanks.

[Gr3iz]

The DVD+R disks, do they not even try to play? Does the drive say that there is no disk in the drive? If that's the case, maybe there is a firmware update for the drive. Sometimes this will allow use of newer types of media.

Have you tried disabling some of the resident apps while playing a movie?

[lgp]

I tried disabling several of the resident apps and still have the problem. One of the DVD's will cause Media Player to hang and the DVD will not play at all. Another will play for close to a minute and then freeze frame. After a while it will start again for a short time and then freeze frame again. Once, it took over 30 miuntes to play 5 minute of the DVD. Would this indicate the need for new firmware? If so, I don't know how the apply new firmware or where to download it from.

Thanks.

[Gr3iz]

WMP is one of the worst programs for playing DVDs. I'd try VLC Player. It may work better.

[lgp]

I tried the VLC player and the DVD's would not start at all. I found a firmware update application on the Samsung website. My DVD drive is Samsung model SN-324B. The Samsung application says that my model is not supported. I suspect that maybe that is because DELL OEMed it and made some change. The DELL website has an update for Samsung model SN-324S but not SN-324B. I have read in various newsgroups that people who have flashed a SN-324B drive with a SN 324S update completely disable the drive. So far, I have been unable to find an update for SN-324B. Any other ideas of what else I can try or where I can find an update for Samsung SN-324B?

Thanks.

[Gr3iz]

If the DVD drive came with the system, Dell normally includes a version of PowerDVD player. It's usually already installed, but also comes on CD with the unit. Have you got that software?

[lgp]

An application called InterDVD4 came installed on my laptop and that does not work either. I sent an email to Samsung (the brand of my CDRW/DVD drive) and they could not help because it was OEMed by DELL. They said that the drive just may not be able to play all types of disks. So maybe there is nothing that can be done.

[Gr3iz]

That's a sad excuse! I suppose Dell won't even talk to you because your warranty is up?

I guess it comes down to - how much is it worth to you to be able to do this? It sounds like a newer CDRW/DVD drive would be the answer.