DVD Drive not detected

[Watrevir]

I tried to update the firmware for my DVD drive in my Dell 1545 which is an Optiarc AD-7560S SD05. It said it would take two minutes. Half an hour later I decided it had crashed (maybe because the firmware I was trying to install was the same as what I already had) and I shut down the process. Anyway, now it's as if the drive doesn't exist at all and I get an error message as soon as the computer starts up saying that a drive couldn't be detected in an emulation slot or something. I can't install the firmware as it doesn't detect a drive to install to, I can't use my Windows 7 disc to repair startup as I have no DVD drive. The computer still starts fine after the error message. I just can't see a way around this.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Shaun o]

Hi watrevir.

I`m sorry to say without doubt, as I am sure you have guessed the drive is now completely non functional.

The flash or firmware is a basic operating system that tells the drive how to function.
Like with motherboards if you flash or update the firmware it must be completed. Any interruption in the process or the event of the wrong firmware being flashed to the device will render it non working.

Or as they say a Bricked device.
Your only solution is to buy another drive and replace it in the Dell 1545 system.

Remember the old rule if it is not broken don`t try to fix it.
I bet there was nothing wrong with the drive in the first place before flashing it with a new firmware.
A case of curiosity killed the cat sorry to say.

Just pick up a new drive.

 

[Watrevir]

Hi watrevir.

I`m sorry to say without doubt, as I am sure you have guessed the drive is now completely non functional.

The flash or firmware is a basic operating system that tells the drive how to function.
Like with motherboards if you flash or update the firmware it must be completed. Any interruption in the process or the event of the wrong firmware being flashed to the device will render it non working.

Or as they say a Bricked device.
Your only solution is to buy another drive and replace it in the Dell 1545 system."


Remember the old rule if it is not broken don`t try to fix it.
I bet there was nothing wrong with the drive in the first place before flashing it with a new firmware.
A case of curiosity killed the cat sorry to say.

Just pick up a new drive.

Damn. Thanks for the reply. It was actually acting up before (everything running really slowly, some discs not detected) which is why I tried to reinstall the firmware, so I suppose it was broken before. I hardly ever use discs anyway, is there a way of stopping the computer from checking for drives at startup to get rid of this error message? I've unchecked 'optical' as a boot drive in BIOS but no difference.

Oh, and will any "Inspiron 1545" optical drive fit?

 

[Shaun o]

The drive should be in a standard five and a quarter bay in the tower.
All drives are 5.25 so no problem there.

If you disconnect the drive power and data cable, the message should go away also.

Make sure the hard drive is first in the bios menu of boot able devices
It should be ok then.

 

[Watrevir]

The drive should be in a standard five and a quarter bay in the tower.
All drives are 5.25 so no problem there.

If you disconnect the drive power and data cable, the message should go away also.

Make sure the hard drive is first in the bios menu of boot able devices
It should be ok then.

It's not a tower, it's in a laptop. Are they so generic? Thanks for the replies btw

 

[Shaun o]

Ah sorry,

if it is a laptop my advice is to take the cd dvd drive out of the laptop.

If you look on the underside of the laptop there should be one or two screws that hold it in place online with where the cd/dvd drive fits.


It`s a bit more complicated when it comes to laptops.
because some makers use slightly non standard interfaces to connect the drive to the mobo of the laptop.

If the laptop is quiet new then it may have what we call a mini sata interface and power feed.

You are going to have to check this.
Or I guess you should be able to get the part number off the drive and hunt a new one down by it.