I just got a two-year-old off-lease Dell Optiplex GX520 (one of that boxy-looking line of desktops) and when it arrived I prepared to blow away the included build of WinXP for something else, since I already run that system for purely educational purposes and didn't need another instance of it. I got a surprise as I ran the system before erasing it. The DVD-ROM drive didn't work. So how to load a new system onto the box - not to mention finding the solution to the malfunction (assuming no flash drive load or network install)?
This is an important question for the open source community, inveterate OS reloaders that we are. The Optiplex line is huge and it appears to me that there might be a motherboard issue here that will be an issue in Linux loading - but I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's what happened as I examined XP performance and loaded (full disclosure here) Win7. [Again, for educational purposes! You can't criticize if you're not experienced.]
From an educational source I'd gotten the Win7 upgrade disc and it was to load on top of the XP load present on the 520. Remember, XP either didn't have a driver for the DVD-ROM or there was a plain hardware failure (a Dell driver CD was not provided with the purchase). I proceeded with the Win7 loading by using a USB outboard DVD burner (with proper BIOS setting for boot-from-disc) and then did the updates. The original inboard DVD-ROM still didn't work after a few reboots.
But after a few MORE reboots and the phone ringing in the other room, I returned to see a word balloon in the bottom right corner of the screen announcing a driver update from somewhere (presumably Windows/MS Update). I allowed it and the inboard transport instantly worked.
If a particular piece of software is needed for the box to see and run the ROM drive, this may indicate a need for the open source OS's to be amended accordingly. On the other hand, maybe there exists in the Linux, BSD and/or OSX worlds a generic driver that works just fine. I don't know. What I do know experimentally is that Win7 eventually recognized and updated the issue itself, without my consulting the Dell site for drivers... which I might still need to do for other issues.
I don't recommend staying away from Optiplexes. I'm just putting this your-mileage-may-vary note out there. It's very possible that the problem has already been solved by all concerned parties and there really aren't any reloading problems here. I'm just surprised that Win7 either knew what to do or figured it out. I hereby grudgingly give credit where credit is due.
(Update of 11/8)
So the driver still appears, goes away and then reappears. But the cause is now known. I looked up the Optiplex model on Dell's support site and it turns out that there is no official Windows 7 driver for this model's transport - but that doesn't keep Windows Update from trying. So I'll just continue to use the outboard unit for burning and trust in some programmer in Austin or somewhere to come through for me eventually...
