I have updated the Dell XPS 435T Blu-ray BH20N firmware for my Hitachi BD drive to the latest as of Sep 2009 (C104) however I still CAN NOT play a blu-ray disc. I can play a SD DVD though within PowerDVD DX. The exact release is 8.2.5408. I've tried Bourne Ultimatum and Reservoir Dogs but PowerDVD DX does nothing but spin it's progress banner wheel. This is the release of cyberlink powerdvd software that came shipped on DVD with the system.
I have noticed that another poster was given 8.1 software by a dell rep which worked but I believe that was a dated post. Any advice is appreciated based on today's latest and greatest - if any different.
Sorry, I have no answer for you, but I want to rant to some one who feels a mutual pain: I am sick of Dell pc's and all the problems they come with. The latest trouble I And you are having is this PowerDVD DX BS. Is PowerDVD the sorriest piece of software made and that is why Dell stuffed them into our computers? I've contacted dell, trouble shooted, updated PowerDVD, had it work for ONE entire movie, just tried another and BAM, same problem you are having, it freezes up my whole machine and I have to manually power down, it won't even eject the disc before I have to power down and restart. What kind of sorry company is selling this powerdvd program that can't even work to play a GD Blu-Ray......Grrrrrr.
An additional update, FYI,
I contacted dell support since my build is still under warranty....since I've had similar trouble in the past with PowerDVD, and they had uninstalled, reinstalled, and updated powerdvd, the only other solution they could give was (what a joke): REINSTALL MY OPERATING SYSTEM. LOL, Can you imagine, erase everything, take countless hours to back up everything, then countless hours putting it all back, with no gaurantee that would fix the problem....I couldn't believe it, so I asked, with just a tad of anger, was there anything else they could do, like send me a new software or something. Then, and only then, dell support replied, yes the could send me a newer version or something like that......so in 3 to 5 business days I'm suppose to recieve a new version of this lousy software....I'll let you know how that works out. If you get yours fixed, by some other means, let me know, if not you may want to contact Dell for a new version. It's ridiculous that you pay an exorbent amount of money on a system that should be able to do everything you need it to do and then you can't even play BD's because you're sophisticated pc can't handle the sophisticated software. Lord knows, maybe those MAC comericals are right. In the great, on going, debate between Mac's vs. PC's that me and my girlfriend have, this is just another mark in favor of Mac's, darn it!
I exhausted my quota of available time to troubleshoot this last night and will be demanding a different version of OEM PowerDVD. I noticed on other posts people had received a different version but not knowing when 8.1 or 8.2 was released or the version giving them problems, I could not tell if the older or a new version was the answer. Nero supposedly played BD in 8.1 and I have 9.0 but it is fact that it can not play BD commercial video. It certainly is frustrating. They guy that wrote 'Software Sucks' should write a book about today's hardware.
*** SOLUTION *** !!!
After I downloaded and installed the free trial of Power DVD 9, I got a message when I tried to play the Blu-Ray that the mouse controls will not work with the Blu-Ray disks. I then used the up and down arrows and the enter key to start the Blu-Ray playing. Once it is started playing, the media buttons and mouse controls then work. It's some kind of glitch with the Cyberlink software, as we all knew. But at least the disks will play. You don't get the message that the mouse controls will not work with the DX version (Dell's Version), but the same thing works, just use the arrow keys and the enter key. It's odd, cause I could have sworn the first Blu-Ray disk I played started with the mouse controls. Maybe only certain Blu-Rays do and do not work with the mouse. You'll see once the disk is started you see "play" in a blue box and "pause" in a blue box when you use the mouse controls, but they only work once you start the disk with the arrow keys and the enter button. Hey Dell: Thanks for keeping me on the chat for three hours all because you didn't know this! L.
Lee_leses,
Where did you get the Power DVD9 trial software? I tried to get Dell to send me a new version or different version of the same (fill in the blank) cyberlink software, but they only sent me the same (fill in the blank) DX version I already had updated to. I don't want to have to spend more money than I already have, especially with paying extra for an extended warranty, this is a problem Dell should fix and pay for!
Castro
Castro:
http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd/overview_en_US.html
This is just a small glitch, hopefully there will be a fix in updates released by Cyberlink. Even their paid Power DVD 9 has the same issue. Unless you get a player from a different and maybe better blu-ray player software provider.
At least it's useable.
I'm still concerned about the way the fan intake is blocked by the lid when you open the lid. I hope the design is okay as it is. There's a lot I like about this laptop, it's a shame the support and possible cooling issues exist.
L.