Hi all. I am attempting to help some fellow users on the Dell forums who are having issues with the HLDS GWA-4164B 16X DVD+/-RW drive that came with their systems. The main issue seems to be the inability to read DVD’s although they are able to read CD’s with no problem. I’ve searched through quite a few of the posts on these (Club CDFreaks) forums and have seen numerous examples which are similar. However, the one thing that I haven’t seen is whether anyone tried to flash the drive with the firmware found on HP’s site.
I mention the one on HP’s site because (1) the firmware supplied by Dell on their site doesn’t correct the issues and (2) the description given on the HP site for this drive’s firmware seems like it could possibly fix the issues. If I remember correctly (again from reading the posts here), the drives used by Dell and those used by HP are the same thing. My thinking here is that the HP firmware could possibly be used to flash the drives in the Dell systems. The only thing that I could think of that would keep that from happening is if the HP firmware checks to see if the user is trying to flash a drive on an HP system before it does anything. Does anyone know if that is the case or has anyone seen a Dell drive successfully flashed with HP firmware?
I also noticed a mention of flashing the drive using the firmware for the GSA-4166B due to it being compatible. If that is the case which of these two options would be the better suggestion to try? In all cases the drives are no longer under warranty and the users are looking for an alternative to purchasing a new drive (although they will if they have to). Thanks for listening. 
I actually read through all of the threads that you linked to prior to posting except for the second one (I was searching for GWA-4164B and that one had no B mentioned in it) and I believe I’m starting to understand less with age (at least that’s my excuse for now). That drive does seem to be quite problematic and it’s a shame that the OEM’s or the drive manufacturers don’t do a better job of offering firmware for it, if nothing else than to keep the customers happy. I think I’m going to have someone try the HP firmware to see what happens. I do warn of the possible outcomes (e.g. optical drive becoming a paperweight) beforehand so that nobody is surprised by that result. I’ll try to post back on the results so it may be of use to others. Thanks again for the help.