High-Dose or Low-Dose Vorinostat in Combination With Carboplatin or Paclitaxel in Treating Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients must have histologically confirmed malignancy that is metastatic or unresectable and for which no superior curative or palliative measures are known * At least 4 weeks must have passed since prior chemotherapy or radiation therapy; 6 weeks if the last regimen included BCNU or mitomycin C * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0 or 1 * Life expectancy of greater than 3 months * Leukocytes \> 3,000/mcL * Absolute neutrophil count \> 1,500/mcL * Platelets \> 100,000/mcL * Total bilirubin \< institutional upper limits of normal * Potassium \< institutional upper limits of normal * Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase \[SGPT\]) \< 2.5 X institutional upper limit of normal, or \< 5 x ULN if liver metastases are present * Creatinine within normal institutional limits OR creatinine clearance \> 60 mL/min/1.73 m\^2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal * Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document Exclusion Criteria: * Patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study or those who have not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier (except alopecia, lymphopenia, hyperglycemia, hypoalbuminemia and elevated serum alkaline pho…