UCN-01 and Carboplatin in Treating Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients must have histologically confirmed malignancy that is metastatic or unresectable and for which standard curative or palliative measures do not exist or are no longer effective * At least 4 weeks since prior chemotherapy or radiation therapy, 6 weeks if the last regimen included BCNU or mitomycin C; include site/total dose for prior radiation exposure as needed (e.g., no more than 3000 cGy to fields including substantial marrow) * ECOG performance status =\< 2 (Karnofsky \>= 60%) * Life expectancy of greater than 12 weeks * Leukocytes \>= 3,000/microl * Absolute neutrophil count \>= 1,500/microl * Platelets \>= 100,000/microl * Total bilirubin within normal institutional limits * AST(SGOT)/ALT(SGPT) \>= 2.5 X institutional upper limit of normal * Creatinine within normal institutional limits OR creatinine clearance \>= 60 mL/min/1.73 m\^2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal * Women of childbearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately * 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 * Patients may not be receiving any other investigational agents * Patients with known brain metastases are eligible providing the brain metastases are, in the opinion of the site investigator, asymptomatic or clinically stable after treatment with surgery and/or radiation therapy; patients should not require steroids or antiseizure medications and should have fully recovered from all therapy; at least two weeks should elapse between completion of any treatment for brain metastases (surgery, CNS irradiation) and commencement of protocol therapy * History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to UCN-01 or other agents used in study * Because of cardiopulmonary toxicity seen in patients on other studies, patients with a symptomatic cardiac disease should be excluded; patients with a history of coronary artery disease or mediastinal radiation should undergo testing of ventricular function (cardiac echocardiogram, MUGA or equivalent) and are eligible if LVEF is \>= 45%; if there is a history of prior pulmonary disease then pulmonary function tests should be performed and patients are eligible if FEV1 \>= 1 liter * Because UCN-01 may cause hyperglycemia, patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus should be excluded * Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements * Pregnant women are excluded from this; breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with UCN-01 * HIV-positive patients receiving combination anti-retroviral therapy are excluded from the study * Other drugs: Though not an exclusion criteria, every effort should be made to avoid drugs which may bind alpha-acid glycoprotein (AGP) * Patients with a history of severe allergic reactions to cisplatin or carboplatin