Problem with CD/RW Drive

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Jeff C

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Okay, I think I'm pretty computer savvy, and I can't figure out what's goin on here. I havent burned a CD in about a month, but this morning, when I tried to open the CD drive, it won't. I can hear the gears and everything turning, and it will come out slightly, like enough to get my fingernail under it, but then the lights flash, and it closes again. It's really getting to me that I can't figure out what's wrong. Any ideas? Oh, and I would open it manually, but no paper clips...
 
Re-boot your system if you have not done so already.



I had the exact same issue, could not figure it out. Updated some other software and needed to re-boot.



Fixed my CD/RW drive issue simply by re-booting it...
 
door gears probably stripped.... they are made out of cheap plastic and easily damaged. Time for a new drive.
 
I already have a DVD player, and this computer is only about 2 years old. It was all top of the line, cost over $2k when I built it...now I could go to BestBuy and get close to it for like $1200.



Are there parts warranties on individual parts? I mean, my old computer, it was a 94, with all original parts and everything worked fine...guess that's the price paid in the modern day, cheaper prices means cheaper quality.



edit: It's not anything stripped...I just managed to get it open with some mechanical pencil lead, and I put a CD in...with the CD in there, it opens and closes just fine, no problems.
 
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That sounds more like a hardware problem instead of software/driver/firmware.

The drive tries to eject and only open a few milimeters, if it was a non-hdw issue it would open all the way; most certainly the gear is damaged.



Get another drive, it doesn't matter if it's only 2 yrs old, they can fail a couple weeks after being purchased.
 
Just pry it open with a screwdriver.....



" If it doesn't fit force it, and if it breaks, it probably needed to be replaced any way"

Todd Z
 
If it's damaged, then why does it open and close just fine with a CD in the drive? Now I'm thinkin as long as I just keep a blank CD in there, it should be fine.
 
I had a neighbor who had a bad CD drive back several years ago. It had the same problem...wouldn't open all the way. We took it apart and it was a gear problem. The gears had some non-petroleum grease on them that got gunked up over time and needed to be cleaned off.



I am not saying this is your problem, nor am I saying I would even attempt to fix it. It probably wouldn't pay to. Just get a new one, upgrading to dual layer DVD/RW if you can justify it.
 
Like said previously, don't mess with CD/RW drives. Get a DVD/RW +/- drive. They are dirt cheap nowadays. Takes like 5 minutes to swap out the drives in a typical pc.
 
If I remember, you've got a free lawyer. I'd sue.



But, if it works with a CD, it's seems like a software/system glitch, not mechanical failure. Try removing the device from system device list and letting Windows reinstall it.
 
It does open completely or not?

In the first post you said it opens enough to get your fingernail under it, but then you said it opens completely if there is media in the drive.



Does the system recognize the drive properly in the hdw devices list?

What winblows version are you running?
 
When I use the pencil lead to open, it opens completely and works fine. I insert a cd, and it goes back in fine. From then on, long as the CD is in there, it opens and closes on the push of a button with no problems. It is recognized in every list I've looked at as the correct model and Winblows says it is "operating normally", though my computer could be on fire, and I don't think Windows would notice. It's XP.
 
Maybe you could try stopping the Removable Storage Service, or just restart it.



I guess the behavior is still there after a reboot?

You could try fy10lyny's suggestion of removing the device and then reboot...
 
Jeff described the problem to be that the drive door doesn't fully open, right? That has nothing to do with software. There is a gear mechanism and pressure/stop sensors on the door. The "Eject" done through software simply sends a signal to the drive to eject. From there, mechanical gears and electronics take place to eject the drive door completely. If it stops somewhere in between closed and open it is a mechanical or electronic problem, not a software or operating system problem. As I said before, probably a gunked up, worn out, or misalligned gear...or possibly a foreign material in the mechanism (my daughter fed 23 cents into our floppy drive).



Replace it. For kicks and giggles crack it open and check out the gears if you are really ambitious.



TJR
 
Jeff,



When you say you're using a pencil lead to open the door, I assume you're talking about through the manual-release pinhole on the front cover? If so, sounds like the linkage between the release and the gear may be hosed up somehow. Guess I'm with the majority on this one - might be time for a new optical drive.



Dale
 

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