Repair A Stuck-closed Dvd Drive

I searched this item on the forum and it did not seem as common a problem as I thought. I earched the internet too, but none of the discussions I found applie to my circumstances.

My DVD drive is stuck shut. The CD drive opens/closes OK.
The symptoms are that the LED light comes on for small period of time when I either push the 'open' button on the front of the unit, or when I enter My Computer, right-click on the drive, and select 'eject' It looks like it's trying to eject but can't.
If I manually eject by inserting a paper clip into the invisible hole on trot of the unit, after the drawer opens a little, less than 2cm, maybe only 1cm, it opens under self power. When I give the open drawer a little push it closes by itself, in the normal fashion. But once it is closed, it is again stuck, and needs the initial manual stimulus to open it again.

I would like to know if there's an easy repair, because I have heard that using the manual eject hole is not good for it. The drive, although old, has not been used much.

Dumb_Question
24.February.2016
Compaq Presario S5160UK DT261A under XP/SP3
Processor - Celeron 2.7 GHz
Motherboard - MSI MS-6577 v2.1
RAM - 1GB + 1GB DDR PC2700
PSU - OCZ 500W StealthXStream {upgraded from Octigen 300W model 10270PSOTG ('upgraded' from original Bestec 250W PSU [in 2011?])}
BFG Overclocked GeForce 6800GT graphics card in AGP slot. <- I am going to try returning to standard clocked version !)

 

I believe your best bet would be to replace the drive. They're quite inexpensive nowadays. What happens a lot with these older drives is that the tray is belt driven and the belt slips or becomes elongated and to replace the belt is more of a pain in the butt than just replacing the entire drive.

 

This does seem to be the case, especially given my ability to repair anything. However in my case it is really awkward to remove the offending drive either or replacement or repair; I was hoping for a "non-remove" solution !

Dumb_Question
25.February.2016

 

New avatar or whatever the cartoon picture is, plodr.
Thank you for your input.
The computer has a DVD ROM device and a CD burner/player. It's the DVD one that's stuck. I bought a DVD & down compatible USB device, and I could & probably will use that, but I find it irksome that something has gone wrong and there's no easy fix. I'll probably end dismantling the computer to get it out, and not putting that back together for 3 months, and meanwhile totally wrecking the DVD player so that I I will be forced to find and buy another (all of $10 or $20) [but it must be IDE !]. Doubtless I'll need another row of sockets to work the USB optial drive, then the mains outlet, only 13A will trip....etc, etc...sigh...

Dumb_Question
25.February.2016

 

Your PC's support page: http://support.hp.com/us-en/product/Compaq-Presario-S5000-Desktop-PC-series/359575/model/382477
How to replace a CD/DVD drive (ignore the remove from device manager part) http://support.hp.com/us-en/product...series/359575/model/382477/document/bph07164/
Are you in the UK? http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/CD-DVD-Bluray-Drives-/131542/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=pata+dvd+drive
P.S. An internal drive is 20+ times faster than USB 2.0!

 

Hey, Davis thanks for a useful post.
I rarely go to the HP website for support because I find it's useless (in that it doesn't often tell me what I want to know) but the link to 'how to replace an optical drive' was moderately useful: it confirmed that it would be difficult job for me, but thankfully I would not have to do much, if any, unscrewing, my model having the green plastic arrangement of snap fittings holding the drives in place (if I could remove this it would also enable me to properly mount in the case my second HDD)

I have my eye on this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361496566277?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageNa me=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT . It's a CD and DVD read/write model. I'm also watching a DVD-ROM/CD-RW model should the former get too expensive.

My computer should be equipped with USB 2.0 (I don't think it's working though and has defaulted to USB .1 at the present time) which is 480Mb/s and the internal PATA bus speed is not more than 100MB/s [~1000Mbs](my computer predates ATAPI 7. m/b spec says "IDE UDMA Modes ATA-66/100")...IDK how these numbers translate into actual transfer data speeds but it looks like USB2.0 will be a little bit slower than internal HDD

Dumb_Question
28.February.2016

 

I would not consider a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive. They were superceded by DVD-RW and DVD-RAM drives more than 10 years ago.
My DVD-RW drive is 9 years old.

 

Thanks for your advice, Eldon. I would prefer by far to have a DVD-RW drive, but it's a question of what's available - it needs to be an inexpensive IDE connected one (there is not space even for a small PATA-SATA adapter [I have a couple, only one I would buy again though]). I didn't look far past the US$15-equivalent mark though. The drive that has problems opening is a DVD-ROM. I have that and a CD-RW drive (which may need a head clean - any ideas ?)

(ps where's the 'thanks' button gone ?)

Dumb_Question
28.February.2016

 

480Mbps (Megabits per second) is an absolute max of 60MBps (MegaBytes per second); but, with the communication overhead, most folks get around 11 MBps on USB 2.0. An internal drive is 10 times faster.
You ought to be able to get a new drive for about $15 USD, including shipping and, don't worry, it will work. ( I can't really search EBay.UK; it flips me back to US)

 

Be careful with lens cleaners. Use one that has been recommended by the drive manufacturer.

It has been replaced with 'Like'.

BTW. My old DVD-RW drive is IDE connected.

 

Thanks for the replies

Do not worry about searching ebay or anywhere else. btw I do not experience serious problems with sites forcing me to use my local site. Haven't tried ebay.com recently though.

I actually know the manufacturer and model of my CD-RW drive ! It's an Asus 4824A, just looked in the user manual and it doesn't say anything about cleaning the drive nor maintenance of the drive (it tells how to clean a CD). So, no recommendations.

Dumb_Question
28.February.2016

 

Desktop PC's generally exhaust air out the back and suck in through the front. I have seen floppy drives where you could scoop the dust bunnies out with a spoon and, even though the door on a CD/DVD drive seems pretty tight, it isn't; but, the deal, these days, is it takes more effort and time than its worth to take it out of the PC, take the cover off, and clean the years of accumulated dust out. They also have a mirror that bounces the laser's light up to the disc and then back to the sensor. It gets grimy, too.

 

Thank you for that information, I tried to look up how a CD player works to find out what causes the eject mechanism to fail in fact, without success.

It used to operate with only the CPU fan and the PSU fan (the latter was n exhaust fan) IDK how this affected the circulation; the front has a cover with some grilles at the bottom and the back has 90mm dia mesh in the box. It now has a graphics card with a fan as well I have ut an exhaust fan over the 90mm dia hole in the back but it's turned off as the "side" panel is off at present (yes I know letting more dust in !).

Fortunately I have bought a pint of 3N IPA

I am in the somewhat peculiar situation of having lots of time, if you dismiss all the half-finished projects that I have sort of going I dread the thought of removing the offending drive for reasons other than the time it would take !

Dumb_Question
29.February.2016

 

Here is a temporary work around for this problem. The belt is indeed slipping. The hubs for the disks are magnetic. With a disk in magnetic attraction is minimum and easy to separate. With no disk the hubs touch each other and are much more difficult to separate. The belt just slips. work around is to always keep a disk in the drive. The clear plastic disks that come in new disk packages are great for this. Jim

 

Let me understand this, Jim. There is a magnetic 'hub' in the 'roof' of the drive, which when the drawer is empty, is in contact with the magnetic 'hub' underneath in the 'floor' of the drive (in the DVD drive in question the drawer has no active parts, it just a piece of plastic with a hole where the centre of the disk lies, unlike the one in my laptop).
When there is disk in the machine it keeps the magnetic hubs in the floor and ceiling of the drive apart
I don't kow what you mean about "the clear plastic disks that come in new disk packages are great for this."

Dumb_Question
2.March.2016

 

When you buy a spindle of discs, at the bottom and top of those discs are clear plastic discs for protecting the CDs or DVDs.

 

In the top of almost every desktop DVD drive is a ring which spins freely and clamps the disc to the bottom mechanism so it will spin properly. When the door closes, the spindle motor moves upwards causing the disc to be clamped.
Apparently, some drives will get that clamp "stuck" so the mechanism to lower the motor fails leaving the door stuck shut and, supposedly, leaving a disc in the drive keeps that clamp from getting stuck so it "sort of" fixes it.

 

Gentlemen thank you for your useful answers
->jlphlp (Jim), davismcarn: I'll try it
->jlphlp (Jim), Eldon The clear plastic disc protectors are physically identical to DVx and CDs then ? So I could use a 'scrap' CD ?

Dumb_Question
3.March.2016

 

You could.
But everytime you start or restart your PC, that disc will be spinning up. You don't want that with an already failing drive.

 

Would starting up make the drive fail sooner then ? If so no matter because it is unuseable when stuck shut. Also I understand, whether correctly or not, that using the mechanical method to initiate opening the drawer will also lead to the drive to fail sooner.
Is it possible to substitute the (elasticated) belt that pulls the drawer open ?

Anyway the solution is never reboot he computer (and also presumably never select the power option ''turn disks off' ?)

I have ordered an NEC ND-2510A as replacement.

Dumb_Question
4.March.2016

 

The drive is old. If the tray is stuck, it's just a matter of time before something else fails.

 

So it is with all things... (me, the CPU in this machine, the 80GB HDD (both yours and mine), the CD...etc)

Dumb_Question
4.March.2016

 

Anybody know of a converter/caddy from (laptop DVD player/RW) to 5.25in (desktop) size ?

Dumb_Question
4.March.2016

 

Hi again DQ,

The "belt" is actually a standard O Ring available at most hardware stores. Needed is a between size, I have tried several times to get one with no luck however I did not try real hard. With the tray open on most drives you can see the belt and pulleys lf you are interested.

Jim

 

so, a not so standard O-ring ! (an in between size; maybe they are more common in Europe)
However, I think maybe any replacement needs to be a bit smaller than the old one ? Thanks for the tip, Jim

The reason for my previous post is that seem to many more DVD writers about for laptops than desktops.

Dumb_Question
4.March.2016

 

jlphlp's suggestion on how to to solve this problem seems to be working.
I opened the DVD reader using 'the emergency eject hole', inserted a DVD and a while later, ejected it successfully from My Computer (running XP) !
(the dvd then worked in a newly acquired DVD reader)

Dumb_Question
6.March.2016

 

Could you explain why ? Also, why is warned against to use the manual eject hole on the front of the DVD/CD reader/writer ?

I'd like which method is more appropriate for prolonging the life of the DVD-ROM, and what is likely to be the reason for its ultimate death ?

Dumb_Question
6.March.2016

 

If the DVD drive is set as the first device in the BIOS, and there's a disc in the drive when you turn on the PC, Windows will look for boot info on the disc. While this happens, not only does the drive speed increase and decrease, but the arm on which the laser is mounted moves back and forth.

This is an emergency measure. You're mechanically forcing the tray open.

Don't use the drive that often. Seriously. The are designed to run x number of hours.

Age.