CD tray won't open

[Ampersand]

I had a problem 2 days ago: I wanted to put a CD in my CD-ROM drive, so I
pushed the "eject" button, and nothing happened, except for the small light
in front of the unit who lit up for about 2 seconds. So I thought there
must have been something in there, but no. When I clicked on the "My
Computer" icon, it displayed my CD-ROM drive as having an audio CD in it,
even though I can assure you there wasn't a CD in the drive. I waited until
the next day when I turned my computer back on to see if the drive would be
OK, but it wasn't. Next time I turned it off, I used a paper clip to eject
the tray, and then I turned my computer on, but to no avail. The tray
simply wouldn't move, and even when I would push the "eject" button, the
light would go on for 2 seconds with the tray still open, and nothing would
happen. Something real strange is that, as I mentioned earlier, it also
appears (according to Windows) that there is an audio CD in the drive, even
though the tray is empty. Can someone help me, or at least give me a hint
as to how to solve this problem? Thanks a lot!

 

[*Vanguard*]

Ampersand said in news:[email protected]:

I had a problem 2 days ago: I wanted to put a CD in my CD-ROM drive,
so I pushed the "eject" button, and nothing happened, except for the
small light in front of the unit who lit up for about 2 seconds. So
I thought there must have been something in there, but no. When I
clicked on the "My Computer" icon, it displayed my CD-ROM drive as
having an audio CD in it, even though I can assure you there wasn't a
CD in the drive. I waited until the next day when I turned my
computer back on to see if the drive would be OK, but it wasn't.
Next time I turned it off, I used a paper clip to eject the tray, and
then I turned my computer on, but to no avail. The tray simply
wouldn't move, and even when I would push the "eject" button, the
light would go on for 2 seconds with the tray still open, and nothing
would happen. Something real strange is that, as I mentioned
earlier, it also appears (according to Windows) that there is an
audio CD in the drive, even though the tray is empty. Can someone
help me, or at least give me a hint as to how to solve this problem?
Thanks a lot!

When you boot but go into BIOS (so no operating system loads), can you
push the button to may the tray slide in and out? If not, use the paper
clip to eject the tray. Then pull the tray ALL the way out to its stop.
Don't force it but just FULLY extend the tray. Then try hitting the
button. Did it slide back in on its own? If not, looks like a bad
drive.

Not seeing a change in the media means the change signal from the drive
isn't reaching the motherboard, an indication of hardware failure.

 

[Alex]

I just had this problem fixing a friends pc. His drive was jumpered to
cable select instead of master ...

 

[DaveW]

Your CD-ROM has died. Time for a new one.

 

[Trent©]

I had a problem 2 days ago: I wanted to put a CD in my CD-ROM drive, so I
pushed the "eject" button, and nothing happened, except for the small light
in front of the unit who lit up for about 2 seconds. So I thought there
must have been something in there, but no. When I clicked on the "My
Computer" icon, it displayed my CD-ROM drive as having an audio CD in it,
even though I can assure you there wasn't a CD in the drive. I waited until
the next day when I turned my computer back on to see if the drive would be
OK, but it wasn't. Next time I turned it off, I used a paper clip to eject
the tray, and then I turned my computer on, but to no avail. The tray
simply wouldn't move, and even when I would push the "eject" button, the
light would go on for 2 seconds with the tray still open, and nothing would
happen. Something real strange is that, as I mentioned earlier, it also
appears (according to Windows) that there is an audio CD in the drive, even
though the tray is empty. Can someone help me, or at least give me a hint
as to how to solve this problem? Thanks a lot!

What operating system?

How many hard drives and/or partitions?


Have a nice week...

Trent©

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!

 

[Cyde Weys]

Your CD-ROM has died. Time for a new one.

Not necessarily. I was able to repair a CD-ROM drive that had the same
kind of problem this guy described (motor wouldn't move the tray). I
opened up the CD-ROM enclosure and lo and behold discovered that one of
the driveshafts in the mechanism was PLASTIC and that it had snapped in
half. I fixed it with super glue and that drive has been working ever
since (more than a year now).

My suggestion is if something isn't working, at least open it up and try
to figure out what's going on. Most of the time it won't be something
you can fix (like when my power supply fried and I opened it up and the
circuit board was scorched), but occasionally it's going to be something
you can fix, and you'll save money and feel good.

 

[Trent©]

Not necessarily. I was able to repair a CD-ROM drive that had the same
kind of problem this guy described (motor wouldn't move the tray). I
opened up the CD-ROM enclosure and lo and behold discovered that one of
the driveshafts in the mechanism was PLASTIC and that it had snapped in
half. I fixed it with super glue and that drive has been working ever
since (more than a year now).

My suggestion is if something isn't working, at least open it up and try
to figure out what's going on. Most of the time it won't be something
you can fix (like when my power supply fried and I opened it up and the
circuit board was scorched), but occasionally it's going to be something
you can fix, and you'll save money and feel good.

I've got the same philosophy as you.

If its already broken, yer not gonna hurt it by taking it apart! lol

And sometimes...you get lucky.


Have a nice week...

Trent©

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!

 

[Ampersand]

Ampersand said in news:[email protected]:

When you boot but go into BIOS (so no operating system loads), can you
push the button to may the tray slide in and out? If not, use the paper
clip to eject the tray. Then pull the tray ALL the way out to its stop.
Don't force it but just FULLY extend the tray. Then try hitting the
button. Did it slide back in on its own? If not, looks like a bad
drive.

Not seeing a change in the media means the change signal from the drive
isn't reaching the motherboard, an indication of hardware failure.

Regardless of if I'm in Windows or not, the tray will not move. Also, after
fully opening it with the paper clip and pushing the eject button, it will
not go back in.

 

[Ampersand]

Can't be that...because I didn't touch the drive from inside the PC and I'm
99% sure I didn't put a jumper when I installed it because that's the way
you had to do it to set it to slave.

 

[Ampersand]

I opened up the tray with a paperclip and slid it in and out manually but I
don't see anything broken. The tray simply does not react at all when I
push the eject button.

 

[kony]

Regardless of if I'm in Windows or not, the tray will not move. Also, after
fully opening it with the paper clip and pushing the eject button, it will
not go back in.

That alone isn't very telling, could be something as simple as a hardened
or stretched belt. Opening the drive then watching the mechanisms should
reveal if that is the problem.

However, IIRC, that won't result in appearnace of a ghost audio CD in
drive.

 

[bearman]

I opened up the tray with a paperclip and slid it in and out manually but I
don't see anything broken. The tray simply does not react at all when I
push the eject button.

Unless you just like the challenge of trying to fix the problem, why not
just get a new drive. Not that expensive anymore.

Bearman