DVD Rom Tray Won't Stay Closed... Help

[Shamis]

Ok so I burn for a living. Yesterday morning I noticed that my dvd-rom tray which is on my :d drive was open. I closed it, the green light flickers and it opens. So I closed it again, same thing, it closes for two seconds and opens again. Over and Over and Over. It won't stay shut

Now several months ago I remeber I had the same problem, I figured my kids did something and I wasn't using it so I said no big deal, but without me remeber the events around it, I closed it one day and it stay closed. Now here's the catch. When I had this problem a few months ago it was my cd rom then because it was installed on the :d drive.

When my IT guy came out a few weeks ago, he switched the dvd rom to :d drive and installed the dvd burner in :e drive. So I am wondering why I am having this problem with the :d drive.

I tried troubleshooting with windows but to no avail. Does anyone have any suggestions. Its kind of urgent.

[Chewy]

boot into safe mode, see the sticky at top of page in this subforum, does it do it in safe mode?

have you tried a system restore?

[Shamis]

Thanks Chewy but neither worked.

I booted in safe mode and it closed by itself, but opened again. Then when it asked me to run in safe mode or to do a system restore, I chose system restore.

I click july 3rd (system checkpoint) because I didn't have this problem then and it only allowed me to go back that far. It closed on its own, but opened again.

Then when windows started up I got an error message:
Hardware failure: replace failed component

Then it went on to say that the error was caused by an unrecoverable hardware error which forced the operating system to stop functioning.

I am confused with that because I can still use my pc. Anyway it goes on about RAM, System board, CPU, and power supply could more than likely being caused by problems with one or more of the above.

I can't re-install windows xp because all of a sudden I can't find the disk that came with dell.

Please tell me I can fix this

[Chewy]

Something's rotten in denmark, jumpers, bad drive?, something from the mobo? Hardware related not software?? Never run into it before so all I can do is guess. My crystal ball is cloudy with this one.
wait there is a clue! dell and their durn cable select, talk to your IT guy, he may not be as professional as you think.

[Shamis]

Yeah, I called my IT guy and he said it sounds like a hardware failure too. He said I'm better off getting a new one so I guess that is what I will do unless someone else chimes in.

Thanks,
Shamis

[Chewy]

the jumpers??????

I was trying to explain this to a client of mine yesterday where CS and master/slave were mixed on the same cable, it's like driving on the right side of the road vs the left side. Each system works as long as you don't mix
them together.

[katzdvd]

Try this?

I probably shouldn't post, 'cause if chew can't fix it, I know I am outta my league, but here goes nothin' !

CS and master/slave were mixed on the same cable

could try that, but then, wouldn't it have exibited that behaviour all along? i don't know for sure, just guessing...

I was thinking of removing the drive in dev. manager, & rebooting the pc - let it find/reinstall drive again, but that might be too elementary of a fix for this...

one more thing...I know it sounds "odd"... I had a printer that was acting up w/ weird probs. So, I completely disconnected it from power, let it sit "dead" for prolly 2 weeks to a month.

When I finally powered it back up, it worked like a charm! Maybe the internal mem. gets "confused"?


If that doesn't do it, take it out back &

I was looking for a chance to use that one!!!


Just some random thoughts...before u completely junk the drive.

Regards, katz

[Chewy]

katz,
When you have to resort to "stabs in the dark", problems like these that are
uncommon, any other stabs are always welcome.

wouldn't it have exibited that behaviour all along?

maybe windoze finally couldn't handle it anymore

[katzdvd]

some more thoughts...

could it be a virus lurking around, causing this odd behaviour? Obviously(?) something is sending an "eject" command to the drive? I was also think about - in win xp/ you could check the event viewer at the exact time that it is opening.

Maybe there would be a clue to the source of the problem there.

R Click My computer/manage/system tools/event viewer/ system

or

R Click My computer/manage/system tools/event viewer/application

just some more ideas to ponder...

[jm1647]

There were gag programs and trojans going around before where the drive would open up

[jm1647]

I found this on the Sony website

The tray on my Sony drive will not stay closed. Every time I put a disc in and try to close it, it immediately ejects the disc. How can I resolve this?

The faceplate has not been installed properly. If you have changed the faceplate and/or bezel, make sure you have changed both. You will also need to pull the drive out and apply a little extra force to the faceplate and bezel to hear them "snap" into place.

Maybe the drive tray bezel got outta wack, I also seen where the antijam mechanism may be making the drive open also

[vw56german]

I found this on the Sony website

The tray on my Sony drive will not stay closed. Every time I put a disc in and try to close it, it immediately ejects the disc. How can I resolve this?

The faceplate has not been installed properly. If you have changed the faceplate and/or bezel, make sure you have changed both. You will also need to pull the drive out and apply a little extra force to the faceplate and bezel to hear them "snap" into place.

Maybe the drive tray bezel got outta wack, I also seen where the antijam mechanism may be making the drive open also

This has good potential for the "low tech" fix. I had the opposite troubles when installing new drives on my HP and its cutesy front drive doors. I had to add a small pad to the push button on the front.

[d00by]

You said you have kids right? I got friends who like messing round in public computer labs and if you push a certain pin the wrong way inside the drive while its open, it will never close again, even if you pull the pin back to its original position. I suggest if you can trying it in a different computer or just all out replacing it.

[Shamis]

Yep have kids and they (actually "he" my two yr.old) is the culprite. My it guy removed and installed a new sony I found on sale for 16 bucks at micro center. The old one had some small bright object floating around in it and my guess is that it wasn't part of the drive

Thanks you guys for you quick response

[jm1647]

@Shamis - it coulda been worse, a peanut butter sandwich Sounds like a Lil Power Ranger or something has a missing piece