Bashful CD-ROM Drives

[seacue]

I have a couple of CD-ROM drives that are so bashful that they won't stick out their tongue (tray).

I press the Eject button and the light comes on and a little "gronk", but the tray remains hidden. The same happens when I click on Eject in Properties.

One of these drives was replaced by a CD-RW writer which works fine. In the other case, I've replaced the plain CD-ROM drive by an old NEC 4-disk CD-ROM changer which works fine.
I've taken one of the drives apart and nothing is binding. I put it back in the system with the tray extended. The tray retracts as soon as power is applied and remains hidden from then on.

I've tried other drivers to no avail, or at least I think what I did resulted in a different driver. These are off-breed drives so "which driver" is a question.

Is the problem likely to be h/w or s/w? Win98SE in both cases.

Thanks for any suggestions.

seacue

[seacue]

Thanks TCS, but the drives had worked perfectly for at least a year and then developed the problem with no changes made to the system hardware. There is a CD-RW as the slave drive on the same port in one of the systems. I'm 99.999% sure the jumper is right - why else would it have worked OK for so long?

In one case I think the problem appeared immediately after I pressed the eject button on the drive during a system boot-up. I don't recall what had preceeded the problem with the other CD-ROM drive. It was removed and has been sitting on the shelf for a long time.

Tnx anyway,

sc

[Saab Dastard]

Seacue,

Here's some words of wisdom from a PC maintenance article:

"Tray won't eject.

Here's a rule to remember: Never force a tray or caddy into a CD-ROM drive after the computer has been shut down.

On many CD-ROM drives, the head carriage assembly (the device that holds the drive's laser) isn't locked in place when the computer is turned off. Consequently, when the tray or caddy is forced into the drive, the head carriage assembly is knocked out of whack.

Among the many negative effects this has on your drive is that it may prevent the drive from ejecting the tray or caddy. The drive also won't be able to read any CD-ROMs. The only solution to this problem is to send the drive to the drive manufacturer for service."

Assuming it's not a software issue - drive locked by an application - then it looks like a hardware fault, and it looks like the drive is f:mad:ed

SD

[seacue]

While I don't think I physically push the tray in during booting, I probably pressed Eject at the "wrong" time. I'm surprised that this could cause trouble, however.

Ah well. None of the stores around here sell CD-ROM drives. The ones they sell either read DVD as well or are writers. Either way the price is a little higher than I had hoped - but really quite cheap in an absolute sense.

Thanks for your comments.

sc

[seacue]

TCS:

I should have tried another box earlier .... Now I've done that and the drive performs exactly as in the first box - an "urk" and no motion.

The drives seem quailified for a one-way trip to the county's computer recycling center. That's always hard on my morale, since the computers in the pile are often fancier than what I have at home - but there's a "No Scavenging" sign and eagle-eyed attendants.

End of story.

sc

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

seacue,

CD-ROM Drives are very cheap. With CD-ROMs running under $15.00 and CD-RWs running about $32.00, DVD/CD-RW Combo Drives running about $47.00, and DVD+/-RWs running about $92.00 it is not worth trying to repair them.

The tray mechanism is the weakest part of the optical drives and just a sideways jolt while open can damage them. This has been a problem with these types of drives since they first hit the market. With the prices on the drives continuously dropping, I do not expect it to change in the near future either.

Take Care,

Richard

[seacue]

"Naples" says CD-ROM drives are $15 ... That's about what I expected, but none of the local big-box stores* sell them any more. The nearest they come is CD/DVD readers in the $50+ range. CD-RW comes cheaper than that. I hadn't contemplated repair, I just wanted to verify that there wasn't a simple fix like reloading a driver.

My searching did turn up nice Microsoft optical mice for under $10.

There's a computer show next weekend. I expect I can find a drive at "my price" there.

Thanks to everyone.

sc

*Best Buy, CompUSA, Circuit City, Office Depot. The Asian hole-in-the-wall computer stores have largely vanished around here.

[ORAC]

What CD burning software do you have installed?

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

seacue,

The prices I listed were from a quick search of New Egg:

CD/DVD ROM Drives (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?DEPA=1&order=PRICED&submit=list&catalog=55&description=&Order=price)

CD/DVD Burners (RW Drives) (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?DEPA=1&order=PRICED&submit=list&catalog=5&description=&Order=price)

Take Care,

Richard

[seacue]

To ORAC: The second system where I tried the drive has never had any CD-RW drive or software. Still problems in that system.

One of the CD drives failed in a system which had never had a CD writer.

This system, where one of the drives failed, has the terrible NTI CD-Maker 2000 Plus software.

I'll look into flashing the software in the drives, though I've about decided to not waste any more time on them.

Thanks to TCS and Naples for pointing at places to order drives.

sc

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

seacue,

Any type of drive in particular that you are looking for:

CD-ROM Drive
DVD-ROM Drive
CD-RW Drive
DVD/CR-RW Combo Drive
DVD+/-RW Drive

We should be able to point you in the right direction.

Take Care,

Richard

[Mac the Knife]

Sounds like they're buggahd. If you're bored and mechanically minded you can try disassembling them and see if you can spot what is wrong. You can't do any harm.

Note that they all mostly machine assembled and not designed to be repaired so it is far from obvious how to take 'em to bits.

My score: 2 out of 3 - on one one of the tiny tape-conductor connectors had slipped out of it's doohickey and on the other there was a mysterious little loose plastic chip jamming the works.

[seacue]

To Naples: I'd be buying a CD-ROM drive as a replacement. I see the "geeks" deal largely in used items - no thanks. It would be worthwhile to suggest which among the units that the New_Egg outfit sells.

To Mr. Knife: I took one of them apart. I couldn't find anything binding nor any obvious disconnection. The other drive seems to have the lid plastic-welded to the front panel - possibly to meet some liability worry about laser radiation.

To TCS: I searched the Firmware site. There was no hit for one of the type numbers. The only hit for the other type number was a request for info - no answer.

I'll thank you all and be on my way after the suggestion of what brand(s) to buy.

It's just not worth any more of the time time of you gurus.

sc

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

seacue,

The deal TCS listed is currently the best deal out there. :ok:

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. TCS you get that one off of Ben's Bargains or Fat Wallet? ;)

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

TCS,

Nice site. I added it to my favorites. Here is the one I usually watch:

Ben's Bargains (http://www.bensbargains.net/)

Take Care,

Richard

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

TCS,

The deal I keep an eye out for is:

Logitech Elite MX Duo KB + MX700 Mouse $36 (Usually at Staples.) :ok:

It is a great deal. Last one was over Christmas. (Ben's Bargains will post that deal when it is out there.)

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. seacue: Sorry for hijacking your thread. :(