Mysterious disease affecting DVD drives....

There's been a strange increase of people who have asked me to look at PCs for them and the odd thing is that they all have the same symptom; the DVD drive drawer refuses to open unless you use the special release peg (OK, it's a paper clip :lol:)

I have three drives here like this - two are MSI units and one is a Toshiba. My son's DVD drive in his machine has just started to show these symptoms too, but his still works after a few attempts. It makes some horrible noises when the machine boots up, though.....

The MSI drives look brand new, yet they just won't open when powered up.

What's causing this, and has anyone else noticed this.....??

Edit: The machines are a mixed bunch, some run XP, one runs Vista and one Win 7.

what cable are you using ?

ATA 66 or 80 or a 100/133 compatible cable, some 66 cables will cause issues.

have you tried a sata to ide converters?

They are all IDE on ATA66 or ATA100 cables, Zetr0; I'm trying them in an external drive case on my desk, so no PC is involved. although the drawers attempt to open as you can see the drawer 'twitch' and the read light come on, then you get nada.

Even with no data cable connected, they still behave the same - I've never seen so many fail at the same time....:blink:

@Merly

As you know the ATA66 standard port requires a different ATA66 cable - it cannot use ATA80/100 /133 cables, they can use ATA33 cables however.

the ATA66 bus recognises an ata66 cable by small wire notch that has been taken out. This allows the ATA66 bus to run in 66mbit mode.

The problem with using this cable on an ATA 80/100 or 133mbit buss is non-recognising hardware and strange occurances with optical drives so double check your cables.

However it is possible that these instances are down to the controller you are using. I have a controller here that has issues with HD's but will work with Optical Drives, I also have a unit here that works with Optical Drives but no HD's.

Have you isolated this with say a know working good optical drive?

Maybe the DVD's 'think' there is a CD/DVD media inside and trying to read it, in that case they refuse to eject the media/open the tray.
Try to clean them using compressed-air.....

Chris

@Merlin Wich lifespan is normal for that Drive? I still have some people to support, and the dvdrom drive just dies from time to time.. (yup the paperclip thingie, alway's power, but mostly not reading any longer) I only coun't one to 10 years, expecting first to brake after 1 year..

@ all

Even on just the external case power cable (with no data cable connected at all) they don't open; the type of data cable is irrelevant in what I am looking at.

A known good CD-ROM or DVD drive drawer opens on the same power supply connector, so I know that the supply is good.

I've replaced some of the drives in the PCs and they are back to normal, however, for three drives from different manufacturers to pack in with exactly the same fault at the same time, is that just a coincidence...??

It's not a data cable issue, it is a mechanical one. There is a small motor which uses a pulley based system to open and close the drives. The small rubber line that is used to open and close the drives as it gets older begins to slip, causing the drives to have an issue opening and closing because they have become smooth. If you replace that small rubber cable, you should alleviate the issue. All the older TSST (Toshiba Samsung something Technologies) drives I have here all have that issue. It's very common. Or at least, it is here.

Yeah, a large number of Dell computers in my school (not sure what model) have had the rubber bands slip off that power the CD drives' door motors - and they aren't even used that often, what with it being a school and everyone using memory sticks nowadays...

Seeking some clarification here,

Is the drive unable to open?

Or, is the drive refusing to open?

One is mechanical, the other is likely to be IC's.

I read in one post (cannot recall who wrote it) that the door opens after pushing the button 3 times. This would indicate to me that the mechanics are fine - if the belt had failed it would not open at all - and that it is "something else" causing the problem.

For your consideration.