CD/DVD tray jams

It has probably swallowed your beer or coffee coaster.

Have you tried this with the box cover on? The reason I say this is, I saw once where the optical device in the drawer would get active due to light shining inside and the drives having cheapo covers. it cause random problems when opening and closing the tray.

You also could have a problem with AutoPlay, try turning it off.

Jamie

Ok, this is from old memory so take with a grain of salt. I believe there is a magnet on the arm that clamps the CD down. It may be holding too tight without a disk installed. Try putting a thin paper or tape over the magnet so it can release easier.

Box is closed. AFAIK, there are no lights *inside* the case! :>

No, this "feels" like something is "caught"... the tray starts to move and you can sense the unload motor is struggling. It then gives up and tries again (i.e., it spends a full 5-10 seconds struggling to comply).

At first, I thought it was gunked up lubricant on gears, etc. So, I manually "exercised" the tray: pulling it open and closed repeatedly to ensure things were moving freely.

Then, I noticed the second drive (same make/model) was behaving identically.

:<

Not a factor on this (or any of my) machine.

Cheers

So (trying to visualize the mechanism), you're saying the hub (below) and this "clamp" (above) effectively grasp the medium when it is installed. And, in order for the tray to open, this grasp must be broken (else the hole in the tray won't be able to slide beyond the spindle axis)?

OK, that makes sense. But, optical media are plastic. Why a *magnet*? Is it expected -- in normal operation -- to attract its counterpart on the spindle hub *through* the plastic medium? I.e., wouldn't a spring force be just as effective?

OTOH, that would be a common factor affecting a (i.e. THIS!) particular make/model mechanism!

Yes, thats how it works.

Cheers

Don Y prodded the keyboard with:

Over time the snap action of the magnetic clamp without a disc in place causes the plastic to "bed in" for want of a better description, and prevents the clamp releasing. Cleaning the cone and socket with a wax polish helps for a while, or as some have said a thin paper washer to provide a few thou's clearance.

The clamp effectively covers the innermost ~30mm diameter of the disc? I.e., the portion between the "active medium" and the "center hole"?

If so, I should be able to just apply one of the self-adhesive "hub labels" to the *clamp* to get that effective clearance?

Don Y prodded the keyboard with:

Yes that should work OK. Just be careful of the adhesive migrating !!

Though if you are going to go to the trouble of stripping the hub down, a 3/8" disc of paper under the magnet washer to increase the clearance might be enough.

I figure the public library puts them on all the *media* that they loan out so the same sort of problem would manifest (?)

I don't understand... "*under* the magnet washer"? I assume there is a magnet on one half of the assembly (the clamp *or* the hub spindle) that attracts a ferrous piece on the mating half. So, I was advocating placing the "hub label" *on* the magnet *or* "ferrous piece". I.e., in the absence of media, the label keeps the magnet from contacting the "ferrous piece"; with media present, the label just acts like yet another hub label (which may or may not already be present on the medium)

I'll have to see what it looks like when I disassemble the drive.

Presently busy with Sunday lunch -- Finestkind!

On Sun, 19 Jul 2015 10:05:51 -0700, Don Y Gave us:

Software.. Try it several times, and it finally does..

Try it from a Linux live boot disc and it opens right away.

More crap microsoft injected into your PC "experience".

They can't keep their hands off anything.

Hard drive file systems HAVE indexes in them, but Windblows enjuneers decided to ADD yet another stupid 'index' to your drive volumes to "make searching easier", when it really makes it harder.

With writable optical drives, the idiots "take control" of your drive and you soft or hard commands to open the damned thing fails for a few iterations. It is also worse on some than others with LG being the worst IME.

But in Linux distro desktops, it works fine.

That would also tell you definitively if it is hitting something or if the culprit is MicroSlather in their infinite wisdom of nothing.

Hello Don,

Don Y prodded the keyboard with:

Yes, the magnet is usually a washer about 7/16 th inch diameter inside the hollow plastic dome. The dome is just two parts clipped together and can be opened by easing the three hooks through the holes. Then the magnet will just fall out. I don't know if it makes any difference but I would mark the washer so that it was put back the same way up.

The other half is a simple ring of metal (steel) embeded in the plastic of the hub. This is just a good push fit onto the spindle of the motor. I used to replace broken hubs on playstation's and the hight setting was fairly critical. Too low and the CD rubbed on the laser lens, too high and it wouldn't read the disc properly if at all.

I hope it was a nice meal :-)

Ah! My misunderstanding. :< I read that as "the washer that serves as a spacer/mount/etc. FOR the magnet" whereas you intended it as "the washer-shaped (i.e., 'donut') magnet". :-/ So, I was thinking, "why do I want to put this *under* the washer??"

OK, understood.

Understood. I've got an "integrated" DVD recorder (video in, DVD out) that had a felt (?) washer on the spindle hub. It had become "wrinkled" (sorry, no other way to describe it -- imagine a self adhesive "donut" that got put on sloppily) so I had to remove it. I figured it was either there as a spacer or to help grip the medium. I haven't tested to see how performance was affected by its removal.

Always is! The one meal that we look forward to religiously! :>

Good Evening Don, Don Y prodded the keyboard with:

You will probably find that a disc will now slip and without a disc in there may probably refuse to open at all. That thin felt ring/washer is very important because it effectively sets the clamp tension and ride hight of the disc.

Its nice when you have food that you enjoy eating.

No, it's just after noon! :>

Given your previous explanation, that makes sense. I *think* it still opens and closes properly. I've not used it to read (or write) any media as I have otehr (more capable) tools for video composition.

But, if/when I find myself wondering why it doesn't work, I'll now know why!

Some people live to eat; I eat to live. So, it is unusual for me to be excited about a meal (ice cream, OTOH, is an entirely different story!).

But, Sunday Lunch transcends that. If something is likely to interfere with it (e.g., one of us being out of town or at some other event), this is a serious concern and is addressed promptly as soon as it comes to light: "Well, we'll have to have Sunday Lunch for Saturday Dinner!!"

The other interesting observation is that we have "Sunday Lunch" EXACTLY once per week. While there are other foods that I may like

Don Y prodded the keyboard with:

Oops, forgot the time difference.

I'm a bit like that with chocolate !

We tend to do that as well but usually Friday Evening. Duck is one of my favorite foods. Slow roasted with plum sauce and a nice bottle of Shiraz or Merlot.

On Sunday, July 19, 2015 at 4:48:34 PM UTC-4, DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno wr ote:

I have the same problem even though I run linux. It is not a software prob lem as I can hear the CD drive try to open. Sometimes just trying again wi ll work. Sometimes it takes a paper clip. Once working it will work nicel y until it has not been used for a day or so.

As an experiment, I have put a blank cd in the drive , and will see if that does ensure it wil open after a long period where it is not used.

Dan

On Wed, 22 Jul 2015 08:35:07 -0700 (PDT), " snipped-for-privacy@krl.org" Gave us:

My laptop has a broken release "button", so I *have to* use the software eject "mechanism".

The nice thing is that it begins to read the drive before it gets all the way closed, so I have taken the habit of never fully closing it now.

I wish the mechanized "full sized" drives would allow me to do that, but their read heads are not part of the tray like with laptop drives.

I think my LG problem is a firmware thing, as it only happens on one of my three drives, which I have that are identical models.

I do not think it is this "clamping magnet" issue some are describing.

I hate that these (your)stupid web access "pages" do not properly format Usenet line lengths. It is even more stupid than the ISPs dumping Usenet years ago.