DVD ejects and pulls back irradically!

I've been working on my case and I noticed that my DVD drive is not working properly. I installed it in the case and connected a power supply to it to test the eject function of the remote switch and now it doesn't work. The drive ejects itself and pulls itself back in irradically. I took it back out thinking the wires must be making contact at all times, but is not the case. I even cut the wires where I soldered them onto the switch terminals of the stock eject button.

I can't for the life of me figure out what is up. It sometimes will sit still and not eject, and others it will eject half way, and the pull back. or all the way, sit there for a few seconds, and then pull back. or any combination of the above. Did I screw this drive up? I haven't used it yet. its a brand new Asus dvd burner with lightscribe Sata drive.

Anyone had any problems like this? Could it be a bad power supply or because I don't have the SATA cable connected, only the power cable?

I really don't want to order a new one, but it looks like I might have to.

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Originally Posted by rendermandan

The drive ejects itself and pulls itself back in irradically.

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I suffered a similar issue with my gf. I did need to get a new model.

;)

are you sure no wires are touching? try taking off the remote switch and see what happens.

Are you sure it's not something catching on the wire you put in there? Failing that, are you absolutely sure you put it together right?

Brand new, eh? Did you disturb the warranty seal? :rolleyes:

<joke on>
What's wrong with irradically anyway? Would you prefer a radical eject?
<joke off>

ITYM erratically...

It's def a crossed wire, a common mistake when rewiring a cdrom. If you soldered wires to the circuit board directly, double check it. You may have made a sloppy solder point somewhere.

My guess would be that Crimson is right lol.

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Originally Posted by Crimson Sky

It's def a crossed wire, a common mistake when rewiring a cdrom. If you soldered wires to the circuit board directly, double check it. You may have made a sloppy solder point somewhere.

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I did check that the wires and solder joints were not crossed. I even cut the wires off to see if it was a short in the wire itself. But It still does it.

The only modification I did to the drive was to solder 2 wires to the contact points where the switch itself is soldered to the board.

Whats weird is it worked when I did the mod. I tested it several times. Something must have happend between then and now.

Could it be a failing power supply. The test one I use at my workbench is kindof flaky and faulty. Maybe I'll try popping my computer open and hooking it up to my current Motherboard and power supply.

Edit: I hooked it up to my current power supply, and at first it seemed to have fixed the problem. It ejected fully and stayed there, and then retracted fully and stayed there until I made contact on the 2 pins. -however, as soon as I sat down to write this edit, It started to do it again. I wonder if its a loose connection at the power cord. HMMM.... I'm baffled!

You can also try removing the original micro switch for the drive..It might be stuck in the closed pole position, even if the button seems to work OK. Use a tool to scrape the path between the two solder points...what may seem like a clean solder may not be.

When the tray comes out, give it a tug when it reaches the end of its travel, and before it retracts. Might be that the gears or the frame assembly is very slightly out of alignment, (due to opening the cover) causing the tray to return when it reaches the end.

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Originally Posted by Crimson Sky

You can also try removing the original micro switch for the drive..It might be stuck in the closed pole position, even if the button seems to work OK. Use a tool to scrape the path between the two solder points...what may seem like a clean solder may not be.

When the tray comes out, give it a tug when it reaches the end of its travel, and before it retracts. Might be that the gears or the frame assembly is very slightly out of alignment, (due to opening the cover) causing the tray to return when it reaches the end.

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Ok, Tried both your suggestions. First the tray does come all the way out, Although it does have some wiggle to it. but it does stay ejected sometimes.

I checked the path between the solder joints and it looked clean, I also scraped it slightly with a small flat screwdriver. and that didn't seem to work. however, i noticed a small piece of "Something" that was making contact on the other side of the pin. so I cleaned that off too... after 2 minutes of typing this, so far so good. I've got my fingers crossed!

cool, let us know when you got it solved.

ok, thought I had it fixed, it worked great for a while. Then I reinstalled it back in the case, and guess what... As soon as I retracted the tray, it would eject back out. I checked to make sure it was closing all the way, and it did. My frustration level has risen to a new high now. I took it back out of the case, and low and behold, it worked fine. So now it must be something causing it when I put it in the case. So I worked slowly and installed one screw at a time, I got 3 in there and it worked fine, but the last one on the left side of the drive, caused it to malfunction. So I took it back out and checked that nothing was hitting the screw when it was installed. It was surrounded by plastic, so I can't for the life of me figure out what is causing it. For now, I'm going to leave that one screw out and periodically check to see how its working.

I have to get some progress done on this case. The holidays have really cut into my modding time. (Hanging x-mas lights, Thanksgiving, x-mas shopping etc). I've been reassembling the case from the ground up. Man there are alot of parts to this case. Once its fully assembled, I can start the miticulous painting. Too bad this part of the build is not as exciting as the first part. Its hard to take pictures to show any progress. But I can tell you, it looks like a totally different case with everything being black!

Thanks for everyone's help!

check that your solder points arent hitting off anything.

sounds like the screw(s) are perhaps bending the frame out of whack. CDROMS are very sensitive to any type of misalignment or pressure on the casing.

Perfect oppertunity for a custom acrylic casing!!!

What he said. Sounds like a loose track screw. May want to shake it a see if theres anything loose in there.

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Originally Posted by calumc

Perfect oppertunity for a custom acrylic casing!!!

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ya thats wicked, then somehow make some kind of tray to pop out and then you don't have to cut a whole in the cover and jam it in. it will fit with the theme of the case even with all those motorized parts. :D